Asheville Food Bites: Bar closure, chef dining events, sustainable brewery award
ASHEVILLE - A local karaoke destination closes; a live-fire cooking event gets a new date; a local chef hosts a one-night-only Asian-inspired five-course dining experience; a craft beer brewery earns high marks for environmentally-friendly practices.
West Asheville club closure
On Feb. 24, Alley Cat Social Club permanently closed at 797 Haywood Road, Suite 100, in West Asheville.
The neighborhood hangout, which was open for five years, hosted karaoke, deejay nights, live music, comedy shows and other entertainment. The final days of business included tango and swing dance parties.
New date for AVL Food Series
The new date has been announced for AVL Food Series’ rescheduled dinner featuring Chef Michelle Bailey.
The event, originally set for Feb. 22, was to kick off the AVL Food Series, a year-long program to showcase local chefs and various cuisines but was postponed due to the chef’s illness.
The new time and date have been confirmed for 5:30-8:30 p.m. March 14 at The Mule, 131 Sweeten Creek Road, Suite 10.
Bailey, former owner and executive chef of Smoky Park Supper Club, will prepare snacks and a four-course dinner prepared on her custom-built Santa Maria fire table named Jolene.
Tickets begin at $97.50 with beverage pairings available at an additional cost.
Ticketholders of the Feb. 22 event may have their tickets honored for the new event date or may contact Shay & Company regarding refunds.
AVL Food Series, presented by Shay & Company in collaboration with Devil’s Foot Beverage Co., will continue with Burger Bliss Food Fest, a family-friendly festival featuring more than 10 chefs and different burger styles, on March 23 at The Mule.
For the full schedule and to purchase tickets, visit shaybrownevents.com/avl-food-series.
Sage & Spice Market dinner
Chef and restaurateur Jay Medford will host a special five-course dinner March 22 at Sage & Spice Market, 1056 Patton Ave. in West Asheville.
Medford will infuse Japanese and Korean influences with his Southern and classically trained culinary techniques.
Medford, who trained at the French Culinary Institute in New York City and now owns Storm Rhum Bar & Bistro and The Burrito Bar, will incorporate ingredients sourced from local vendors, growers and farmers to prepare a menu of gluten-free dishes.
Featured items include an ube coconut bisque made with purple yam, coconut cream, micro cilantro and pickled mango; and a seared sea scallop entrée made with edamame wasabi puree, apple gelee, peppered goat cheese mousse and black vinegar caramel.
Tickets are $75 per person. The event is limited to 24 guests.
Beer, wine and handcrafted cocktails will be available for purchase.
For reservations and inquiries, visit Brown Paper Ticket at m.bpt.me/event/6242979 or call 828-500-1450.
For more, visit sageandspicemarket.com and follow @sageandspicecatering.
Sustainable brews
Wicked Weed Brewing has scored a win for its sustainability practices.
The Asheville-based company’s main production brewery in Candler was awarded a Gold certification under the Total Resource Use and Efficiency, a rating system designed to promote sustainable waste management and reduction methods and administered by Green Business Certification. According to Wicked Weed, it's one of three breweries in the U.S. to receive the designation.
Wicked Weed reported that the production facility diverted its waste “to 99.3%, sending less than 0.7% of over 18 million lbs. of materials to landfills in 2023.”
In 2023, some of the ways the brewery achieved the gold certification standing were by recycling more than 100 tons of materials, composting more than 11,000 lbs. of materials, and sending more than 6,000 tons of spent grain to become cattle feed.
Nearly 28 cubic yards of foam was gathered from the public during the brewery’s “Foam Fridays” collection days, in collaboration with local recycling partner Feed Me Foam. A community recycling area was introduced for the public and employees to drop off hard-to-recycle materials, like Styrofoam, natural corks, plastic bags and PakTech can carriers.
Reusable straps were used for shipping kegs to local Wicked Weed locations, thereby eliminating the use of plastic shrink wrap. Merchandise shipped from its online shop now uses 100% recyclable packaging. Collection cups with reusable lids were implemented, taking the place of sample collection cups with aluminum foil.
“Since Wicked Weed was founded in 2012, sustainability has been a cornerstone of our ethos and we’re honored that this certification recognizes our commitment to brewing our beer and operating our company with zero waste,” said Andrew Dagnan, Director of Safety and Sustainability at Wicked Weed. “We remain more dedicated than ever to having a net positive impact on our people, communities and the environment.”
For more, visit true.gbci.org and wickedweedbrewing.com.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville chefs' special dining events, Wicked Weed's award, more
