Stu Helm: Food Fan, on Nourish & Flourish, RAD

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Hello Asheville!

Y’know what? I’m lazy. Super lazy. For example: I know I need vegetables in my diet, and I even enjoy the way they taste, but most of the time, I’m too frickin’ lazy to buy, chop, prep and cook vegetables at home, and the truth is, I’m actually too lazy to even chew them. I know that raw vegetables are the best for you, nutritionally speaking, but who wants to spend the next hour and half of one’s life chewing on carrots and kale and celery sticks just to get the daily recommended intake of vitamins and minerals? Not me. Nope. If I could, I would just open-up a door in my torso, and place a salad inside of me. I sincerely lament the lack of the option to do so, but I’m really glad for one other, more realist option: Juice.

NOURISH & FLOURISH – River Arts District, Asheville

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While this photo doesn’t do the best job of conveying how cool this place really looks, it does absolutely nothing to tell you how good it smelled. I am not a good smelltographer.

Have you ever been to, or even heard of Nourish & Flourish? It’s a juice bar (and more) on the South End of the River Arts District, basically right across the street from my pals at The Junction. I stopped in one day last week for the first time, and was struck right away by the following things.

• It smelled fantastic. I don’t know what the fuck was creating that wonderful aroma, but I immediately felt a sense of calm go over my whole body. I’m not even kidding you. I took one step inside, and thought “Maaaaaaan, that smells goooooood,” and I felt kind of blissed-out for the rest of my visit.

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The atmosphere is kInd of cool, dark, and quiet up front, and bright and open in back. Sorry this picture sucks.

• It’s really really nice inside! You go up a little flight of stairs, past a reception area for the other non-juice bar aspects of the business (something to do with healing, I think) and the room just opens the fuck up into this straight-up gorgeous space, with a long, curved cement counter, and a lounge-type area with tables, chairs, a couch, and giant windows that look out onto a scene so bucolic and throw-backy, you’d never know you were so close to downtown, in the year 2015. The train tracks, the mountains, the trees… It’s truly peaceful.

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Looking out the back window of Nourish & Flourish, I automatically started whistling the them song to the Andy Griffith Show in my head.

• Juice! The juice is five bucks a glass, flat, no matter what you order off of the menu. I got one that had cucumbers and carrots and parsley and maybe one other thing.  It was fucking good, Yo. I love juice. I actually own a juicer, and I do use it, in spasms, but that sumbetch is a pain in my ass to clean, so eventually I always end up putting it away for months at a time… until I forget what a pain in the ass it is to clean…  etc etc endless cycle experienced by every human who has ever owned a juicer. That being the reality, I am more than happy to pay somebody else $5 to do all the work of buying the vegetables, juicing them, composting the waste, serving me the juice in a glass that I don’t have to wash, and then cleaning all the juicing apparatus afterwards. I know for a fact that most of you MFers are willing to plunk at least that much money on a cocktail, brewski, or caffeinated beverage, so I’m down with a five dollar juice, no probs.

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JUICE!

There are other aspects to the juice bar that the super-nice woman behind the counter explained to me, involving “detoxes,” and classes, and what sounded like a juice club that people can sign up for.  I was just there on a errand, and not entirely prepared to jot down a bunch of notes, so you guys can either Google-up all that info for yourselves, or go to the actual place (347 Depot Street) and ask, or… and I don’t usually do this…  because WTF am I, a link generator? Here’s a link to their web site: Nourish & Flourish

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stu_helm_2013Stu Helm is an artist and writer living in Asheville, NC, and a frequent diner at local restaurants, cafes, food trucks, and the like. His tastes run from hot dogs and mac ‘n’ cheese, to haute cuisine, and his opinions are based on a lifetime of eating out. He began writing about food strictly to amuse his friends on Facebook. 

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4 Comments

  1. BobtheFrancis July 12, 2015

    Thanks for the piece Stu, funny and informative as usual. I’m not sure what Ashed Out is trying to accomplish with this poop talk about fame and fortune, like who the eff cares? Keep writing and bringing the reviews for this dad who tends to stick to his old haunts where the toddler is welcome. Someday the wife and I will have time to visit the great eateries you inform us of on the weekly. Peace

    Reply
  2. Ashed Out July 2, 2015

    Start the hate parade, but…I think Stu has jumped the shark at this point, just like Asheville and just like the Fonz. His 5 minutes of local fame now encompasses 4 of the stories on this site (currently) which is a sad testament to the local reporting that used to bring me to this very blog. Stu, I love you man, and I used to love your musings on Facebook way before your true “fame.” At this point your self importance and Ashvegas’ efforts to perpetuate your notoriety is growing old. A podcast…really? Really?!!! I like that Joe is involved to provide some actual credibility, but this little donkey show has gone on long enough. It was all funny ha ha for a while, but now it is playing out like a punk’d bit that someone forget to call “cut” on. Can we all just hug it out, call it a day, and move on?!

    Reply
    1. Dawn Roe July 3, 2015

      This particular column is simply highlighting (and hopefully bringing attention to) what sounds like a pretty fantastic place in the R.A.D. Not sure why there is a need to be so irritated about it – other than it’s written by Stu, I guess. As well, your comments suggest a certain level of familiarity, Ashed Out, yet you feel the need to use a pseudonym as opposed to your real name. I just really don’t get that about the comment section here – it’s a small town, can’t we talk to one another openly? I think that’s a lot of what Stu is trying to do in writing about and advocating for a sense of community around a shared enthusiasm for food and food culture in town. Seems like a pretty worthwhile thing to me, at least.

      Reply
      1. Big Al July 4, 2015

        “…it’s a small town, can’t we talk to one another openly?”

        No, “we” cannot. AVL is now troll central. I’ll admit that I have fallen prey to this syndrome and am trying to reform myself by staying positive, but it is a challenge with so much selfishness and bitterness. So much for “happiest place on earth”.

        Reply

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