Bomba rice cooked in a wide pan with chicken, rabbit, garrofó beans, green beans and saffron-tomato sofrito. The traditional Valencian recipe served at lunch.
Where to eat it: 1 restaurant across 1 city.
Katie Button and Felix Meana's Cúrate opened on Biltmore Avenue in 2011 and won the 2022 James Beard Outstanding Hospitality award. Meana was raised in Valencia, where his family ran a restaurant; Cúrate's paella Valenciana follows the canonical Valencia version (chicken, rabbit, garrofó, green beans; never seafood). The daily paella lunch became the city's standout splurge value-meal in the 2010s, and the dish put Spanish cooking on the Asheville food map permanently. The kitchen runs traditional Valencia, plus seasonal seafood paellas at dinner.
Tip from the editors. The socarrat (crisp, caramelised rice on the bottom) is the goal. Don't stir after the rice goes in; listen for the crackle at the end.
Katie Button's Cúrate on Biltmore Avenue in Asheville won the 2022 James Beard Outstanding Hospitality award. The Pintxos tasting menu at the chef's counter.
Order: The chef's tasting at the counter, with sherry pairings.
Tip: Counter tasting menu at the long bar requires booking 30 days ahead on Resy. The dining room is à la carte.
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