ASHEVILLE – A Holi color festival celebration with Indian street food block party and market; a Southern biscuits and spice collaboration and brunch; new menu items roll out for the spring at local and regional restaurants; and Asheville area wine, cider and dining events in March.
Holi Hai! at Chai Pani
Holi Hai!, Chai Pani’s Holi celebration, will be from 5-9 p.m. March 14 at the restaurant, 32 Banks Ave., in the South Slope district.
The Hindi holiday, known as the festival of colors, celebrates springtime, love and renewal.
Holi Hai!, Chai Pani’s Holi celebration, will be from 5-9 p.m. March 14 at the restaurant, 32 Banks Ave., in the South Slope district.
Chai Pani will offer regular dinner service with Holi menu specials.
This year, in partnership with the Asheville Downtown Association, Chai Pani will block off Banks Avenue for a Holi Night Market, recreating India’s late-night street food scene.
Featured vendors and treats will include Botiwalla slushies, live pani puri-making, Spicewalla, The Hop Ice Cream, These Hollow Hills jewelry, Wild Verbena (naturally dyed textiles with live indigo and marigold dyeing), The Gaudy Contessa vintage shop, Carolina Flowers and tarot reading with Matt Shepherd of Deep Knowing Wellness.
Activities will include a photobooth, a Bollywood deejay, a Bhangra dance floor, and a station for Holi color-throwing. Exclusive Holi merchandise will be available for purchase.
For more, visit chaipani.com/asheville and follow @chaipani on Instagram.
Spicewalla spring brunch and store sale
Spicewalla, the Asheville-founded spice brand from the Chai Pani Restaurant Group, will host a spring brunch from 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m. March 22 at its Grove Arcade store, 1 Page Ave. downtown.
The brunch will celebrate the Callie’s Biscuits x Spicewalla Garlic & Herb biscuit launch.
Callie’s Hot Little Biscuit, founded by Carrie Morey, has gained national acclaim since debuting in Charleston, South Carolina in 2005.
Guests may receive complimentary mimosas and Callie’s Biscuits, served with springtime flavors from Sakhar, a South Carolina artisanal jam producer.
The event will coincide with Spicewalla’s spring cleaning sale, which will be held online and in-store from March 18 to 23. For more, visit spicewallabrand.com.
New menus alert
Quench!, an eatery in collaboration with Metro Wines and Chef Sam Etheridge, has introduced a new tasting menu series. The menu is offered Thursday through Saturday, and the items rotate weekly. Quench! is at 60 N. Merrimon Ave., Woodfin in Reynolds Village. For more events and to view the menu, visit quenchavl.com.
Bahn mi at Gan Shan in West Asheville.
Gan Shan’s new menu, featuring Southeast Asian-inspired flavors, includes dishes like Vietnamese caramel chicken wings, shrimp larb, banh mi, drunken noodles, and curried fried rice. Ramen bowls rotate monthly. Gan Shan is at 285 Haywood Road in West Asheville. For more, visit ganshanavl.com.
Jettie Rae’s Oyster House, Gan Shan’s sister restaurant at 143 Charlotte St., has a new diverse menu featuring spaghetti vongole, pork chop milanese, chicken liver pâté, coq au vin, veal sweetbreads and steak frites.
Owner/Chef Eric Scheffer said in a news release that Jettie’s Rae’s revised menu was designed to be “comforting, varied, and approachable.”
Hanger steak at Jettie Rae’s in North Asheville.
“At our core, we’re still an oyster house, and we’re still going to serve the best oysters you can find, but we identified an opportunity to serve our community with a menu inspired by the food we cook for our families and friends at home,” Scheffer said.
For more, visit jettieraes.com.
Bojangles’ new menu item, inspired by a brunch favorite, is the Chicken and Bo-Berry Waffles. Instead of limiting the meal to Sunday, customers may purchase the item daily for a limited time at participating restaurants.
Chicken and Bo-Berry Waffles features a signature Cajun Filet on a warm Bo-Berry Waffle drizzled with a sweet Bo-Berry Honey Glaze, available à la carte, as a combo or as a side of Bo-Berry Waffles ― two waffle halves topped with Bo-Berry Honey Glaze. For more, visit bojangles.com.
Bojangles’ new menu item, Chicken and Bo-Berry Waffles, is made with a signature Cajun Filet on a warm Bo-Berry Waffle, drizzled with a sweet Bo-Berry Honey Glaze.
More food events
Carrabba’s Italian Grill will host two five-course wine events in March, Women’s History Month and Sangria Soiree dinners.
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Barn Door Ciderworks’ “Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring” cider and cheese pairing event will be at 3-5 p.m. March at 23 Lytle Road, Fairview/Fletcher. Guests will be offered house-made cider, one guest local cider and cheese made by members of the WNC Cheese Trail. The cost is $45 per person. For more, visit barndoorcw.com or Eventbrite.
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Carrabba’s Italian Grill’s five-course wine dinners, in honor of Women’s History Month, will showcase selections from trailblazing women winemakers paired with exclusive dish specials at 6:30 p.m. on March 11 and March 19. The cost is $60 per person. carrabbas.com
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Carrabba’s Italian Grill’s five-course “Sangria Soiree Dinner” will be offered at 6:30 p.m. on March 26-27, featuring wine and sangria options. The cost is $60 per person. carrabbas.com
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email [email protected] or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram/Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Chai Pani hosts Holi Hai! street festival, Gan Shan’s new menu, more
