Foodwire: White Duck Taco winterizes, Farmer’s Markets switch out

Tacos triumph: White Duck will remain open for most of the winter. Look for changes to their hours, though, and a short closure around New Years.

White Duck Taco Shop winterizes

Don't freak out: White Duck will not close for a month, as it did last winter. Instead, the popular RAD eatery will reduce its hours during the colder months with a short vacation for New Year’s.

From Nov. 5 until April 1, the shop will operate from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. It will close for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas Eve and from Dec. 30 to Jan. 9.

In other White Duck news, the business has garnered mega thumbs ups from publications across the country in recent weeks. Check out Philadelphia magazine, The Charlotte Observer and The Oregonian’s MIX Magazine to see what the national hype is all about. (But if you’re easily offended, beware: MIX calls Asheville “Portland’s country cousin” and refers to our most acclaimed restaurants as “not-so-countrified.”)

Get your first bite of Dough at the Taste of Home Cooking School

Dough, the chef-driven market taking shape on Merrimon Avenue, will offer Asheville a first look of its prepared foods at the Taste of Home Cooking School on Nov. 8. Owner Brian Ross will serve up samples in good company; other participating restaurants include the Chop House, Pasta Fasta, Sogo Fusion, The Artisan Gourmet Market and The Take-Out Riverside Grill.

Taste of Home Magazine and Mix 96.5 sponsor the afternoon of tastings and cooking demonstrations. Michelle Roberts, Taste of Home culinary specialist, will prepare 10 holiday recipes during the two-hour cooking school.

The cost of admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the door. VIP passes are also available for $35. The restaurant expo runs from 4 to 6 p.m., and the cooking school lasts from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 8 at the Crowne Plaza Expo Center near Patton Avenue at 56 Expo Drive. For more information call 210-8546 or visit eventbrite.com/event/4494747912.

Farmers markets switch out

The West Asheville Tailgate Market moves an hour earlier to keep pace with daylight savings time. The Tuesday market at 718 Haywood Road will run from 2:30 to 5:30 for the duration of its season, which lasts until Nov. 20.

There's only a few weeks left to take advantage of many of the Buncombe County tailgate markets. The West Asheville, north Asheville, French Broad Food Co-op and Montford markets end for the winter on the week of Thanksgiving between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24.

As the Asheville markets come to an end, a new market will open in Black Mountain, the Growdown Home Market at Growdown Home Kitchen, 105 Richardson Ave. Vendors will convene from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Nov. 10 and the first four Saturdays in December. Eleven vendors have already signed up. They will sell produce, seafood, dairy and meat products, prepared food, jams and jellies and herbal products. For more information, call 775-9251.