Thanks to my Sorcerer's Apprentices Interview with Lisa Abend, I learned that Katie Button, one of the El Bulli alumnis portrayed in the book, just opened Curate, in Asheville, North Carolina.
A week young at the time of this writing (opening day was March 4, 2011), Curate's ambition is to emulate the best traditional tapas bars.
Katie shared 3 dishes from their kick-off menu:
Esparragos verdes con romesco – grilled green asparagus, drizzled in arbequina extra virgin olive oil from California Olive Ranch and served with traditional romesco sauce – a sauce of hazelnuts, almonds, roasted tomato, onion, and garlic
Chistorra con patatas al aceite de oliva – chistorra is a type of semi-cured sausage similar to chorizo, here it is skewered, grilled, drizzled in EVOO and served with mashed potatoes made with the same arbequina EVOO from California Olive Ranch
Gambas al ajillo – shrimp sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and guindilla pepper, served piping hot…simple ingredients, but the result is delicious, we are calling it "the number one tapa in asheville"
With Katie in firm control of the kitchen, Felix Meana runs the dining room and selected wines and other libations.
Felix like Katie is an El Bulli and ThinkFoodGroup (Jose Andres) alumni.
Wine list is 100 % Spanish and has the good taste to include a few Sherries by the glass:
Opening Hours are:
Tuesday thru Saturday: 6 PM to 11 PM
Sunday: Until 10 PM…………
Closed on Mondays