Recipe Competition

February 14th, 2011 by HHG

Now’s your chance to see how your own creations stack up against the dazzling work of Ferran Adria. Katie Button, chef and owner of Cúrate, the new restaurant coming to downtown Asheville, is judging the competition along with three other apprentice chefs she worked with while at elBulli. Check out the website below to find out about how.

http://pages.simonandschuster.com/thesorcerersapprentices/

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Garbage Heaven

December 10th, 2010 by HHG

Recently we took a tour of Danny’s Dumpster composting facility. It is a truly amazing business that they have set up. Danny and his crew will supply any restaurant in town with compost and recycling containers, then come to pick up everything including regular trash up to three times a week and they’ll clean out those containers on a regular basis so that you don’t have to do the dirty work! They take all of your compostable matter to their facility, put it in these giant piles with the correct ratio of wet to dry matter and then they monitor the temperature so that the micro-organisms can do their job properly and turn all of that trash into beautiful rich soil. (this is a very simplified explanation, so I highly recommend going to dannysdumpster.com for more details)

The most amazing thing about the process is the long list of things that can be composted. First there are food scraps, which includes dairy (eggshells too!), fruit (and yes pits and nuts are fine), meat (don’t forget those bones, those little micro-organisms have no trouble breaking those down quickly), seafood (and yes oyster shells and all shellfish are compostable), vegetables, coffee grounds, and pretty much any other pre or post consumer food product. Then there is soiled paper this includes, paper cups and plates, paper take-out, paper bags, napkins, tissues and towels, coffee filters and paper tea bags, waxy paper drink cartons, waxed cardboard. And finally there are compostable plastics which is any plastic marked compostable like certain utensils, cups, dishes and bags.

After our visit to the compost facility we really started thinking about what our restaurant’s impact on the environment might be. If we can compost all of the items listed above, recycle all the other paper, glass, metal, cardboard, and plastic, then what would be left over for the trash bin?? A few plastics that can be neither recycled nor composted?? That is truly amazing!!

We encourage any restaurant owner to contact Danny and learn more about how they can start implementing a composting program. Cúrate certainly will be composting. Take a look at some of the photos we took while on a tour of what we think of as “Garbage Heaven.”

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Cúrate in the Mountain Xpress!

December 8th, 2010 by HHG

What a great start to the day to sit down to a cup of coffee and this week’s Mountain Xpress publication with an article about us and our restaurant!! If you haven’t read the wonderful article by Mackensy Lunsford yet, you can read it here. Mackensy does an amazing job summarizing who we are, where we come from, and what we are trying to bring to Asheville. We love this city and have been so lucky to have help from the fabulous talented people that make Asheville what it is. We’d like to take a minute in this blog to recognize some of those talented people. As was mentioned in the article, Gabriel Shaffer and Shawn Oldham are creating interesting art pieces for the space. Emilio Ancaya and Kate Blatt Ancaya of Living Roofs Inc are installing an incredible vertical wall of plants as a living art piece. Daniel Stephens of 3D Works is completing much of the woodwork for the space. Hank Strauss of Mountain Marble and Granite is sculpting the 40 foot long marble bar. Kelly Prestwood of Matrix Metalworks and Design is creating unique metal railings for the restaurant. And Bob Bridgham of Hardcore Concrete Designs is installing the mosaic tile on the front of the bar. All of the aforementioned people are small business owners in Asheville and supporting businesses in Asheville is part of Heirloom Hospitality Group’s mission. Not to mention that we try to abide by sustainable practices whenever we can which explains why we are making our table tops out of PaperStone, a very durable product made out of recycled paper. Thanks again to all of the talented people in Asheville for making the creation of this restaurant a little bit easier and thank you to Mackensy Lunsford for her great article.

