ASHEVILLE | NORTH CAROLINA

Review: Crusco Serves Charm, a Few Misfires, and a Few Hits

★★★☆☆

CRUSCO | $$$$$ | MAP | INSTAGRAM

By Eric Barton | Oct. 13, 2025

AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.

Walking in to Crusco early Friday night, my wife and I took two seats at the big bar up front—empty but for one guy trading old stories with the staff—and watched the sun slip behind the mountains, casting the dining room in a warm, orange haze. The River Arts District outside was buzzing with people in town for leaf-peeping, and Crusco felt like the kind of escape you want at the end of the day, with an easy charm that made you hope the food would match the mood.

Crusco is the creation of four Asheville industry veterans: Allen Clark, Alex Harris, Kat Kearney, and Lauren Macellaro. The team built the restaurant on Depot Street with a farm-to-table ethos and a focus on creativity over fuss. It’s the kind of collaboration that feels very Asheville—ambitious, communal, and quietly confident. The menu reads like a love letter to farm-to-table Asheville. From what we ordered that night, the dishes still need editing, with some hard misses and some shining moments that hint of what’s possible here.

Radishes and eggplant dip

The radishes and eggplant dip arrived first, visually promising but texturally tragic: the dip too thin to cling, most of the radishes too limp to scoop. A Spanish tortilla came next, and while the creme fraiche and caviar made for an inspired flourish, the overcooked triangles—each about the size of a postage stamp—were less so.

Then came redemption. The roasted beets and broccoli hit every mark, tangy and crisp in all the right ways, and the potatoes—swimming in a silky emulsified butter sauce with onions—were the sort of unassuming triumph you wish every kitchen could stumble on. (This dish was proof of what Pete Wells wrote about in the Times recently: potatoes really can be the star of a dish. )

Spanish tortilla

The agnolotti divided us: I liked the delicate pasta and soppressata crunch, but my wife found the white bean filling too muted, missing the lushness of the usual cheese.

We were also divided drink-wise, the menu of wines leaning too far to the unfiltered, natural, and unrecognizable; me personally, if you have to ask what most varietals are on the menu (pineau d'aunis, mencía, and verdejo?), then it’s too far outside the norm of most people’s tastes. But the two cocktails I ordered were spot-on: a Manhattan kicked up with an herbal liqueur and then a penicillin that was expertly nailed.

New potatoes

Roasted beets and broccoli

By the end, the check said $160, but our stomachs said “appetizers.” Crusco has charm in spades—the warmth of the staff, the quiet confidence of its decor, the easy River Arts District cool—but for now it feels like a place still finding its footing. With a few tweaks to portion and precision, it could be one of Asheville’s standouts. For now, it’s more of a pleasant evening that leaves you wishing for one more course.