The Southern Highland Reader

HIGHLANDS–It’s been a couple of decades since I spent a summer in Highlands, waiting tables at the Old Edwards Inn and having many meals at the restaurants roundabout.

Old Edwards Inn and Spa

The Old Edwards — and its Central House Restaurant — was under different ownership at the time, but the dining room served fresh seafood imaginatively done and was wall-to-wall most nights. It has since gone ultra high-end.

The Lakeside Restaurant I remember as unassuming but very nice — one of those special places where ownership had struck just the right balance between the surroundings, service and food.

Hot off the presses, then, are these reviews in the foodie blog of a Manhattan couple who just happened to spend the Independence Day weekend up the mountain in Highlands.

Many of us take our surroundings for granted, and its easy to put insular Highlands out-of-sight, out-of-mind, but the authors of winedanddined.com remind us that the town is a world class food and wine destination.

An excerpt:

For those of you who haven’t heard of Highlands, it’s a mountain town in the Southern Appalachains and located in the Nantahala National Forest. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind place. There are beautiful golf courses, fantastic restaurants, wine and cheese shops, waterfalls, hiking trails, boutique craft shops and more. What most people probably don’t know is that Highlands is a world-class food and wine destination with 6 restaurants that have received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. Needless to say, we’ve been doing some intensive ‘wining & dining’ around Highlands over the past few days. Here’s a taste of where we’ve been…