The magazine states that a handful of fine-dining restaurants have virtually made over Asheville's dining scene, and lists Savoy, located just north of downtown, as one of the most noteworthy.

Contintenal Magazine continued in its story to say:

Housed in what was once a 1930s gas station, Savoy (641 Merrimon Ave., 828.253.1077, www.savoyasheville.com) is all dim lighting, crisp white table linens, and heavy drapes. It's the sort of place where a martini before dinner feels not only natural, but mandatory. On any given night, you're likely to be seated near CEOs, surgeons, and young couples in love. And every night executive chef Jimmy Ducas is on hand to make sure the food is a match for the scene.

"It's wonderful that aplace like Asheville has grown into fine dining as quickly as it has," Ducas says. "Hopefully, people will keep demanding it. You can really tell when you bite into apiece of organic lettuce from a local farm that it was grown with a lot of love, that it's not just what came in on a truck after a five-day trip cross-country."

In spring, Ducas' Mediterranean-influenced plates � like soft-shell crabs with friedgreentomatoes and shaved asparagus salad, and pan-seared halibutwith spring peas and morel mushrooms � are vibrant with organic, seasonal fare, including plenty of freshly caught fish. For the new Chophouse menu, Ducas also uses Only the best: natural, grain-fed beef from Painted Hills in Oregon. The deep wine list is carefully selected and nationally recognized.

knowledge and repertoire, as well as his relationships with purveyors who bring him such hard-to-snag local ingredients as truffles from the Appalachian woods. "These farmers, they're growing everything here, the climate is so versatile," Ducas says. "Some mountain farms have been in people's families for generations, and the ground itself is completely organic, with amazing heirloom varieties coming out of it.

"I believe in supporting the local farming community, which is huge. So a lot of my cooking comes from the very best I can get my hands on from familyfarms." Thirty-year-old Ducas, a Long Island native, learned to cook linguine and clam sauce at the knee of his Italian grandmother, whose influence is felt in Savoy offerings like zuppa de pence. He began working in kitchens in New York at 14 and later schooled himself by working 100-hour weeks as a line cook in four different states before landing in Asheville.

The heavy rotation of seafood on Savoy's menu is also a nod to Ducas' upbringing. "I spent every day in the summer riding down to the bay and fishing," he says. "At the end of the day, we'd bring fish or crabs or shrimp back to the house. I learned early how to clean, cook, and enjoy whatever we'd caught that day."

While Ducas provides the upscale flavors, Savoy owner, Eric Scheffer, sets an elegant stage � a feat that comes naturally to the Hollywood transplant. Before opening Savoy Sheffer produced films and TV ads, working with such artists as Oliver Stone, Sting, and Cyndi Lauper. Just like working on a film, Scheffer says creating a "dining experience" requires vision and staffwide collaboration.

"Here we work all the time to make the complete experience just right, he explains.

"The forks, the lights, the music, the wine list, the service. Just like the saying, 'You're only as good as your last film,' we're only as good as your last experience [at Savoy]." That's why every night, Scheffer and Ducas are truly giving outdoorsy Asheville the red-carpet treatment.

Jack of the Wood (828.2 52.5445; jackofthewood.com), a decade-old Celtic pub, is mentioned in the magazine as embodying the welcoming spirit of a 19th-century village tavern in Ireland. "We're a true public house," says Joe Culpepper, who's been working behind the horseshoe-shaped bar for nine years. "Whether you're 21 or 71, nobody's a stranger here. You just sit down and feel at home."

Jack of theWood is more than just a pub. In addition to the dozen or so draft beers, half of them brewed just down the street, and the requisite fish and chips and shepherd's pie ($9 for, hefty portions), there's a long list of single-malt scotches and fine bourbons at exceptionally fair prices, and a menu of eclectic dishes. For visitors looking something more exotic, owners Joe and Joan Eckert also own and operate the Laughing Seed Cafe, a high-toned restaurant located above Jack of the Wood that features internationally inspired vegetarian food. And just five blocks away from the Jack is Green Man, the brewery Joe Eckert started."

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