THE PODCAST
The podcast above was originally recorded on 02/03/2025 with my usual co-host Chef Tom LaFauci from Twisted Laurel Downtown Asheville. To listen live every Friday at 5pm, tune in to WPVM 103.7fm!
00:00 - 04:39 INTRO: Chef Had A Day & A Sign Of Neighborliness
04:40 - 10:06 THE PRICE OF EGGS: And Other Bad Things
10:07 - 12:22 DOES IT HAVE EGGS? If It Has An Egg On Top, It Has Eggs
12:23 - 14:34 AVIAN FLU: 145 Million Dead Birds & Counting
14:35 - 15:15 MANNA SPOT: Please Donate to MANNA Foodbank
14:16 - 18:17 NOT WHERE’D YA EAT: Buncha Bad Meals
18:18 - 44:38 YDGBADAI: Why The F*ck Are People So Mean?
44:39 - 48:45 GOOD GRUB: If You Love Mother, You Might Be A Foodie
48:46 - 52:32 STOOBIE AWARDS: Chef Tom Did Not Get One
52:33 - 54:48 BYE! Thank You To Deb and All The Listeners!
THE NEWSLETTER
GOOD NEWS! The people of Asheville & WNC sure could use some good news, and it came recently in the form of round fried dough with a hole in the middle when Vortex Doughnuts on the South Slope reopened! Woohoo! I know that y'all were very sad when they closed after the hurricane, so I hope that you'll go say howdy to the new owners, Joe and Molly, and welcome them to town! I'm just a simple minded fool from up north, so on my first trip back I got an old-fashioned cake doughnut, and a cup of drip coffee.
I know I know, I'm boring, and y'all are all about your yeast donuts here in the south, and believe me, I like those too! But nothing warms me up on a cold rainy day like a good old fashion cake donut, and a hot cup of coffee! 🍩 ☕️
BEST DAY EVER! I had a three Danish day on Saturday. First I had A peach cobbler danish from Back Porch Baking at Summit Coffee…
…then I had a mini apple Danish and cappuccino at Sweets and Seats Cafe and brought a regular sized Danish home for the next morning, but ended up eating it that night! 😂😂😂
I have a serious weakness for baked goods. 😬
MONDAY MONDAY: I was wandering around looking for somewhere to eat lunch on a random Monday at 3pm, and didn't have a lot of choices. I had been hoping to grab a quick bite on the South Slope, but ended up in the middle of downtown, hungry, getting frustrated, bordering on hangry, when I saw the spark of human life outside on the patio of the Rankin Vault Lounge! Yay! I decided to get drunk. Drunk on sliders!
All three of the sliders on their menu are the best in Asheville in my opinion. They offer a Vault Burger slider based on their famous award winning house burger, and they’ve added a smash burger slider and a bahn mi slider to the mix! I got a bahn mi & smash burger, and both were insanely good! Juicy, meaty, crunchy, crispy and packed with a ton of flavor. These are two of the best things I've eaten all year! Thanks, Vault! For the sliders and for being open all day every day, even Mondays! You rule and always have.
WINES BY THE VINES: Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend a "Wines by the Vines" dinner at Gemelli Restaurant, and it was great! Of course, since I don't drink alcohol, I wasn't able to enjoy the very thoughtful and delicious sounding wine pairings, but the food was awesome! Sorry the pictures aren't better, it was appropriately dark in the restaurant, which always makes for pleasant dining, but terrible pictures. The two cheeses that we started with were exquisite! The creamy one was super buttery and mild, don't let the rind scare you. The hard cheese was sharp, but complex and had nutty notes, both cheeses went very well with the honey on the plate. Perfect start!
Next the escargot were tender, tasty, salty and garlicky. Super delish! Escargot are either going to awesome or awful, and these were the former. The palate cleanser sorbet from Asheville Chocolate was a nice little transitional bite before the Boeuf Bourguignon with grits, which I devoured!!! The meat just fell apart, the veggies were tender but not mushy and the grits were pure comfort.
The macarons from Old Europe Pastries are the best in town in my humble opinion, so I was happy to see them come out for dessert! They were a wonderful end to a very enjoyable, satisfying and delicious meal!
Thank you, Gemelli! I highly recommend these Wines by the Vines dinners, especially for wine lovers… obvs!
DEAR PIZZA MAKERS, I'm still soliciting participants in the upcoming WNC PIZZA WEEK 2025, happening all over Western North Carolina March 10 - 16!
It's FREE to participate, all you have to do is come up with a specialty pie (or pies) and price, fill out the online FORM, and then from March 10 - 16, sell the hell out of some special pies for the people!
Your venue is probably already listed on the interactive WNC Pizza Map that I created, because I tried to list every pizza maker I could find in WNC on the Map, but you still need to fill out the form in order to officially be part of WNC Pizza Week.
If you fill out the form, you'll get an interactive listing on the WNC Pizza Week 2025 webpage, which will go live on March 10th, as well as promotional digital graphics!
I'll be promoting your pizza as part of WNC Pizza Week on social media, as well as my website, newsletter and podcast, so over 20,000 followers!
I tried to design WNC Pizza Week to be super easy for ALL the pizza makers to be part of, and I hope that it will be fun and profitable for everyone involved.
Please jump on board if you haven't already, and thanks for all you do!
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