THE PODCAST
The podcast above was originally recorded on 01/01/2025 without my usual co-host Chef Tom LaFauci from Twisted Laurel Downtown Asheville, so it’s just little old me doin’ the best that I can…
00:00 - 03:23 INTRO: Tom’s Not Here, But Hockey Is!
03:24 - 08:19 LOOKING BACK AT 2024 Prt 1: Boy Howdy, Did I Eat A Lot
8:20 - 14:35 WHERE’D YA EAT? Neng Jr’s, Good Hot fish, The Market Place, Zambra, The Rankin Vault Lounge
14:46 - 16:13 I APOLOGIZE: Sorry I Didn’t Get To Your Restaurant Or Food Truck
16:14 - 17:48 WHY I DON’T DRINK OR DRIVE: I Was Just Responsible Enough
17:49 - 18:28 MANNA SPOT: Please Donate to MANNA Foodbank
18:29 - 19:43 THANK YOU WPVM: Please Make A Donation To WPVM 103.7fm!
19:49 - 27:55 LOOKING BACK AT 2024 Prt 2: It Kinda Sucked & Then It Really Sucked
27:56 - 30:23 HAPPINESS: In The Form of Holiday Lights & Figurines Of Santa
30:30 - 34:43 GOOD THINGS STILL HAPPEN: Togetherness Matters
34:44 - 38:23 MOVING FORWARD - Everything Changes Every Day
38:24 - 52:00 LOOKING FORWARD - WNC Pizza Week, Stoobies, Fancy Dinners, Food Tours & Cannabis Tours
52:01 - 54:04 BYE! Thanks Deb, and All The Listeners!
THE NEWSLETTER
STOOBIES STOOBIES STOOBIES! The 12th annual Food fan Awards, aka The Stoobies have been published! The best of the best of what & where I ate in 2024. Chef of the Year, Restaurant of the Year, Person of the Year, Pizza of the Year, and twenty other categories with pictures & descriptions. You can read them all HERE!
IN THE NEWS: Just in case you missed it, there was an article in the NYT by Pete Wells recently about Asheville's restaurants. I met and spoke with Pete, he was very nice, and I hope that his article will help with our recovery! You can read it HERE.
TRIGGER WARNING: The article brought up some very fresh memories for me and might be upsetting for some local folks to read.
It's a little weird for me to be mentioned in the same paragraph as Donald Trump in an article in the New York Times, but... that's... uhhh… the crazy world we live in. Fuck that guy.
IN THE LOCAL NEWS: I Got a very nice write-up by Pruett Norris from 828NewsNow, mostly about the Stoobie Awards. I hope his piece introduces my content and the restaurants I post about to a bunch of new folks who live & work here in Western North Carolina! #wncstrong
Food Mogul, though? Huh. Yeah, sure! I’ll mogul the fuck out of some food! You can read the article HERE.
LOCAL RECOMMENDATION: Y'all... Paddy & I went to one of the opening nights at the brand new Hail Mary restaurant on Haywood Rd in West Asheville and wow! The burgers we frickin' great! Like, really really great. It's a double patty smash burger topped with American 🇺🇸 cheese, caramelized onions, pickles & the house made "Kween" sauce, served on a soft potato bun. It was perfectly seasoned and perfectly cooked. It was savory AF and had umami out the wahzoo. I loved it. Paddy loved it. We were very happy eaters afterwards.
As we ate, I spied Chef Chris Cox AKA "Burger Boi" running back and forth with an apron on, so the next day I wrote to the owner, Kelly Gable, as well Chef Chris and got the infos: The menu was created by Chef Mallory Foster who is currently also the pastry chef at Rhubarb and will be going back to that full time as soon as she can. Chef Chris was there at the soft openings, and will be taking over the Hail Mary kitchen. That's great news for burger fans, and for food fans everywhere! Go check out Hail Mary for yourselves, I highly recommend the burger! Also, the atmosphere was fun and lively.
The music was moderate, the room was bright and clean, and the pictures on the wall that I was facing during dinner were all of female icons of rock and soul and I enjoyed the experience very much. Congrats to Kelly, I think she's got a real winner on her hands. Also, this is my favorite photo of Paddy and Whitney together.
ASHEVILLE FOOD TOURS: I went into Chestnut with my group from Asheville Food Tours for brunch one recent Saturday and they served my patrons and myself some of their super delicious pimento cheese hush puppies with greens and chow chow. My patrons got a tour-sized cocktail, I got a full-sized n/a drink that was verrrry tasty and refreshing!
The atmosphere was elegant but lively, the service was friendly and professional, and the whole experience was spot on, all around! I absolutely recommend Chestnut for brunch!
Please sign up for a food tour with me or Fruitcake Sarah through Asheville Food Tours!
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