A Few Words About: Seven Sows, Asheville, NC
Seven Sows had bounced around on our wishlist for a while. It's pretty rare that we go downtown for dinner, so the odds of us hitting them up for that were somewhat slim. At one time they were open for lunch, but that came to an end before we had a chance to investigate. So we were back to square one. Then the other day we were walking past and stopped to take a peek at their brunch menu. Low and behold, something caught my attention; the Junior Kimbrough omelet. Now, I'm sure some of you are like 'Who the hell is that?' so.. Junior Kimbrough was a Mississippi bluesman. You could say that he played some mean guitar and that his music wound its groove into your blood, made you shake your tail feathers around a good bit and work yourself up into a lather. Between him and R.L. Burnside, the juke joint style of blues were alive and well in the 1990's. It goes without saying that I'm a huge fan of them both.
Anyhow, back to Seven Sows. This omelet, consists of fried chicken, pimento cheese, scallions and giblet gravy. Along with your choice of a side. It sounded so wrong that it had to be right. I know that their fried chicken has won some national acclaim, and well, I always have a hard time passing on that particular dish, so we made plans to drop in this weekend and check it out.
So here we were, doin' the do. We were offered a booth and after we were seated in it; left to our menus. In addition to their fried chicken, these guys are also known for their extensive bourbon selection. This interested me, because I am a Double Crown man through and through. If I am sitting on a bar stool in Asheville, 99% of the time, it is there. I mention this because they have a somewhat renowned bourbon selection themselves. Though they don't receive as much recognition for theirs as SS does. Most likely because they're not downtown and well, they're a dive bar. So I was curious, who REALLY had the best selection. In the end, it was no contest. Seven Sows sports a hearty selection of exactly 40 bourbons. But last time I checked, The Double Crown had.... ninety. Ouch. Speaking of ouch, the price differences between the two place merits discussion as well. But lets save that for later.
I was all set to go Junior Kimbrough when the wife was like "Really? Doesn't that seem like some weird sort of cross cannibalism or something? Eating chicken with a bunch of eggs?" She was right, or maybe she wasn't right. But the doubt had been planted. I couldn't bring myself to do it. So instead I ordered the fried chicken plate, which comes with macaroni and cheese. The McMissus opted for the goat cheese and squash scramble with applewood smoked bacon. Our cocktails; a mimosa for her and a whisky ginger for myself, were most certainly, up to snuff. We worked on them and took in the decor, which was the now somewhat typical 'Vintage Americana' look, with re-purposed wood and rusted tin siding fleshing out the booths, etc. You see this look pretty much everywhere now, but I will say that SS has done a very nice job with it. I was envious of more than just one or two items in the place.
Then, before we knew it, there it was; our plates and the obligatory "You guys need anything else?" After assuring her that we were good, we put our knives and fork to work. The first thing I noticed about my bird was that the crispy skin had a lovely sweetness to it. I immediately bragged it up to my better half. The meat itself was moist and succulent, as all good fried chicken should be. Though, it should be noted that the breast (there was a thigh as well) was boneless. I certainly have nothing against boneless fried chicken, but with all the hoopla surrounding this particular dish, I was certain that it was gonna be on a bone. Anyhow, the mac & cheese was very nice as well. If you're gonna do non baked mac & cheese then the flavors better stand out. And they did, I could definitely taste parmesan in there, but there was another kind of cheese, or cheeses, that I just couldn't put my finger on. Asiago maybe? Whatever it was, it worked. This was one of the best 'stove top' mac n' cheeses I can remember eating.
Of course, strictly for professional reasons, I had to sample from the wifes plate. Her scramble was very nice and all (it really was), but let's talk about the bacon. The bacon. WoW! "ApPleWooD SmoKed" was pulsating in my brain. Sweet, meaty cuts of swine were all that existed in the world for the moments I was lucky enough to savor them. Absolutely, by far, the best bacon I've had in Asheville, and certainly in my top 5 all-time, anywhere. So there's that. The portions seemed kind of on the small side at first, but by the time we were done we agreed it was really a perfect amount of food.
As we finished our cocktails, we gave the bourbon list another look. Yeah, some of the prices were..... imaginative? I don't really know a nice way to say it, so I'll just give a few examples. Seven Sows charges $15 for Basil Hayden. Double Crown charges nine. The Elijah Craig 23 yr is sixty dollars here. At DC, it's forty. All three Japanese whiskies are $20 apiece at Seven Sows. They charge twelve for them at the Crown, And on, and on, all the way down the line. Admittedly, this place is a bit more upscale, but still, those prices seems a bit exorbitant even without the comparison. But if people are willing to pay that much, then who am I to say?
Anyhow, our overall impression of Seven Sow was quite agreeable. Service was excellent throughout and obviously we were very happy with our food. I was expecting something a bit more upscale looking but was pleasantly surprised by how proudly they sport their rustic southern roots. All in all, a very enjoyable experience; Reccomended
Grade: A- (Was my dish supposed to come with fresh greens? According to the menu on their website, yes. I can't recall if the actual menu said so or not though.)