Coffee, sandwiches, fruit smoothies and fresh-baked pastries are on the menu at the new downtown spot. Also this week: Loretta’s Café has closed, 12 Baskets rolls out a new dining and grocery model, High Five Coffee adds weekend brunch service and much more.
Forest Walters discusses the strong team of volunteers working at 12 Baskets Café.
The nonprofit’s writing, craft and visual arts groups forge a strong sense of belonging among participants.
Cochon555’s national Heritage Fire tour lands in Asheville on Sunday, July 17.
GrindFest returns to the River Arts District. Also: American Craft Sake Festival relaunches; First Watch launches in Asheville; and more!
Unable to volunteer at local nonprofits because of COVID-19, local resident Madelyn Schmidt launched her own initiative to assist those in need during the pandemic.
“The community that the cafe creates allows people like and unlike to break the barriers between them and, in doing so, work together to address our community’s needs.”
“One of the important missions of 12 Baskets is to break down the barrier that divides our community into socioeconomic groups.”
“12 Baskets is … teaching us that by offering small gestures, we can help our community thrive as a whole.”
“[W]e’ve learned at 12 Baskets that by adopting a mentality of abundance, we can find ways to more evenly and equally distribute wealth and resources, especially food.”
“Thankfully, there is 12 Baskets, a place that knows what it means to share with one’s community.”
Chicken, black eyed-peas and collard greens are among the items to be served at the upcoming Soul Food Supper, hosted by Asheville Parks and Recreation. Also: Lookout Brewing Co. holds a mac and cheese cookoff; The Cut Cocktail Lounge celebrates Mardi Gras with a crawfish boil; and plenty more in this week’s Small bites.
“This program feeds scores of area residents from all walks of life, five days a week, offering a wide range of rescued and repurposed food from some of the finest restaurants of the city, grocery stores, retirement communities, hospitals, caterers and others in the food-service industry.”
“We must recognize that as long as we prioritize more hotels, more restaurants, more new construction (none of which is wholly bad), we must also acknowledge the consequences of those priorities — the displacement of people on the margins — and find ways to sustainably address them.”
They have been overwhelmingly supportive and interested in searching for solutions and commonalities, participating in several meetings between the leaders of the nonprofits and themselves in the weeks leading up to the Trinity Church community meeting.
Some say The Steady Collective, Firestorm Books and Coffee, Kairos West Community Center and 12 Baskets Café have reduced the area’s safety by offering services to drug users and homeless clients. The Asheville Police Department has claimed that the number of complaints filed in the neighborhood — including drug use, trespassing and syringes discarded on a nearby playground — have risen dramatically in recent months.
The inaugural Cider, Wine and Dine Weekend spotlights and celebrates Henderson County’s agritourism industry. Also: UpCountry Brewing continues its Pint Night series; Pisgah Coffee Roasters opens; Great Harvest Bread Company partners with MetroWines for an evening workshop; and Corner Kitchen hosts beer pairing dinner.
Burial releases three packaged beers, Catawba releases two and Highland brings back Black Watch in this week’s local beer news.
WNC organizations need donations and volunteers to make Thanksgiving dinner a reality for locals experiencing hunger and homelessness.
A new pie cafe hits South Asheville. Also, Urban Orchard Cider Co. will host a five-course live fire dinner, Asheville Breakfast Rotary Club and Hickory Nut Gap Farm team up for a fundraiser and lots more in this week’s Small Bites.
Asheville organizations, including Food Connection and 12 Baskets Café, take advantage of the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act to salvage untouched food that would otherwise end up in the garbage. These high-quality meals are then distributed to local families and individuals in need.
