Making desserts for a residing has been Kanas Lam‘s dream since she was a little bit lady — one which simply got here true late final month when her new cafe, Sweets & Seats, opened downtown.
The menu consists of espresso drinks, all-natural bubble teas and Taiwanese shaved ice with housemade syrups. The walk-up counter showcases French pastries made by Lam, who earned her Diplôme de Pâtisserie from Le Cordon Bleu Taiwan proper earlier than the pandemic. A local of Hong Kong who grew up in New York Metropolis, Lam arrived in Asheville a little bit over a yr and a half in the past.
Lam is not any stranger to the meals trade. All through her life she’s launched quite a lot of eating places. However till now, her culinary focus leaned extra towards the savory than the candy. “That is my dream,” she says. “I like to create — and with dessert, I can create fairly issues.”
After Lam semiretired 5 years in the past, she began making desserts at residence to share with mates. On the time, her son had simply graduated from school, and he or she says she was experiencing empty-nest syndrome. Ultimately, she started taking her desserts to staff at Pink Ginger Dimsum & Tapas, which is owned by her sister-in-law, Mary Medvedev.
“Individuals beloved it, and so they’d ask why don’t I open a pastry store,” Lam remembers. “I used to be sitting outdoors on the porch [at Red Ginger], and I laughed, ‘Yeah, perhaps proper throughout the road!’ I wasn’t severe at the moment. After which it occurred.”
Regardless of its identify, Sweets & Seats shouldn’t be a reference to the house’s giant seating space and ample chairs. Moderately, fashionable outside furnishings samples from the Higold Group fill a lot of the lounge and can be found to order by way of catalog or on-line. Lam says she needed to fulfill Asheville’s outdoorsy pursuits with a brand new, fashionable outside idea.
The cafe is at present open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, noon-9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m.; and Sunday, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. However Lam is hoping to open at 7:30 a.m. on sure days within the close to future to serve espresso and conventional Chinese language milk buns to early birds.
Lam says though opening a brand-new enterprise isn’t simple, she feels rewarded. “I fell in love with making pastries as a result of I like to see the enjoyment on individuals’s faces once they strive them. And each time I make dessert, it additionally makes me comfortable.”
Sweets & Seats is at 81 Patton Ave. For extra info, go to avl.mx/cvi.
Further mayo
Individuals within the South are virtually as keen about their mayonnaise decisions as they’re about their barbecue. On Thursday, Aug. 3, followers of Charlotte-based Duke’s Mayonnaise can slather on the love for its mascot, Tubby, from 9/11 a.m. in Pack Sq. Park.
Stu Helm, an Asheville meals blogger and tour information, invited the mascot to city. “Put your mayonnaise-eating pants on,” Helms wrote in a social media publish, encouraging locals to come back out in assist.
“I’m from up North, and my final identify is Helm, so take a guess which mayonnaise I grew up consuming,” he says. “As quickly as I bought all the way down to Asheville, although, I began listening to about Duke’s — not simply from residence cooks, however from fancy cooks and eaters of all types. As soon as I attempted it myself, I used to be like, ‘Yeah, that’s approach higher,’ and I’ve by no means regarded again.”
Metropolis Council members will share the stage with Tubby and can current him with a spatula-shaped key to the town, designed and created by native artist Zen Sutherland. In case of rain or excessive warmth, Tubby shall be at Twisted Laurel Downtown Asheville at 130 Faculty St.
Pack Sq. Park is at 80 Court docket Plaza. For extra info, go to avl.mx/prxg.
A historical past of spirits
An award-winning documentary debunking myths about moonshining will debut on PBS NC on Thursday, Aug. 3, at 10 p.m. “The Spirits Nonetheless Transfer Them” options interviews with three dozen moonshiners and their households in Western North Carolina, east Tennessee and South Carolina.
The movie was created by David Weintraub, govt director of the Heart for Cultural Preservation, a nonprofit in Hendersonville. Based on Weintraub, “All the pieces we learn about moonshiners and moonshining historical past is mistaken.”
Weintraub says he makes movies to uncover the actual Appalachian heritage from below layers of mythology and falsehood, in order that we are able to study from the knowledge, creativity and resilience of our elders.
“The parable that every one moonshiners are violent, lazy, drunk criminals hiding within the woods carrying lengthy beards and longer arrest data has been recounted by the media for over 100 years,” he says in a press launch. “In actuality, liquor manufacturing was onerous, backbreaking work that solely essentially the most entrepreneurial farmers carried out, which they did with a purpose to survive tough circumstances and put meals on the desk. It’s a captivating story and much more fascinating than the myths and distortions we’ve heard.”
For extra info, go to avl.mx/prxi.
Prime cooks
A-B Tech’s Culinary Arts crew took residence second place within the American Culinary Federation’s Nationwide Finals in New Orleans in July.
The scholar crew secured its spot within the nationwide contestin March by profitable the Southeast Area at a qualifying competitors in Overland Park, Kan. The crew consisted of captain Jason Grey, Nickolas Abbott, Corrine Dowd, Abbey Franklin, Yajaira Marlen Sandoval-Castenada and Ashley Neri, and was led by coaches Chris Bugher and Stephen Hertz.
“It has been a protracted, onerous street to get these college students up to now,” says Bugher, noting that the preliminary tryouts started within the fall.
He says the group’s vast age vary, 19-52, made their crew dynamic fascinating. “They actually got here collectively in Could as we traveled to Kansas and competed.”
After putting within the remaining 4, Bugher says, “we buckled down and everybody actually put their coronary heart into it.” This yr’s competitors marks a record-setting 14th time an A-B Tech pupil crew has competed for the nationwide title.
For extra info on A-B Tech’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program, go to avl.mx/cjo.
Tacos, disco and an grownup comfortable meal
West Asheville’s Taco Boy is providing some new choices for each the brunch and late-night crowds.
Beginning Sunday, Aug. 6, and working every Sunday all through the month, the Daytime Disco Sunday Brunch will happen 10 a.m.-2 p.m. “Boozy brunch pitchers” of home margaritas and frozen screwdrivers shall be out there, whereas DJ Dr. Get Proper will supply “groovy, pool-party-style vibes” on the patio.
For these wanting their Tex-Mex later within the night, the restaurant is extending its hours to 9 p.m. Sunday by way of Thursday and to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with a late-night menu consisting of shareables resembling nachos and Mexican avenue corn. The latest merchandise, the Grownup Completely happy Meal, consists of two tacos, a beer, a tequila shot and a “shock.”
“We love the all-in-one resolution for a late evening meal that you simply don’t need to suppose an excessive amount of about,” says Taco Boy founder and co-owner Karalee Nielson Fallert. “We additionally love the nostalgia and smile that the comfortable meal brings to everybody.”
Taco Boy is at 521 Haywood Highway. For extra info, go to avl.mx/byw.
