A rainbow of fresh pasta from this bundled up salesperson.

Anyone want fresh seafood from Long Island?

And someone was optimistic that a dog owner (of a big dog!!!) would want these bones.  Ya never know.  Put ’em out there.  Somebody’ll buy ’em.

And optimism extended all the way to Chinatown.  Who wouldn’t want chestnuts just so they can roast them on an open fire?

For more optimistic photos, check out the Weekly Photo Challenge: Optimistic.

And for more on New York City in December, check out our travel series: Christmas Holiday NYC. 

TripAdvisor ranked Big D’s Downtown Dive #1, so Big D’s it was.

The sidewalk chalkboard offered clue number one: this just might be a funky, sense-of-humor kinda place.

And then we walked in the door.  A blend of automotive cast-offs and schoolroom lockers let us know that someone had fun finding the funk and using it wisely.

We noted tire rims on one wall. License plates on another.

Tables covered with maps took center stage as diners piled into the middle and dived in to the dive!

Even the necessities (napkins, straws, etc.) held their own in a re-purposed primitive piece straight out of someone’s garage.  And the casual, rusted truck art appealed to the country in both of us.

But aside from the junkyard metals, we wondered if they really had good food in here or just great taste in automotive chic.  We didn’t wonder long.

The menu offers enough for dining out each weekday without ever eating “just average.”  Sounding downright tempting were these almost-lunch enticements with descriptions straight from the menu.

Good-sounding Menu Items from Big D’s

• Snack Attack: Bangkok Chicken Wings (in Roswell?) with garlic, lime, cilantro, sesame & siracha with chipotle dressing and Popcorn Dusted Shrimp with creamy horseradish spiked orange marmalade
• Salads: Poached Pear with mixed greens, blue cheese, spiced walnuts and port wine vinaigrette and Fresh Mozzarella with sliced tomatoes, red onions, toasted pine nuts and balsamic reduction on fresh greens
• Sandwiches: Crispy Monte Cristo with ham, turkey & Swiss — pancake battered, deep fried, dusted with powdered sugar and served with raspberry preserves
• Famous Bergs: Green Chili Cheeseburger — a New Mexico autumn roast with traditional setup — and Jalapeno Ranch Berg with marinated soy jalapenos, Swiss cheese and bacon ranch slaw.

(Given these choices, what would you have ordered?)

My choice?  A West Coast Taco with crispy shrimp and chipotle sauce topped with Latin Asian slaw with lime dressing! It couldn’t have been more tasty or unusual or welcome!  Home-made chips snuggled up, but only for a minute.

And Bert’s lunch? The Green Chile Cheeseburger  — juicy, spicy, and not-to-be-found in our home state of Tennessee.  Worth the drive, for sure!

We didn’t get a photo of the Crispy Shrimp Po-Boy that a man next to us was devouring, so you’ll have to take our word. If you’re hungry, get that po-boy: crisp bread, tender shrimp, and a sauce that makes the whole thing fall apart in your mouth!

They must be pretty proud of the Bleu Burger, too:  melted bleu cheese, tomato, marinated red onions and bleu cheese bacon slaw.  Mmm.

If all that research on the “Roswell Incident” leaves you hungry, head to Big D’s Downtown Dive for cut-above burgers and piled-high salads.  (We never even got to dessert!)

Big D’s Downtown Dive

505 N. Main Street

Roswell, NM 88203

575.627.0776

www.bigdsdowntowndive.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Ds-Downtown-Dive/135838063131638

Turn up that zydeco and get your cajun on!  There’s nothing like a Louisiana festival for food, fun, and fantastic movement — and this is one of the best: Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival in early May when mudbugs are runnin’ and Cajun thoughts turn to etouffee and fais dodo!

Might as well dress the part — fun this big deserves all you got — homemade or otherwise.

When you come to Breaux  Bridge (about 45 minutes from Baton Rouge), you enter Parc Hardy, buy a ticket, and pass through the big crawfish gate to the vendor section.

You’re sure to find crawfish-themed stuff for sale: stained glass windows with crawfish turned chefs, visors and sundresses made of crawfish print fabric, and jewelry, t-shirts and the like — all with those signature red crawly things on ’em! Or my favorite — with a warning to heed!

