Blackwater Grille, Hendersonville

"You live where? - That's how it usually starts. From there it goes to: "North Carolina? I love the beaches there. You don't live at the beach? Oh, well I really like Raleigh, too. No? Not Raleigh either? Western North Carolina? The mountains? Near Asheville?"

Mentioning mountains and Asheville gives people a rough idea of where Hendersonville's located. For fun, I could say I live just about in the middle of the "Southern Appalachian Highlands", a term first coined by John C. Campbell in The Southern Highlander and His Homeland published in 1921. That would really throw them!

The Southern Appalachian Highlands run approximately from the New River in southwestern Virginia southward to northern Georgia and Alabama. See the circled shaded area on the (clickable) map below.

It's interesting that John Campbell waxed poetic about our region's similarities to the Highlands of Scotland in an attempt to get away from the image of depressed social conditions other writers of the time emphasised. In fact, many of our current residents are decended from Celtic and Scots-Irish immigrants who settled here early on.

Blackwater Grille's website says, "Blackwater Grille was born out of a heritage that stretches back over 200 years to the highlands of Scotland, when two brothers, Matthew and Andrew Douglass, left their home in Iverness to make a new life in America. They soon found their way to the southern Appalachians, the area we proudly call the Southern Highlands.

Today, eighth-generation descendent, Executive Chef Scott Douglass Adams and his wife Diana own and operate a restaurant that would make his ancestors proud. He named his venture Blackwater - the English translation of the Gaelic name Douglass. And, true to his highland roots, he offers a seasonal menu, created from regional products, that celebrates the beautiful landscape and independent people of these majestic mountains."

(photo courtesy of Restaurant.com)

So my quest to define/understand "Southern Highland" cuisine ended at cuisine that is based on local/regional Western North Carolina products, recipes and traditions. Some of the items on Blackwater's menu that are especially regional are: Appalachian Game Sausages, Oatmeal Pie, Highland Trout Caesar and Apple Spinach.

My husband and I met two other couples at Blackwater Grille on February 12th for dinner. The Grille is located in the back of the Laurel Park Shopping Center. If you haven't been there before, enter the "Laurel Park Village" shopping center at the light on Brevard Rd/Hwy 64 and head to the left rear of the center.

I was anxious to hear the reactions of our dining companions to the food at Blackwater because they are all extremely well traveled and love good food; one of them was born and raised in Germany and has done a lot of European dining, one of them is a dentist by profession and is passionate about his hobby of gourmet cooking.

The interior dining area at the Grille is basically one big open area with a nice rock-faced fireplace along the wall that backs to the kitchen and a bar tucked away in one corner. Seating for 50 or 60 is available on a deck area in nice weather. Additional options for large parties are a private dining room that holds 40 or the entire restaurant during lunch hours when they are normally closed.

(photo courtesy of Restaurant.com)

At first the layout was a bit too open and barren for my taste, but after settling in with our friends at a corner table with the centrally placed fireplace burning as a cozy backdrop, I felt relaxed and comfortable.

(photo courtesy of Restaurant.com)

Talking about all six meals seems a bit daunting, so I'll tell you what we had and mention the highlights in detail.

• Two of us ordered the Grilled Shrimp - two skewers of large grilled shrimp with a sweet and spicy red pepper glaze. The smaller portion came with one skewer. ($18.75 or $15.00/smaller portion)
• Spicy Chicken Penne - herb-roasted chicken and game (elk) sausage coins tossed with a spicy marinara, peppers and onions. ($17.50 or $14.00/smaller portion)
• Coalminers Ravioli - spinach and walnut ravioli, fresh baby spinach and toasted walnuts, tossed in Parmesan-smoked bacon cream. ($17.00 or $14.00/smaller portion)
• Roasted Duck Breast - served with zinfandel raspberry-pear relish. ($19.75)
• Wild Salmon - Alaskan sock-eye salmon, finished with a citrus marmalade butter sauce. ($19.50 or $15.25/smaller portion)

Those of us not ordering a pasta dish had a choice of two sides to go with our entree. Between the four of us we tried:

• Sweet Potato Medallions with Molasses - I hadn't had molasses on sweet potatoes before. It was a delicious combination with the sweet potatoes. Could this be a traditional Southern Appalachian Highlands cuisine item?
• Sauteed Sugar Peas and Carrots - Crisp and flavorful.
• Toasted Barley and Mushrooms - If you like starch dishes which are subtlety mushroom-flavored, this is it. We thought it would be a good balance dish for the spicy shrimp, but our group felt it was a bit too mild in flavor.

Before our entrees arrived at the table, we had the Butternut Squash Bisque ($6.00/bowl, $4.75/cup) and a basket of bread to share.

For dessert, we shared Tasting Plates (your choice of 3 desserts)($8.00) We tried Oatmeal Pie (great flavor, a texture someone growing up eating it might like, though), Warm Chocolate Brownie and Vanilla Ice Cream (great), McConnell Farms Seasonal Ice Cream (peppermint bark w/chocolate) (delicious) and Sweet Potato Cobbler (unusual, interesting and tasty).

The highlights:

• Beginning with the bread - it was fantastic! I meant to ask where they get it, but forgot. Wonder if it's made in-house or maybe from the Flat Rock Bakery?
• The Butternut Squash Bisque was creamy and wonderfully seasoned. It rated very high with all of us.
• Both of us ordering the smaller portion of Grilled Shrimp thought the portions were just right - plenty to eat, but didn't leave you feeling over-full. The shrimp were cooked beautifully (not over or under cooked) and the spicy seasoning was extremely tasty and not overbearing. I had a glass of the chef recommended Gewurztraminer with mine. A totally fantastic pairing with the shrimp.
• The Wild Salmon was cooked to perfection. The citrus marmalade butter sauce enhanced the flavor of the salmon without overpowering it.
• Roasted Duck Breast can taste very fatty or greasy when not cooked correctly. Blackwater's was done beautifully. It looked to have been cooked medium, with a nice pink middle. Both texture and flavor were wonderful.
• The diner who had the Coalminers Ravioli remarked that the flavoring was unusual and delicious.
• My husband totally enjoyed the Spicy Chicken Penne. When I asked how the elk sausage was, he said, "great" and kept eating. Guess he didn't feel any further discussion was necessary!

We noticed that some of the items on the menu were followed by an (HB). We found out this stands for "Highland Blends", a product line developed by Chef Scott after people continued to ask how he achieved the flavors he did at the restaurant. The company sells Wood Chips and various Rub and Spice mixes.

One of our party brought up the point that it was very unusual for everyone in a group of six to rave about their meal. Usually someone has something they didn't care for or they think could be improved on. Besides the two minor issues with the Toasted Barley and Mushrooms and the Oatmeal Pie (which are really just personal preference), we all left Blackwater Grille sighing with contentment. I'm looking forward to a reunion with this group at Blackwater soon!

Blackwater Grille
1715 Brevard Rd
Hendersonville, NC
(828) 693-0856

Monday - Saturday 5:00PM 'till close
Sunday Closed