Dinner for two

Food and love have long been linked in the popular imagination, but actually running a restaurant with your beloved partner seriously raises the bar. With the spirit of Valentine’s Day in the air, however, here’s a look at how the owners of five highly successful yet very different local eateries have managed to combine their […]

Living foods, growing ambitions

As one man sits down at the bar, Judi Murphy greets him with a smile. “Hey, happy 2014,” she says. “I haven’t seen you in a while.” He smiles back at her. “I’m waiting for the end of January to celebrate the Chinese New Year,” he says. According to the Chinese calendar, this is the […]

Pie fight

Andy Favilla, who owns Favilla’s New York Pizza in West Asheville, is headed to the 2014 Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March to compete against contestants from all over the globe in the International Pizza Challenge in March. Favilla will be one of 60 competitors in the specialty pizza category with his primavera pizza […]

Up close and personal

Yes, 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross. But Daniel Clancy, the co-producer and actor of local theater company DJCIII Productions, doesn’t count that particular hallmark as the impetus behind bringing the show to the Asheville Masonic Temple. The real reasons are much simpler. “I’m just an actor […]

BEER SCOUT

John Garcia, owner and brewer of Lookout Brewery in Black Mountain, was used to a certain type of Black Mountain tourist before he switched careers. He’d see people in town because their family has a place in Montreat or Lake Lure. Others he talked to were stopping to grab a bite to eat before going […]

Smart shoppers

You visit an independently owned, locally based store where you meet the proprietor and purchase a scarf. The scarf was made by a local knitter with wool sourced from sheep on a nearby farm. At the farm, the feed is grown from seed distributed by a local company whose packets were printed by a local […]

Present company

Gift cards, once a social taboo, are now not only acceptable but welcome. But before you take that easy out, why not browse Asheville’s specialty shops for one-of-a-kind presents? It makes sense that, in a town with so much quirk and personality, the possibilities for giving are equally unique. Xpress went shopping, and here’s what […]

Furnishing touches

Asheville’s love affair with Craftsman-style bungalows dates to the early 1900s. The modest, affordable homes could be built entirely from materials ordered from a catalog and were popular with working-class residents through the ’20s and beyond. Bungalows are sought after today, thanks to their affordability and relatively easy maintenance. However, they tend to be of […]

Party people

If wine doesn’t make the world go ’round, it’s certainly a major player when it comes to extravagant fêtes and special events like weddings, graduations and retirement parties. And we happen to be living in the golden age of vino, according to Eberhard K. Heide, owner of the Asheville Wine Market (65 Biltmore Ave.). “Wine […]

Read to Succeed to hold volunteer orientatio­n Feb. 8

Read to Succeed literary coaches work with at-risk children in Asheville City Schools. (Photo courtesy of Read to Succeed) Read to Succeed Asheville is seeking volunteer literacy coaches to work with at-risk children in K through 3rd grade. Join our team of highly trained, committed coaches and work one-on-one with an Asheville elementary school student. […]

Serving up comfort

“If you didn’t know it was tongue, you’d think it was delicious,” Asheville resident Chuck Fink says of his favorite Jewish winter comfort food. But does tongue really qualify as comfort food? “The thing about the Jews is, comfort food varies based on region,” explains Marty Gillen, chairman of the HardLox Jewish Food and Heritage […]

There is no ‘light’ developmen­t

Reading [“Colliding Visions” Jan. 22, Xpress] made my heart sick. I had heard that the Coggins Farm was in the process of being sold to a developer. What the article failed to mention is what an amazing, gorgeous piece of property it is! I had walked it many times. There are acres of woods full […]

Searching for solutions

A mass of people — adults and children, black and white — came together Jan. 20 at the St. James A.M.E. Church on Hildebrand Street in Asheville for this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Peace March and Rally, wearing signs, waving posters, stomping feet and shouting. The sanctuary was filled to capacity, forcing many participants […]

For Pete’s sake

Guitarist Peter Walker appears in a vintage photo with radical lawyer William Kunstler on the cover of Has Anybody Seen Our Freedoms. The album was just released after 43 years in storage. Photo by John Collier Does the mention of a guitar conjure thoughts of screaming electric solos or folky strumming or the person leading […]

Reviving the herd

Imagine hiking along your favorite mountain trail and encountering a herd of bison. It could have happened 300 years ago when buffalo were indigenous to Western North Carolina. A sign on the Blue Ridge Parkway reads, “View Bull Creek Valley — The last buffalo seen in this locality was killed nearby in 1799 by Joseph Rice, […]