Immediately after the vendor booths, you spill out into wide open spaces (except for the elbow-to-elbow dance fans) and hear that hard drivin’ Creole music played with an accordion, violin, bass guitar, sax, or washboard! (Right on his chest? Really?)

It’s so much fun some folks just choose to sit it out and watch, but the foot-tappin’ goes on and on nonetheless.

Kids get their faces painted with big ol’ crawfish.

And adults turn to more serious work:  Crawfish eatin’!! Like crawfish pies (no file gumbo!) served hot and spicy.

Or crawfish etouffee from  this Ragin’ Cajun fan (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) who couldn’t scoop ’em up and pass ’em along fast enough.

Even the usual festival fare like corn dogs and turkey legs became larger than life and spicier than most in Breaux Bridge.

Spraying water on turkey legs to keep ’em from drying out!

I opted for a Cajun Pistol — “a spicy combo of crab, crawfish, shrimp and special cheeses stuffed into a bread roll” — and fried at that!  Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

My sister Marilyn and brother-in-law Collins from Denham Springs shared a wish-I-had-this-back-home treat:  shrimp wrapped in bacon, dipped in batter, and fried on the spot.  Festival heaven!

We tried crawfish rolls, crawfish balls, and crawfish boudin (spicy mixture of sausage, crawfish, and rice), but I’ll be darned if I can name a fave.

Crawfish rolls and crawfish balls

Some folks stood around a plastic table-like contraption that sat on top of a large garbage can.  It’s serious crawfish eating:  you peel ’em and eat ’em and toss ’em —  heads, tail, and all — into the hole in the middle!  (Not a bad invention, but we still use newspaper spread out on a table in our backyard!)  I’ve heard tell that you can get these things at a home improvement store Down South, but you’ll have to check that out for yourself.  However you dine at a crawfish boil, you can still say one thing:  Laissez les bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)

We topped off our Creole goodness with some homemade fudge whipped up right there in a tent on a marble table some strong person brought in for the day.

And then we took some Bourbon Praline Pecans back home  — well, some of ’em made it home.

The 2013 Crawfish Festival Queen stood up to greet us.  She’s Anna Angeles, a senior at St. Thomas More Catholic High School.  (Beautiful, right?)

But at 3:00, we pushed into a circle of folks crowded around a huge board bearing a pot full of crawdads — it was time for the Crawfish Races.  All you had to do was register your critter, get a number painted onto his back, and toss him into the pot when your heat was called.

And then they were off!  Crawfish wobbled, flipped, uprighted, wriggled, and ran until the first one to cross the outermost line was named winner of that heat.  Who knew you could cheer on a crawfish as if it were the MVP in Tiger Stadium! But we did.

The Crawfish Festival is over for this year, but there are always more opportunities to party in Louisiana.  You just have to keep on top of the calendar and get yourself in shape for more dancin’ and eatin’!  I know one thing:  I’d come back — and I might even suck dem heads!

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival Association

P. O. Box 25

Breaux Bridge, LA 70517

337.332.6655

info@bbcrawfest.com

www.bbcrawfest.com

For more information on Louisiana Festivals, click here.

Fountains under the night lights of downtown Silver Spring.

Although I’m no authority on Silver Spring, Maryland, or any big city for that matter, it was my good fortune to explore this progressive downtown area for a few days and get a feel for the people and places that make it unique.  Yes, it had the usual national chain restaurants, stores we all know, and people doing the usual city things — waiting in line to cross the street, board buses, get a table, etc.  But Silver Spring is different.

You only have to walk a few blocks to see the concentration of interesting venues undergirding the city’s strength: Silver Spring celebrates diversity in its people and places. . . and welcomes visitors to join in the celebration!

When I checked in at the Marriott Courtyard, this 1963 photo by Owen Duval greeted me as I stepped off the elevator onto my floor.  Titled “Miss Silver Spring at Jesup Blair Park,” the photo of Barbara Chamberlin was a nostalgic reminder of the Silver Spring of yesteryear.

Miss Silver Spring at Jesup Blair Park — 1963

But what I found after tossing my bags into my room and then hitting the pavement was a new, classy, downtown area with international flair!

Discovery

It’s possible that downtown came to life after Discovery Communications moved from Bethesda, Maryland, to Silver Spring, but I have no idea.  What it did do, however, was infuse the area (and now the nation — heck, the world, too) with creativity the likes of which we hadn’t seen before.