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Chefs Move to Schools – Claxton Elementary

November 20th, 2010 by HHG

Last Friday, Liz and Katie gave their first presentation to the fifth grade class at Claxton Elementary as part of Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative. This program is being organized locally by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP) and we also have to give credit to Laurey Masterton, owner of Laurey’s Catering and Gourmet-to-Go, for being the initial voice to get as many chefs in Asheville involved in the local schools as possible.

Eager to get involved with programs helping to spread the word of Western North Carolina’s endless bounty of locally grown food products and promote healthy eating among school children, Katie and Liz jumped at the opportunity to work with Claxton’s fifth grade class. Who would have believed that seventy-five 5th graders would fall in love with spaghetti squash! The children not only helped prepare two dishes with the squash, but learned about our tailgate markets and the farmers that grow squash, the history of squash, differences between winter and summer squash, the importance of accurate measuring while cooking, what induction heat is, that spaghetti pasta is not made from spaghetti squash and the nutritional difference between the two, and most importantly – squash is yummy! The children are working to come up with a winning name for each of the dishes and write about their experience.

Future plans with the 5th grade include talking about the costs involved in running a business such as how a restaurant determines menu pricing and what it means to buy locally or globally. With this enthusiastic and very engaging group of students, we’re excited to help them learn about our local farms, nutritious food choices, and what it means to run a business.

See our video of photographs from this amazing day below.

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Under Construction

November 5th, 2010 by HHG

We have wonderful news! Construction is beginning. We have finished the minor demolition that needed to be done to the inside of the space (just removing some interior walls) and are about to start the construction phase. We are so excited to see progress happening in the space and I keep telling myself, “This is really happening! We’re accomplishing our dreams!”

Also, Felix just received word that he will be accompanying ThinkFoodGroup and Jose Andres to Las Vegas to help open his new restaurant concepts in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Felix provides ThinkFoodGroup with consulting on front of the house service for all of their restaurants. He helped open The Bazaar by Jose Andres in Los Angeles and developed the service concept for SAAM, the chef’s tasting room, in addition to providing insight into service issues for Jose’s restaurants in Washington DC, the three Jaleos, Oyamel, Cafe Atlantico and Minibar.

Other good news is that Cúrate was mentioned in the Mountain Xpress article by Mackensy Lunsford “Moving and Shaking”. Liz and Katie are really excited to be involved in Michelle Obama’s Chefs Move to Schools program. They have developed a relationship with the 5th Grade at Claxton Elementary, an Asheville city school, and will begin working with the fifth grade next week, Friday November 12th.

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Slow as Molasses

August 29th, 2010 by HHG

I have come to the realization that the term “Slow as Molasses” must have come into fashion when some poor soul decided to open a restaurant, fixed a timeline, and then had to extend that timeline by at least double! Being a pastry chef, I know the frustration of waiting for molasses to pour out of a jar, luckily someone invented the rubber spatula. Argh. The frustration of developing construction plans, where is my rubber spatula! Who knew that when the four of us decided to open a restaurant that we would soon find ourselves learning the trades of architecture, engineering, and construction. Who knew we would be pouring through the Building Code of North Carolina to determine how wide our tables can be before they intrude on the exit aisle. Who knew my studies in Engineering at Cornell would one day actually pay off. One of my favorite expressions I have learned in this part of the process is the term “WAG” meaning “Wild Ass Guess.” What a brilliant way to explain so many aspects of the process we currently find ourselves thrown into. I think I speak for all four of us when I say, oh how we long for the moment to be in complete control of something that we are all very good at…running an actual restaurant!

So this is a note to all of those who are patiently awaiting our opening, and to those who are perhaps not so patiently awaiting our opening (namely ourselves): we will be open as soon as we possibly can. I can’t pin a date on it, and fall 2010 is looking very unlikely. Nothing has gone wrong, we are doing well and pushing forward. We’ll keep you posted as we know more. We haven’t lost our momentum or an ounce of our excitement; if anything the excitement has magnified with the extended anticipation! So please bear with us and send good thoughts our way!

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We’re in the News!

