Elliott Moss’ MG Road pop-up project wraps up as the chef prepares to open Buxton Hall barbecue

The Thunderbird, Local chef Elliott Moss’ pop-up collaboration with sister restaurants Chai Pani and MG Road, will come to a close on Sunday, May 24, according to a release from MG Road. Moss will continue to showcase his “unique food and flair” at MG Road for six days per week until the final Sunday.

“As planned, Moss will shift focus to final preparations for the much-anticipated, late-summer opening of Buxton Hall, a barbecue joint set to open in an incredibly renovated old-school skating rink in Asheville’s South Slope neighborhood that will spotlight whole hog, wood-fired barbecue,” reads the release.

MG Road plans to host future culinary pop-ups, though, positioning itself as “a culinary concert hall of sorts.” The restaurant also hints that a Moss-related surprise may be revealed later this year.

“We are super excited about our plans for the summer,” says Chai Pani creative director Michael Files, “but we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. Let’s just say that Elliott is going to leave us with a little gift before he heads out.”

Here is the full release from MG Road:

Asheville craft cocktail bar and lounge MG Road reveals the closing date of pop-up maestro Elliott Moss’ revered restaurant takeover project, The Thunderbird, on Sunday, May 24, 2015. For the past few months, the James Beard Award-nominated chef has temporarily featured his unique food and flair at Chai Pani sister lounge, MG Road, offering his innovative Southern cooking style to diners six days a week.

As planned, Moss will shift focus to final preparations for the much-anticipated, late-summer opening of Buxton Hall, a barbecue joint set to open in an incredibly renovated old-school skating rink in Asheville’s South Slope neighborhood that will spotlight whole hog, wood-fired barbecue.

“It has been beyond a pleasure to work with Elliott and his team throughout The Thunderbird’s residency here,” says Michael Files of MG Road. “Elliott and his core team of Sarah Cousler and Dan Silo took our pop-up program to the next level at MG Road and really helped reconfigure our identity to being not just an excellent craft cocktail bar and lounge, but a “culinary concert hall” of sorts, where one can always expect the food program to be doing something impressive and unique. We plan to continue to build on that, and Elliott will continue to have a hand in it even as he’s knee deep in barbecue.”

The Thunderbird will be going out with a bang throughout Memorial Day weekend, culminating with the finale on Sunday, May 24, but the team at MG Road will soon introduce the next culinary takeover series to transform the eclectic lounge.

“We are super excited about our plans for the summer, but we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. Let’s just say that Elliott is going to leave us with a little gift before he heads out,” Michael continues. “We also will have the pleasure of continuing to host Sarah Cousler for a few more evenings of “Girls on Deck” as well as Dan Silo for more “Sausage Parties” before they are swamped with hog, so look out for those too.”

Stay tuned for the official title of MG Road’s exciting summer fling and all of its juicy details. Until then, the MG Road team encourages hungry locals and visitors to get their fix of Elliott’s eccentric Southern dishes at The Thunderbird until Sunday, May 24, 2015, with special happenings occurring throughout Memorial Day weekend. Let the countdown begin.