I LOVE FOOD CITY!

Today’s Podcast was originally broadcast by WPVM 103.7fm on Friday, February 10, 2023 and features conversations with Jeremy Hood aka The Urban Gastronome, as well as a live broadcast from Pasta and Prana, and in between, I address an article that appeared online not long ago titled “5 Reasons to Avoid Asheville, NC.”

PASTA PRANA: I went to the Pasta and Prana food truck at Franny’s Farmacy and had a wonderful meal of fresh seared scallops from Mother Ocean Market, and linguini made from hemp flour! I’m loving this hemp flour pasta, which is available to purchase frozen, and I have been cooking with it at home. It’s rich, toothy, and has a very pleasant flavor.

No photo description available. — More pictures available on Facebook…

The food coming from this little truck on Biltmore Ave is excellent and worthy of note in my opinion! If you have a chance to check it out, give it a try and let me know what you think! 🙂 Also available via Kickbackavl!

TACO MENU MOW-DOWN: In my continuing journey to eat every taco on the menu at White Duck Taco Shop: bulgogi beef, and chilled tofu bahn mi, and both of them were awesome!

For almost a year, the crispy pork belly taco at White Duck has been my #1 fave on their menu, the undisputed champ, dominating the rankings, and holding the belt, unchallenged for longer than any other… until now! Could the bulgogi beef & kimchi taco topple the title holder? We’ll have to see! I’l be going back to this one when I’m done with the menu, which is only three tacos from now. Stay tuned.

I don’t get especially excited about words like “chilled” or “tofu” when it comes to tacos, so when me friend Nikki (the manager at White Duck who challenged me to eat their menu!) trotted out the chilled tofu bahn mi taco, I set my expectations on “meh” and took a bite. Wow. Mind blow. So incredibly flavorful and delicious!

White Duck is batting a thousand so far.

VEGAN CHEESE STADIUM: Y’all. It happened. This crazy vegan cheese stadium from Violife arrived in the mail this morning! It’s pretty frickin’ cool! I’ll see if I can get this thing all set up and rockin’. I’ll share pictures and let you know how I like the cheese when I do! Thanks, Violife! Funsies!

BREAKFAST ON TOP OF ASHEVILLE: You may or may not have noticed that I have been eating a LOT of breakfasts lately, and that’s because it is one of my goals for 2023, which I have decided to make my Year of the Breakfast! That in mind, my buddy Lucho from Asheville Multicultural and I went to check out the breakfast at Capella on 9 rooftop bar, and wow! It was frickin’ excellent!

We had crab cakes egg Benny, a Spanish dish called cazuela, that is similar to shakshouka, plus some really awesome mushroom toast (one of my all-time fave dishes & they did it great!) as well some tasty frittata and bottomless coffee! Lucho & I agreed 100% that the food, as well as the views, are outstanding!

No description available. — Photo by Leah M.

"hey there...we spent the night in Asheville to celebrate our anniversary and went to Capella on 9 [for breakfast] because of YOUR post! Loved the mushroom toast... great service and beautiful views on a sunny and clear a.m. Thank..." - Leah M.

They are open for breakfast until 11:00am, 7 days a week, no lines, no waiting, you can hit the buffet, or order off the menu. Four thumbs up from me and Lucho! 🔥❤️🍳

EN AY DAY: Y’all, I’m working on a thing called En Ay Day, which lasts two days 🙂 and will feature dozens of non-alcoholic beverages from venues all over town, like the Jitterbug, from French Broad Chocolates, and raise money for MANNA Foodbank!

The dates for En Ay Day are Monday & Tuesday, April 24 & 25. Stay tuned for more deets!

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Stu Helm: Food Fan

Episode 101: Hemp Pasta, Cold Tacos & Brunch…