Golden Hour

A racetrack bar runs the length of the dining room at Golden Hour, wrapped around an open kitchen and a custom wood-fired grill; the chophouse plates here are grilled and roasted over that open flame. The building was an abandoned 1920s warehouse before it became The Radical, the boutique hotel in Asheville’s River Arts District. Chef Jacob Sessoms, who also runs Table and All Day Darling across town, opened Golden Hour there on October 27, 2023. The room seats 85, with another 45 on a terraced patio, and the wine list carries about 75 bottles, mostly natural, organic or biodynamic. There’s a barrel-aging program too — the Negroni and the Old Fashioned both spend time in wood before they reach a glass. The rest of the cocktail list stays short: the Here & Gon pairs tequila with tarragon, aloe and egg white; the Stay Golden is a saffron gin martini, served freezing cold; and Oops! All Berries sets a rum blend against blackberry and blueberry. Prices run $14 to $17, the Espresso Martini topping the list. The Michelin Guide put it on the Recommended list in its first-ever American South selection, in 2025 — a line on a website that hasn’t changed how loud the bar gets on a Friday. Sit at the racetrack bar rather than at a table; the grill is the whole argument here, and that is the only seat that lets you watch it work.