Local Business

An active online fundraiser seeks to raise $1,000 for local nonprofit the POP Project in order to be matched by $1,500 in children’s books from Usborne Books & More. These books will then be distributed for free to children in low-income Buncombe County communities. 

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The middle of August is upon us, and as the summer heat continues to encroach on our mountain town. It is hard to believe that fall is just around the corner, and with fall comes changing leaves, hot

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Are you a geek? Have you ever been in an argument about who shot first? Do the majority of your shirts have fictional characters on them? Have you ever played video games for so long you developed thumb blisters? If so, we at the Asheville Blog have found your Shangri-La.

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Wicked Weed has shot up like, well, a weed. This almost three year old business has opened as many facilities in just as many years. Starting out with the flagship location on Biltmore Avenue, expanding to the Funkatorium located on Asheville's South Slope, the team now is brewing at their new production facility in Candler. Wicked Weed first introduced their new 40,000 square facility earlier this year with a groundbreaking ceremony, where they outline their plans to brew, bottle, and sell their beloved beer to the Asheville masses. The new facility will not only bottle and brew, but in late 2016 the tasting room should be available for the general public to come and imbibe in one of the many Wicked brews.

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Lisa Klepzig was a family practice nurse for twenty years, but has been known for years as the chocolate expert by her friends, showing up to holiday parties and feasts with loads of chocolates to share with her friends. Five years ago, she started The Chocolate Lab, but this year, she and her husband Kier decided to take it to the next level. She worked on her recipes and began to incorporate local beers into her truffles. She was invited to display her wares at the Asheville Wine and Food Festival, where she crossed my path, and this month has opened up her very own chocolate shop in north Asheville: The Chocolate Lab.

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Recently I had the pleasure of being invited to eat at newly opened Blue Dream Curry House, located in downtown Asheville, to sample their international sampling of curries. Curry and I go way back, though perhaps not as far as those to whom the highly spiced dish is native. As a child, I attended many Thanksgiving dinners at a home belonging to friends of my parents, a nice Indian couple whose children were close in age to my brother, sister and me. We swapped a few Thanksgiving dinners, eating one year at our house with traditional American fare, and the next at their house, with their Indian twists on traditional dishes, plus some family favorites tossed in. I learned to eat Indian curry at a young age, but until I was an adult, I did not realize there was more than one type of curry.

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Last night Highland Brewing Co. had their Pre-Release for the first beer of their Warrior Series, a line of bold, high gravity beers. There are going to be several new beers launched under this line four times a year and released in limited quantities. The newest Head Brewer at Highland is Hollie Stephenson, and her beer is kicking off this series with the 10% ABV King MacAlpin Double IPA. Hollie, originally from the East, previously worked for Stone Brewing Co. in Californian. She said the thing she had been missing from California was the West Coast IPAs. No need anymore because she created what she calls a “bitter, balanced, 10% beer with a big, big lemon peel, tropical hop aroma and flavor.” Being an IPA-lover, I was elated to get a taste of this beautifully blended beer, and I was impressed. I picked up on pineapple aromas, and loved that she hadn’t used as much of the more typical grapefruit flavor, which gave this Double IPA a unique and memorable flavor.

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Leaders from Durham area civic organizations, cultural institutions, government and businesses announced earlier today that Moogfest -- an internationally acclaimed festival of music, art and technology that has been held in Asheville since 2010 -- will debut in Durham in May 2016. This announcement signals a long-term commitment by festival organizers, reinforcing the exploding technology scene and culture of innovation in the Triangle. The 3 day, 3 night event takes place May 19-22, 2016. 

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Friday July 17th Rhetorical Factory will be featuring the art of Cindy Kunst of CLicKs Photography. Kunst has been creating photographic art in Asheville for years, both journalistic and abstract. So much of how she uses her camera is inspired by her ability to connect with her subjects; reading the CLicKs website and blog will give you an idea of all the varied events and niches of Asheville culture she is a part of. Just a few years ago Cindy hired Rhetorical Factory to make a screen print for her photography uniform. Bethany Adams, owner and artist of the local shop, took a photo of Cindy’s first camera ever, and made a design. The Clicks uniform shirts are printed at Rhetorical Factory with that camera design and the Clicks logo on second hand clothes that Cindy supplies. The camera print is a part of the Rhetorical Factory original collection as well.

When Adams invited CLicKs to be the featured artist for the store in July the creative wheels started to turn. Kunst was inspired to get her art “off the wall” and came to Rhetorical Factory with the idea for another collaboration: fabric printed with her art, sewn into clothing by Bethany Adams. The two have been developing the idea ever since, and it will culminate with the opening at Rhetorical Factory at 444 Haywood Road in West Asheville Saturday night with refreshments starting at 4pm and music by local guitarist Bryan Steele from six to nine pm. Garments at the showing will be samples, with any of the clothing styles available in any of the featured prints, made-to-order. The walls will bear our collaborative photography surrounding the collection as well as unique glass tile pieces Kunst has designed to complement the collection will also be for sale. You are invited to come get inspired by local art!

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Sometimes I really love the perks of writing about food. I'm an information junkie. If I had a chance, I'd watch documentaries 24/7. I love understanding how things are made and how they work. One of my favorite food hosts, Alton Brown, made 13 seasons of these Bill Nye-esque cooking shows explaining the details of how different ingredients work and how the chemistry and science of cooking can free you of recipe books forever. So when I was offered the chance to tour a miso factory, I was pumped.

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