When Joe Scully moved to Asheville in the year 2000, he was happy to be in such a beautiful place. Kevin Westmoreland was born here, and he never took the beauty or uniqueness of his home town for granted.

The two met when both their boys were enrolled in a YMCA organization for little kids and their dads. Both boys, now young men, are named Matthew. Maybe that’s why Kevin and Joe became fast friends. When the building that became Corner Kitchen was offered to Joe, he approached Kevin, “What do you say we do a restaurant together?” Kevin, who had spent 15 years in management for various area companies, was intrigued. However, he approached it in his usual thoughtful way, reading every restaurant management and “So you think it would be fun to own a restaurant” book. Nothing could have prepared him for what was to follow…

By February of 2004, Corner Kitchen was open and running in Historic Biltmore Village. Within two years, the CK (as we call it) was fast becoming an iconic fixture in the burgeoning Asheville restaurant scene. Joe’s handcrafted food and Kevin’s easy and cheerful management style proved a winning combination. It helped that there were great people working for the little company.

Right around the same time the local (and some not so local) realtors started courting Kevin and Joe. “Hey, I have this great space, whaddya say you guys open a restaurant here…” This phenomenon happened around once a month. Joe was always, “Hey, this’ll work!” While Kevin, ran the numbers and thought it through. Needless to say, the guys didn’t open another full-fledged restaurant until 48 Biltmore Ave. came up. Score!

The space was perfect, with storage and space for a commissary kitchen downstairs. Thus, Chestnut was born.

What makes Chestnut special? We make all our desserts in-house, right down to the Ice Creams and Sorbets. Demiglaze of Veal, Chestnut Chips (seasoned with mustard powder, paprika, salt & sugar), hand-cut French Fries, Smoked Salmon, base for our Lobster Bisque (which by the way takes hours), Pickled Green Tomatoes, and so much more. Our food is hand-crafted. We proudly support local food providers.. We buy from a host of local growers, ranchers, cheese makers and dairies. We don’t make a big deal out of it but it is kind of a big deal!

What makes Chestnut different? Every month we change our dinner menu. Sure, a handful of items stay on such as the Bisque, Charcuterie and Petite Filet. But the majority rotate off and this keeps us on our toes. It allows Chef to foster a creative kitchen and keeps it exciting for the front of house staff who sell our food to YOU. Every fourth Tuesday of the month, we close an hour early during lunch and host all staff to a “tasting” of the following month’s menu. It’s awesome!

We are delighted to have you here and hope your experience at Chestnut will be as good as ours has been. Lunch, Brunch Dinner and/or Drinks. Craft Food and Cocktails.

That’s Chestnut in a nutshell.