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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Here’s more of what’s going around:

-Our Global Table, a world food dinner pop-up, is set for noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday at The Wedge at The Foundation. The Wedge will transform into an international food court for an afternoon of international flavors from folks like Little Bee Thai, Cecilia’s Kitchen, Gypsy Queen, Charinko and much more. With each ticket, visitors will receive a small plate from each food vendor. A cash bar of beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages is available on site. All proceeds benefit Pisgah Legal’s Justice For All Project, which provides legal help to low-income immigrants in our community. Tickets are $35 at the door and $30 in advance. Kids ages eight and under are free. Our Global Table event info here.

-Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company is collaborating with chefs from other local restaurants to create a series of specialty pizzas, which are available only at the pizzeria’s North Asheville location at 675 Merrimon Avenue, according to a press release. This summer’s superstar pie is the Luella’s Pie, a collaboration between chefs Jeff Miller of Luella’s Bar-B-Que and Nick Izzo of Asheville Pizza Company. The pizza has Luella’s sweet Pisgah barbecue sauce as the base. It’s topped with Luella’s pulled pork, chopped brisket, and hoop cheddar cheese. Bacon, pickled red onion, green onions, and a three-cheese blend round out this mighty meaty creation. The Luella’s Pie will be on Asheville Pizza’s menu starting July 17,after 5 p.m. (dinner time only) for $19.99. Only a certain number of these special pies will be available each day, so come in early if you want to score one, according to the release.  This pie will be on Asheville Pizza’s menu until the end of August.

The Doner Kebab & Falafels, a locally owned restaurant that’s been serving up delicious Turkish-German dishes at the Asheville Mall, has opened up at UpCountry Brewing in West Asheville.

-MG Road, the 7-year-old cocktail bar on Wall Street conceived by Chai Pani restaurant owners  Meherwan and Molly Irani, will close and morph into an extension of the Chai Pani space at end of business on Aug. 3. MG Road will transform into a “lobby bar” for Chai Pani to better serve our guests,” Molly and Meherwan state in a news release. Here’s more:

We’re creating a hang out bar/waiting area for our guests that’ll have our usual fun and raucous atmosphere with delicious drinks and some of our classic Indian street snacks served hawker-style for hungry patrons waiting for a table. Not only that, but we will also be able to offer large party seating as part of the remodel. For our Chai Pani customers, this will be a very welcome and needed change.

For us, this is a time to enjoy looking back fondly at all the many incarnations of MG Road, the friends who made wonderful things happen, and the countless sweet memories we created. First, as an intrepid cocktail bar, it was on the forefront of bringing the national re-enlightenment of cocktail culture to Asheville in the form of “basement speakeasy by way of India.” It then morphed into a “culinary concert hall” that hosted a number of pop-ups and special events, including being an incubator for Elliott Moss before opening Buxton Hall Barbecue. This resulted in the much lauded Punk Wok & The Thunderbird, not to mention many other special nights: Girls on Deck, MG Roadhouse, Keep It Classic Tuesdays, MG Flea, Salsa Night, Poly Pop, Pork Katsu Karaoke, Izakaya Karaoke, Spring Break, Cinco De Mayo with Gustavo Baez, Freaky Tiki, Music Mondays, Ladies of Country Brunch, Miami Nights, Libation Migration, and of course Miracle on Wall Street.

MG Road has served as a major creative outlet for our entire restaurant group, and make no mistake about it, that creative energy will always live on. MG Road’s spirit of irreverence, humor, creativity, and just unbridled fun for the sake of it, will pop up in other forms down the road. It can’t be stopped. Keep an eye out for it, there’s much more to come from this team.

-The Asheville Independent Restaurant Association will host Mickey Bakst, the owner of The Charleston Grill and co-founder of the Ben’s Friends food and beverage industry support group, at 9 a.m. on July 23 at Explore Asheville/AIR offices. All chefs, owners and managers are invited to attend. RSVP here.

-Just to recap some recent openings and closings: Famous Toastery is closed over on Tunnel Road. Jimmy John’s is closed on Biltmore Avenue. The Wine and Oyster on Biltmore Avenue is closed, and it sounds like it might come back as a different concept. And Happy Jack’s closed back in April and is now apparently an Asian buffet joint. How did I miss that?

-In the works: RosaBees Cake & Cocktails is in the works at The Foundation. Crave Dessert Bar is in the works at 41 N. Lexington Ave., the former location of The Southern restaurant and bar.

-Just opened: High Climate Tea has opened at 12 S. Lexington Avenue.

-Psych Ice Cream & Bar, the new restaurant coming to the former Rolled & Roasted location on Merrimon Avenue (the former Edna’s) is hiring.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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1 Comment

  1. ED July 20, 2019

    What news do you have on the Nine Mile opening a South Asheville location. I heard Biltmore Park?

    Also, it looks like Athleta is opening soon at Biltmore Park Town Square.

    Reply

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