On Thursday evening, foodies gathered at The Venue downtown for Taste of Asheville. The annual tasting event, hosted by Asheville Independent Restaurants, brings together 40 of Asheville’s chefs offering samples of their creations along with local beverage distributors and brewers providing beer, wine and hard cider to wash it all down.
This year’s Taste of Asheville featured dozens of Asheville favorites who return each year to the event, such as Sunny Point Cafe with five-cheese mac and cheese, The Lobster Trap with lobster bites on brioche and Karen Donatelli with her usual jewel-like assortment of bite-sized petits fours and tiny tartes.
There were also some newcomers to Asheville’s food scene, including Gan Shan Station, which offered an Asian coconut soup and house-made jerky; Blue Dream Curry dipping up helpings of its curries and rice; and Addissae, which was serving samples of several of its Ethiopian specialties with injera bread.
A highlight of this year’s event was a live drawing project by local caricature artist Brian Vasilik who created and displayed likenesses of many of the participating chefs throughout the evening.
Proceeds from the 2015 Taste of Asheville, presented by Mission Health, will go to support the Chefs of Tomorrow Scholarship Fund at A-B Tech’s culinary program.
Story by Gina Smith. Photo gallery by Kat McReynolds.
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