The Montford Turns 10, Doubles Down On Local

A rooftop bar can get by on a view for a little while.

Ten years takes something else.

It takes a reason for locals to come back after the novelty wears off. It takes drinks that feel considered, food that knows where it is, and a team that understands people are not only there for a cocktail. They are there for the exhale.

When The Montford opened in the summer of 2016, downtown Asheville did not have the rooftop scene it has now. The Montford was one of the first to do it, and ten years later, it is still downtown’s longest running rooftop bar.

That staying power matters.

Located on the eighth floor of DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville Downtown, The Montford has unobstructed, west facing panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is the kind of view that changes the pace of the table. People pause. They point. They take one more photo than they planned to. They get to immerse themselves in the unique beauty of Asheville.

As The Montford celebrates its tenth year, the team is leaning even further into that sense of place. Under the food and beverage direction of Chef Heather Hickman and bar manager Joel Abshier, the new menu is completely built around local spirits, regional beers, and shareable plates that pull from Western North Carolina ingredients.

You see it in cocktails made with spirits from Chemist, Eda Rhyne, Cultivated Cocktails, Two Trees, and others. You see it in the beer list, with Asheville and regional favorites like Hi-Wire, Highland, Pisgah, Green Man, Wicked Weed, Noble Cider, Catawba, and New Belgium. And you see it in the food, from a West End Bakery pretzel baguette with Lusty Monk mustard to roasted beets with Three Graces honey chevre, fried green tomatoes with Goodnight Brothers country ham, and bacon wrapped chorizo stuffed dates with Hickory Nut Gap Farm chorizo.

It’s not complicated, which is exactly the point.

The Montford has always understood that a great hospitality experience does not have to announce itself too loudly or ride trends. Sometimes it is a west facing sunset, a classic cocktail, a few plates to share, and a place to sit outside with people you like.

Ten years in, that still feels like Asheville at its best.