Now & Then: For a dining experience Chives checks all the boxes

Chives: Southern, Soul, Creole is more than about good food. It’s a dining experience.

After interviewing owner Jasmine Kroll at her establishment at 746 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Asheboro, she invited me to come with my wife Ginny for Sunday brunch. Her thought was that I needed to experience Chives for myself.

We were welcomed at the front patio by Debra Garner, Jasmine’s good friend who is helping with the service. She sat us down with menus, not that we needed to order food since Jasmine intended to keep sending items to our table until we could eat no more.

We started out with mocktails, Ginny getting the Blood Orange and myself selecting the Sunrise Mimosa. Their nonalcoholic mocktails are fruity and refreshing.

For entrees, Ginny ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon and I had the Honey Sriracha Chicken Salad. As the name suggests, the salmon is served on a cedar plank for extra flavor. It was seared on the outside while tender and falling apart on the inside.

Ginny chose collard greens on the side although she’s not a fan, saying the flavor is “too strong.” But one taste and she said, “The collards are not strong but better tasting.”

My Sriracha Chicken was served on a bed of lettuce and I chose bleu cheese for the dressing. Let me tell you, the taste is great but you better be prepared for the sriracha heat. It cleared my sinuses, an unadvertised plus.

When Jasmine kept sending out food for us to sample, I noted that I was feeling like Bob Garner, UNC-TV’s famed food taster. He’s appeared at a few of Asheboro’s restaurants and needs to visit Chives.

While we were eating what we had ordered, Jasmine sent out a side of Crawfish Hushpuppies, considered their best side. Even though Ginny and I both steer clear of animals with pincers, we were surprised that the crawfish was tasty.

I’m also not a fan of shrimp but when Jasmine had us served the Bang-Bang Shrimp, I found it to be sweet in some sort of special sauce.

For dessert, Ginny got the Steakhouse Cheesecake while I ordered the Bread Pudding Souffle in memory of one of my late mother’s dishes.

Ginny’s giant slice of cheesecake was slathered with blueberries in a syrup. She’s one of cheesecake’s biggest fans and she wasn’t disappointed. 

“It’s to die for,” she said. “It made me cry.”

As for my Bread Pudding Souffle, it was unlike anything I’ve ever tasted. Mama would have been envious.

Sitting next to us were Jeff and Katie Davis of Charlotte, former residents now visiting family here. It was their first time at Chives.

Asked for comments, Jeff said, “We’re thrilled with the quality, the flavor profiles and the service. I think it’s fantastic and wonderful for the community. The place is beautiful.”

Katie ordered the salmon and Jeff had the Shrimp and Grits plus catfish. They got their fill and asked for to-go boxes.

Jeff had one piece of advice to future diners: “Make reservations.”

Jasmine is making good on her philosophy that dining is more than eating food. It’s meeting friends, making new friends and enjoying the experience.

Chives: Southern, Soul, Creole does all that and more.

n Larry Penkava, is a writer for Randolph Hub. Contact: 336-302-2189, larrypenkava@gmail.com.