p. 4 |9.14.2012 | northern exposure - glass onion...

p. 4 | 9.14.2012 | ashevillescene.com

I t all began with a garlic knot. Not the kind that hasso much butter dripping off it that you have to dona bib; this garlic knot was a sign of good things to

come.But before garlic knots, let me tell you how the

Glass Onion, a Weaverville Italian restaurant, cameabout. Both of the chefs/owners hail from the Hamp-tons in Long Island, N.Y. Italian food and Long Islandare so synonymous that even Billy Joel, who grew upon the island dubbed a song “Scenes from an ItalianRestaurant.”

If you’ve ever visited the island, you’ll know it’smade up of small villages, much like Weaverville, allup and down the north and south forks. So when it was

time for these chefs to make a change, Weavervillewasn’t such an unlikely choice.

The Glass Onion labels itself as “global Italian.”According to the menu, that means a focus on north-ern Italian cuisine made global by insistence on localingredients. Geographics aside, I was anxious to trymore.

This brings me to the garlic knot: crisp on the out-side, soft on the inside and just the right amount ofbutter and garlic brushed on the crusty exterior. Wasit expected? Perhaps. Was it delicious? Undoubtedly.

The menu had a diverse selection of pasta, meatsand seafood, without being too lengthy. Even a veganselection was available, which included a filet of cele-riac (aka celery root), which I respectfully gave a nodto and quickly moved my attention to the waiter as he

listed several pleasing specials.We chose to start the meal with a special salad

offerings of local, organic arugula, fresh figs, Spin-ning Spider Creamery’s award-winning stackhousegoat cheese and a white balsamic (otherwise known asthe anti-balsamic) vinaigrette, which was delicious.The salad was simple, lightly dressed, and the cheeseand fresh figs were allowed to shine through.

It was refreshing to see a diverse selection of nice-ly thought-out salads making use of local produce;everything from an heirloom-tomato salad with Spin-ning Spider’s blue goat to roasted beet-and-pear saladover local greens.

I chose the angel hair and white clam sauce for anentrée. The main criticism I found online while re-searching the restaurant before my visit was that theprice was too high for pasta in contrast to the portion.I found the portion size just fine, the price average. (Ialso think some people want everything for nothing.)Sure, it would be nice to have a sizable portion of foodmade with local products for the price of a Big Mac.Unfortunately, that’s unreasonable, and unless wewant local restaurants to purchase big-box supplies inorder to lower their prices, we’ve got to change ourway of thinking.

For $17 at the Glass Onion, you can enjoy a largebowl of house-made pasta, tossed with fresh clamsand lightly flavored with oregano, red pepper, andgarlic. The pasta was cooked al dente, and the wholedish was reminiscent of a culinary journey to thecoastal villages of Long Island.

My wife ordered a roast duck with porcini sauceand rice. Once again, portion size was not an issue;there were two sizable duck leg quarters, roasted toperfection, fat rendered crispy, the meat inside moistand flavorful. The porcinis were the perfect mush-room to pair with duck because their earthy flavorstill has a slight sweetness that adds a delicate note

Angel hair pasta with white clams, at Weaverville’s Glass Onion, founded by two natives of Long Island, N.Y. BILL

SANDERS/ASHEVILLE SCENE

NORTHERN EXPOSUREPaying the (fair) price for good food at Weaverville’s Glass OnionBy Matthew DeRobertis

Eddie Hannibal of Glass Onion prepares an angel hairpasta dish. PHOTOS BY BILL SANDERS/ASHEVILLE SCENE

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