July 21st, 2010 by HHG

If you haven’t picked up the latest copy of the Mountain Xpress, go pick one up now! Mackensy Lunsford just published a small piece about our restaurant Cúrate, coming late this fall to Asheville, NC. You can find the article here. The only corrections, we’d like to point, out is that our partner’s name is Ted Button, not Tom and as I mentioned before we’re planning for a late fall opening, not an early one. Unfortunately, there is just too much to do to be open any sooner, but we are working as hard as we can to finish as quickly as possible. Check our blog as we post occasional updates about our progress and you will be the first to know what is going on with Cúrate!

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A Roof to Cook Under

June 19th, 2010 by HHG

We’ve finally found a roof to cook under! We will be setting up shop in the center of downtown Asheville, 11 Biltmore Avenue, a building that was originally built in 1927 with the Union Bus Terminal behind it, Olympia’s Candy Kitchen in the front window, and Uncle Sam’s Loan Office next door. Among many others, 11 Biltmore was also home to the Neville Music Company, Robbert D. Bunn’s Antiques, and most recently the Asheville Area Arts Council. We are so excited to finally have our location solidified and are working rapidly to finish the plans and begin construction. Look for us working hard in the heat this summer to make a late fall restaurant opening.

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Bringing Calçots to Asheville, North Carolina

May 13th, 2010 by HHG

One of our favorite weekend outings is to check out the local produce at the North Asheville Tailgate Market. Last weekend we went for the specific purpose of finding the closest product available in North Carolina to the calçot from Catalonia, Spain.

If you have ever seen a real calçot, or been to a Calçotada, the festivals celebrating this wonderful and delicious vegetable, then you know that they are similar to green onions but milder and less bulbous – the size of baby leeks. During a Calçotada they are grilled until tender and completely charred on the outside. The calçots are served right from the grill and to enjoy them you peel off the outer charred layer revealing the juicy tender onion, and dip it while it is hot into a delicious sauce called romesco. Read the rest of this entry »

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Better than Wheaties!

April 16th, 2010 by HHG

One late lazy Saturday morning, three generations of American women – daughter, mother, and grandmother – attempted to make “Huevos con Chorizo.” It’s the Spanish equivalent of bacon and eggs made even better with the addition of thinly sliced potatoes.  Grandmother gently sauteed the potatoes in olive oil; mother prepared the chorizo; and daughter cracked the eggs.  The end result: the perfect brunch.  The flavors and balance are divine; the rich mineral flavor of a runny egg paired with the slightly spicy, smokey flavor of Spanish chorizo sausage is rounded out with perfectly cooked potato slices, not too soft but not too firm.  Drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil and finished with maldon salt on each egg yolk, this dish is sublime.  Paired with a bloody mary, it is the kind of brunch I dream of (one that requires an immediate siesta).   This is a new hands down family favorite and a definite for CÚRATE’s brunch menu.

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Perfecting a Recipe

April 6th, 2010 by HHG

I have found one of my new obsessions, perfecting recipes!  It’s like being back in the laboratory again, remember the scientific method and PIHEC?  You start with a Problem, such as the alioli (Spanish garlic and olive oil mayonnaise) recipe you just followed came out way too strong and you are killing everyone in your family with dragon like garlic breath.  Then you list all of the known Information, Read the rest of this entry »

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The Art of Customer Service

March 24th, 2010 by HHG

An interview with Felix was recently published in Art Culinaire magazine’s winter 2009/10 edition. It is about customer satisfaction, something that Felix is an expert on. Below I have included images of the article. To subscribe to the magazine or purchase a copy, please visit Art Culinaire’s website. A special thank you goes out to Jody Eddy, editor of this fabulous magazine! Read the rest of this entry »

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Chapter Two: The Calm Before The Storm

