HENDERSONVILLE – Hearth at Hearth and Herron, on 7th Avenue in downtown Hendersonville, was already lit in preparation for dinner service the morning of July 24.
A wood fire was burning in the domed oven, covered in bright red mosaic tiles, which is the centerpiece and namesake of the restaurant.
It takes hours for it get hot enough for the dishes they cook inside, including charred-crust pizzas, lamb leg with rosemary, garlic, potatoes and onions, and the roasted eggplant with harissa, charred lemon, yogurt and cilantro, among others.
The fare is not Italian food, but rather a fusion of flavors from Southern California, Asia, Mexico and the Middle East, owner and chef Bradley Herron, 39, told the Times-News July 24. But it’s cooked with the sensibility that he learned growing up in his Italian American family.
He and his wife Marisa Herron, 39, opened for business July 18.
Herron checked the oven temperature by quickly sticking his hand into the opening.
At 900 degrees, “it should make your fingernails curl” from the heat, he said with a grin.
He’s had experience starting up restaurants for others all over the world, in Europe, the Caribbean, on cruise ships and in his native California. Now he and Marisa are excited to open their first place on their own.
They moved to Hendersonville from Miami after visiting on vacation.
“Get fresh ingredients, don’t put too many things in it, try to do as much of it as you can from scratch, and make it not too fussy,” Herron said on his philosophy on cooking.
Patrons love the small, intimate scale of the restaurant and its menu sourced from local ingredients, Marisa said.
The menu might be different every day, depending on how they feel and what’s in season. Peach salad with feta and za’atar is featured now, as well as tomatoes with burrata cheese and arugula pesto. They post the menu to their Instagram page every day by 3 p.m.
As the oven burned behind him, Herron prepared the day’s dessert, a layered cookie crumb and chocolate pudding pie with olive oil and sea salt. His sons, 11 and 12, had requested the dish for the family and friends opening of the restaurant earlier this month, just before it opened to the public. It was a hit and stuck around.
The restaurant is in what used to be a Pure Oil Company service station, which was later converted into the beloved Chicken Shack. That’s how many customers still remember it, Bradley said.
He added fried chicken to his rotation as a nod to the building’s history and some customers have said that it’s as good or better than the original, he said.
Hearth and Herron is open 4:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday and from 4:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
George Fabe Russell is the Henderson County Reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News. Tips, questions, comments? Email him at GFRussell@gannett.com.
Dining and Cooking