Your cheat sheet for restaurant week 🍽️

11 great specials for Asheville Restaurant Week 2023

Choose from pork belly, spicy pork, or veggie ramen. | Photo via @ukiahrestaurant

Take out your calendars (and stretchy pants) for this one, folks. From Jan. 17-23, everything from ramen and dry-aged steak to $10 pancake sandwiches are on the menu as part of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s eleventh annual Asheville Restaurant Week.

Here’s a cheat sheet that highlights some of the best deals from the 40+ participating restaurants. If you’re hungering for more, see the full list here. Pro tip: If possible, you’ll want to make a reservation at these spots ahead of time.
For a mere $28, enjoy a three-course meal with a soup or salad, skewer, and steaming hot bowl of ramen — there’s plenty of options for pescatarians and vegetarians, too.

Tastee Diner Restaurant Week 2023 — Yup, you’re looking at a pancake sandwich.

The special we can’t stop thinking about is the fried chicken, hash brown, and egg “pancake sandwich” available for $10 all week long, plus your choice of a side.

The Tahini Jar | Various locations

Track down this vegan, Middle Eastern-inspired food truck using their online schedule and you’ll be rewarded with a $10 falafel burger.
Beer fans, this one’s for you. Pair a three-course meal of winter kale salad, spaghetti al tartufo nero, and pistachio + orange cheesecake with a beer flight for $45.

The exterior of Italian eatery Gemelli in Asheville, NC. — New Italian eatery Gemelli is essentially a coffee shop by day and wine bar by night.

Make all your pasta dreams come true at this popular new Italian spot, which offers a $40 three-course meal of a starter, entree, and either a cannoli or bombolini for dessert. Bonus: There’s plenty of parking at the Westgate Plaza.
For $45, cash in on a three-course meal with your choice of starter and dinner roast, finished with the sticky toffee pudding for dessert.

5 MORE HOT DEALS

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Wednesday, Jan. 11

Tastee Diner Ribbon Cutting | Wednesday, Jan. 11 | 11 a.m.-12 p.m. | Tastee Diner, 575 Haywood Rd., Asheville | Free | Celebrate the reopening of this 70+ year-old diner with a ribbon cutting, networking, and small bites.
Wine(Ish) Wednesday with WNC LGBT+ Networking Group | Wednesday, Jan. 11 | 6-8 p.m. | Hi-Wire Brewing-RAD, 284 Lyman St., Asheville | Free | Join the inaugural version of this new biweekly event series that benefits the local LGBT+ professional community.

Thursday, Jan. 12

Not Rocket Science Trivia | Thursday, Jan. 12, Thursday, Jan. 19 | 6-7:30 p.m. | Highland Brewing Downtown Taproom, 56 Patton Ave., Asheville | Free | Get a team together and join this weekly trivia showdown.

Friday, Jan. 13

Interactive Murder Mystery Night - A Totally Rad Murder! | Friday, Jan. 13 | 7-10 p.m. | Ginger’s Revenge- South Slope Lounge, 32 Banks Ave., Asheville | $30 | Register in advance to participate in this 80s-themed murder mystery game, presented by Mystery Men Productions.
Night / Visionary: Opening Reception | Friday, Jan. 13 | 5-7 p.m. | Tyger Tyger Gallery, 191 Lyman St. #144, Asheville | Free | Explore new visual art works at the opening of Night / Visionary, an exhibition showcasing five artists’ dream-time visions on paper, panel, and canvas.*
Star Gaze | Friday, Jan. 13 | 5:30-11:30 p.m. | Grassland Mountain Observatory , 2892 Grassland Pkwy., Marshall, NC 28753 - Website has directions on how to get here --USE NO GPS, Marshall | Free | Join the Astronomy Club of Asheville at this public star gaze.

Saturday, Jan. 14

MLK Day Prayer Breakfast | Saturday, Jan. 14 | 8 a.m. | Crowne Plaza Resort, 1 Resort Dr., Asheville | $15-$350 | This annual prayer breakfast will feature words from Fletcher Mayor Preston Blakely and best-selling author Andrew Aydin.
Native Plant Seed Swap | Saturday, Jan. 14 | 3 p.m. | Hi-Wire Brewing RAD Beer Garden, 284 Lyman St., Asheville | Free | Gather with fellow gardeners and plant experts for a native seed swap.

Plan Ahead

Lunar New Year Dining Experience | Saturday, Jan. 21 | 7-11 p.m. | Event Center at Highland Brewing Co., 12 Old Charlotte Hwy., Ste. 200, Asheville | $55-$75 | Celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with live entertainment, special brews, and a variety of small plates curated by Chef Raymond Hui from Gan Shan.
Rising of the Necessary Diva | Thursday, Jan. 26 | 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Bardo Arts Center, 199 Centennial Dr., Cullowhee | $5-$25 | Rising of the Necessary Diva is a one-woman show starring WCU’s Assistant Professor of Music, Dr. Tiffany Renée Jackson, that is sure to inspire audiences to find their own higher calling.*

We have a calendar filled with events and activities you can plan for in advance. Click the button below to bookmark ideas for upcoming date nights, family outings, and time with friends.

