Core 450 - TRAVELERS REST

This place is a hidden gem in the Blue Ridge area. The steak was cooked to perfection. They offer small plates for those who don't eat a lot. Everything was tasty and the service was outstanding. We highly recommend Core 450 and will return with friends.

Very nice restaurant on the Cherokee valley golf course. Open to the public.

We had a party of six that arrived for an early reservation on a Saturday evening. The restaurant was clearly overwhelmed and extremely busy and I am absolutely taking that into account in my review.The menu was very confusing. Half the items had no prices listed at all. (Note: the menu we received bore NO resemblance to the menu currently listed on the website. Our server was also very clearly new and had no idea how the menu worked. But rather than get information or have someone else answer questions, she just looked at us with deer in headlights eyes and said Um. I don 't know. I 'm new. Hunh.Of everything that we ordered, only 2 items that were received were acceptable. The lake perch appetizer was clearly pickled or smoked in some way that was NOT indicated on the menu. (Two gentlemen in our party ordered it and BOTH were extremely disappointed. The duck appetizer was so fatty and tough it was basically inedible. My sweet onion, fennel and microgreens salad was almost entirely onions and vinegar with about a tablespoon of greens on it.But the piece de resistance were the salmon steaks. The restaurant did not debone these AT ALL, and so two of us received salmon steaks with the spine entirely intact. I have been ordering salmon steaks at restaurants (and cooking them at home for over three decades now, and you ALWAYS remove the spine and as many pin bones as you can with needle nose pliers prior to cooking. ALWAYS. In a dimly lit restaurant, after several glasses of wine, the last thing I wanted to do was dig my glasses out of my purse so I could hopefully NOT choke to death on a salmon bone. When I brought this to the server 's attention, she responded with a predictable, Well, I 'm new. I think that 's just the way they are. Additionally, the salmon steaks were served naked. No seasoning, no butter, no oil, no salt or pepper. Really??? In fairness, I had requested mine rare, and it WAS cooked to perfection. Alas, it was inedible. The beef steaks that were ordered by our table were excellent and also cooked well.Despite multiple plates being collected still full of food, our server NEVER asked a single question to see if there was an issue. The owner (manager? came over to enquire post meal and when we began expressing our displeasure, she did apologize.The server then told us she was bringing us a complimentary dessert board, which we wholeheartedly declined. We just had lousy food. We didn 't want more lousy food. We wanted to leave.The check was $500. Too add insult to injury, instead of removing any of the offending items from our check. (except for my salmon, which I refused to pay for they DID still charge me for my a la carte sides they gave us gift certificates for a future visit.I, for one, will not be back.

They have an excellent wine list, I had a glass of my favorite Sauvignon Blanc, The Seeker, and tried a glass of Pinot Grigio and a 2017 San Simeon Merlot that was amazing. We tried the Woodfire Meatballs and Crispy Brussel Sprouts for appetizers, both were excellent but those might have been the best brussel sprouts I’ve ever had. My husband had the Broccolini and bone-in Ribeye that comes with a 700 degree salt block to finish cooking to your preference. My husband was desperately trying to get it to well done ? but the menu clearly states that available temps are Rare Cool-Medium Well. He left no crumbs so no issues there! I had the Maple Bourbon Salmon with a crispy cheddar grit cake and Kale Salad that was excellent. We finished with a slice of their chocolate cake which was dark, fudgey, and decadent. Our waitress Addie was amazing and took great care of us. Wonderful anniversary dinner, we’ll definitely return!

Really wanted this to be good but failed to impress. Service was good although all very young staff and largely left to their own without oversight. Chef left before meal was complete. Chicken lollipop appetizer was room temp and bland. Really awful. Salad was poorly executed with lettuce with brown ends. Steak was of exceptional quality but poorly and sadly executed. Extra plate brought to table was dirty. Asked for new one. Watched them wipe off and resend to service. Ordered steak as medium rare. Served rare if not raw to bone. When pointed out deficiencies, no response. Would not return.