A Cellar celebration: The Cellar Door in Black Mountain is ready to kick off 2006 with a bang. Chef Chris Dole is preparing a special four-course, prix-fixe menu on New Year’s Eve that will include a champagne toast. Also available will be the restaurant’s “Fork and Cork” menu — small bites designed to be enjoyed with glasses of wine or bubbly from the Cellar Door’s list. Dave Turner, a local singer/songwriter, will begin playing at 9:30 p.m. and continue until midnight. The Cellar Door is located at 117-C Cherry St.; for more information or for reservations, call 669-9090.
Authors and alcohol: Here’s an interesting New Year’s Eve affair: At 2 p.m. on Dec. 31, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial (52 N. Market St.) will host “Wet Words through Dry Eyes,” a lecture by a Memorial staffer that examines the relationship between writers and alcohol. Literary historians note that five out of the seven native-born American winners of the Nobel Prize in literature reportedly had destructive relationships with booze. Then, from 5 to 7 p.m., the hands-on portion of this event will take place at three bars — the Lobster Trap, the New French Bar and the Flying Frog — where bartenders will mix up the drinks that Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Wolfe insisted were the fuel for their creativity. For more information, call 253-8304.
Seafood special: Feeling fishy? If so, you might pay a visit to the specialty seafood store, Miramar Seafood, in South Asheville. Miramar gets deliveries of fresh seafood two to three times a week, and the owners are committed to buying as much domestic product as possible. What’s more, they buy and sell primarily wild-caught fish that are harvested in an environmentally responsible manner. Miramar also offers all-natural and specialty meats, like Kobe and Louisiana-made Andouille sausage. They can also order specialty items, like soft-shell crabs, crawfish or ostrich, often with only a day’s notice. The store’s located at 1800 Hendersonville Road; for more information, call 274-3388 or visit www.miramarseafood.com.
