The Pure & Proper - Traditional American restaurant in Black Mountain - 114 E State St, USA

This place is amazing! Food, ambiance, staff- every aspect is perfect. The culinary creations are out of this world. There are so many things I didn’t like until I tried it here! We live about an hour and a half away and it is well worth the trip. We absolutely love it.

This was my second visit, and it’s some of the best food I’ve ever had. I had the steak sandwich, and it’s nearly perfect. Love the pickled vegetables on the juicy steak. My wife had the pickled pear grilled cheese, and it was wonderful too. We shared the potato wedges and Brussels sprouts, and both were excellent. I hope we can stop by to try their dinner menu soon.

Delicious food in an almost impossibly cute and cozy location! I had the duck, the steak tartar appetizer, and the brussel sprouts appetizer. It was all perfect and it felt like I was in another world filled with great food and people that could all be my friends. The building itself is also so cool and contributes to the charm of the place.

We have dined twice at Pure & Proper on this visit to Black Mountain. For dinner we enjoyed their Cheeseboard, Trout entree and the salad. Then for brunch with our family (grandchildren), everyone was delighted with their dishes. The Lox has a spin with rye bread and whipped goat cheese, delicious Fried Chicken & Waffle, tasty avocado egg salad, and a savory flat iron steak. We sat outside upstairs for dinner nice but noisey. For brunch we sat inside downstairs for a more private and quiet dining venue. Good staff, too.

You might be asking yourself "Why does this guy have a picture of the bathrooms in his review?" And that would be a great question. Whenever my wife and I try a new restaurant we will scope out the bathroom before we get our food and report back to the other how the bathroom stacks up on a 1 - 10 scale. The thought is that if we owned a restaurant we'd either invest in the kitchen to make sure the food is on point or the front of house to create a top notch ambience. The last thing we'd dump money into is a bathroom. So if the bathroom is in good shape we use that as a barometer to estimate that the rest of the experience will be good. It isn't exactly based in science, but the theory has served us well. Ladies and gentlemen the Pure & Proper is a 10 on the bathroom scale. And every other scale for that matter.

I wish I could've sat inside because of how cozy it looked, but I had my dog, so I had to sit outside. The food was delicious, the service was great, and the atmosphere was pretty good. I would've preferred to sit somewhere quieter, but I was told by the hostess that it was nicer where I would be seated. I did see there was some kind of construction going on in the back. Prices were moderate-high, but I could tell the ingredients were fresh.

There's little I can add, for customers, that they haven't already read in other reviews: this is mostly for the restaurant, itself. For potential customers, I'll say this: Pure & Proper is the only place you'll find food at this high a level, for this affordable a price, but that's thanks to the smart portions. It's not quite as small as you'd expect from a tapas place, but it's not nearly as large as you'd expect from full fine dining. Four slices of duck breast for $20; four sea scallops for $20; eight strips of steak for $20; stuff like that. But it is absolutely on point: every dish I saw come out of that kitchen looked exactly like it was supposed to. Eat here now so you can say "I ate there before they got their Michelin Star," because I believe that's in their future. The scallops were some of the best I've ever had and watching Chef pump them out for two hours - the consistency and care was very impressive. Now, for the restaurant itself, because I know you review the reviews (and now you know that I love you): 1. Do not section the Chef's Table with bar service. I have no idea who was responsible for that decision but...don't do that. We could never get our "server's" (bartender's) attention, because the Chef's Table is so peripheral to the bar's position that we were practically invisible. We had to ask other staff walking by to get our server: it was not what I'd call typical of service we expected for the establishment. It seems smarter to have the Chef's Table connected to the section directly behind it, so the server walks past frequently, instead of forcing the bartender to come across the room to check on the Chef's Table, when they remember. Especially since it's kind of a half-table, as the server only needs to take orders and check in: the kitchen hands the food straight out and the tip is just as real as any other table. It could be the best money-making section for servers to fight over, instead of bartenders wondering why they have to serve it. 2. I was surprised there weren't any "perks" at the Chef's Table beyond conversation with the Chef (which was awesome - not all Chefs can roll BOH/FOH like that). Were it me, I'd have slid a couple gnudi in a ramekin across the counter; it would have cost the kitchen fifty cents but I would have tipped 30% instead of 25%, because of that unique experience. Which obviously doesn't help the kitchen's bottom-line but I think it's good for the restaurant and reputation of such a special thing, because Chef's Tables are rare. Sitting at a Chef's Table should feel like that one-shot in Goodfellas: it should be a special table that the rest of the patrons look at and go "Wow, I'll bet that's really cool," because it is. I booked you over places like Bouchon (who has a Michelin Star) because of your Chef's Table. It's great. You could make it even greater. 3. Check your pricing on the duck breast: you list it at $19 but it rings up at $22. The bartender "took two dollars off the bill" for me without my asking for it, which was very cool of her, even if it should have been...LOL I had no issue with it: I just wanted to be sure it got fixed, in case some patron wasn't feeling like being cool about it, in the future. It was a smart play on her part: it guaranteed that 25% even though the service wasn't great (and she knew that - she got screwed with that section - she seems very good at what she does). I have no complaints about the food and, from what I saw, the staff is trained well: the seating chart just needs to be addressed, so that Chef's Table (which should be a "special experience") doesn't get ignored. Regardless, I am recommending anyone who can do it: Chef's Tables are always the best in the restaurant. I'll be back.

I came in for lunch today and perused the menu. It was hard to choose, but I settled on the prickly pear grilled cheese. It was packed with a unique vand delicious flavor. I also got the side salad, which was simple and fresh:)