Exclusive: Burial Beer's Eulogy music venue, Good Hot Fish restaurant opening details
ASHEVILLE - Over the last decade, Burial Beer Co. has grown from a brewery into a regional powerhouse of craft beer, wine and cider where guests can get a load of local food while jamming out to a live musical performance.
Now, Burial will execute the next stage of its plan to bring killer shows and elevated food and beverage concepts to Asheville.
In November, Burial Beer will open the doors for the first concertgoers at its new music venue and bar, Eulogy.
Eulogy, at 10 Buxton Ave., conveniently neighbors Burial’s South Slope taproom and its original home at 40 Collier Ave.
Burial Beer founders Doug and Jess Reiser said Eulogy exemplifies the expansion and evolution of the Asheville-founded craft brewery that turned 10 years old this year.
“I’m excited about opening Eulogy as a music venue both from seeing Burial evolve as a brand and a business,” Jess Reiser said. “I’m looking forward to expanding our industry and network to more artists and musicians and more community members. We see this as an extension to our current values of connectivity and inclusivity and as an opportunity to reconnect with the local community.”
It’ll also be the home of the debut restaurant from James Beard Awards finalist chef and “Top Chef” alum Ashleigh Shanti.
“I have always adored Ashleigh’s food,” Doug Reiser said. “When Ashleigh was the chef at Benne on Eagle, they offered Asheville something that felt from the heart. Every time I ate there, it was transporting me into someone’s kitchen. … When I met her, I knew this was a chef who needed to bring her own world to the customers.”
Eulogy, a multiuse space, will provide a stage for rising local, regional, national and international music artists and serve as a spillover taproom for the brewery and to spotlight other talent in the community.
Eulogy tells a story beyond the company’s beer, Doug Reiser said.
“As we got to year 10, you can only build so many taprooms and you get to a point where you want to expand that reach,” Doug Reiser said. “Music has always been a very important piece to the experience here at this very taproom where we birthed Burial and each and every taproom that we’ve built since, so it was a natural evolution that we can finally find a way to forge a bond of collaborative natural with artists and musicians."
Here’s what to know about the opening of the newest entertainment hub, watering hole and eatery to come to the Slope Slope, Eulogy:
Eulogy concerts
Eulogy is intended to support and further grow Asheville’s music scene and complement established concert venues like The Orange Peel and Rabbit Rabbit, which are mere blocks away, as well as record shops and other music destinations.
“There’s one goal, and that’s to provide a creative outlet, musical artistry to the local community and that’s been a strong foundation of Asheville since the '70s,” said Music Manager Bryce Franich.
Eulogy’s music schedule will largely feature experimental and underground musicians with diverse and artistic backgrounds more than what’s in the mainstream, he said.
“The Mothlight created such a home for a lot of these types of artists, and after it shuttered it did leave a bit of a hole in Asheville’s indie rock or more experimental music scene. They did a great job at curating, and that’s what we intend to do as well," Franich said.
Eulogy will make its debut with a host of local music fixtures, plus a harpist.
“(It) allows our brand to expand from the preconceived notion that we’re a metal brewery or strictly doing heavy music. We chose delicate music to start, and that was the intention,” Franich said. “I would like to use our voice to showcase artists that we think are pushing the limits musically, and this is a great example of all of this.”
Eulogy’s music lineup:
Nov. 4: Xiu Xiu with Secret Shame.
Nov. 10: Mary Lattimore + Manas & E.M.M. with Topographies and Jon Mueller.
Nov. 11: Avey Tare + Geologist + Deakin of Animal Collective (Solo Sets).
Nov. 13: Runnner + Sun June with Greg Freeman.
Nov. 15: Bully.
Nov. 16: Sham (Free Show).
Nov. 17: Mount Eerie with Daughter of Swords.
Tickets are available for purchase at eulogyavl.com.
Other programming like high-energy dance parties, late-night events, art and large-scale lighting installations and film screenings are to come.
Eulogy by design
At Eulogy, concertgoers will be transported into an immersive space of sights and sounds upon entry.
