Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013 - 25

Clockwise from above: Elk River Lodge offers
elegant regional dishes; guests dine inside or on
a deck. Dirtbean, in Marlinton, combines a bike
shop and coffee shop/cafe, with comfy chairs.

Ready to Go Eat?
Bar-B-Que Ranch
3311 North Valley Pike, Harrisonburg
540-434-3296

Lucky
18 Kirk Avenue SW, Roanoke
540-982-1249; eatatlucky.com

Simplicity at Mast Farm Inn
2543 Broadstone Road, Banner Elk
828-963-5857; themastfarminn.com

The Square Root Cafe
33 Times Arcade Alley, Brevard
828-884-6171; squarerootrestaurant.com

The Red House Inn
266 West Probart Street, Brevard
828-884-9349; brevardbedandbreakfast.com

Elk River Lodge and Restaurant
U.S. 219, Slatyfork
304-572-3771, 866-572-3771
elkriverinnandrestaurant.com

The Dirtbean
8th Street, Marlinton
304-799-4038; dirtbean.com
Worth A Click: Visit
BlueRidgeCountry.com/Diners
for four delicious recipes!

here on a Saturday. We’re early, so we spend some quiet time on the
porch with reading and the resident cat.
Executive Chef David Carte has created a menu that makes decisions difficult. At the bottom of one page is a list of the sources,
including Wade’s Mill (Raphine, Va.), Katahdin Farm, Mountain
State Brewing, Mattie’s Mountain Mud, Mountain State Trout
Hatchery, Brightside Acres, Good Times Farm, Green Glades
Creamery and Jeff ’s Breads.
We start with a cheese plate, including roasted grapes, West
Virginia havarti and cheddar, Italian sausage, house-made olive oil
and orange blossom truffle honey. For entrees, I go with the rainbow
trout. I have never been a fan of succotash but this succotash I like
– it’s infused with rosemary. The second side: pimiento cheese grits.
Phil orders the North Carolina free-range chicken with gnocchi

– tender and full of flavor. Too full for dessert, we take it with us.
“I have many favorite dishes,” says Carte, “but right now we have
a great lamb dish on the menu with house-made lamb merguez
sausage, grilled lamb strip loin, saffron couscous risotto, baby carrots
and mint chimichurri. Amazing colors, flavors, and textures.
“Winter menus always are slightly heavier than summer. Usually
I have one more meat and one less fish dish on the menu. I also like
to have a braised dish. It’s tricky to be ambitious without going too
far.”
Elk River Inn caters to fly fishers, hikers, folks who want to canoe
the Greenbrier River, and the inn is a cozy, pleasantly rustic place to
overnight before and after. And it’s one of the nicest views this whole
trip, as the evening grows, and we listen to the cicadas and watch
the sun catch the ends of the tree branches. 
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013 | 25

http://www.eatatlucky.com http://www.themastfarminn.com http://www.squarerootrestaurant.com http://www.brevardbedandbreakfast.com http://www.elkriverinnandrestaurant.com http://www.dirtbean.com http://BlueRidgeCountry.com/Diners

Blue Ridge Country - November/December 2013

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