The real deal

Have you ever thought of owning a food truck? The freedom! The creativity! The possibilities! True, but there are also: Regulations! Tight spaces! And burnout! We caught up with two local food-truck purveyors — Jenni Squires and Zack Bier from Roaming in the Raw and Suzy Salwa Phillips from Gypsy Queen. We wanted to see […]

Late-night bites

Correspondent Michael Franco continues his exploration of dining options on the late-night scene. This installment takes a look at the after-hours offerings at Isis Restaurant & Music Hall. Isis Restaurant & Music Hall 9:30 till midnight (or later) Wednesday-Sunday. 8:30 till midnight (or later) during Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions. $4-9 per dish Alongside all the fiddling, […]

Onward, New Belgium

After an eight-month delay, New Belgium Brewing will resume site work in November on its Asheville facility on Craven Street in the River Arts District. The holdup stirred local rumors that the Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewery might not make good on its plan to invest $175 million in the new plant. But New Belgium Media […]

SMALL BITES: All Souls Pizza

Nearly four months after its summer opening, All Souls Pizza has taken its promised plunge into lunch service and is forging ahead with some community-oriented projects as well. The lunch expansion offers new hours and a dedicated menu for the day crowd, while other projects are opening up a new outdoor space for community gatherings. […]

SMALL BITES: Underbelly

Good food isn’t all Mike Moore has been cooking up in the kitchens of Seven Sows Bourbon and Larder, and the Blind Pig supper club. Underbelly, a food and Southern-culture quarterly magazine he and his team have been publishing, just won some high praise: The second installment of the journal, “Soul & Comfort,” was awarded […]

Pigging out

At first glance, the Red Wattle pig gives no telltale signs that it’s the source of what leading culinary professionals consider the highest quality pork money can buy. The distinctive sags of skin that hang from either side of its neck look almost like defects, and the pleasing pink hue that one might expect has […]

Late-night bites

Editor’s note: Michael Franco has explored dining options that have recently appeared on the late-night scene. This installment investigates Storm Rhum Bar & Bistro’s after-hours offerings. The sun set hours ago. The early-to-bed set has retreated to their homes and hotel rooms, and the streets are left to the visitors, the vamps and the venturers […]

The fika files

Editor’s note: Blogger, minister and globe-trotting coffee aficionado Elizabeth Reynolds McGuire spends her downtime promoting the Swedish idea of fika and checking out local coffee shops. This week, she begins a regular series that will examine Asheville-area coffee culture one cup at a time. Fika 101 I love coffee.  I also love photography, writing and […]

New butcher on the block

Meredith and Casey McKissick are bringing fresh-from-the-farm meats to Black Mountain with their new shop, Foothills Farms and Butchery, located across the street from Dynamite Roasting Company. The owner of the space, Endre Pazstor, got behind the shop because of his fond memories of a local butchery in his native Dominican Republic, says Meredith. “People […]

Mountain-Creole fusion

For well over a year, quirky and artistic downtown Marshall was without a full-service restaurant. The old stone building at 18 N. Main St. — which used to house Bacchus Bistro and Stone House Pizza — remained vacant from early 2012 until this summer, when Marshall’s culinary drought officially ended as Jaime and Deena Hernandez […]

A HardLox life

For one day only, local residents can grab a real Coney Island knish without hopping a plane to New York City. Organizers of the HardLox Jewish Food and Heritage Festival, to be held Oct. 20 in Pack Square, are shipping some of the traditional Eastern European dumplings down here from Long Island for guests to […]

Sweet support

In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month and in an effort to raise money for Helpmate, a local nonprofit dedicated to serving women and children in Buncombe County, the Chocolate Fetish in downtown Asheville presents a simple and delicious notion: artisan high-heeled shoes crafted from milk and dark chocolate.

Grandma’s chopped liver

For 10 years, Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian Restaurant owner Eric Scheffer has been making his grandmother’s chopped-liver recipe to be served up at the HardLox Festival. The recipe for the festival favorite has been a family secret, but this year Scheffer agreed to share it with Xpress readers: (Serves 6) Chicken livers – 3 pounds Onions […]

South Asheville eats

Sometimes the outskirts of Asheville remind you of a different city entirely. The quirky, independent and free-spirited vibe of the town seems to fade into a haze of strip malls and chain and big-box stores. When driving past the stretches of fast-food joints that seem to run the length of Hendersonville Road, how do you […]

Another twist on tempeh

The same crew of tempeh enthusiasts who put on last fall's Epic Tempeh Reuben Challenge have decided to run for the border. Based on the popularity of the vegetarian sandwich competition, organizers have invited 10 local restaurants to go head to head in the Epic Tempeh Taco Challenge on Sunday, Oct. 13, at Asheville Music […]

Hot wings

“West Asheville is really poppin',” says Hosea Jackson, owner of the Haywood Lounge Bar & Grill. "I've seen it change a lot, especially over the past five years.” An Asheville native, Jackson grew up in the Burton Street neighborhood and has watched the area evolve. Jackson has been running businesses at 590 Haywood Road since […]