“It’s not just a place you walk into and listen to music — it’s not just a room,” said Head of Art and Design Kristen Oxtoby. “We talk about immersive experiences at Burial, and a part of that is your eyes,” she said. “When I walk into a space, I eat with my eyes, I drink with my eyes, so if we can make it different upon walking in, then you’re already curating a different experience from the minute you walk into the room.”
The bold design, inspired by the late-'70s to '80s era, will feature chrome and contrasting colors to set the venue apart.
The building's two floors will allow for 600 guests. The main room will be equipped with a full bar, adorning a set of organ pipe beer taps on the back wall to fit Burial’s brand.
A raised banquette will offer seating — a feature not often found in standing-room-style venues.
Eulogy, not just a music venue, may be adapted to fit a variety of events and purposes for Burial and the public’s use. It's constructed with a modular stage that can be used as a catwalk, and other features may be customized.
Lighting, projection and stage formation will act as the crux of the venue’s design with geometric shapes and images rooted in nature cast upon surfaces.
Pisgah AVL, a premier and nationally known audio/visual production company, was contracted to use a state-of-the-art sound and lighting package to curate the guest experience.
The entrancing experience continues with the beverage and food offerings, she said.
Good Hot Fish
Shanti will open her first brick-and-mortar restaurant inside Eulogy. Owned and operated by the award-winning chef, Good Hot Fish will offer regular dining services to the public and provide concessions during events.
“When I think of the old fish camps that I am accustomed to going to and that I went to growing up, you pull up and there’s a line wrapped around the building and people have their greasy brown bags full of fried fish, and there’s good, old-school music playing,” Shanti said. “I want to bring some of those vibes back.”
The restaurant will offer counter-service, accessible off the main room, as well as a walk-up ordering window off Buxton Avenue with standing rails for diners grabbing a quick bite, she said.
The intimate, fast-casual eatery will offer indoor seating at the counter and small tables along the wall. In the spring, guests may step out on the attached patio to enjoy their meals.
“We’re excited to feed Asheville. It’s been a long time since I’ve cooked in a space here regularly for people, and I’m excited to get back in my groove as a chef and have a space where I can cook every day,” Shanti said.
Shanti has been hosting weekly pop-ups at Burial-South Slope at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. Some of those same items will become staples on Good Hot Fish’s regular menu, such as the Good Hot Fish sandwich ― a classic North Carolina fried catfish sandwich ― hushpuppies, fried okra, baked beans, and rotating specials showcasing local farmers, growers and makers.
And Shanti said it will be “The Home of the Trout Baloney” ― the chef creates a bologna from the belly of trout sourced from Sunburst Trout Farms to make a sandwich.
Beer, wine and cocktails will be available, too.
Good Hot Fish will operate with regular hours outside of the music hall and taproom’s schedule. Good Hot Fish’s hours will be 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
During Eulogy events, the eatery will offer concertgoers a different menu of concert fare prepared with Good Hot Fish flair, like shrimp dogs, in lieu of corndogs, smoked turkey legs and other easy-to-eat handhelds.
Good Hot Fish will open this fall, but the opening date isn’t confirmed.
Burial’s regular food menu will continue to be served from the kitchen adjacent to the original taproom’s patio.
Eulogy taproom
Eulogy will serve as an additional tasting room for South Slope guests when there are no events.
The bar will be fixed with 24 taps stocked with small batch, draft and mixed beverages.
Burial also offers nonalcoholic beer and other beverages.
More to come: Visuals rooftop lounge
Burial’s Visuals brand will soon get its first designated bar, slated to open in spring 2024.
Visuals will open on the rooftop of Eulogy, serving the brand’s wine, cider and aperitifs. Coffee will be served, too.
It will differ from Burial’s other properties, designed as an al fresco courtyard that may be booked for private parties.
Eulogy at Burial Beer Co.
Where: 10 Buxton Ave., Asheville.
Opening: November 2023.
Info: For more, visit eulogyavl.com and burialbeer.com.
Good Hot Fish
Where: 10 Buxton Ave., inside Eulogy.
Opening: Fall 2023.
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
Info: For more, follow on Instagram at @goodhotfish and @foodordeath_.
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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: What to know: Burial's Eulogy concert hall, Good Hot Fish openings
