I don’t usually take hotel restaurants too seriously as they tend to design their menus more around room service demands than the destination diner. Golden Hour is different. Maybe even radical as its namesake hotel suggests. First of all, Golden Hour is a creation by two-time James Beard Award nominee and acclaimed Chef Jacob Sessoms, who owns Table and All Day Darling restaurants. Secondly, the settling is spectacular. The restaurant and bar are housed in the fully refurbished 1920’s breakfast cereal factory now known as the Radical hotel in the heart of the River Arts District. The formerly abandoned 5-level building was entirely reimagined with a retro-luxury inspired, arts-focused architectural program while keeping with the original square panel warehouse windows, concrete columns, and exposed brick walls. As for the food, the restaurant is centered around a large Argentinian-style wood-burning grill where meats are raised and lowered on the grill to regulate cooking temperature. The grill is out in the open for all to see. The menu features a nice variety of small plates incorporating fresh, locally sourced vegetables in addition to meat skewers accompanied with a selection of tasty sauces including chimichurri, pepper relish, salsa verde, old bay mayo and chop sauce. Both individual-sized and larger table-sized sharable portions are available. The weekend brunch meu is simple but hits all the sweet spots with a full line of breakfast items plus a nice smash burger, steak & eggs, and ½ fried chicken covered in a sweet but spicy chili sauce. The Golden Hour bar can’t really be described within a sentence or two, but picture if you will, an oval cocktail bar encircled in a wall of overhead thick gold chains reminiscent of those adorned by Mr. T. The bar and restaurant finishes are over-the-top decadent and I love it. Indoor seating is comfortable, but the restaurant has an outdoor terrace as well with astounding views of the French Broad River. After dinner (or anytime after 3:00 pm) you may want to mosey up to the rooftop bar on the 5th floor of the Radical. With massive observation areas, couch seating around gas fireplaces and barstools with breathtaking river and mountain views, this is perhaps the best rooftop bar in the city.
Hours: 5:00pm to 10:30am-2:00pm for Saturday and Sunday Brunch
95 Roberts St, Asheville, NC 28801 – River Arts District
Website: http://www.goldenhouravl.com
PH: 828-407-1800