The executive director of Asheville Independent Restaurants looks back at a year of success and change for Western North Carolina’s food scene.
Tag: AIR
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Ben’s Friends Asheville supports restaurant workers coping with substance abuse
The volunteer-driven program offers recovery support groups that leverage the camaraderie inherent in the food and beverage industry.
Asheville’s independent restaurants donate millions of dollars annually to local charities
Data recently collected by the Asheville Independent Restaurants organization shows that WNC eateries contribute enormous amounts of money and time to the local community. But given the hospitality sector’s notoriously slim margins, how do these businesses manage to be so generous?
Asheville Wine & Food Festival takes a break, new local festival emerges
Asheville Wine & Food Festival founder and director Bob Bowles says he faced challenges in securing a suitable location for this year’s event. In the meantime, a group of local chefs and business owners are making headway with plans for a new food and beverage festival with an experiential focus for 2019.
Chapter two: Getting a late-life second start in Asheville’s food and beverage industries
Western North Carolina’s booming restaurant and brewing scenes offer opportunities for jumping into semi-retirement or a phase-two career.
Quick dish: A Q+A with Christine Lane of Marco’s Pizzeria
The New York native looks back at 23 years of running her family-owned pizza business in Asheville.
Taste & Tunes: Taste of Asheville takes a musical direction
For this year’s Taste of Asheville, Asheville Independent Restaurants will partner with the local busking collective to highlight the city’s street performers.
Small bites: Fifth Season Gardening cultivates DIY lifestyles
Fifth Season’s new East Asheville location caters to homebrewers; Full Circle Farm Sanctuary hosts a vegan cookie swap; AIR Passports are now for sale; local restaurants collect items for youths in need; and Strada Italiano hosts its annual traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes.
Small bites: Taste of Sylva supports town’s development
Foodie festivals continue in WNC with Taste of Sylva’s downtown restaurant crawl. Meanwhile, Organic Growers School is poised to train a new crop of farmers; Ambrozia will host a wine dinner with Metro Wines’ Andy Hale; and Taste of Asheville tickets are now on sale.
Behind the Apron: Asheville Independent Restaurants launches a new online industry resource
In Asheville, many restaurateurs realize that cooperation trumps competition. The local culinary scene is well-known for its collaborative spirit, and behindtheapron.com, a new business-to-business website recently unveiled by Asheville Independent Restaurants, aims to enhance and expand that synergy. Unlike AIR’s current website, which is mostly consumer-based, Behind the Apron was created to be a resource for the organization’s 120-plus member restaurants. […]
In photos: Taste of Asheville 2014
Everything from beef tartare to torched marshmallow s’mores was on the menu last night as Asheville Independent Restaurants celebrated the local food scene with its annual Taste of Asheville event.
Small Bites: Taste of Asheville 2014
Asheville Independent Restaurants readies for Taste of Asheville, WNC Health Advocates hosts a fundraising dinner, King Daddy’s adds breakfast, Loretta’s goes late-night and Black Mountain Ciderworks throws a Rabelaisian Feast.
Asheville’s food pioneers: An interview with three of the founders of Asheville Independent Restaurants
One of the most notable aspects of Asheville’s culinary community is its focus on camaraderie rather than competition. Tangible proof of this phenomenon is the success of Asheville Independent Restaurants, an organization formed in 2002 by a group of local chefs and restaurant owners who joined forces to create a united front for the betterment of Asheville’s […]
Small Bites: The return of CiderFest NC
A bigger and better CiderFest; expanded hours at Dough; A-B Tech’s Harvest Moon fundraiser and the date for Taste of Asheville 2014.
The Quick Dish: Chef Peter Pollay
Xpress recently talked to Pollay about the challenges of creating a palate-pleasing gluten-free menu, his work with Asheville’s restaurant community and his excitement about bidding farewell to winter.
Crawl for your food
Next week Asheville Independent Restaurant Association’s Small Plate Crawl will offer an affordable and fun way to get a broad sampling of the area’s culinary offerings. Tuesday-Thursday, Feb. 25-27, more than 20 AIR-member restaurants will feature special, low-priced small-plate menus with a price range of $3-$8, providing the perfect opportunity for a midweek night out on the town. 
WNC Regional Air Quality Agency approves facility permit modification for Flint Group
At the Jan. 13 WNC Regional Air Quality meeting, the agency approved a permit modification for Day International, Inc. dba Flint Group, a fabricated rubber and urethane manufacturer that makes products for the printing industry.
Asheville’s independent restaurants celebrate Earth Day — every day
A Green Restaurant Initiative has sparked collaboration between local eateries in the continued greening of Asheville’s dining scene. A new video detailing the process, produced by a local production company, has drawn the attention of the Huffington Post and other media outlets, helping to get the word out on a national level. The video can be viewed after the jump.
Green Scene: Environmental antacid
The cloud of acid rain that's been hovering over Western North Carolina for decades may turn out to have a silver lining after all. A seven-year lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority ended in a negotiated settlement last June. In 2004, North Carolina joined Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee in suing TVA over air pollution […]
Food news to go: News of the Asheville-area food scene in small bites
Get your bison and beer, goodbye to Ed Boudreaux’s, hello Stone Bowl Korean and more.
Asheville Small Plate Crawl coming in February
Want to sample some of what the Asheville food scene has to offer on the super-cheap? Heck yes, you do.