This is the kind of indulgence that makes you want to slap your mama. Foothills Meats has brought its succulent Butcher’s Table supper events back to Black Mountain. The suppers happen every Thursday night through the winter in the immaculately scrubbed butchery that stands cheek to jowl beside its spacious, sleek restaurant — Foothills Butcher Bar Black Mountain — in this charming (and growing) town.
Chef Nathan LeCount’s locally sourced menu will change every week, but a recent preview event began with a velvety herb crème fraiche cauliflower soup and a butcher board of house-made Braunschweiger, American Pig salami, house pickles and English cheese curd. A crostini of beef tartare and horseradish cream followed, as did an outrageous board of fresh sausages and mustards. Redolent platters of Bradley Farms porchetta and standing beef rib roast (dry-aged 24 days) were passed around, and a delightful apple pie in a hot cast-iron skillet wrapped things up.
Served along the way were excellent local beers, meads, ciders and whiskeys, as were perfectly matched wines from the restaurant’s wine list.
The three butcher block tables will seat more than a dozen people on comfortable diner stools. The dinner can be booked by a single party or a combination of several parties. Parties of eight or more who want to book a private dinner can do so most any day of the week with a couple of days’ notice.
The dinner series started as a small gathering on the front patio of Foothills Meats’ original shop in Black Mountain in 2014. Foothills Meats held them in various locations before putting them on ice last year to open the restaurant in Black Mountain and one in West Asheville.
“We’re really excited to get back to it,” Casey McKissick, owner of Foothills Meats, told his group during the preview event. “We believe in honest meats.”
Foothills Meats’ Butcher’s Table events are held every Thursday (or any other night a party wants to book them). Tickets are $60 (if the tables are full). Contact Foothills Butcher Bar Black Mountain at 107 Black Mountain Ave., at 828-357-9029 or info@foothillslocalmeats.com.
Slow Food Asheville Happy Hour returns
On Thursday, Nov. 29, Slow Food Asheville will host its latest happy hour event at OWL Bakery. The last Slow Food Asheville Happy Hour of the year, the tea-time event will feature food and tea to sample, but drink purchases are on you. Samples will include a variety of teas from 3 Mountains, a local company that sources organic, non-GMO and ethically raised teas from northern Rwanda. Sara Stender will talk about her company. Also free to sample will be special items that the OWL Bakery pastry team will make using Tima Teas.
Slow Food Asheville Happy Hour is 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29. There’s no cost to attend. OWL Bakery is at 295 Haywood Road.
New pop-up beer dinners in Burnsville
The historic Nu Wray Inn in Burnsville will host a new series of pop-up beer dinners presented by Homeplace Beer Co. The first one, on Saturday, Dec. 1, will feature a four-course, hyperlocal menu by Stackhouse American Eatery & Pub of Mars Hill. Just like in the old days of the inn’s dining hall, the meal will be served family-style, with each course paired with Homeplace beers, made in Burnsville. Guests will also take home a 7-ounce commemorative glass. The meal will start with the standing course — smoked cheddar beer cheese with soft pretzel, sausage and pickled vegetables. After a palate-cleansing salad, the main course will be Dry Ridge Farm smoked pork shanks glazed in a tomato-bacon gastrique with red cabbage rotkohl. For dessert? Apple strudel a la mode.
The Nu Wray Inn is at 102 Town Square, Burnsville. Tickets to the dinner are $50. Reservations are available at avl.mx/5fh.
Blind Pig supper honors Prince
Dearly beloved, the latest supper event by The Blind Pig Supper Club, on Sunday, Dec. 2, will honor the life of musician, composer, innovator and cultural icon Prince. The tribute will feature custom cocktails and a five-course menu. The dinner is not a BYO event, organizers say. The location will be announced shortly before the meal, as are all Blind Pig Supper Club charity fundraising food events. Menus will be revealed at the dinner.
Seatings will be at 5 and 8:30 p.m. Tickets, $40, are available at bpdearlybeloved.eventbrite.com (gratuity is not included in the ticket price).
Learn how to make ghee
Ghee, a kind of clarified butter, has been used in India for thousands of years. Stable at room temperature, it’s thought to have healing properties and is an essential ingredient in a lot of Indian cooking. Villagers, an urban homesteading shop in West Asheville, will host a workshop, Making Culinary and Holiday Spiced Ghee, on Sunday, Dec. 9. Teaching will be Marion Hearth, founder and creator of Goddess Ghee, an Asheville-based company that makes ghee from the milk of grass-fed cows. Hearth advocates ghee not only as a kitchen staple but also as a vehicle of herbal medicine. This is one of the last classes Villagers will offer before it closes for good at the end of December.
The workshop will be 5:30-8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9. Villagers is at 278 Haywood Road. The cost is $20. To register for classes, visit forvillagers.com.
Tupelo Honey pairs meal with beers
Tupelo Honey in South Asheville will host a four-course dinner Wednesday, Dec. 12, with beer pairings from Pisgah Brewing Co. The meal will feature local, seasonal ingredients and beverages curated and created by executive chef Brian Anders and sous chef Matt Rebol. After an amuse bouche of country ham deviled egg and the roasted vegetable and wilted arugula salad appetizer, the menu moves to the main course — deep-fried turkey mole with cherry cranberry sauce, vegetable casserole with tobacco onions, sweet potato crisp with marshmallow and roasted maple and sage root vegetables. Dessert is apple brown betty.
Tupelo Honey is at 1829 Hendersonville Road. The dinner is $45 and includes all courses and drink pairings.
I do not understand or appreciate the comment in the Foothills piece: “This is the kind of indulgence that makes you want to slap your mama.” Please be more mindful of your words, especially when they endorse or normalize domestic violence.