While I’m not convinced that there is a real Heaven, I am convinced that we’re lucky enough to experience little pockets of pure bliss if we associate ourselves with the right people and the right situations. The right person for me is Lindsay and last weekend we put ourselves in Salsas restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina for a little slice of Heaven on Earth. Now, prepare to hold back your vomit, but any time I’m with Lindsay it makes me happy and I generally consider wherever we are to be my favorite place on Earth. You mix her fine ass in with an amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurant and I am one happy camper!

Lindsay took me to Asheville for a romantic weekend get-away and completely took me by surprise. We started our adventure by completing the Urban Trail, which is a history walk around Asheville. It’s about a 2-mile loop that showcases Asheville’s rich history. It also takes you by amazing shops and restaurants like Salsas. We had walked by Salsas earlier in the day and the small, quaint restaurant was PACKED! We returned around 3 O’clock and we grabbed the only remaining table in the place. Our server was very informative and even had “tricks” (meaning he could twist his wrist and rotate a plate with his fingers, thus giving the illusion that he wrist rotated 360 degrees). We loved him and hope he loved us!

Lindsay started out with a fantastic mojito with candied ginger and mint, and I helped myself to a pineapple margarita. Holy Cow! Everything was fresh and reasonably priced for being so well handcrafted. We ordered the “Spliff Rolls” (anyone else pick-up on the drug reference? I love Asheville!). The “Spliffs” were a Latin style eggroll stuffed with crab and cheese, and finished with citrus salsa and coconut curry sauce. It was so good we had to get another round of drinks to wash it down. In order to not spoil our dinner at Jerusalem Café (post forthcoming) we split the Pork Paquetez. This is like a burrito that has lived under power lines and morphed into a Monster Burrito. The pork chorizo was tender and full of flavor. In addition to the chorizo there was pickled beets, cabbage and an orange-fennel sauce. All of the flavors married perfectly and made it so hard not to inhale every last bite off the plate. The beans were slow-cooked and the vinaigrette slaw was amazing. I really cannot say enough positive things about this restaurant. They were packed and everything came out promptly and with the utmost quality and care put into everything we ordered.

Seriously, do yourself a favor and go check out the good people of Salsas. It’s high quality food that has low impact on your wallet (especially if your girlfriend pays). But you’ll enjoy the entire experience. I loved all of the original artwork on the walls and the funky colors that run throughout their décor. I will make it a point to go back and visit them again the next time I am in Asheville. You don’t want to miss this place!

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