Business

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP: What does it take?

Two close, one reopens: Mother Butters on Fifth Avenue East and Mrs. G & Me on Main Street closed. Renzo's Italian restaurant is opening on the corner.

By Bill Moss, Published: July 22, 2014

Inn on Church rebrands

At the Inn on Church, proprietors Joe and Stephanie Crawford decided to rebrand the restaurant and step up to a fine dining experience. A new red sign on Church Street raised visibility and old-fashioned porch dining (in shade and out of the rain) offers assets Main Street restaurants don't.Chef Stuart Partin serves dessert at Third Avenue Bistro at the Inn on Church.Manager Jennifer Styles confirms Adams's view that Hendersonville chefs are competing not just with one another, but with Asheville and its lively and innovative restaurant scene.
The change at the Inn "was all staying local and fresh-made and making everything in house and attention to detail and ingredients," Styles said. "We felt we had to find a niche. We've had a lot of people say they don't need to drive to Asheville and they're glad that we're here."
Tourists can stay overnight and get a meal, too.
"We're the last remaining hotel downtown," Styles said. "I think our venue is unique in terms of the restaurant. Hendersonville has a lot of historic buildings but not a lot of them are being used" for their original purpose."
Originally opened as the Aloah Hotel in 1919, the property has been a boarding house and now is back to serving as a hotel and dining room with a bar.
The location a block off Main is an advantage, she said, because parking is more plentiful.
"People don't have to worry about finding a spot and moving their car and things like that," she said. "We have the outside dining too. People see that driving by."