The old glass doorway at 38½ Battery Park Ave. opens onto a worn flight of stairs going to an even darker hallway. The electric switch doesn’t work, and what light does find its way in seems to come from dusty windows in an unseen wall. The place smells musty and forgotten, and knocks on all … Read more
The Asheville area has been bursting with new food businesses lately. When it comes to restaurant options, we've got plenty: Pick up a steamer bucket of shellfish at Bluewater Seafood on Charlotte Street, grab a sandwich at Cucina 24 Deli on Wall Street, or scoop up a crêpe from the Twisted Crêpe on Haywood Street. … Read more
Philippe Beer-Gabel, the front man/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist for Paris, France-based indie-pop band General Bye Bye is a little surprised by American response to French songs “You may know that France is not exactly famous for its music,” he tells Xpress. “The thing is, the prejudice with France is that we’re all stylish, drinking wine and eating cheese … Read more
Just as I responded to his Aug. 6 letter in the Asheville Citizen-Times, Mr. Edwards demonstrates in his Aug. 10 letter [“Blaming the Unemployed for Unemployment,” Aug.11, Xpress] that he does not have all the facts about my approach for tackling unemployment. In my response to the Citizen-Times, I suggested the writer is uninformed and … Read more
I've got to admit that I was initially attracted to Jake Frankel's recent article “Getting Back on Track: Signs that the Economy is Improving in WNC” [Aug. 4, Xpress] due to the bar graph (sourced from Parsec Financial Services). [It reminded me] of something I thought I had seen in USA Today or the like… … Read more
“What I do barely feels like work to me,” says Steven Wilson. “People ask me, ‘Are you a workaholic?’ I respond that to be a workaholic, you’ve got to feel that what you’re doing is work. Making records, that’s not work. It’s fun, isn’t it?” By any measure, Steven Wilson is one of the busiest … Read more
If you’d asked around downtown Asheville a year ago what people thought about Biltmore Park Town Square, chances are you’d have heard at least one mention of the popular Regal Biltmore Grande Stadium 15 movie theater. But the massive planned community's idyllic "small town" design might also have sparked references to The Stepford Wives or … Read more
Sunny Slow Food Sunny Point Cafe and Slow Food go hand in hand. This is, by no means, a dig at the speed of the cooks in the kitchen. If unfamiliar with the concept, here it is in a nutshell, according to Slow Food International: "Slow Food [aims to] counteract fast food and fast life, … Read more
Incomes fell in 223 U.S. metro areas last year — including Asheville. Compared to 2008, local per capita income dropped 2.2 percent in 2009, according to recent reports in the Wall Street Journal. “Personal income took a hit in most of the U.S. last year with the only gains coming from government support, according to … Read more
To some, summer is all about swimming and sunlight. To others, it’s about local tomatoes. Period. “Texturally, there is nothing like a good vine-ripened local tomato,” says Chris Aquilino, personal chef, caterer and owner of Picasso’s Plate Cuisine. “They’re soft and supple.” The taste? It doesn't even compare it to that of a trucked-in tomato, … Read more
