Press Release

Eblen Charities and Wicked Weed Brewing are gearing up for the third annual sour festival scheduled for Saturday, July 16^th. The Funkatorium Invitational (formerly Funk Asheville) will host 50+ breweries both well established and up and coming that are paving the sour and wild path for craft beer. Ticket sales are slated for Monday, May 9^th beginning at noon via ETIX.

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Blaze Fast Fire’d Pizza, the fast-casual artisanal pizza concept known for its chef-driven menu and casually hip restaurants, announced today that it will open its first Asheville location on Thursday, April 21. To celebrate the grand opening, the restaurant will offer FREE build-your-own artisanal pizzas on Friday, April 22 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. to anyone who follows Blaze Pizza on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. The highly anticipated restaurant, which features a 2,500-square-foot interior plus outdoor patio, is located in Gerber Village in south Asheville (1840 Hendersonville Road), off of Interstate 26. This will be the fourth Blaze Pizza location in North Carolina.

Blaze Pizza is a modern day “pizza joint” serving up artisanal pizzas that are both fast and affordable. Since its first restaurant debuted in 2012, Blaze has become known for custom-built pizzas, freshly made salads, blood orange lemonade and s’mores pies. Each restaurant features an interactive open-kitchen format that allows guests to customize one of the menu’s signature pizzas or create their own, choosing from a wide selection of fresh, artisanal ingredients – all for about $8. The generously sized personal pizzas are then sent to a blazing hot open-flame oven – the centerpiece of the restaurant – where dedicated pizzasmiths ensure that the thin-crust pies are “fast-fire’d” and ready to eat in just 180 seconds. Restaurants make their own dough from scratch daily using a recipe developed by critically acclaimed Executive Chef Bradford Kent (a.k.a. the “Pizza Whisperer”). For pizza fans with special dietary needs, Blaze Pizza offers gluten-free dough and vegan cheese. The Asheville restaurant will soon feature craft beers from popular Asheville breweries as well as a selection of wine.

“Our mission at Blaze is really simple – we’re taking pizza back to its roots,” said Jim Mizes, President & COO of Blaze Pizza. “By making dough in-house, carefully sourcing ingredients and cooking by fire, we’re giving guests a great way to enjoy artisanal pizza without the wait. It’s changing the way people think about and eat pizza.”  

Blaze’s attention to detail extends well beyond the food, with a carefully considered, modern approach to restaurant design. Driven by its commitment to “Intelligent Choices for Our Pizzas, People & Planet,” the restaurant is constructed with recycled and sustainable materials, uses eco-friendly packaging and features energy-efficient LED lighting. Additionally, many of the restaurant’s unconventional design elements were inspired by the company’s celebration of individual expression, including an oversized wall graphic, which was custom-built to suit the Asheville space.

Blaze Pizza is looking forward to continuing to build strong roots within the Asheville community. To that end, the company has developed a turn-key, in-restaurant fundraiser program that returns 20% of an event’s proceeds back to local organizations and will be partnering with local schools, sports clubs and other organizations to host fundraising events at the new restaurant.

About Blaze Pizza
The first Blaze Pizza® restaurant opened on Aug. 6, 2012, in Irvine, Calif., and quickly gained attention for its chef-driven recipes, thoughtful interior design, and a service culture that celebrates individuality. Now ranked as the overall #2 fast-casual brand in FastCasual.com’s annual Top 100 list, Blaze Pizza is building momentum and developing a cult-like following as it expands across the country. The company currently operates 124 restaurants in 28 states and Canada, including the major metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Toronto, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Washington D.C. Founded by Elise and Rick Wetzel (co-founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels), the concept is backed by investors including LeBron James, Maria Shriver, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Boston Red Sox co-owner Tom Werner and movie producer John Davis. For more information, please visit blazepizza.com and facebook.com/blazepizza or click here to view a company video.

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Junior anglers enjoyed a favorable spring morning at Charles D. Owen Park testing out their fishing skills at the Kids Fishing Derby. Over 50 children participated in the event, organized by Buncombe County Recreation Services in partnership with the NC Wildlife Commission.

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HiWire Brewing, known for its approachable beer, will be hosting its Inaugural How do you LagerFest? on Saturday, May 14th from 12:00pm 8: 00pm at their Big Top location 2 Huntsman Place.

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Last week, Highland Brewing Company released Highland Pilsner, its second new year-round beer of 2016. Highland Pilsner is available now on draft at select retail locations throughout its nine-state footprint and will debut in six-pack cans in mid-May.

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Asheville Humane Society is launching the Paw it Forward Campaign presented by Dog Tag Art to benefit the homeless animals of Buncombe County. AHS' first large-scale crowdfunding campaign will run from April 15 to June 15 with the goal of raising $60,000. Paw it Forward is not your typical peer-to-peer fundraising campaign—pet-to-person is more accurate, as campaigners will ask for donations in the "voice" of their pet.

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Independent Bookstore Day marks its second year of celebrating independent bookstores nationwide on April 30th, with literary parties around the country.

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DANCECLUB Asheville, a dance studio playground for adults! DANCECLUB Asheville (DCA) is a dance and pole fitness studio that encourages fun, uninhibited dancing in an environment free of intimidation. DCA will be opening it’s doors at the beginning of May to adults of all ages. The studio will offer a wide array of classes in pole dancing/fitness, jazz/funk, classic jazz, burlesque, high heels, modern, exercise dance, boot camp, and flexibility and conditioning. Students will have the option to try out one class at a time or become a member, similar to a gym, having full access to all classes. DCA is a one stop shop for fun, expression, and exercise.

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After five years of trailblazing queer country music, New York City’s Gay Ole Opry is hitting the road for the first time. Opry regulars The Paisley Fields and Karen & the Sorrows are heading South for a week­long tour, and they are coming to Asheville on Monday, April 25th. The show is at The Crow & Quill at 106 N Lexington Ave at 8:00 pm and door is a sliding scale from $5-­$10. They will be joined by Asheville’s Lillie Jean and Mawk Chunk and are especially thrilled that the night will benefit QORDS, a week­long overnight summer camp for queer and trans youth or youth of LGBTQ families, with special focus on youth in the South.

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New Belgium Brewing’s flagship Fat Tire Amber Ale is flowing from their Asheville brewery and heading toward draft lines and cold boxes across the eastern United States. With production ramping up over the next few years, the 500,000 barrel capacity, 127,000 square-foot brewery gives the country’s fourth-largest craft brewer 1.5 million barrels of total capacity.

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