by
Pasckie Pascua
POSANA
Cafe's most-sought appetizer Lobster Mac and Cheese—a refined
delight of ricotta gnocchi, chives and aged cheddar cheese,
punctuated by premium Maine lobster—could pass off as an entree to
a light diner. Such
a thought doesn't worry Peter Pollay, executive chef and owner, of
the 4-year old restaurant on Biltmore Avenue in downtown. He has more
to offer.
Two choices from the menu's main dish lineup: the Chili
Marinated Tofu and Zucchini Noodles (top grade bean curd surrounded
with braised cippolini onions, jalapeno, tomato, caramelized
eggplant) and Hickory Smoked Scottish Salmon, tossed in a sumptuous
bed of roasted gold beets, grilled asparagus, basil, Looking Glass
goat cheese cream, with confit lemon vianigrette—should make dinner
a mini-feast. We don't end there though... A mouth-watering
cornucopia of “artful cuisine” is a surefire come-on but Posana
Cafe's main attraction is essentially Asheville's focal magic as
well.
"THE biggest thing about us is we are 100 percent gluten free and
organic,” Pollay told The Indie. “That completely separates us
from everyone else.” Posana Cafe has been awarded the Gluten-Free
Food Service Accreditation from the Gluten Intolerance Group of North
America and caters to diners suffering from a broad spectrum of food
allergies.
Suffice
to say, the Pollays' (Peter and wife Martha) brainstorm found its
soulmate in Asheville, long considered as one of America's go-to
destinations in terms of “clean eating.” Residents and
transplants alike achingly quiz even a “health” store and
vegetarian restaurant details surrounding food products and
ingredients. Thus, Posana promises on its website: “We know the
best meals start with fresh ingredients straight from the garden that
just need a little washing before they’re prepared for your plate.
We want the next generation to have this same love and
understanding.”
For
the past four years, Posana Cafe celebrates its May time anniversary
by supporting the education of the younger generation through
the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Program’s Growing
Mindsinitiative. The primary focus of the Growing Minds initiative is
to connect students and farms in all ways possible.
Peter
and Martha believe that it benefits the community to have a strong
relationship with local food, and teaching youths the benefit of
supporting local growers and producers is important. “We buy
everything from close to 40 different local suppliers,” says Peter.
“At any one time, up to 80 different products, all the way from
fruits and vegetables to condiments to beers and beverages, all are
local.”
Posana
Cafe banners Pollay's simple food philosophy: Source premium
ingredients, work closely with the local farming community and never
take short cuts when preparing a dish. “Because of that philosophy
you will discover practically every item is made from scratch using
high quality, natural ingredients. From the flavored syrups and
freshly squeezed mixers behind the bar to the bun and pickles on your
burger,” adds the website.
Simplicity
doesn't necessarily mean innovativeness is not a possibility. Truth
is, Posana's menu offers lots of it. While a number of the offerings,
at least those that I tasted, exude an Italian plate's classic
simplicity, whipped up around five to eight closely selected
ingredients—these dishes also suggest Southeast Asia's complex
flavors yet aromatic balance of fundamental taste senses. What
results is a harmonious finish that is both elegant as it is
delicious.
Sample
the intriguing Kale Salad—toasted pumpkin seeds, currants, Three
Graces Dairy manchego style cheese, lemon, Theros olive oil—sweet,
salty, and bitter. A balance of detail and variety. Then there's BBQ
Spiced Sunburst Farms Trout—stone ground Boonville Mill Grits,
white cheddar, fennel-olive oil slaw, charred tomato vinaigrette.
Calabrian delight by way of the Appalachians!
The Pollays' move to Asheville from Los Angeles ten years ago was almost
like a natural progression. They had just their first child and
believed LA wasn't the place to raise children. “We had a few
friends that had moved here and we came to visit. We liked
it. We liked the seasons,” Peter, who hails from Chicago,
recalls (Martha came from Wisconsin). “The winters weren’t as
harsh as the midwest so we decided to move here and this would be our
home.”
THE young family immediately found instant affinity with this tiny
mountain city, which at the time, was all over national radar with a
number of accolades, such as one of the "Best Places to Reinvent
Your Life," "Top Seven Places to Live in the US,” “10
Most Beautiful Places in America," and "25 Best Places for
Business and Careers," among others.
The
birth of Posana Cafe as a “conscious artful cuisine” bloomed as
the Pollays nurture their “new” comfort zone. It fits their
lifestyle as they fit within Asheville's mystifying persona. “Back
in LA, we would go to the market and buy ingredients from tailgates
or fresh market then go home and make it for ourselves. We
figured there were already a few restaurants doing it here but not to
the extent we wanted to do it.”
So
in the spring of 2009, the Pollays started looking for a restaurant
spot. But the hunt for a place didn't come easy until a friend's
suggestion finally satisfied them: 1
Biltmore Avenue in downtown. “You can’t
beat the address. We are right next to the park, next to Vance
Monument. We have the museum and Diane Wortham across the street. We
always have activity here, people always walking around... It really
is one of the best locations (for a restaurant) in Asheville,”
Peter says.
The economic downturn that drove a number of Asheville restaurants to
fold up didn't faze the new transplants. Their sole passion for food
and the building of healthy communities was enough to get them going.
“It was a hard time at the start, we knew it was slow at first, and
we had to purchase strategically, as well as hire strategically,”
recalls Peter. “But we slowly grew as the economy grew so we didn’t
have to slam on the brakes with the downturn because we started with
the downturn. So we didn’t know any better. We just knew
the bad times.”
It
also greatly helped that Asheville's relatively small but tight
downtown community and its peripheries were already well-entrenched
years before the Pollays' arrival. Although the city's climb from
bankruptcy in 1930s to a degree of prosperity onwards through the 80s
was slow, it was sure. Hence, two decades later, Asheville was
already flourishing—as steady migration and continuous investments
poured in from new residents and entrepreneurs.
With
the coming of new spirits in the mountains, a communal fervor and
“new age” idealism—in all facets of life and living—set in.
“This community is founded on the basis of why everyone is here,”
Pollay philosophizes. “We all like to support each other... Just
like saying hi! on the street or being nice to people, or holding the
door open. More importantly, the locals really support the local
small businesses here, including restaurants, which is great.”
Pollay, who brings with him an education at the Culinary Institute of America
in New York, plus years of restaurant experience to Asheville, adds:
“You always need to re-invent yourself, stretch yourself and kind
of get the vibe of what the public wants. If you don’t change
with that or adapt with that people will stop going to you and sooner
or later you will have to close.”
It
seems simplistic to say that philosophy alone makes a business
endeavor succeed. Apparently, in the case of Posana Cafe, it is
almost an understatement to conclude that, indeed, the Pollays know
what their market wants: Gluten-free, organic, local
cuisine—adulterated, unpretentious, straight through. They don't
need to tinker with that. Yet in the end, as Peter boasts, “Our
focus is the service... and the food.” He meant, in part, why don't
you try the Lobster Mac and Cheese for a start...
[POSANA
CAFE is located at 1
Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC 28801. (828) 505-3969.
www.posanacafe.com/]
PHOTO:
Peter Pollay, executive chef and owner.
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