The world’s #1 nonfiction media company: Discovery Communications

My behind-the-scenes tour of Discovery uncovered not only the historic acquisitions positioned in the front hall — dinosaur bones, fossilized bambiraptor remains, a triceratops head — but also vestiges of creative genius behind the Discovery Channel and umpteen new series that have grabbed hold of American viewers:  Yukon Men, Shark Week, Deadliest Catch, American Chopper, TLC, Animal Planet, and on and on and on.

No wonder we love ’em — they’re us on screen!

(Click here for more on Discovery Communications.)

A wall in corporate headquarters of Discovery Communications

When you get off the elevator on the 2nd floor, you can do as Tom Turner did and sit yourself down on the whoopie cushion bench — a fun way to start the tour!

Discovery doesn’t take itself too seriously — whoopee anyone?

Or you can rest a while on the shark couch.  And check out the bite-out table, too.

Shark couch and surfer table at Discovery Communications

Creativity is everywhere — from cubicles decorated with Hello Kitty to life-size replicas of chopper dudes, aliens, chimps from Animal Planet, and a royal seat from TLC.

Discovery’s royal seat!

Shopping

Shopping, too, had that international flair — everything from ordinary to odd and then some. Since I’m from Knoxville and Whole Foods is coming soon, I went there first.  Produce, coffee, even seaweed from around the world filled the waist-high tables.

Whole Trade produce at Whole Foods Market

And long bars boasting pans of prepared dishes catered to people of all ages and backgrounds who just wanted to try something new.

American, Mexican, Lebanese, you name it . . . at Whole Foods

DSW Shoe Warehouse is a shoe mecca.  Filled with ballerina flats, stacked-heel boots, and running shoes, this store could outfit all the feet in Silver Spring and then some.

Boots lined two aisles from front to back at DSW Shoe Warehouse

I couldn’t resist asking this saleslady if I could snap a picture of her butterfly earrings, and she was happy to comply!  After all, she enjoyed being the fashionplate behind the DSW counter.

Workin’ the register in style at DSW!

Other places to shop include Pacers Running Store for activewear and  New York & Company. On its way is H &M which should do well in this fashion-conscious D. C. burb.

Entertainment

I crossed the street at Veterans Plaza mainly because I spotted a crowd of folks stopped at a street vendor’s stand and then others running/gathering/playing in this large open area.  Two men seated at a chess board said it was OK with them if I took their picture, and I tried to capture kids on skateboards whizzing past these guys who can obviously concentrate in the midst of urban hubbub.

One of them looked up at me and said, You know this is an ice skating rink in the winter, don’t you?

And I replied that I didn’t, but it made sense.  This downtown has a lot going for it in terms of bringing people together, and I’d love to come back and see a winter rink filled with skaters of all ages right in the heart of things.

Two chess players enjoy the warm air before this area becomes a downtown ice skating rink.

The AFI Silver Theatre was a find, for sure.  The American Film Institute (AFI) opened the old Silver Theatre on Colesville Road in downtown Silver Spring in 2003.  Since then it’s been an attraction for its quality renovation and events such as the Latin American Film Festival which was in full swing while I was there.

AFI Silver Theatre’s opening of Latin American Film Festival

A huge movie theatre, The Majestic, looms large on the corner at Ellsworth Drive near the skateboard park/ice skating rink. The IMAX theatre is bound to be a big hit with residents and visitors, too.

The Regal Majestic 20 and IMAX

But what intrigued me most was The Fillmore Silver Spring on Colesville Road near the Silver Theatre.  It’s a live music venue for up-and-comings as well as already famous groups like Gov’t Mule playing there November 3rd.  With a capacity of 2,000, The Fillmore serves as a cornerstone for entertainment in this community.

Concerts and private events fill the calendar at The Fillmore.

Food

Without a doubt, Silver Spring provides foodies of all ages and all tastes a wide range of choices. International offerings can be found at Asian Bistro, Lebanese Taverna Cafe, Nando’s Peri-Peri, Pho Hiep Hoa, and Thai at Silver Spring.  Thumbnails on my favorites follow below.

Adega Wine Cellars & Cafe can seat you in a wine cellar atmosphere while serving you Mediterranean flatbreads, Adega Fries (sweet potato fries with mango-lime vinaigrette), or my favorite — Arugula, Pears, & Gorgonzola Salad. Gourmet food in a tucked-away atmosphere!

