ASHEVILLE -A James Beard Award finalist plans for an Asheville spice shop; a local vegan cheese company makes a big move; and a brewery makes its downtown debut in Grove Arcade.
A pinch of patience
The Chai Pani Restaurant Group is preparing to spice up downtown Asheville even more.
Spicewalla, its Asheville-based spice company, is getting a brick-and-mortar retail store just steps away from its parent restaurant, Chai Pani.
Spicewalla and Chai Pani were founded by 2022 James Beard Awards finalist Meherwan Irani.
Spicewalla store will open at 19 Wall St.,according to a Chai Pani representative. It is the address of the company’s former MG Road, a low-key lounge under Chai Pani that operated from 2012 to 2019.
The space will be revamped to make Spicewalla’s extensive collection more accessible for home cooks, which includesChai Masala, Buxton Hall Barbecue Chicken Rub, Roasted Cumin Powder and Chipotle Chilli Powder.
Shoppers will have to wait to stock up on the brand's handcrafted signature blends, herbs and spices. The opening istentatively planned for the fall.
Until then, Spicewalla is available at Chai Pani and various local and regional retailers.
For more about Spicewalla, visitspicewallabrand.comor follow at@spicewalla.
Read about how Spicewalla’s blends are made by reading the Citizen Times’ article featuring culinary director Alyse Baca.
Related:Spice-maker Alyse Baca creates unique blends for Spicewalla
Related:Meet Asheville's 2022 James Beard Award chef, restaurant finalists
More vegan cheese, please!
An Asheville chef was determined to prove that living a plant-based life doesn’t mean giving up one of the great joys in life — cheese. Now, her vegan cheese company is growing with a larger production facility and an amped-up distribution plan.
Gwendolyn Dare Hageman, owner of Dare vegan cheese company, is moving cheese-making operations into a larger facility. Darë – pronounced dairy – will be based at 12 Locust Cove Road at Herb Mountain Farm in Weaverville, formerly occupied by Buchi Kombucha, she said.
The relocation will allow the small business to produce more varieties of cheeses and increase distribution.
“It’s an Asheville legend," Hageman said. "A lot of people that I’ve talked to in the entrepreneurial community expressed that they’ve seen the place, love the place and love the landlords. It’s just really beautiful energy out there."
The facility is nearly 6,000 square feet, which is a significant upgrade from the less than 1,000 square feet of space Hageman had been using since starting up the business in 2019. Until recently, she’s run the commissary kitchen from the basem*nt of Chestnut restaurant downtown, where she used to be a server.
Darë’s product line features plant-based cream cheese, wedges ideal for cheese boards, and a “melty line” of queso and other melting cheeses. The extra space will allow the business to branch out to making hard cheese, feta and parmesan, she said.
“We currently make cultured cashew cheeses. They all have a cashew base and our unique culture is coconut milk yogurt that cultures onto cashews to impart that dairy flavor that people have so fallen in love with with our products,” Hageman said. “In this new facility, we’re calling it The House of Cheese and we’re going to do a cheese cave. That requires building out specific humidity and temperature controls and our walk-in freezer so we can do aging, which is the next process of cheese.”
Years ago, Hageman considered adopting a plant-based diet but couldn’t imagine doing it without cheese. She realized others may be hesitant, too, because of the lack of quality dairy-free cheese alternatives.
“I love cheese. I’ll be the first to say it. It was, ‘How do I create something, so I don’t feel like I’m giving up my favorite food?’” Hageman said. “In this journey, I’ve learned from so many people that it’s cheese that inhibits people to transfer to a plant-based or vegan diet and lifestyle. I just wanted to help.”
Hageman is a chef and put her skills into practice to crack the code on how to have her cheese and eat it, too. She applied science, culinary experience and dedication to bring the characteristics that are loved about dairy cheese into the vegan variations in a way that wasn’t offered by other plant-based brands, she said.
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“Their process is not the same way I approach it. I approach it the same way as cheesemaking,” she said. “I’m a science nerd — I have a degree in biology, so the microbes and the food science that go into cheese are so exciting and different. It’s almost like, ‘Why are these other cheese companies skipping that part?’ They’re just putting starches and oils together and calling it cheese and going about their merry way, and that just drives me crazy because it’s not cheese.”
Much more is to come from Darë, such as increasing product distribution across the Southeast, she said.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to make more traditional cheeses just by doing the same traditional cheesemaking process in this new facility,” she said.
Currently, Darë is available in retail stores across Asheville, the Southeast with other locations across the U.S. View the list of restaurants and shops where Darë is available at darevegancheese.com.
The facility will not be open to the public, but Hageman envisions cheese tours in the future.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be 4 p.m. April 14 at the new facility.
Now pouring
The historic Grove Arcade has a new hopping tenant.
On March 30, Wedge Brewing Co. had a softopening at its newest taproom at 1 Page Ave, Suite 152.
The taproom is on the corner of Page Avenue and Battle Square, next to Asheville Proper restaurant, and accessible from the street or from the Grove Arcade hallway.
This is the third location for Wedge Brewing.
“We have two locations in 1920s spaces,” said owner Tim Schaller. "I really like community and I like Asheville. I’ve been here 25 years and to be in another old building of this style really fits in some strange way.”
Wedge Brewing also has taprooms at 37 Paynes Way, which opened in 2008, and 5 Foundy St. which opened in 2015, in the River Arts District.
“We feel like we’ve been a community bar from the get-go so this is turning into a community place with the restaurants,” Schaller said.
The menu features draft craft beers from the hop-forward Iron Rail IPA to the Czech-style Julian Price Pilsner to the English-style Community Porter. Plus, grab some brews for home from the to-go cooler.
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“We do some traditional, some new. We try to have a beer for everybody,” said general manager Lucious Wilson. “We think of ourselves as every person brewery, so we try to have something that fits everyone’s style.”
The taproom doesn’t serve food, but guests are encouraged to order from Huli Sue’s BBQ and Grill, two doors down.
Wedge Brewing's new space is bright with natural lighting and clean, white walls. Guests have their choice of booth or table seating or pull up a stool at the bar.
Though décor is minimum, local artwork is incorporated throughout the taproom, such as the metal gear sculptures along the railing, canvas paintings, murals and the wood-carved tap handles. A large painting across from the bar serves as a conversation starter about the trailblazers depicted and the city’s history.
“It’s a lot of the River Arts District,” Wilson said. “We are a part of the community and if you want to learn about Asheville, we feel like it’s a great place to have a beer and to get a story about what Asheville’s all about.”
Wedge Brewing'sGrove Arcade regular hours are still being ironed out, but visitors can expect the doors to be open daily in the evenings on weekdays and all day and evening on weekends, Wilson said.
For updates, menus and other details, visit wedgebrewing.com or follow on Instagram @wedgebrewing.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
