Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Pupuseria Patty’s on Leicester Highway./ photo by Jason Sandford
More of what’s going on, including the including the opening of Pupuseria Patty’s on Leicester Highway and Tortilleria Molina along Patton Avenue, and more. It’s been fascinating to watch Asheville restaurant owners adapt and adjust on the fly to the changing conditions forced upon them by the coronavirus crisis. Onward:
-Here’s the new, improved website of independent restaurants in the Asheville area featuring takeout and delivery, foodinasheville.com. It is curated and updated by the Asheville Independent Restaurants group.
-Tortilleria Molina is now open on Patton Avenue, in the shopping center near Gypsy Queen restaurant. They’re serving up tamales to go, and they’ve got atole.
-Pupuseria Patty’s is now open at the Exxon station/mini-mart at the corner of Leicester Highway and Old County Home Road. The eater features Honduran and Salvadoran food.
-Asheville Chefs Santiago Vargas, formerly of Out of the Blue Peruvian Fusion Cuisine food truck) and Chef Ricardo Carasco of Polanco Restaurant, have announced that they had planned to open a new tapas bar in the Polanco location on North Market Street in downtown Asheville, but instead working together to serve food to go. The name of their endeavor is PachaMama5. From their newsletter: “Pacha Mama means ‘Mother Earth’ – we want to take care of Mother Earth and the people of Asheville. Our plan is to create healthy, safely prepared meals to feed up to 40 families a day. We are providing our time, labor, and equipment, and the food is purchased thanks to the gracious donations of others.” Folks can participate by donating cash, sponsor a meal for someone else, buy a meal, etc. Go here to see how to donate via PayPal or Facebook. To order, hit that same link to sign up for a time slot on the day of your choosing, with pickup available from 3-5 p.m. on Monday through Friday. There will be a sanitized table at 10 N. Market St. in downtown Asheville (in front of Green Man Dweller/Polanco) available for folks to pick up on the street.
-Silverball Subs has opened in the shopping center at 347 New Leicester Highway, and they’re serving up sub sandwiches to go. I feel for these folks, who opened just as the coronavirus crisis was taking hold.
–Mother Earth Food gets a nice shout-out in this Forbes story about home cooking during the time of COVID. Mother Earth Food is a multi-farm CSA that has really stepped up its game, and they’re just doing a great job. Check ’em.
-The Asheville craft beer community has pulled together to brew a beer/raise money for coronavirus relief. Bhramari Brewing, New Belgium Asheville, Archetype, Twin Leaf, DSSLVR and White Labs have brewed Stay Home/Stay Asheville India Pale Ale. Look for it. All proceeds go to a relief fund overseen by New Belgium.