Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Some of what’s going around:
–Woody Harrelson was spotted playing chess with folks hanging out in Pritchard Park late last week, according to WLOS. Harrelson is in town for the filming of a new movie that includes Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Peter Dinklage. It’s called Three Billboards Outside Ebbings, Missouri. This week, the movie is filming in downtown Sylva.
-Speaking of movies, Genius hits the big screen on June 10. That’s the movie about the relationship between author Thomas Wolfe and his editor, Max Perkins. The movie stars Jude Law, Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Guy Pearce and more.
–Wedge Brewing is planning to open a second brewery at a location just south of its current location on Roberts Street/Payne’s Way, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. The plan is for the second Wedge to open at the location known as the Foundation before the end of the year. The Foundation property, located on Old Lyman Street behind Riverview Station, sold last year.
-Speaking of the Foundation, I’m wondering if 12 Bones restaurant might find its new home in one of the buildings on the property, or a new building. The property includes eight buildings, but it sits in a floodplain, so any new uses, such as a brewery or a restaurant, will have to be built up out of the floodplain – that’s a good eight or 10 feet higher. We’ll see.
-Word on the street is that Putnam’s Auto Body Shop at 265 Haywood Road near Beecham’s Curve in West Asheville is under contract to be sold.
-The new OWL Bakery and coffee shop, also on Haywood Road near Beecham’s Curve, should be open for business by the end of the week.
–John Fleer, executive chef and owner of Asheville’s Rhubarb announces accomplished Pastry Chef Kaley Laird has joined his restaurant team, according to a press release. More:
At just 28 years old, the Rochester, N.Y.-area native boasts an impressive resume with more than 11 years of culinary experience. She comes to Asheville, N.C., from the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was most recently Executive Chef at Aveline, located in the historic Warwick Hotel. Following culinary school at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, Kaley relocated to Napa to work at the prestigious Bouchon Bakery, where she was honored with the Core Award, which is bestowed upon the individual that best displays the CORE values of the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. Kaley then joined the team at the Michelin Starred Ubuntu under the direction of Chef Aaron London, whose confidence in his chefs’ abilities allowed Kaley to experiment with incorporating savory flavors into her pastries. When Ubuntu closed, Kaley began working as Pastry Chef for the Plumpjack Group at The Carneros Inn’s FARM restaurant, where she was quickly promoted to Executive Pastry Chef. Kaley left The Carneros Inn in 2014 to open Aveline, where she rose through the ranks again from Pastry Chef to Executive Chef.
