THE PODCAST
The podcast above was originally recorded on 03/24/2025 with my usual co-host Chef Tom LaFauci from Twisted Laurel Downtown Asheville…
00:00 - 00:00 INTRO: Another Long Day For The Chef / Spring Menu Roll Out
00:00 - 00:00 THINGS ARE LOOKING UP: A Big Ol’ Raviolo
00:00 - 00:00 WHERE’D YA EAT: Fahrenheit Pizza & Cava
00:00 - 00:00 EGGPLANT INTERLUDE: We Both Love Eggplant
00:00 - 00:00 WHERE’D YA EAT prt 2: White Duck, Hemingway’s Cuba, Old Europe, The Vault, Cúrate, Mother, Wildwood Still, Miyako House, Shanghai Dumpling, Blackbird, Twisted Laurel Downtown Asheville, Sand Hill Kitchen
00:00 - 00:00 MANNA SPOT: Please Donate to MANNA Foodbank
00:00 - 00:00 INTERVIEW: Chef Jamie Wade From Sand Hill Kitchen
00:00 - 00:00 THE PRICE OF EGGS: The WEMO Jerks Us Around
00:00 - 00:00 FOODIE GAMES: Spring Salad Theme
00:00 - 00:00 BYE! Thanks To Deb & All The Listeners and WPVM 103.7fm!
THE NEWSLETTER
PRO-TIP: Especially for locals: if you're a fan of Cúrate, NOW is the time to go. Before they won their James Beard Foundation award, you needed rezos a couple weeks in advance. After they got their JBF award, the wait time became a couple of months! Now days, though, in this (hopefully brief) post-hurricane period, you can get reservations for Cùrate the week of, even the day of, and chances are that at certain times of day, you can walk-in with no reservations and get a table or a seat at the bar, which is exactly what my wife and I did a couple weeks ago.
We shared two of our all-time Asheville favorites, that we've been eating at Cùrate since they first opened in 2011: The pan con tomate with Manchego cheese, and the pincho maruno aka lamb skewers. The bread with tomato and cheese and light, refreshing, and slightly punchy with the tang of the Manchego. The skewers are simply devine.
They are tender, savory, and packed with the flavor of Spicewalla's special Moorish blend. The pickles add the perfect bright balance to the deeper flavors of the meat and spices. Anyhoo, Cùrate. Always great. Still great. And more accessible than ever. Again, Locals, now is the time to come downtown and enjoy this and all that our amazing little city has to offer! I hope to see you there!
BEST IN TOWN? OK, please don't hate me, but I can't remember the names or ingredients of most of these things, and I forgot to take a picture of the menu, and the menu at Mother bakery tends to change in little ways and big ways, so I'm not even sure if these things are on the menu still! The big takeaway from this meal was that about 2/3 of the way through, my wife said to me, "this might be the best restaurant in Asheville right now." She is much more discerning about food than I am, so for her to say that is a pretty big deal! And what I mean by that is, I'm all good throwing smash burgers and fried chicken and biscuits and gravy into myself all day and being happy as a baby and its mother's arms, but my wife takes care of her body, and puts nothing but high-quality foods into herself, mostly in the form of healthy salads that she prepares at home. When we do go out to eat together, we usually go someplace that's on the higher end of the spectrum, both in terms of the price, and the menu itself. Mother is also in our neighborhood, so it's relatively easy for us to get there.
Anyhooooo... we got the bread service, which consisted of an insanely cute and delicious little loaf of brioche with cheese in it, and a perfectly formed quenelle (I know a word!) of herbed butter. Next, we got prawn in an otherworldly sauce that was garlicky and savory and deep and just one of the most delicious things ever! We also got a salad to share, and that was great!
I've been on a salad kick myself lately, and enjoyed this one very much. Finally, as we were about to die… I mean, leave, the kitchen sent out a bowl of their house made pasta. OMG.
I love their pasta, and have eaten several forms and versions of it, and it's truly splendid. Tender, but toothy, and whether it's covered in a red sauce, or served as a carbonara, it's always the kind of dish that makes my eyes roll into the back of my head, and then I just stare at the person that I'm with and say nothing. And if I'm dining alone, I just stare into space. So, of course, I recommend Mother highly, and when you go in, tell them, I said, "howdy," and save me a seat! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
LI’L LOBSTER TAIL: I got this very interesting little grilled lobster tail at Shanghai Dumpling House not long ago. It was served hot, had a nice texture, an excellent flavor, and a really tasty sauce. I loved it. Lobster is, like, my favorite thing on Earth, and here in these mountains, I'm prepared to pay beaucoup dollars for it, and I did. 😂 🦞 💰
I treated the broccoli like a garnish. 😂
HEAVEN HILL: Y'all, I took a wee little road trip to one of my favorite places that I don't get to nearly often enough, Sand Hill Kitchen way out there on Sardis Road. Existing like a magical manatee in the culturally brackish waters along the border of West Asheville and Candler, the excellent and accessible menu attracts folks from both areas, as well savvy tourists, and short-distance local travelers like myself. Lucky for me, my good friend David Brown from Doc Brown's BBQ had a hankering to go see our mutual friend, Chef Jamie Wade at Sand Hill and grab some grub, and wooof... did we ever.
I got the enormous "Winner Burger" which has herbed Duke's Mayonnaise, pickled jalapeños, tomato, house made pepper jack pimento cheese, and as you can clearly see in the pictures, not just bacon, but BACON! It reached out and grabbed me! The burger was excellent, there's a reason that it won an award! It did have a little bit of a kick to it, and it was about a 3-napkin burger, so be prepared for both of those things. On a five star scale, I give it five stars! If I could walk to Sand Hill Kitchen, I'd be there twice a week.
David got what he always gets, the beet sandwich. This thing is legendary, and everybody is always telling me that I have to try it, but when I get to Sand Hill, and there's two kinds of burgers, a fried chicken sandwich, and a Reuben standing between me and the one made out of beets... yeah. David enjoyed his beet sandwich very much.
Then he casually mentioned Jaime's grit cakes, so she quickly made a couple, and they were awesome! Very creamy and comforting on the inside, and very crispy and crunchy on the outside. I didn't grow up eating grit cakes, but I wish I had! When they're done right, they're some of the best stuff ever. And Chef Jamie Wade at Sand Hill Kitchen always does everything exactly right!
Thanks, Chef, and all the awesome staff at Sand Hill! And thanks, David, for inviting me to lunch at one of the best places in WNC. 🙂 PS - Jaime put a little cup full of teeny tiny M&Ms in front of us while we were waiting for our food, and said, "An amuse-bouche." I ate a lot of them.
TASTE TIX: Less than a week until Taste of Asheville, get your tickets before they sell out!
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