THE PODCAST
The podcast above was originally recorded on 05/26/2025 with my usual co-host Chef Tom LaFauci from Twisted Laurel Downtown Asheville…
00:00 - 12:48 INTRO: Otto, Coco, and Cooking Squeazles
12:49 - 25:30 WHERE’D YA EAT? Refinery in the Foundry Hotel, Potential New Boyfriend, Character Study, Old Europe, Luminosa, Table, Wildwood Still, Miyako House, and Twisted Laurel Downtown Asheville
25:31 - 26:23 MANNA SPOT: Please Donate to MANNA Foodbank
26:24 - 31:30 A SAD FAREWELL: Oscar Wong, Founder Of Beer City
31:32 - 43:35 F&B Q OF THE WEEK: The Custies *Can* Be Nice
43:36 - 45:36 BYE! Thanks To Deb & All The Listeners and WPVM 103.7fm!
45:37 - 48:26 MOWABC SPOT: Please Donate & Volunteer for Meals on Wheels
THE NEWSLETTER
BRUNCH TASTING: Sarah, Paddy (not pictured) and I were invited to an Asheville Food Tours brunch tasting at the newest iteration of The Foundry Hotel Asheville's restaurant, which is called Refinery, and wow, so much great food and a couple of superstar standouts. We weren't surprised by how delicious, and homey-meets-elevated these dishes were, because we knew that Chef Shawn Cameron, formerly of The Corner Kitchen, one of the best brunch spots in America (they won an award!) and long-time Asheville favorite had been tapped to be Exec. Corner Kitchen is being rebuilt as we speak, so stay tuned for more on that, but in the meantime... let's talk about this foood!!!
We started with some super-yummy Blueberry Ricotta Fritters w/ lemon cardamom curd. Warm, fluffy and soft inside, lightly crispy on the outside, and perfect with the lemon curd. This was a table favorite. Next we got what the chef called his signature dish, the Croque Madame Benedict aka griddled mini ham & cheese sandwiches on brioche with confit garlic dijonnaise, 2 poached eggs, Mornay sauce with chives & piment d' espelette (fancy Spanish pepper) and breakfast potatoes. This was superstar dish number one.
It was everything I ever wanted, needed and dreamed about for brunch all on one plate. The flavors and textures were all spot-on and perfect in combination with each other. I can’t wait to go back and get this one! We also got an excellent breakfast sandwich on a croissant with egg, cheddar, bacon, tomato, arugula, and aioli. It was great, one of the best breakfast sandwiches I've ever had, and the kind of thing I could eat everyday.
The 2nd superstar dish was the Strada Du Jur, which was made with local free range eggs, and the Chef's choice of fresh local & seasonal ingredients, as well as City Bakery bread, and it comes served with baby arugula salad, with strawberries, grape tomatoes & goat cheese, and lemon vinaigrette. It was hardy though kinda light, very deep in flavor, and very very satisfying in every way. This was Sarah's favorite! We also enjoyed some of thee creamiest cheese grits I've ever had! We asked, and Chef told us his secret, but I'm not sure that I'm allowed to share it with you! So you you'll have to go in and ask him yourself. All in all this was an awesome brunch tasting, and I highly recommend everything featured in this write up, especially the two superstar dishes! Check their hours online, and if you go, please tell them that Stu sent ya!
TABLE: Y'awwwwlllllll... you know that when I add that many extra letters to the word "y'all," I've had an extra awesome experience somewhere, and that is absolutely the case with this meal that my wife and I had on the insanely cute little Ewok village porch at Table, located on N. Lexington Avenue in downtown Asheville. The food, the service, the atmosphere and the overall level of hospitality were all beyond excellent. The folks who work there are friendly, cheerful, knowledgeable, and very proud of what they're doing at this local favorite. They're also celebrating their 20 year anniversary with some festive polka dots on the sidewalks and windows as well as with a new and different menu. First: the prices and portions on most of the menu are smaller. That's perfect for people like me and Dawn, who want to try a lot of different flavors without overloading on content or calories. Of course, by the end of this meal, we were both full and satisfied, but we were not feeling uncomfortably heavy or gross. We started with a slightly larger than amuse bouche sized pair of Shrimp 'n' Ritz.
