Small Bites: Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival

Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival

Barbecue takes center stage this weekend in Tryon at the 22nd annual Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival. The competitive Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned event will feature teams from all over the U.S. cooking up chicken, pork ribs and pork or beef brisket in a showdown for titles, trophies and more than $20,000 in prize money. North Carolina teams will battle for the Governor’s Trophy, which is the North Carolina State Barbecue Championship.

“Winning the N.C. State Championship is a major achievement in a state so rich in barbecue history, and it comes complete with bragging rights,” said festival steering committee chair Mike Karawan in a statement. Festival attendees can watch the teams compete and sample some of the award-winning ‘cue, along with a selection of fixin’s from regional vendors.

The festival also offers two stages of live music, including appearances by Acoustic Syndicate and Big Daddy Love, as well as a juried craft fair, a classic car show (featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s famous No. 88 car), the Hawg Run motorcycle poker run and a grand finale fireworks show.

Admission is free for everyone 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, June 12, and $8 per person for the rest of the festival. Ages 12 and younger are free with a paying adult throughout the festival, and active military are free with military identification.

Proceeds help support Carolina Foothills Chamber of Commerce operations and the Carolina Foothills Chamber Foundation, which returns money to the community through support of a variety of charitable and civic programs. Volunteers are needed, and those who work a four-hour shift will receive free admission both days, plus a free 
T-shirt, water bottle and food.

The Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival takes place 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, June 12-13, at Harmon Field, Harmon Field Road, Tryon. For details on volunteering or any aspect of the festival, visit the festival’s website or call 859-7427.

Bikes and Coffee Crawl

Vortex Doughnuts is sponsoring a Bikes and Coffee Crawl through Asheville on Saturday, June 13. Bicycling coffee enthusiasts can take a leisurely roll through town and stop at any or all of the participating coffee shops — Waking Life, Odd’s Café, High Five Coffee and Bomba — then pedal on over to Vortex in the South Slope for a 7 p.m. after-party on the patio with live music and swag.

All day Saturday, June 13, ending with a 7 p.m. party at Vortex Doughnuts, 32 Banks Ave. Look for updates at Facebook.com/VortexDoughnuts.

Happy Jack’s adds beer, wine and all-day brunch

Happy Jack’s, which opened as a breakfast-only spot on Tunnel Road a few months ago, recently expanded its hours and offerings. Although its weekday hours remain the same — 7 a.m.-2 p.m. — the restaurant is now open until 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday with full breakfast and brunch menus of omelettes, sandwiches, desserts, local beer, wine and mimosas.

For details, visit Facebook.com/HappyJacksAsheville.

Postre Caramels

Confectioners Jamie Sastre, Joe Scott and Mitchell Simpson announced in late May the opening of their artisan caramel business, Postre Caramels. Working from a business park in Woodfin, the trio produces a five-ingredient, preservative-free, 95 percent organic sea salt caramel sauce packaged in recyclable plastic tubes. Other flavors will soon “flow down the caramel sauce pipeline,” promises Postre’s website. The entrepreneurs are visiting area tailgate markets to introduce their product, and the sauce is now available at the French Broad Co-op, West Village Deli and Market, Hendersonville Co-op, Artisan Gourmet Market in Black Mountain, Whit’s Frozen Custard, Hickory Nut Gap Farms and a few small retail shops, including Sanctuary of Stuff in Weaverville.

Visit postrecaramels.com.

Dinner in the Vines

Addison Farms Vineyard will host a wine dinner under the stars in the vineyard with chef Corey Marino on Saturday, June 20. The evening will feature seven small-plate courses paired with Addison Farms wines. The menu items will include bacon-wrapped figs with goat cheese, halibut with smoked peaches, watermelon gazpacho, duck breasts with blackberries and corn pudding and baby back ribs with tomato pie. A vegetarian option is available. Tickets are $65 plus tax.

7 p.m. Saturday, June 20, Addison Farms Vineyard, 4005 New Leicester Farms Highway, Leicester. For tickets, visit Addisonfarms.net/winedinner or call 581-9463.

Summer Vegetable Recipe Roulette

Patryk Battle and Meredith Leigh of Living Web Farms will offer a workshop featuring live cooking demonstrations of seasonal, plant-based recipes on Tuesday, June 16, at the French Broad Food Co-op. A $10 donation is suggested.

6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, June 16, upstairs at French Broad Food Co-op, 90 Biltmore Ave. To register, visit livingwebfarms.org.