Ron Jimenez had a literal eye-opening epiphany. “I woke up one morning a couple years ago with an out-of-the-blue conviction to become a vegetarian,” he recalls. “From that day forward, I stopped eating meat and cut back on all animal products.” Raised in Asheville, Jimenez later relocated to Florida to pursue his culinary education before returning to […]
MG Road will close on Aug. 3. Owner Meherwan Irani plans to use the space as a downstairs lobby bar for his restaurant, Chai Pani. Also: Asheville Tea Co. and Franny’s Farm host a hemp tea party; Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co. teams up with Luella’s Bar-B-Que; and more in this week’s Small Bites.
Hendersonville’s Historic Seventh Avenue District welcomes a new coffee venture. Also, Spruce Pine BBQ & Bluegrass Festival begins Friday, July 14; Metro Wines host multiple classes and tastings and the Asheville International Wine Competition celebrates regional wineries.
A recent blind tasting organized by the French Broad Vignerons proved that North Carolina wines are on par with similar vintages from Napa Valley, France and Spain.
The results are in for 2016 Asheville Wine & Food Festival Wine Competition. For the third year in a row, the number of entries increased more than 20 percent over the previous year’s event. Teams of judges trained by the French Broad Vignerons determined the medalists through a blind tasting format during evaluation sessions held in […]
March marks the beginning of winery tour season. Western North Carolina’s wine industry boasts about 30 wineries and vineyards, many of which welcome visitors for tours and tastings.
Food Connection’s largest fundraiser of the year is a music sampling of Western North Carolina; Catawba Brewing Co., serves up a beer-filled brunch to take the edge off winter; The French Broad Vignerons seeks potential wine judges; and Bee School is nearly in session at The Center for Honeybee Research.
In a recent blind tasting, two panels of judges from the French Broad Vignerons determined the top hard ciders for this year’s CiderFest NC competition.
Webo’s BBQ moves to River Ridge, the Asheville Wine & Food Festival dishes out its annual carnival of edible delights, Mela opens a new restaurant at UNC Asheville, The Fresh Market celebrates Hatch chiles and the Henderson County Cooperative Extension offers a workshop on preserving tomatoes.
The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad recently partnered with the French Broad Vignerons to host the MacNeill Uncorked, a wine dinner that rolls from Bryson City to the Nantahala Gorge and back .
The 2015 Grape Growers Conference, a community dinner and music event for Black History Month, Asheville Wing War and Asheville Small Plate Crawl.
The mention of mead is likely to bring to mind Vikings and Renaissance fairs rather than sophisticated sipping and food pairings. But times and tastes are changing, and some locals have their sights set on modernizing perceptions and knocking the dust off the ancient drink’s faded appeal. One of these mead mavens is Fairview resident […]
Most people think Asheville’s oldest brewing business is Highland Brewing Co. But the truth is there is at least one beer-making operation in town that predates them, if only slightly. For the last 21 years, Asheville Brewers Supply hasn’t brewed and sold its own beer — that would be illegal. However the shop, owned up […]
News on indoor holiday markets, a winter community potluck, evaluations for amateur winemakers and a free tasting of Alpine cheeses.
With CiderFest just around the corner on Sunday, Nov. 2, Xpress has an exclusive update on the judges’ results for 2014 submissions. Blind cider samplings were conducted by two panels of French Broad Vignerons members, who awarded ribbons based on appearance, aroma, taste and overall quality. Apparently, practice does make perfect in the world of […]
Back in July, West End Bakery & Café embraced the summer season by adding a covered outdoor seating area to its landmark West Asheville property. Around the same time, the bakery’s dessert chef, Meg Schearer, introduced dessert flights to the menu — a sampling of sweet items in tiny portions on one plate — and […]
