New rooftop Italian cucina makes grand debut in downtown Asheville
ASHEVILLE - Two new restaurant bars are elevating downtown’s dining scene and social experiences.
On April 18, Embassy Suites by Hilton Asheville Downtown, 192 Haywood St., hosted a grand opening celebration following the debut of its second food and beverage concept, the Italian-inspired Soprana Rooftop Cucina.
Last winter, Embassy Suites opened, and overnight guests and the public were invited to dine at the lobby-adjacent bar and grill, E’Terie.
E’Terie offers a menu of bar bites and snacks, like elote street corn fritters and the mains, including Korean-style chicken and waffles, plus several pizzas and flatbread dishes.
In March, Soprana's doors opened to the public on the seventh floor as a chic rooftop pizzeria with panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Soprana’s starters
Soprana’s features an assortment of classic brick oven pizzas, but the appetizers and small plates aren’t to be upstaged.
The First Impressions section of starters offers half a dozen sharables, like the burrata and cheese, oven Brussel sprouts, smoked white bean dip and warm Castelvetrano olives and a charcuterie board stacked with treats from local Chop Shop Butchery.
“In crafting the menu at Soprana, it was incredibly important to us to feature the ingredients of Western North Carolina,” Jeffrey Stanford, executive chef, said in a news release. “Our local ranchers, farmers and makers are part of what makes the Asheville food and beverage scene so special, and we wanted that to come through with every bite at Soprana – many of our dishes incorporate ingredients from these partners, as well as house-grown herbs.”
The oven-baked wings are seasoned with Italian dry rub from Asheville-founded spice company, Spicewalla, and completed with garlic butter and charred lemon.
For lighter bites, the Leaves & Ladles portion offers a fire-roasted red pepper and tomato bisque and a trio of crisp salads, including an arugula citrus salad ― a mix of grapefruit, orange, radish, red onion, cucumber, radicchio and tossed with a honey basil vinaigrette.
Pizza at Soprana
Whether red or white sauce is the spread of choice, Soprana has diners covered with eight varieties of pizzas.
The aptly named Asheville Pizza is a tomato-sauced-based pie topped with Chop Shop Butchery’s pepperoni and fresh mozzarella and drizzled with Asheville Bee Charmer’s Smokin’ Hot Honey.
The Chop Shop brings more of the butchery’s meats to the plate with Italian sausage, Soppressata and Genoa salami with fresh mozzarella, Castelvetrano olives, pickled Fresno chilies and fresh herbs on tomato sauce.
The artichoke pizza is livened up with basil pesto and layers of artichokes, fresh mozzarella, feta cheese and a burst of colorful heirloom tomatoes and arugula.
The fig and prosciutto pizza stars Prosciutto di Parma and fig complemented by balsamic jam, red onions, chevre, fresh mozzarella and arugula and finished with extra virgin olive oil.
Finish the meal with a sweet bite of hazelnut panna cotta, olive oil cake, tiramisu ice cream sandwich or affogato.
Cocktails with a local twist
At the bar, specialty cocktails complement the food and scenic views by putting pizazz in a glass.
Asheville’s bountiful brewing industry shines with brews from businesses like Burial Beer Co., Hi-Wire Brewing, Wicked Weed Brewing and more.
The Limoncello Lemon Drop is made with house-made limoncello and vodka from Asheville distillery Cultivated Cocktails.
Other in-state makers are showcased in specialty cocktails like the Sgroppino made with North Carolina-distilled Cathead honeysuckle vodka, and the Venetian Empress features North Carolina-distilled Conniption Kinshi.
Blue Ridge Mountain rooftop views
Soprana offers indoor table and booth seating with additional places to pull up a chair at its bar, which is in prime position as the dining room's centerpiece.
A special events room is available for private bookings.
The wraparound rooftop provides ample table and lounge seating for diners or those desiring to sip while taking in the views.
In the evening, the ambiance is set with Edison bulb string lights and votive candles to create a casual yet upscale ― and perhaps romantic ― vibe whether relaxing on the deck before or after sunset.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Soprana, E'Terie opens with brick oven pizza, global bites, cocktails
