Flying Frog Café, a Culinary Delight

The Flying Frog Café has long been a staple in Asheville's culinary scene. Owner and executive chef Vijay Shastri has been adapting his restaurant to satisfy his customers for over twenty years at 1 Battery Park Ave. The location features a bar upstairs and a more formal dinning area downstairs.

Shastri combines his family heritage of European and Indian origins in order to produce food that has a seamless fusion style. German/Indian cuisine is not necessarily a combination that the average diner would expect but the Flying Frog Café features dishes that showcase the interesting outcomes of the careful combination of these distinct culinary traditions. The flavors are not forced together but are instead allowed to compliment each other while emphasizing their differences. The menu features staples from both German and Indian cultures, like a traditional-style German bratwurst, as well as Bhel Puri, an Indian street dish that combines crispy nutty and rice elements with sweet vegetables and a little Indian spice with a little yogurt-like sauce to compliment the spiciness of the Puri. The menu also features a wonderful combination of the two vastly different culinary styles.

Recently, Shastri has introduced a "small bites" menu to the downstairs café. Entrée portions of many of the Flying Frog's standard dishes have been cut in half and the prices have been reduced accordingly. Vijay expressed a passion for working with his customers, many of whom are die-hard regulars, in order to provide a menu that is satisfying to both the taste buds and the budget. The menu features a selection of both appetizers, or prelude as it is listed, priced under ten dollars and the small bites section, where all the items are priced under 20 dollars, like a Kobe Beef Slider for six dollars. The menu also includes daily specials like the fish of the day and the ravioli of the moment.

The new menu includes smaller portions of many of the Flying Frog's classic dishes. The menu also features new dishes that expand the boundaries of Asheville's food scene. Vijay described Asheville as a town that is progressive in terms of culinary innovation without being "trendy", and the new menu showcases exactly this. The small bites should not be considered as a watered-down version of the original version but instead as a reinterpretation of the dish in a smaller space. The smaller portions highlight the integrity of the ingredients and no space is taken for granted. All elements of each dish have both color and flavor that created a unique and vibrant whole. The ingredients retain their richness and make each dish unique, intriguing and satisfying.

For fans of curry and spicy flavors, I recommend the Madras Shrimp Curry or the Chicken Saag. Both dishes posses a wonderful flavor and color. For those interested in more straight-forward proteins, the Beef Tenderloin Au Poi with truffled asparagus is a delicious combination. And for the adventurous diner, the Kangaroo Tenderloin is a rare treat. Cooked to a perfect medium rare, the dish showcases the rich texture and satisfying flavor of the Kangaroo.

If you are looking for a fine dining experience where you can impress your taste buds and not spend a fortune doing so, the Flying Frog Café's new small bites menu is a perfect opportunity to do both of these things. Perhaps you have been to the Flying Frog before, but with the introduction of this new menu, the dining experience is worth a second trip.

Be sure to see the photos of Flying Frog in the Photo Gallery.

Ben Norris, Contributing Writer, was given a unique culinary opportunity to enjoy new as well as established offerings with Flying Frog owner Vijay Shastri at the end of September, 2009.