The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 57

DINING | CULTIVATED TASTES

A combined uniqueness: Owners Scott and Ashley Switzer
created Blue Apron by marrying their years of unique career
experiences and passions into a singularly beautiful restaurant
experience for Roanokers.

there, Switzer worked as a chef in several restaurants along the east
coast. Each place helped shape his beliefs about food and hospitality. "[It's] the Alice Water Movement (originator of farm-to-table)
shoved together with French cooking," explains Switzer in describing
the basic tenets of his cooking style. When he and Tayloe-Switzer
combined their years of experiences in food, architecture, hospitality and nurturing people, the Blue Apron emerged.
Interestingly, if you had asked me before interviewing Switzer
what Blue Apron's "thing" is in Roanoke's line-up of "hipster" generation (as Switzer calls them) restaurants (e.g: Local Roots, The
River and Rail, Lucky), I couldn't have told you-other than, it's
different. Switzer laughs when I mention this, saying it's something
he hears often. Even his employees have a hard time pinning it
down. There's the small plates. But the difference is beyond small
plates. Switzer believes it's the entire Blue Apron brand-a classically elegant French style anchored in blue apron heart. It permeates everything: the architecture and decor, the service, the menu,
the small plates option, the food.
So, how does this translate for Roanokers trying to decide where
to dine for an evening? Switzer says he thinks what Blue Apron offers guests is an exciting, yet safe, dining experience.
Safe, but not boring.
"My job is to offer [customers] change well," Switzer explains
when describing Blue Apron's revolving six-week menu. Thus, 'safe'
at Blue Apron means the risks taken in the kitchen will always translate into a rich, complex and completely satisfying gastronomic
THEROANOKER.COM

experience for diners. "Our guests deserve safety, but they also
deserve excitement." As such, Switzer is constantly challenging his
chefs and servers to represent the Blue Apron brand in individual
and creative ways.
"I'm asking them to do a lot; to represent the brand but still
have reign of what they're doing."
I had the good fortune of dining at Blue Apron on a new-menu
night; a fact I wouldn't know until days later. I wouldn't have
guessed it was the servers' first night with a new menu-something that often looks like a fawn with new legs: awkward. Instead,
my husband and I enjoyed intelligent, easy service in a setting I
can best describe as a classy mixture of cosmopolitan and French
Country, while dining on some of the most haute cuisine I've experienced since, well, since visiting France.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | 57


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The Roanoker - January/February 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - January/February 2017

Front Cover
Letters/Worth a Click
From the Editor
Lunch With . . .
Streets of Roanoke
The Gist
Events
25 Great Things in Roanoke, 2016
Five National Best-Selling Authors Right Here?
Making it in Roanoke
The “From-Scratch” Bullington Home
Blue Apron, La Petite Fondue: Two for Distinctive Dining
The Dish
SPECIAL SECTION: Valley Life
SPECIAL SECTION: The Menu Dining Guide
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Intro
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Cover1
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Cover2
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 3
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 4
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 5
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 6
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 7
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 8
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 9
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Letters/Worth a Click
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 11
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - From the Editor
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 13
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Lunch With . . .
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 15
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Streets of Roanoke
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 17
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - The Gist
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 19
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 20
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 21
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Events
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 23
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 24
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 25
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 26
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 25 Great Things in Roanoke, 2016
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 28
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The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 30
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 31
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 32
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 33
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Five National Best-Selling Authors Right Here?
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 35
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 36
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 37
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Making it in Roanoke
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 39
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 40
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 41
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 42
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 43
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - The “From-Scratch” Bullington Home
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 45
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 46
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 47
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 48
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 49
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 50
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - SPECIAL SECTION: Valley Life
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The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 53
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 54
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 55
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Blue Apron, La Petite Fondue: Two for Distinctive Dining
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 57
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 58
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 59
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The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - 65
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - The Dish
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Cover3
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - Cover4
The Roanoker - January/February 2017 - SPECIAL SECTION: The Menu Dining Guide
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