Biltmore Village restaurant reopens after restoration of 130-year-old building following Helene’s devastation

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY HOMETOWN) — What does a year of rebuilding look like?  In Asheville’s historic Biltmore Village, it’s at a different stage at every turn you take. 

“You know, it was pretty rough.  I don’t like to dwell on it, but it was the reality,” said Joe Scully, the co-owner of The Corner Kitchen. 

While the flood water — high enough to swallow entire buildings — has receded, images of those early days are burned into Scully’s mind.

“We came down from the hill through these buildings over here and could see The Corner Kitchen, but we had to walk through water to get to it on the first day,” he said. “It was crazy.” 

On the inside, the restaurant after 20 years in business was a complete loss. 
 
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “There was three inches of mud inside the building, and literally the building was completely devastated. It was jarring.”  

It was a feeling that quickly wore off – only to be replaced with determination. 
 
“We feel some responsibility to our employees and to the community to kind of, you know, to kind of do this,” he said. “So honestly, there was never at any point in which we said, ‘Should we be doing this?’ We just did it.” 

The nearly 130-year-old building and everything in it was replaced. 
  
“Everything you see, everything you are standing on is completely new and completely rebuilt,” Scully said. “We rebuilt a lot of the woodwork on the outside of the building and every bit of woodworking on the inside of the building. All of the molding, everything had to be redone.” 

After more than six months of renovating, The Corner Kitchen reopened – one of the first businesses to do so in Biltmore Village. 
 
“We saw everyone that we knew from the town,” he described. “It was crazy. [I] actually got a little emotional around noon time and had to take a little break, and it has been busy ever since. I mean people just want to be here.” 

Just as an old building get restored, Asheville too is getting rebuilt, in a way Scully hopes will capture its unique charm. 
 
“Asheville will be renewed.  It will be different, but I hope and pray it will still be the same spirit,” he said. “And the spirit of Asheville is a little bit different, and we love that about it.”