ASHEVILLE - Two downtown Asheville establishments have been ranked among the nation’s best when eating and drinking sans gluten.
On Aug. 28, USA TODAY’s 10Best media component announced the winners of its Readers’ Choice Awards in the gluten-free category.
The audience-driven polls included the 10 top-voted picks in the classifications Best Cider, Best Cidery, Best Gluten-Free Bakery, Best Gluten-Free Beer, Best Gluten-Free Pizzeria and Best Restaurant for Gluten-Free Dining.
Posana restaurant ranked No. 2 for Best Restaurant for Gluten-Free Dining.
“We see new people come into the restaurant all the time who need to eat gluten-free for either a disease, an intolerance, a light allergy or just for a preference,” said co-owner and Executive Chef Peter Pollay. “When I go gluten-free, I feel much light, have more energy, sleep better.”
Urban Orchard Cider Company’s Vacation Station ranked No. 8 for Best Cider.
Last year, the tropical fruit cider ranked No. 2 on 10Best’s list.
Cidermaker and Production Director Gregory Hill said the U.S. cider industry continues to see upward trends of consumers seeking gluten-free alternatives and finding their way to cider.
“A lot of gluten-free people get their friends and other people who aren’t gluten-free into cider because they happen to be out with them and they try it,” he said.
Dining at Posana
Posana, at 1 Biltmore Ave., has operated with a gluten-free kitchen since it opened in 2009.
Pollay said the decision was made after his wife, Martha, who’s also the restaurant’s co-owner and chief creative officer, was diagnosed with the Celiac autoimmune disease.
The couple found it difficult to dine out so they took the practices they used at home to open a restaurant that exempted gluten ― a protein in wheat, barley, rye and other grains that’s often used as a binding agent in processed food that can cause adverse effects on people with Celiac disease and with a gluten-sensitivity.
“I wanted a safe place for my wife to eat,” Pollay said. “Here we are 15 years later and still quite busy and people seem to enjoy it. We still enjoy doing it so we’re going to keep going.”
Pollay said many diners don’t realize Posana has a dedicated gluten-free kitchen. It’s a testament to the team’s ability to seamlessly provide a menu that forgoes gluten but keeps flavor and quality at the forefront, sourcing from local farmers and purveyors.
“I haven’t seen too many other examples of full service, fine dining, gluten-free restaurants in the country,” Pollay said. “We have an extremely great, talented chef team and they elevate all the food, and everyone front of house elevates our service and cocktail program.”
Posana offers many dishes that traditionally include gluten, like in-house, scratch-made breadsticks, gnocchi, fried green tomatoes and pasta.
Pollay said the culinary team isn’t afraid of getting creative. The staff tests the dishes before they are added to the menu.
“We want to have gluten-free go unnoticed in our restaurant all the time,” he said.
Also, consider ordering from Posana’s award-winning wine cellar , which has retained its Best of Award of Excellence standing from Wine Spectator, a leading industry media company, since 2018.
View 10Best’s complete gluten-free dining list at 10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-restaurant-for-gluten-free-dining-2024/ .
For more, visit posanarestaurant.com .
Drinking Vacation Station cider
Two years ago, Urban Orchard introduced Vacation Station as a “summertime fun” cider. Annually, it’s released in the spring and poured through the summer, though customers may still get a taste into the early fall.
Vacation Station, a semi-sweet cider, is packed with tropical fruits guava, kiwi and mango.
Hill said it’s one of the easy-sipping selections with a 5% ABV (alcohol by volume).
Vacation Station is available for retail sale and on draft at the South Slope taproom, 24 Buxton Ave.
In Urban Orchard’s taproom, Hill said consumers gravitate toward new fruit and seasonal berry varieties.
“We have a unique approach,” Hill said. “We treat cider like wine, so we mature it and age it in order to get it a better apple flavor from our fermentation process. It’s unique in how we process it ― it’s a slower process so it takes us longer, but we feel it gives it an even higher quality end product.”
Hill said Urban Orchard uses North Carolina apples and the cidery is a seasonal producer that ferments only when apples are available.
Going into the fall apple and berry season, Urban Orchard is preparing to release a new berry cider ― to be announced. In November, the cidery will debut a new “fire cider” ― the warm, spicy ciders ideal for colder weather – brimming with five different kinds of peppers from the local farm, Smoking J's Fiery Foods.
View the full Best Cider list at 10best.usatoday.com/awards/travel/best-cider-2024/ .
For more, visit urbanorchardcider.com .
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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 tkennell@citizentimes.com 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: Gluten not required: Asheville restaurant, cider rank on national list of bests
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