Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Story from Asheville Citizen-Times reporter/columnist Carol Motsinger. The DeSoto is one of my favorite hangs:
The first — and most recent — surprising guest: Ethiopian food. Desoto Lounge is now serving Ethiopian food on Tuesdays.
It’s never made sense to me that we don’t have an Ethiopian restaurant in Asheville. This delicious African cuisine is such a natural fit for this town: It’s exotic; we are into that. It’s vegetarian-friendly, and we certainly have a lot of rabbits in this town. We are documented big fans of fermentation (See: local beer).
Instead of using utensils, you use a spongy, fermented bread to pick up Ethiopian dishes. How great an idea is that? You eat food with food!
The Ethiopian food addition is definitely the tastiest of all the new treats at the Desoto. But it’s just one bite: It’s also hosting live music now and is attracting some serious rising stars.
One example: Sub Pop’s Dum Dum Girls, who played there in March. Their first album sounds like what would happen if a 1960s girl group decided to ditch the beehives for the leather jackets of punk rockers. Let’s just say it’s so good that next time they come to play in Asheville, they will have to be at a much larger venue.
And there is one final new addition that’s a major daily draw. When Desoto debuted last fall, foosball and pinball were already offered. Now, there’s a pingpong table every night, and it makes this bar something like your coolest friend’s basement.
Desoto’s only been open since November, but there seems to be no awkward, lanky teen phase for the people at this spot. No braces, bad haircuts or ill-fitting outfits forced on them by out-of-touch parents.