100+ MORE EVENTS

Weather

55º | Partly cloudy | 10% chance of rain

Coming Soon

The Montford Deli has announced it will relocate to the building previously occupied by Nick’s Grill at 1461 Merrimon Ave. Its final day at the Montford Convenience Store will be Monday, Jan. 23 and the crew hopes to open at its new location within two-three months, with an expanded menu and dining room seating. 🥪 (Asheville Citizen-Times)

Community

Yetzirah, an Asheville-based literary organization for Jewish poets, will present its first reading of the new year Sunday, Jan. 15, 5-6:30 p.m. at Congregation Beth Israel (229 Murdock Ave.). Featured poets will include Rebecca Aronson, Rachel Hadas, and Maya Pindyck. (Mountain Xpress)

Arts

Another Curio Machine has appeared in town, this time at The Grey Eagle. This colorful, upcycled vending machine dispenses everything from DIY dinosaur kits to funky shoelaces to mystery prints — all made by area artists. 🪅

Health

Pardee UNC Health Care has named Dr. Joel Callahan as its next chief of staff. Callahan has worked as a neurologist for Pardee since 2011 and will serve as chief for the next two years. (Asheville Citizen-Times)

Try This

Could 2023 be the year you try welding? UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio is offering a basic workshop on Sunday, Jan. 22, 12:30-5:30 p.m. The class is for students who are 18+ and will guide participants through the basics of welding a pendant lamp. 💡
Another cool class idea: The Chop Shop Butchery Classes. After a winter hiatus, the butchery has released a fresh lineup of courses, which includes everything from DIY sausage-making and smoking meats to poultry butchery. 🍖

Eat

Citizen Vinyl has expanded its hours, meaning it’s now also open on Mondays and Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Additionally, breakfast is served all day, with pancake specials every Monday. The menu at Session Cafe has also been upgraded with new dishes like the chicken salad melt and Bavarian-style roasted pork. 💿

Edu

Ashevillians are invited to explore Hanger Hall during an open house on Thursday, Jan. 12 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Learn about the independent middle school’s rigorous academics, its social-emotional curriculum, and tour the newly-updated campus.*

Learn

If one of your New Year’s resolutions includes learning a new language — now’s your time to shine. Babbel is offering 55% off subscriptions for a limited time. How does it work? Short, 10-minute lessons (designed by real language teachers) will make you conversational in as little as three weeks of consistent practice. First step: Pick a language. 🌏 *

Finance

This Princeton grad’s startup raised $161 million to help people plan for retirement — and its free tool can match you with up to three vetted financial advisors serving your area who can help you work towards financial freedom. Try it out for yourself. 💸 *

Featured Home

Located in the heart of Old Fort (and 30 minutes to AVL), this exquisite 3 BD, 3 BA new construction home offers stunning covered porches, luxury vinyl plank floors, soft-close kitchen cabinets + breathtaking mountain views. 👀 *

Content marked with an * is brought to you by our advertising partners and helps make this newsletter free.

Have a great event to share?

The Peace Gardens & Market hosts many great community service days + plant sales. | Photo via @peacegardener

ICYMI, we launched a new and improved events calendar about four months ago, with the goal of creating the most robust, relevant, and hyperlocal events calendar possible.

While we’re happy with the final product, our calendar is just missing one thing: your recommendations. Not sure how to submit an event? It’s simple. Follow these steps below.

1. Create a CitySpark account.
2. Go to our events page.
3. Click the orange “Add event” button.
4. Fill out the event submission form.

Fun fact: our online calendar is also where we source most of our events for the daily newsletter, meaning the best way to get your event in the newsletter is to submit it online.

Want to guarantee coverage for your event? You can also always submit a paid listing request.

PENCIL US IN

THE WRAP

Today’s issue was written by Laura.

Editor’s pick: If you made it all the way down here, congrats, because I have two beautiful words for you: noodle speakeasy. Local chef Ryan Alexander Martin has started serving handmade, Asian-focused noodle dishes on select Mondays via the Instagram handle @noodle.hole.

Follow along for deets on the next pop-up, which operates as a donation-based, private dinner. 🍜

Missed yesterday’s newsletter? See the 10 local things we can’t live without, here.

Connect with us.

Editorial: Laura Hackett, Brook Bolen, Erin McPherson, Emily Shea, Jessalin Heins-Nagamoto, Dayten Rose, Sarah Leonhardt, Katie Smith | Send us a scoop, question, or feedback.

Sales: Helen Purnell | Advertise with us.

Content marked with an * was created in partnership with 6AM City’s advertising partners. Paid content helps keep this newsletter free. 6AM City may also receive a commission on purchases made through affiliate links in this newsletter.

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11 great specials for Asheville Restaurant Week 2023

Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse | 121 Biltmore Ave. | Menu

Tastee Diner | 575 Haywood Rd. | Menu

The Tahini Jar | Various locations

White Labs | 172 Charlotte St. | Menu

Gemelli | 70 Westgate Pkwy. | Menu

Holeman and Finch | 77 Biltmore Ave. | Menu