Order at the counter at Adega Wine Cellars & Cafe

Arugula, Pears & Gorgonzola Salad at Adega Wine Cellars & Cafe

Eggspectation won the Best Brunch Award in the 2012 Best of Silver Spring Winners, but you don’t have to go in the morning to load up on three-egg omelettes or the Eggstravaganza with two eggs, two slices of French toast, Canadian bacon, and grilled potatoes!  It’s around-the-clock breakfast food that’s uneggspected!

Enter here for eggs benedict and three-egg omelettes — served any time!

You won’t leave Austin Grill hungry if you order a Texas Brisket Taco Plate with dry rubbed brisket, tomato, fried onion straws and BBQ sauce or The Willie Nelson with four tacos: skirt steak, grilled chicken, carnitas, and picadillo.

Austin Grill in downtown Silver Spring

Texas brisket tacos with fried onion straws at Austin Grill

For fine dining, head to 8407 Kitchen Bar and order the house made charcuterie board with Pastrami, Bison Salami, Chef’s Terrine, Smoked Bluefish, and House-Cured Virginia Ham for starters.  Then add Moulard Duck Breast or Organic Scottish Salmon as an entree topped off with Caramelized Fig & Raspberry Tart for dessert!  Oyster Reef Coffee, anyone?

House-made charcuterie and artisanal cheeses on the menu at 8407.

But if you’re just out strolling, stop in for a cold treat at FroZenYo where you fill a cup with your choice of flavors, add toppings to your heart’s content, and then pay based on weight — of the cup, of course.  Not what you weigh after indulging!

Shannon Gaumer fills her cup to the brim with great frozen yogurt!

Maybe Next Time

If I’m lucky enough to return to Silver Spring on a weekend from April to October, I’ll head to the Fenton Street Market on the corner of Fenton & Ellsworth — a fun, multi-cultural street fair featuring local vendors set up on the sidewalks selling everything from glass beads to straw hats.

Silver Spring, Maryland, pulls people downtown — just for the fun of it!

A resident enjoying one of the many sculptures in the parks of Silver Spring!

Silver Spring, Maryland

http://www.silverspringcenter.com/

This week, the much-anticipated Publix (people-oriented, upscale, classy) exploded onto the scene at Northshore Town Center complete with signature green balloons, free samples, and employees bending over backwards to make good on their slogan: Where shopping is a pleasure!

Founded in 1930 by George W. Jenkins in Winter Haven, Florida, Publix is one of the fastest-growing, employee-owned supermarket chains in the U.S. The corporate offices are now in Lakeland, Florida, and, according to the website, Publix has 1,055 stores in the nation with 31 of them in Tennessee. One of the employees, however, proudly told me, We’re about to explode in Tennessee! 

The Publix at Northshore Town Center is a hybrid store:  more organic foods and natural products.  It even has a cafe, hot food bar, salad bar, coffee shop, and (something I loved) a gelato and sorbet section!

In keeping with their regular hours, Publix opened at 7:00 AM to lines of people spinning a wheel to win prizes or waiting patiently for a free carnation.

Shoppers were then directed to stations offering free samples and tiny tastings. I headed straight for the loaves, rolls, flatbreads, etc., (one of my many weaknesses) and found Valhalla!  Purchased a round of Shicaccia Bread with onion, olive and parmesan cheese — supper, for sure!

Nearby, pretty cakes called for a closer examination. Because I frequently cook for two, the site of smaller versions made me smile: Tiny, made-for-two sweet treats sat beside the larger versions carefully piped with frilly icing and topped with crushed nuts, swirls of chocolate, or raspberry dollops!

Boar’s Head had a powerful presence — their own section in the store and a sampling stand offering tidy rolls of ham and cheese. During the opening, if you buy a pound of anything Boar’s Head, you’ll get a trio of mustards.  Free. While supplies last.

I’ll have to come back.  Lots of folks lined up for that one! (Click here for great Boar’s Head recipes on their website!) 

Nearby, a young man presented me with a couldn’t-resist platter of tasty hors d’oeuvres.  They were made with three simple ingredients: thin rounds of 34° Sesame Crispbread topped with a slice of Spanish Manchego cheese (on special), drizzled with Savannah Bee Company Cheese Honey. Delicious! Bought all three. 

