Hemingway's Cuba — Cuban / Appalachian, Asheville
Hemingway's Cuba is the kind of restaurant that could only exist in Asheville — a Cuban kitchen that uses Western North Carolina produce with the specific creative logic of a chef who sees the Appalachian highlands and the Sierra Maestra as producing comparable ingredients at compatible scales.
The ropa vieja uses Western North Carolina beef slow-braised in sofrito with the local peppers and tomatoes that the mountains provide. The result is the Cuban dish, made more locally than any version in Cuba.
The Cuban rum program — mojitos, daiquiris, and the rotating rum-forward cocktails — is Asheville's most serious representation of the Caribbean spirit tradition. The bartenders know what they're doing.
The Biltmore Village location puts Hemingway's in one of Asheville's most architecturally distinctive neighborhoods — the estate village that Frederick Law Olmsted designed for the Vanderbilt estate in the 1890s.
Best Occasion: Great for First Dates
Cuban food with Blue Ridge ingredients, the rum cocktail program, and the creative premise that generates natural conversation. First dates at Hemingway's have a specific and memorable character.
Best Occasion: Works for Birthdays
The ropa vieja, mojitos for the group, and the creative cultural fusion that Asheville's most inventive kitchen provides. The birthday dinner that surprises.