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Try Something New! High Country Small Plate Crawl Will Return to Boone Jan. 23-26

By Jessica Isaacs

Thinking of trying something new? Start working up your appetite for the 2017 Small Plate Crawl hosted by Boone Independent Restaurants, which will take over the town Monday through Thursday, Jan. 23-26.

“The purpose is to get people to go to restaurants they don’t normally go to,” said John Pepper of Pepper’s Restaurant. “It just encourages people to try new places.”

Although the plate crawl has in years past been held in conjunction with Blowing Rock’s WinterFest events, this year it will take place during the week leading up to WinterFest.

“WinterFest has been great for us to grow the event and kind of piggy back off of its success. It is awesome and brings a lot of people here, and it has really helped us gain visibility,” Pepper said. “This year, we would like to do the event midweek in January. It’s typically a pretty slow time of the year for restaurants and it’s a way to get people excited to go out and do something in the winter.”

Plate Crawl 2016 – Vidalia

The crawl will include 23 restaurants, each offering specials throughout the week.

“Some places do smaller versions of their existing menu, and most places to a mix of that and some creative new menu items. A lot of places use it as a chance to try out new things with very little pressure,” said Pepper. “It’s a way for chefs to have a good time and express themselves.”

Cool prizes are up for grabs, too! Use the mobile app to check in every time you stop at a participating restaurant, and prizes will randomly be awarded to diners who are tracking their stops.

“Any QR scanning app will work, so you just download any of them. There’s links on the plate crawl website to download those for Android and for IOS,” Pepper said. “Then, you just need to register at chektrek.com, and, if you register before you go out to your first restaurant, it’s going to be a lot easier.”

There’s also a grand prize available that will be selected randomly out of only the diners who check in 15 times or more throughout the week.

So, what’s on the menu during the Small Plate Crawl? Pepper’s will offer up some cool new dishes, like stuffed portabella mushroom sliders.

Head over to the plate crawl website for an interactive map of participating restaurant’s and a menu that Pepper will continue updating as the event approaches.

Stay tuned for more information next week!

Participating restaurants will include:

  • Blowing Rock Ale House & Brewery
  • Blue Ridge Bites & Brews
  • The Cardinal Food & Spirits
  • Basil’s
  • Black Cat
  • Boone Bagelry
  • Casa Rustica
  • COBO Sushi Bistro and Bar
  • Joy Bistro
  • Juice Boone
  • Makoto’s
  • Melanie’s
  • Pepper’s
  • Proper
  • Lost Province Brewing Co.
  • Red Onion Café
  • Stick Boy Bread Co. Kitchen
  • Sunrise Grill
  • The Inn at Crestwood
  • The TApp Room
  • Vidalia
  • Water Wheel Café