National Kimchi Day is a big dill for Don Palerno and Justin Dewald, the "D" and "J" in DJ Kimchi respectively. To celebrate this holiday, the local small-batch kimchi company and Blue Ghost Brewing Co. organized the first Picklepalooza. The event will be held at the Fletcher Brewery on Sunday, November 14 from 3-7 pm. Admission is free, but a $5 donation will be accepted in the links on the site and on the event page to benefit the human habitat in the Asheville area.
Preparations for the festival began in February, and DJ's Pickles was officially launched in the same month. However, the company's origins can be traced back to a few years ago. In the summer of 2018, Paleno opened Chef Don's Gourmet Snack Wagon. Paleno focused on sandwiches and developed a kimchi recipe to garnish the main course. Silly Dilly-a mixture of dill and bread and butter-became so popular that people began to ask for them as a side dish and later asked for them in pints.
At the time, Palerno remembered being a little annoyed. "I thought,'Look, I sell sandwiches, not kimchi.'"
However, Chef Tang’s gourmet snack car did not last. But the legend of kimchi has been circulating.
"One day, Justin asked if I still have a recipe for kimchi, and I know. It was written in pencil, like a handful of fresh dill," Paleno recalled.
The two made a batch and gave some cans to their friends. The friends came back and asked for more cans to their friends. In this way, Paleno and Dewalder are engaged in the kimchi business, producing only one jar and many barrels at a time.
"Trout Lily Deli & Market, New York Butcher Shoppe, and Blue Ghost's Hungry Ghost food truck buy their sandwiches by bucket," Paleno said. At the same time, pint cans are sold at the tail gate market, WNC farmers market and WNC specialty stores.
Silly Dilly is the company's flagship kimchi, but since then it has added spicy En Fuego kimchi slices and basil balsamic beets, Paleno vowed to have transformed people who openly hate beets. They also offer Silly Dilly Salad Dressing and Dilly Butter.
All these products can be tasted and purchased at Picklepalooza. The party will also host a kimchi contest, kimchi juice shooter (non-alcoholic), children's activities, live music and kimchi balls. In addition, Blue Ghost has launched Gose-style kimchi beer, Kinfolk food trucks will provide fried kimchi, and the loot will include glass Christmas kimchi ornaments.
Blue Ghost Brewing Co. is located at 125 Underwood Road, Fletcher. For more information on Picklepalooza2021, please visit avl.mx/aqt.
The big news that shook the Asheville restaurant industry took place in the last week of October. It was neither trick nor trick: Since 2013, Jane Anderson, the executive director of the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association, announced that she will flee the organization, the organization’s The number of members increased by more than 150% during her tenure.
In a newsletter sent to members on October 27, Anderson said: “The hallmark of a good leader is knowing when to give way. I know very well that the challenges that our independent restaurants face in the post-COVID world require new thinking and leadership."
The founding member of AIR, chef Michel Baudouin, said the organization was saddened by her departure and pointed out that Anderson's stable hands, communication skills and strong community relations are especially important during the pandemic .
"If you have been keeping a cat for nine years, it will exhaust you," he said. "The last two are particularly harsh on everyone, but she used the relationship she built to stay ahead. She has worked with the city, county, fire department, labor committee, health department, and alcohol committee — as well as AIR members — behind the scenes. Work. I think her next job might be a circus juggler."
Anderson did not express any desire to enter the big top, but said she is opening the door for opportunities. The search for an alternative to Anderson has begun, and the goal is to appoint an executive director in the first quarter of 2022.
In 2020, Cheryl Antoncic and Jamie “Bear” McDonald drove their oversized Bear's Smokehouse food truck from their base in Connecticut and stopped in front of the building they bought on Coxe Avenue on the south slope. Their arrival marked their first Kansas City-style barbecue outside of Nutmeg State.
A year later, they took their baby's back ribs and charred ends to Sweeten Creek Brewing on Sweeten Creek Road. Diners can indulge in these specialties as well as slow smoked beef brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken and jalapeno cheddar sausage. The new South Asheville location will also include vegetarian and gluten-free meatloaf options that are impossible.
Sweeten Creek Brewing is located at 1127 Sweeten Creek Road. For more information, please visit avl.mx/ar0.
Nate Whiting and Ryan Brower worked together at Luella's Bar-B-Que a few years ago, and they were chewing their business one night. Whiting has worked as a company chef at Farm Burger for the past 9 years. He said that although none of them have any Lone Star State ancestry, they are interested in Texas-style sirloin.
This summer, the couple hunted down a countercurrent smoker in Snead, Alabama, picked it up in a parking lot in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and dragged it back to Asheville. After extensive research on sauces, smoking time, and pruning, the two quietly established Iron and Oak Brisket Co. in August under a tent outside of Riverside Rhapsody Beer Co. in Woodfin.
"We don't think of ourselves as sirloin masters, but we are working hard and people love it," Whiting said.
Iron and Oak’s still-developed menu also includes pulled pork, Friday ribs, Southside Market in Austin and Texas Hot Connected Sausage from Barbeque. The current business hours are from 3pm to 8pm on Thursday and Friday to Sunday, from noon to sold out.
Riverside Rhapsody is located at 995 Riverside Avenue. For updates on the Iron & Oak menu and business hours, please visit avl.mx/aqu.
Thanksgiving Day is still two weeks away, but if turkey lovers don’t want to line up at Cracker Barrel, please hurry up and come on November 24th. Marshall’s Zadie’s Market is accepting small, medium and large fresh pre-orders or frozen Joyce Farm turkeys, which will be picked up from November 19th to 24th. avl.mx/aqv.
Chop Shop Butchery’s turkey has been sold out, but it is offering poultry substitutes such as pheasant, quail, duck and rabbit. avl.mx/aqw.
Leave cooking to the professionals and get a bird marinated in apple juice or a whole meal from Luella's Bar-B-Que. avl.mx/aqx.
Black Bear BBQ promises to order via email before Tuesday, November 16, to make Thanksgiving easy and enjoyable. avl.mx/aqy.
Chris Smith, author of The Whole Okra: A Seed to Stem Celebration and executive director of Utopian Seed Project, called Sandor Katz a legend in the fermentation world, and his James Beard award-winning book "The Art of Fermentation" is the "Bible".
Smith will interview Katz about his new book fermentation journey in a virtual presentation at the Malaprop Bookstore and Cafe on Wednesday, November 17 at 6 pm
"I'm very happy to be able to'talk' to Sandor," Smith said. "I like his idea that fermentation transcends actual food, and I am interested in talking about connection and how things like fermentation, bacteria and food look at the sameness of people rather than differences."
To purchase a book and register for the live broadcast, please visit avl.mx/aqz.
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