Meat selections were overwhelming. And all were well-packaged.  As you would expect, there were the usual roasts, ground beef, chicken, pork, sausage, cold cuts, etc.  Nicely arranged. But Publix offers prepared entrees, too, ready for cooking at home.  (Opening special on shish-ka-bobs: $5.99!)

The seafood counter was a mini Pike Place: fresh fish, shrimp, and other creatures of the sea laid out ready for purchase. One offering amazed me:  already veined shrimp with easy-to-remove shells. What a boon that will be when I’m getting ready for a family gathering! (And if you’re a sushi fan, you’ll be happy to know there’s a whole section waiting for you!)

Colorful, carefully-lined-up produce enticed shoppers and kept the man replenishing the displays busy all morning!  Look also for the organic section at Publix — Greenwise Market. It’s clean, fresh, inviting and BIG!

New to me (well, everything about Publix is new to me — this is my first!) was a section called Apron’s Simple Meals. Two days a week, you’ll be treated cooking demos showcasing recipes anyone can prepare.  Free recipes are available along with three-ring binders ($4.99) for safe keeping.  Picked up Praline French Toast today.  Will be back for more!

And Publix has flowers.  From orchids to mums, you should be able to find the right bouquet for anyone. Or maybe yourself.

Store brands shared shelves with commercial brands.  Nicely packaged. Nicely displayed. Publix labels are understated and tasteful, but still keep nutrition info out front.  It’s a look that’s modern yet classic.

So, Publix is a grocery store complete with meat, canned goods, dairy, and produce. But many things set it apart from others:

• Displays are clean, neat, and full. Most of all, they’re interesting — products not usually found in Knoxville.
• Offerings are in tune with what people are eating today from organic produce to gluten-free selections. Publix Greenwise Market offers appealing, healthy foods we need.
• Publix puts an emphasis on wellness from the website to the in-store pharmacy and the extra services they offer. (Like shingles vaccine for us over-50 folks!)
• Special events draw people in: cooking demos, brand sampling, Coffee and Dessert Night, and Kid’s Fest Day.
• Announcements can be found via Social Media.  Check out their Facebook page for more info! Heck, you may even want to be their friend!

Something else stood out for me.  Every aisle I visited had helpful, knowledgeable employees.  Yeah, yeah, I know they’ve been trained for the opening. 

But something special — possibly pride — set these folks apart from so many other store employees.  I think you’ll notice it, too.  The best thing about this store just may be the people of Publix!

From the employees who took the time to help a family find the right section . . .

 to the helpful man at check-out. . .

to Elizabeth, a West High 11th grader who carried my free tote bag (Yes, I was one of the first 1,000!), to the car and chatted with me about AP English, no less!

It’s the people who are going to make the difference in your experience at Publix!

Welcome to Knoxville, Publix!

Publix

Northshore Town Center

2012 Town Center Blvd.

Knoxville, TN 37922

865.470.0720

Store Hours: 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM, 7 days a week

http://www.publix.com/

Have you been to Publix?  Or any of the other new West Knoxville stores? Post a comment. Would love to know what you think.

Now that I’ve seen the website for Curate and read about this rave-about place for fine dining, I don’t know how I could have almost walked past without even knowing about this unique new restaurant.

It was all quite accidental. My husband and I were meandering down Biltmore Avenue (Asheville, NC) in search of art galleries when we spied a pig in a window!  And then an interesting name — Curate — with the pronunciation prominently displayed! I said, Let’s go in there for just a minute – OK? – to see if we want to eat here tonight.

And that’s when we saw Tyler (immediately, he introduced himself) carving Jamon Iberico!

Tyler began telling us about this delicacy —  acorn fattened Spanish ham — and other menu items we could order from the restaurant  he so obviously loves!

The finest Spanish ham served at Curate

He said Chef Katie Button (Cornell graduate, master’s from L’Ecole Centrale in Paris) abandoned her major (chemical and biomolecular engineering), followed her passion for cooking, and eventually became a service manager at Ferran Adria’s famous restaurant in Spain —  El Bulli! With the support of her parents and fiancé, she opened this now award-winning restaurant in Asheville — naming it Curate, meaning “cure yourself.” You can come here and allow others to take care of you so that you, in turn, feel cared for.  And it works.  On all levels.

