Jargon — Restaurant in Asheville

Another perfect evening at Jargon!

This is truly our favorite restaurant in all of Asheville. Each time we visit is an exploration of local, seasonal flavors that leave us impressed with the chef’s creativity. Being the holiday season, the decorations were sparkly and cozy, while the musical ambience was jazzy and festive. From our favorite window table, we watched the Krampus Parade march by, deepening the feeling of holiday spirit.

On this visit, we began our meal with Bourbon and Scotch cocktails, as well as some Crispy Smashed Fingerlings (GF, V), and the Roasted Maitake Mushrooms small plate (GF, Vegan). Just before these arrived, the chef sent out a little one-bite of lettuce, house-made hummus, and the tastiest slice of radish I’ve ever consumed. Now, onto the fingerlings and mushrooms. WHOA. The fingerlings waded delicately into a pool of creamy, light cheese sauce. The onions that topped the potato’s left me wanting many, many more. The mushrooms… oh my gosh, those mushrooms. I’ve never tasted anything like them before. Their texture was the perfect combination of meaty and velvety, while the mole was warm and rich. The radish and pumpkin seeds added the ideal texture and depth, causing us to clean the entire plate. Once devoured, we enjoyed the perfect amount of rest time before our meals graced our table.

As our mains, my husband ordered the Jurgielewicz Duck (GF), while I invited the Winter Risotto (GF, Vegan) to join us. My husband reports that the duck was perfectly seared on the outside and unimaginably tender on the inside (he could cut it with a fork). The cabbage was mixed with more crispy duck skin, causing his eyes to widen and a large smile to engulf his entire face. My risotto… WOW. It was the flavor equivalent of wrapping oneself up in a Sherpa blanket with a cup of tea. The combination of ingredients included roasted turnips, radicchio, celery root, and winter savory oil that literally combined to taste like winter, itself. The nutritional yeast sprinkled on top set off the savory, cheesy flavor. As I write this the next morning, I’m still in awe of this dish.

Again, allowing the perfect amount of rest between courses, our two desserts arrived right on time. I enjoyed the (Vegan) Orange Blossom-Coconut Panna Cotta with pistachio dentelle, bitter orange gastrique, and toasted coconut, while my husband had the Buttermilk Wheat Cake with lemon curd, grapefruit, and coriander bark. The Panna Cotta was like nothing I’ve ever had before. As someone who is lactose intolerant, this dessert was everything creamy and perfect about dairy, WITHOUT the dairy. The pomegranate and citrus created a balanced sweet and tart flavor, while the pistachio and toasted coconut finished the experience on your palate. My husband’s Buttermilk cake had the consistency of a very soft cornbread, though with a molasses, wheaty flavor. Now, my husband is no fan of grapefruit, but said it was absolutely delicious and he spooned up the lemon curd while taking bites of the coriander bark for the full experience.

In summary, all of this is why we love Jargon so much. Our server was attentive and knowledgeable and I’d estimate our next return will be soon.

Thank you again, Jargon, for another ...

Let me tell y’all about one of the best meals I’ve had in the last 15-20 years. If you’ve known me for any length of time, you know I am very much into food. I have been cooking for a very long time and I have taken a lot of time to learn about different aspects of cooking and food. I have a running list of places I would put up as my top five. Kind of like the idea of John Cusack’s top 5 in the movie High Fidelity. With that said, @jargonrestaurant absolutely blew it out of the water and made their way into the top 5 restaurants I’ve eaten at nationwide.

With a menu that changes daily, chef Ryan Kline @soigne_westt has done a lot to make use of local ingredients.

Tonight we started off with a Crispy Pork al Pastor Croquette topped with charred pineapple and green tomato salsa, cilantro aioli. This was incredible, putting everything on the fork and allowing all the flavors to combine.

We followed that with Charred Corn Ribs. They had black garlic, red miso aioli, togarashi furikake, popcorn, and dancing bonito flakes. These were spot on. The only issue here was I wanted more.

Up next, Severian's Tomatoes. A golden tomato tart, pickled cherry tomatoes, basil tuiles and evoo powder. That tart was absolutely the star of the show.

This next one, I told my fiancé we had to step out of our comfort zone. The Crispy Pig Ears topped with fermented carrot salsa, cotija, hibiscus onions, and avocado espuma. I cannot explain how incredible this dish was on an adventurous move.

Next we had our main, we decided to split one because we wanted to see what dessert could be. Our main was a Grilled Double Cut Pork Chop with creamed kimchi rice grits, peach, shishito pepper, and a bourbon - soy reduction. This was the second best pork chop I’ve ever had, and honestly, that’s a huge statement.

As we started to come to the close of the meal, we decided again, to step out of our comfort zones. The first of the two desserts we picked was a Tomato Upside Down Olive Oil Cake with honey poached tomatoes and basil ice cream. When I say this was impressive, it is an understatement. While it was sweet, it was also thought provoking. Basil ice cream… absolutely out of the park.

And finally, the craziest dessert I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying. This Corn Crème Brûlée topped with micro planed white chocolate, Tajin, and mint, shaped like corn and designed to look like street corn, it was stellar and blew our minds.

I cannot thank the staff at Jargon enough for a wonderful meal, incredible hospitality and a great evening. We will 100% go back. If you’re in the Asheville area, do yourself a favor and go!

For those of you who know of master chef Ed Lee or David Kinch, there are strong vibes from both here, though not affiliated. For a 6 year old restaurant… I can’t wait to see what’s on the menu next time...

Creative-on-steroids kind of a place.

Walking in with some Eartha Kitt vinyl spinning definitely set the mood in the intimate setting.

Mushrooms great... then some miso foam and mushroom cracklings...mushrooms fantastic.

Brussel sprouts great...then some glaze and paper-thin dried tuna flakes waving (literally waving) on top... brussel sprouts fantastic and fun to watch.

Pork belly great...then dollops of two different sweet potatoes and a caramelized-esque apple...pork belly fantastic.

Beef meatballs had a flavorful red sauce. As with all the dishes, I scraped up every bit of sauce I could.

The chocolate ganache dessert-not quite as firm as a torte, not as soft as a panna cotta or mousse-was topped with malt crumbles and brownie bites. The mouth-feel contrasting the creamy and crunchy was delicious and not overwhelmingly chocolatey.

The bread pudding had five-spice cream, nut clusters, slightly salty soft apple slices. Crunchy, soft, sweet, salty, savory, creamy, familiar, and exotic all rolled into one satisfying bite. Sounds like a crazy mishmash, but perfectly balanced.

Even if these particular offerings are not on the menu, I would trust whatever is being served. The chef understands flavor and isn't afraid to stretch your preconceived palate while keeping the dishes very approachable.

From the host greeting us to the server (Reign took great care of us), everyone was welcoming, friendly and efficient. Plates were checked and imperfections wiped away before serving. Wine glasses were inspected for smudges. The pacing of the food is not too fast nor too slow. I watched these people work hard to make it seamless and appear effortless.

Jargon pays attention to details culminating in an enjoyable eating experience. Makes me sad I'm not a local to experience more...