Food news to go: News of the Asheville food scene in small bites

Nona Mia moving to Ritrovo
Nona Mia Italian Kitchen will close its Patton Avenue location on Saturday, Sept. 3 and reopen on Tuesday, Sept. 13, merged with sister restaurant Pizzeria Ritrovo at 1050 Haywood Road in West Asheville. Both Nona Mia’s and Ritrovo’s menus will be available in the new location. Consolidating the two restaurants enabled all of the employees to maintain their jobs, says Yolie Affatato, who owns the restaurant with her husband, chef Peter Affatato. “Thank you to all of our supporters and the people that have helped us keep our jobs for all of our employees,” she says. New hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday through Saturday, 11 a.m. until 10 p.m., Sunday brunch, 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. For more information, visit http://nonamiaasheville.com.

East-central Mexican in east Asheville
A new traditional Mexican restaurant, Puebla, has opened in Swannanoa. The restaurant is named after the regional food of Peubla, a village located in east-central Mexico. “It’s not like any Mexican restaurant in Asheville or any other place in Western North Carolina,” says Carlos Maldonado, who runs the establishment with his mother, Maria Romero, and his aunt, Bobina Rodriguez, both chefs. The restaurant serves a number of traditional specialties like molé poblano and cemitas, a traditional sandwich with breaded pork and chicken cutlets, topped with quesillo, a type of Mexican string cheese. “It’s huge — it’s like an exaggeration of a sub,” says Maldonado. 204-A Whitson Ave. in Swannanoa. For more information, call 423-2338.

Mother & Son Bistro & Bakery has closed
From an email sent out this morning by the owners of Mother & Son Bistro & Bakery:

“To our Customers and Friends:
 
Upon a great deal of reflection and soul-searching we have decided to close Mother & Son Bistro. It has been a very hard decision for us as we have invested so much of ourselves into this business and in the course of the past three years have been enriched by the people who have walked through our doors. To say that those 36 months has been like trying to ride a tornado would be putting it mildly.
 
We want to thank each and every one of you who has been so supportive through our trials. I would like to say that I am sure there is a silver lining, but I am sure of nothing these days. Within the next week or so I will be out there trying to find employment, so if you know of anyone that could use an old workhorse, give them my name. I think we all know I take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.”

The restaurant is also selling their furniture. Owners Dawn and Ryan Izon can be reached at mothersonbistro@aol.com.

Big cheese
First, Looking Glass Creamery’s cheeses showed up in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue. Now, the dairy’s Ellington Cheese will be featured in the October 2011 issue of Cooking Light Magazine. The issue will hit newsstands nationwide in mid-September. Looking Glass products can be found at Whole Foods/Greenlife and Earthfare stores as well as on the company’s website. Looking Glass Creamery buys raw milk from local dairies to create their signature line of fresh and aged goat’s- and cow’s-milk cheeses.

Sandwiches!
The West End Bakery in West Asheville is expanding its menu with additional breakfast and lunch offerings. The bakery offers a line of sandwiches on West End-made bread, including a handmade veggie burger with local ingredients like Viable Cultures Tempeh and locally grown mushrooms. For more information, visit http://www.westendbakery.com