On the window at Curate

We immediately asked for a reservation only to be told that they were booked nights in advance.  We could take a chance at getting seated at the bar — which is where we landed that very night —  a front row seat watching masterful preparations in the open kitchen and listening to the banter between servers and customers!

Open kitchen at Curate as seen from the bar.

It’s a tapas bar — you order and share small plates. Brown paper menus greet you, accompanied by a sleeve of silverware and list of nuestros vinos (their selected Spanish wines).

Menu, silverware, and wine list

We made friends with people on either side.  The couple to our right were sharing Ensalada de Tomate Yatun — a Kumato tomato salad with preserved Spanish Bonito del Norte tuna and black olives, topped with greens from Jolley Farms! Wow!

Kumato tomato salad with Bonito tuna and Jolley Farms greens

Mary Hill, to our left, suggested we start with what we came for: the Tabla de Jamon — a selection of three cured hams.

A Curate customer who knew what to order!

And yes, we could tell the difference once we tasted each one that this affable server, Daniel, presented.  From left to right: Jamon Serrano Fermin (dry cured Spanish ham); Jamon Iberico Fermin (cured ham from black-footed Iberico pigs); and the one that brought us in as Tyler was shaving it at the counter — Jamon Iberico de Bellota (the top shoulder cut from acorn fattened free-range pigs).

Daniel knows ham – and how to talk to curious customers!

While we waited for our other plates, I snapped a picture of Tabla Dequesos (Spanish cheeses) ready to serve.

Two platters of Spanish cheeses

And that’s when I sighted my favorite “junker,” Mike Wolfe of American Pickers, one of the shows I watch on the History Channel! It was all I could do to leave him alone to enjoy his dinner at Curate without being hounded by a gushy fan! I resorted to snapping this picture from across the room.

Celebrity Sighting: Mike Wolfe from American Pickers!

He’s not the only famous person who’s visited Curate.  You can read about Anthony Bourdain’s fall 2011 visit reported by the Asheville Citizen Times here.

Meanwhile, our small plates arrived, and I was able to focus on presentation AND interesting taste!

First, Berenjenas la Taberna (fried eggplant drizzled in Wild Mountain Apiaries honey) — fork tender with just a hint of sweetness . . .

Fried eggplant drizzled in Wild Mountain Apiaries honey!

followed by Setas al Jerez (mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with a hint of sherry) . . .

Selected mushrooms sauteed in olive oil!

and finally, according to the menu, the “number one tapa in Asheville”: Gambas al Ajillo (sauteed shrimp and sliced garlic)!

Sauteed shrimp and sliced garlic!

We had no room for Esparragos Blancos (white asparagus tossed in a lemon tarragon vinaigrette), but watching the preparation of this dish qualified as entertainment — several steps with a voila! ending.

Artful presentation: white asparagus tossed in lemon tarragon vinaigrette!

Carefully, chefs prepared desserts like these artfully drizzled beauties that we saw from our stools at the bar. (It’s fun looking over chef shoulders!)

Preparing fine desserts

Beautiful  topping!

And, then . . . tah-dah! Tyler surprised us by showing off one of their most intensely prepared desserts — an almost-transparent Buenuelo to top anything we’d ever seen! By now, we were friends, you know, and he wanted to show us everything in this classy eatery!

We’re definitely not among the first to be enamoured of Curate‘s cuisine and service. This relatively new-to-Asheville restaurant has won the Best of WNC Top Chef Award and mention in Southern Living magazine as a go-to destination!

Top Chef Award for Katie Button in the Best of WNC

But for BIG TASTE on small plates, ya gotta go there yourself!

Eating Spanish tapas just may cure yourself!

Curate

11 Biltmore Avenue

Asheville, NC 28801

828.239.2946

www.curatetapasbar.com

<a href=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/82/1577446/restaurant/Curate-Asheville”><img alt=”Cúrate on Urbanspoon” src=”http://www.urbanspoon.com/b/link/1577446/minilink.gif” style=”border:none;padding:0px;width:130px;height:36px” /></a>

If you want to read about another Asheville restaurant we loved, check out Tupelo’s a Honey at http://ohtheplaceswesee.com/2012/05/30/tupelos-a-honey/