March 23rd, 2010 by HHG

The four of us finally reconvened in Asheville at the beginning of 2010 so that we could begin moving forward on our dream!  It has been a busy, but slow moving three months.  And our assumptions about how easy it would be to find a location for our restaurant, make an offer, and begin construction have definitely not been met.  This is a learning process, but I know that the four of us are up to the task.  In the midst of pursuing every lead about every possible available location for sale or for lease in downtown Asheville, we have begun checking other items rapidly off of our list.   Read the rest of this entry »

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Family heirlooms…

October 16th, 2009 by HHG

The word ¨heirloom¨ is defined as a valued possession that has been passed down through the generations. Heirloom also applies to the seeds of cultivated crop varieties saved by farmers which have been cherished over many generations. With implications of preserving family traditions, food and agricultural traditions, I can´t imagine a more appropriate word for the title of our company. This past week I was reminded once again of the importance of family heirlooms, particularly those pertaining to food. The women in the Button-Liddell-Makemson families are famous for their love Read the rest of this entry »

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Star Ingredients Necessary

September 30th, 2009 by HHG

This week Liz attended the 4th Annual Starchefs International Chefs Congress in New York City. This conference is a chance for industry professionals to participate in demonstrations and workshops by internationally renowned chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers, and mixologists. Liz was able to attend demonstrations by Jose Andres, Paco Torreblanca, Juan Mari Arzak, Nils Noren and Dave Arnold, among many others.

One of the most interesting workshops was Sean Brock´s workshop entitled ¨Bringing Back American Heirloom Ingredients¨. Sean Brock is the chef of McCrady´s Restaurant in Charleston, South Carolina. He is a chef who, like Heirloom Hospitality Group, is extremely concerned with the direction of commercial agriculture in the United States and in an effort to combat that, has a farm on Wadmalaw Island where the cooks can daily gather produce for the restaurant. It just doesn´t get any fresher or more local than that! His workshop was about the preservation of native seedlings an Read the rest of this entry »

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A Very Sweet Proposal

September 4th, 2009 by HHG

Heirloom Hospitality Group is buzzing over the excitement of the past couple of weeks. First of all, Ted has arrived early from Qatar to help Liz look for a location for the restaurant in Asheville. He is an integral part of our team and we are all excited to have him back in the United States so that we can get this project moving ahead as quickly as possible!

Other exciting news, Katie and Felix got engaged this past weekend! Felix visited Katie in Spain for two weeks and popped the question. Of course, Read the rest of this entry »

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Product Makes Perfect

August 7th, 2009 by HHG

North Asheville Tailgate MarketLiz has been checking out the local purveyors at the various farmers markets in Asheville and the selection and quality of the products is amazing! She regularly shops at the North Asheville Tailgate Farmers Market, held every Saturday, 8am to noon, at UNC Asheville. An important aspect of menu preparation for the restaurant will include researching all of the local farms and the selection of produce they offer in the various seasons. I can´t think of anything more satisfying than creating a dish that enhances and highlights the natural flavors of freshly picked produce of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

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Farm to Table

July 27th, 2009 by HHG

Farm: Last week Liz attended Veggie U´s Food and Wine Celebration at Chefs Garden in Ohio. Chefs Garden is Farmer Jones´amazing farm that uses traditional sustainable methods of agriculture in order to avoid using insecticides and harmful chemicals to control weeds. They produce an amazing assortment of herbs, microgreens, lettuces, vegetables, and edible flowers – all of the highest quality. The Veggie U Food and Wine Celebration is an annual benefit with food, wine, cooking demos, and auctions all honoring the practices of farms like Chefs Garden. At the event, Liz Read the rest of this entry »

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From Tales of the Cocktail to Tails of the Pig?

July 17th, 2009 by HHG

Liz just got back from the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail event in New Orleans, where she witnessed the amazing ingenuity of many award winning mixologists, chefs, and bartenders. Cocktails are making a resurgence in popularity with the use of new techniques and flavor combinations moving from the kitchen to behind the bar. We are all really excited to start experimenting with all of these new ideas to come up with some unique, flavorful, fun cocktails made especially for the Asheville community. There is so much to look forward to!

