Asheville Food Bites: Chefs head to statewide cookoff finals, Zillicoah's beer fest, more
ASHEVILLE - Two chefs move into cooking competition finals; a one-night-only chef's dining experience of innovative North Carolina favorites; an Asian treat reinvented with Indian flavors; and a session beer festival with tastings from 20 nationwide breweries.
Asheville chefs throw down in showdown
Two local chefs are moving on to the final round of the eighth annual statewide cooking competition, the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association Chef Showdown.
The culinary and mixology competition challenges chefs, pastry chefs, mixologists and distilleries to create dishes and drinks showcasing North Carolina ingredients.
In recent months, chef competitors faced off in preliminary and regional rounds with the finalists announced in July. The 2024 NCRLA Chef Showdown Grand Finale will be from 6-8:30 p.m. Aug. 26 at Bay 7 at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham.
Chef Terri Terrell, an Asheville-based private chef representing The Utopian Seed Project, is one of the 14 Savory Chef finalists to compete in the grand finale.
Pastry Chef Jill Wasilewski, owner of Ivory Road in Arden, was named one of the five Pastry Chef finalists.
In 2023, Wasilewski won the award for People’s Choice Pastry Chef.
View the full list of competitors at ncrla.org/ncrla-events/2024-ncrla-chef-showdown/ and follow @ncrlachefshowdown on Instagram for updates.
North Carolina comfort foods
Chef Jay Medford, owner of Storm Rhum Bar and the Burrito Bar, will serve a curated five-course dinner at a special dining experience on Aug. 9 at Sage and Spice Market, 1056 Patton Ave. in West Asheville.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with dinner from 7:30-10:30 p.m.
Medford’s menu is a creative homage to North Carolina comfort foods and features cucumber gazpacho, heirloom tomato salad, N.C. trout with succotash, pork with peach soubise and peach upside-down mochi cake.
Reserve a seat at the table. The dinner is $75. Pairings of California wines may be added for $45. Purchase tickets at Eventbrite.
For more, visit sageandspicecatering.com and follow Medford at @jscookingnow on Instagram.
Indian-inspired bubble tea
Pop Bubble Tea’s summerlong Poppy’s Asian Tour is making a stop in India.
The Asheville treat shop has collaborated with Chai Pani’s Meherwan Irani to create a drink inspired by one the chef enjoyed at a roadside stand when he was a schoolboy in India.
Parsi Rose Milk is made with rose syrup, basil seeds and Pop’s housemade rose-fennel jelly.
The Parsi Rose Milk will be sold as a special at Chai Pani’s bar, 32 Banks Ave., and at the Pop Bubble Tea, 640 Merrimon Ave. from Aug. 1-31.
For more, visit popbubbleteanc.com and follow @popbubbleteanc on Instagram.
Beer on the river
Zillicoah Beer Co.’s fifth annual Session Fest will be from 2-8 p.m. on Aug. 24 at the brewery, 870 Riverside Drive in Woodfin, off the French Broad River.
The tasting festival celebrates low alcohol-by-volume craft beers that are full-flavored, full-bodied and made by local, regional and national breweries.
The 20 guest breweries include Zillicoah, Trve Brewing in Asheville and Denver, Fonta Flora in Morganton, Whaley Farm in Old Fort, Resident Culture in Charlotte, Halfway Crooks in Atlanta, Human Robot in Philadelphia, Silver Spruce in Traverse City, Michigan and Living Haus in Portland, Oregon.
According to Zillicoah’s website, “These brewers are focusing on nuanced creations, paying special attention to the traditions and processes of making and drinking beautiful beer. To us, session beers are a conduit to connect friends, lose track of time, and share in an authentic, mostly lucid experience in which the rigors of the outside world might temporarily fade.”
The event is open to ages 21 and up and will admit about 250 guests.
Tickets are $48.49 online and include entry and unlimited beer pours while supplies last.
Food trucks Master BBQ (Filipino cuisine) BigFoot Long (hot dogs) and Smasheville Burgers will be on site.
Live music will play throughout the day.
View the full list of guest breweries at zillicoahbeer.com and follow @zillicoahbeer on Instagram for updates.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville chefs win place in statewide cooking finals, more food news