You read that right. Straight-up Ritz crackers with some of theee most delicious and creamy oily savory melt-in-your-mouthy shrimp salad I've ever had on 'em. I'm still craving it three days latter. It was a super star dish, and not the only one. The kitchen treated us to some tuna crudo and a smashed cucumber salad that was sooo good, we crushed the whole thing and afterwords I said, "I think we each just ate a whole cucumber. And that's okay." It was the ever-so-mildest sour dill pickle flavored salad, with crunchy seeds and punchy herbs and spices sprinkled on top. The crudo was like eating magic. It was tender and velvety, smooth and tasty, with some fresh green coriander seeds that popped, both literally and flavor-wise, when we bit into them. We also ordered the Chicken Dumplings and the Lee's Rice & Greens. We've had the dumplings before and the fact that we ordered them again speaks for itself. They're basically little flavor bomb packets, swimming in a highly slurpable broth, that I did in fact slurp. FTW! One of my favorite people, Chef Catherine Smedley, who is a big part of the Table team, delivered the rice and greens in person because she wanted to tell us about her long, meticulous, trial and error journey to perfecting the dish. And it really WAS perfect.
The rice had a consistency like a very light, creamy risotto, with an unbelievably comforting and homey flavor that was like caramelized chicken soup and aunty hugs. The greens were fresh, local, varied and interesting, and included one of my favorite seasonal greens, purslane. We oooed and ahhhed as we ate it, and complimented Chef Catherine up and down. Super high recommends for this, another super star dish! Our servers also consulted with Dawn about her beverages, and as always, they helped her make excellent choices. I had water, always an excellent choice! I truly cannot sing the praises of this meal loud enough. Every aspect was super enjoyable, and we can't wait to go back, and basically crush this whole menu. Restaurants like Table are the reason we fell in love with Asheville's food scene in the first place. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BRUNCH 2: Coffee, zeppole, quiche and more coffee! I was invited back to Luminosa to highlight their brunch, which they already know I enjoy! This time I went "light" with the quiche and tiny salad. Before I even got in my "light" order, the kitchen had sent out some of their zeppole with house made strawberry rhubarb jam. Ermergerd... these things, especially when enjoyed warm, are some of the most fluffy and dreamy deep fried things I've ever had in my life. Do not skip the zeppole, either for a table share, or all for your ding-dang self! I ate one and saved one for dessert, because in the meantime my quiche had arrived. If I thought the zeppole were fluffy, this quiche had them beat. It was by far the tallest lightest fluffiest quiche I've ever eaten, but with all that egg and buttery crust, as well as a layer of crème fraiche, it was very filling, rich, decadent, and satisfying, as well as delicious of course.
The tiny salad was as advertised, and I loved it. I just like the word "tiny," especially when it comes to food! I crushed both the salad & the quiche, leaving not one speck for Jenny Craig, and just as I was about to polish off the last zeppole, a giant, beautiful glass of super fantastic other worldly iced latte arrived, compliments of the rooftop bar/cafe! I can't quite recall what-all was in it, but it was sweet, creamy, very tasty and caffeinated AF!!! Woooooo! After all that food, combined with all that go-go juice, my body didn't know whether to take a long nap or run laps around the city! I smoked some weed instead of doing either of those things, and enjoyed the rest of a beautiful afternoon in downtown Asheville. I highly recommend doing something similar, starting with brunch at Luminosa! 🙂
CHARACTER STUDY: We popped into a place with a very cool, bookstore / tavern / den kinda vibe on Haywood Road in West Asheville called Character Study to have a drink. Mine was NA. Both were great.
We also had some salt and pepper pistachios, which I really liked a lot! I'm nuts about nuts. Love 'em! So I recommend this spot for a little chill out time, a drink, and a light snack!
PNB: Dawn & I went back to Potential New Boyfriend on Haywood Rd. in West Asheville. I had only been once before, I loved it, and I knew Dawn would love it too, aaaand she did! We started with a low APV drink for Dawn and an espresso beverage for myself. Next, the owner, whose name is Disco, brought us each a small scoop of sorbet as a pallet cleanser. Then we ordered the quiche and some olives! We both really like quiche, and this quiche was great! Small enough to eat on one's own as a small plate, but big enough to share as a snack, and very savory with a lovely texture to the crust as well as the eggy part.
The olives were great, if you like olives, which we both do (obvs), so we ate each & every one. I'm so glad that Dawn loved this place because I have been hoping that Potential New Boyfriend will become one of our regular spots and after this visit, I have a feeling it will be!
ASHEVILLE FOOD TOURS: Please sign up for a food tour of downtown Asheville with me or Sarah, and experience Asheville the way we do, through the culinary world! We are the original, and the only locally owned and operated, food tour company in WNC, and we love this city!
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