Speaking of new ideas, Katie has been ravenously absorbing all of the creative energy pouring out of the El Bulli pastry kitchen and turning that energy into dessert ideas of her own. One sleepless night she came up with idea of a beautiful dessert inspired by the image of a bell jar terrarium. The Read the rest of this entry »

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Chapter One: the four corners of the world

June 22nd, 2009 by HHG

Our story begins with all of us dispersed in our own projects, each contributing our parts to the restaurant. Liz made the big move from New York City to Asheville, NC on June 1 – a necessary step to begin the hunt for a precise location for the restaurant. Katie arrived in Roses, Spain to begin her pastry internship at the #1 restaurant in the world, El Bulli. Felix is working steadily in Los Angeles, CA as the service director at The Bazaar By Jose Andres and as the manager of Saam, the small tasting menu only section of the restaurant. Ted Button, husband to Liz and father to Katie, is in Doha, Qatar on his own project starting up the private plane sector of Qatar Airlines. The goal is to all meet up in the same place in time to get the restaurant up on its feet and running in the next year and a half.

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About Liz Button

May 27th, 2009 by HHG

Liz Button (mother) – When Katie and I first started discussing opening a restaurant together, I thought, ¨It‘s about time that the women in our family finally created a restaurant after so many generations of excellent cooks.¨ To this day I reference my mother’s recipe for butter cookies, among many others (I still can’t get her fudge recipe to taste as good as she made it!) and my grandmother’s recipe for Thousand Island dressing. My career in the food industry started with Godfather’s Pizza in Augusta, Georgia where I started as Assistant Manager and within months worked my way up to District Manager. From there I worked in a small, but very well known, catering business in South Carolina and helped open and manage Cottage Cuisine, a lunch spot created for the Garden Club in Falls Cottage on the Reedy River in Greenville, SC. Read the rest of this entry »

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About Ted Button

May 27th, 2009 by HHG

Ted Button (father) – My professional experience has all been in corporate aviation.  I have 20 years of expertise in owning and operating a corporate aviation management business.   So what am I doing with HHG?

Talent! The opportunity to work with Liz, Katie and Felix was so appealing that I immediately asked to be included when the concept of a consulting and restaurant group was being discussed. I hope to contribute with a translation of my years in aircraft management to restauranteering. I’m also looking forward to what I know (with this group) will be an exciting and satisfying ride.

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About Katie Button

May 27th, 2009 by HHG

Katie Button (daughter) – I graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and went on to complete a master’s degree at L´École Centrale in Paris, France. I didn’t realize that I needed a career change until I was about to start my PhD. I went from a PhD student studying neuroscience to server at a restaurant called Cafe Atlantico/Minibar in Washington DC. It was there that I fell in love with restaurants, food, cooking, and Felix Meana, a Chef de Rang (service manager) from El Bulli, Ferran Adria´s famous restaurant in Spain. Felix introduced me to Spain, El Bulli, and applications for liquid nitrogen outside of the lab. Read the rest of this entry »

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About Felix Meana

May 27th, 2009 by HHG

Felix Meana (fiancé) – I’m from a small town on the Costa Brava in Catalunya, Spain, called Roses. This is where the restaurant El Bulli is located and where I have been working as a chef de rang for the last five years. I owe a large part of my professional experience at the highest level to El Bulli. I say “part” because my initial experience in this career was 15 years earlier in this same town as a co-owner of a bar with my brother Cesar called L´Hort D´En Minguets. My desire for adventure and travel then led me down another path for 8 years to a ski resort in the Pyrenees, Pal & Arinsal, in Andorra. While at the ski resort, I was promoted to Assistant-Director of Restaurants.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to the HHG's Blog!

May 26th, 2009 by HHG

Welcome to our blog! We hope you enjoy the snap shots of our experience developing a family run restaurant in Asheville, NC. Please check out the about page to hear our story.

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