Small Bites

A-B Tech Culinary Arts Team: A-B Tech’s perennially competitive culinary team (pictured here) is asking local food lovers to help underwrite its trip to the national finals in Orlando this July.

The team earned its berth by finishing first in the American Culinary Federation’s Student Team Southeast Regional Competition this spring, but the crown didn’t come with travel expenses: Program officials estimate the trip will cost the team’s five members $10,000.

To raise the money, A-B Tech has launched a “Buy a Mile” fundraiser, with miles priced at $8.35 apiece. The donor’s name is then entered in a prize drawing once for each mile purchased (meaning 25 miles equals 25 chances to win).

A-B Tech is slated to face teams from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, Schoolcraft College and Kapi’olani Community College. But the North Carolinians are confident: “The general consensus was the team looked well-prepared and professional, and the plates showed finesse and elegance,” co-coach Michelle Kelley said in a release recapping the team’s regional win, which involved Paupiettes de sole a la Trouvillaise, a mixed-green salad with pine-nut encrusted Brie and hazelnut cream in a chocolate shell.

Miles are for sale now at www.abtech.edu/buyamile. For more information, call 254-1921.

Livermush Festival: Livermush, livermush, how do I love thee? Entrants in the annual Marion Livermush Festival poetry contest this weekend will likely find more inspired ways of celebrating western North Carolina’s iconic pig-parts dish, sometimes referred to as “poor man’s pate.” For the less artistically inclined, the party will also include a livermush cook-off contest. The festivities are scheduled to start around 7 p.m. on Friday, June 5, on Marion’s Courthouse lawn. For further details on either contest, contact 652-2215.

Earth Fare: Earth Fare is firing up its grills for a good cause later this month, hosting a burger fundraiser on behalf of Buncombe County’s Meals on Wheels. All proceeds from burgers sold at both Earth Fare locations on June 25 between 5 and 8 p.m.—and 5 percent of the stores’ overall sales—will be donated to the organization, which delivers hot, nutritious meals to elderly and homebound area residents. For more information, call 210-0100 (Earth Fare South, 1856 Hendersonville Road) or 253-7656 (Earth Fare West, Westgate Shopping Center).

131 Main: The newest tenant of Biltmore Town Square opens its doors this week, marking the first appearance of a 131 Main outside the greater Charlotte area. The restaurant, which was voted “best overall food and drink” by readers of Charlotte magazine, serves a business-friendly cuisine of Cobb salads, crab cakes and prime rib. “The secret to our success is that we’ve created an environment that simply makes people happy,” partner Joe Douglas is quoted as saying in a release from the restaurant. 131 Main currently operates two locations in Charlotte and one in Cornelius. For more information, call 651-0131.

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