Bistro Roca, Blowing Rock, North Carolina

Ah, what a great restaurant!

For our last dinner in Blowing Rock, we all — my brother Jim and wife Cantey, Michael and Liza, Nancy and I, and, of course, Ella and Lily — went to Bistro Roca at 143 Wonderland Trail, just west of downtown. It’s in a Craftsman style building, like many in Blowing Rock, made with local materials and warm with lots of stained wood. We entered and moved into the bar area while our party of eight assembled. Such an inviting room! The walls are lined with photos of local residents’ pet dogs.

The bar leads into one of two or more dining rooms, the one shown below

and a second room in which we sat. It was perfect, with the feel of a porch in a summer camp. A really nice Adirondacks style summer camp. But back to the bar.

The bar area was great fun. A nearby mention of the words, “New Orleans” drew Michael into a conversation (Michael has family there) with a couple, Curtis and Chanel Chastain, from Baton Rouge, and I piped up with how much we loved Juban’s. Soon we were all best friends. They were charming and great fun until, alas, their table was called and broke up the party.

This is a good time to pause and praise our server, Julia. Things got pretty hectic at our table, as you will see, and she was utterly professional as well as charming and attentive. She has that rare ability to anticipate, and her efforts really helped in making it a seamless, well-paced meal despite various interruptions.

We were seated right afterwards and wound up catty-corner to Curtis and Chanel. Julia came by for drink orders. Then Jim, learning that Curtis is a Baton Rouge physician, asked if he knew his (Jim’s) son Jimbo’s best friend, also a Baton Rouge physician. Not only did Curtis know him, he used to babysit for him in days gone by!

We settled down and ordered before the next group of friends came by (a group of four long-time Raleigh family friends). We started with a selection of spreads served with a sliced baguette. With all the activity I didn’t get a photo that would remind me of which spreads, but they were all popular, and I do remember that I loved the smoked pimiento cheese, and that the carrot hummus was a delightful surprise.

Let’s proceed with the bread service, shown here after an initial plundering. It was, as requested — or did Julia just know? — a combination of baguette and gluten free pizza crust.

Both were quite good. I was surprised that I liked the gluten-free so much.

Several of the group ordered the house salad, which was adorned with bacon, bleu cheese, and sun dried tomato, all tied together by a dijon vinaigrette.

The website lists eleven local sources for Bistro Roca’s food, and their freshness shows brightly in the salads. That included the Caesar salad I chose. I volunteered that I like anchovies, and Julia and the kitchen responded generously.

The salad was well dressed and the croutons well seasoned. This was a very good Caesar.

Three of us, Liza, Cantey, and I, ordered a special, tuna and sumac onions over a latke with grilled zucchini on the side, and a lovely lightly lemony sauce.

Here’s another view, of Cantey’s, I believe.

This dish was delicious. The tuna was fresh and flavorful, especially with a bit of the sauce. And the latke was just about perfect, the best I can remember, really. The zucchini were garden fresh and glistening.

Jim and Nancy both ordered the Moroccan spiced salmon.

Nice crust, nicely cooked. It came topped with onions and a tomato-walnut tapendade. and sat atop a quinoa fritter and garlic tahini. This was another success, and Jim commented, “I never thought I would, but I really like the quinoa fritter!”

Michael ordered a cheeseburger, medium rare. It was topped with bacon, mushrooms, and onion strings, which were a great idea. It came, as you can see, with a wedge side salad.

I really have to apologize for that picture. Perhaps I should have left it out. Shadows are my undoing. So are angles. In person, this was a beautiful cheeseburger, plump and juicy and cooked just as ordered. The bacon was crisp, the mushrooms were fresh and flavorful, and the crisp onion straw added flavor and texture – as I said, a great idea.

Ella and Lily were way down at the other end of the table, and I have no idea what they ordered beyond a Kid’s Pasta and a Kid’s Choose 2 which appeared on the tab. This may be the time Ella ordered a Caesar salad as her side, thereby prompting the dropping of many jaws. They were happy and well-behaved throughout.

This was a memorable meal, a great one. The warm setting and outstanding service were a delight, and the combination of consistency and I’ll add pervasively top notch food with family and seeing old friends and meeting new made for a marvelous evening.

I note that the bill included a “large party gratuity” of 20 percent, which I’m happy I noticed, and I was equally happy to add a bit more for Julia and company.

Bistro Roca is open for brunch and lunch as well as dinner, and each menu is more tailored to the specific meal than you usually find. I hope to try them at the least for lunch on our next trip. Indeed, our dinner helped convince us to return to Blowing Rock instead of our planned summer trip to Vail. If you are in the vicinity you really owe it to yourself to go to Bistro Roca.

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