One of the most legend-worthy local rock shows of the year belongs to Ahleuchatistas. It was a midweek performance. The beer was cold. And free. And then, because the instrumental duo rocked so hard, a speaker caught on fire. The show was the sixth installment of Moog Music Inc.'s AHA AVL series, a showcase of … Read more
These days, Greenville, S.C.’s Modern Man works in the way of most traditionally formed bands. Different members bring parts to the table, which are then extrapolated to whatever ends feel best, with one man — in this case singer and founder David Allen Glenn — dominating the songwriting and production. The outfit has a distinct … Read more
Out Back: Roman Vinson presents steaming waffles covered in fruit, with a cup of vegan chili as a side. photo by Bill Rhodes Hank's BBQ is truly a hideaway. The new West Asheville eatery serves breakfast, lunch and dinner at 373 Haywood Road, behind BattleCat Coffe Bar in the former Asheville FM studios. Owner Roman … Read more
Many Asheville restaurants are ratcheting up their cocktail menus. It may seem natural that restaurants such as Table, the Magnetic Field and the Junction — venues that focus on seasonal, eclectic and ever-changing fare — would have mad scientists behind the bar house-carbonating cocktails and making fancy cordials and bitters. Vinnie's Neighborhood Italian restaurant on … Read more
Katie Button, chef and part-owner of Cúrate tapas bar, laments that she’s never had the chance to dine at elBulli — a restaurant in which she staged — and never will, now that it’s closed. Here is her last meal, which she sent in an email to Xpress. I slaved away in the kitchen, described … Read more
So much of where someone stands depends on where they sit. Over the decades, we’ve worked with just about every brewery in the area; for the past five years, we’ve received the proceeds from local brewers’ Winter Warmer benefit, using them to help build a greenway at the former Health Adventure site. You can’t have … Read more
Five years ago, Brooklyn’s Dirty Projectors released Rise Above, one of the most ambitious and outlandish pop albums of the last decade. Playing Black Flag’s Damaged entirely from memory, the band refashions one of punk’s most influential LPs with looping avant-pop melodies that are fleshed out with razor-sharp harmonies and disarmingly delicate woodwinds. It’s exacting, … Read more
The Biltmore Coffee Co. opened on Aug. 1 at 1 N. Pack Square, on the ground floor of the I.M. Pei-designed building that houses Biltmore's corporate offices and Merrill Lynch. "What makes us unique is everyone here worked at the Biltmore Estate," says Clorietha Fenton, the café's general manager. "We brought our quality and our … Read more
If I'm going to go out, I'm going to go out with an epic meal," says Damien Cavicchi, the executive chef of the Biltmore Estate. Course 1: Kumamoto oysters, raw, ice cold, with Tabasco sauce and saltine crackers. That is a complete sensation like no other. Just the texture, the taste — it's a purely … Read more
Downtown Asheville was a profoundly different place back in 1987, when the Asheville Downtown Association was launched. Many of today's landmark buildings were shuttered or hidden behind aluminum façades, and there was very little nightlife. Asheville's now thriving culinary, artistic and cultural scenes were in their infancy. “When they started the ADA, it was because … Read more
