Restaurant reopenings, holiday bar takeovers, dining events, more

ASHEVILLE – Restaurant openings and reopenings after Tropical Storm Helene; a local ice creamery brings back an Asheville traditional dessert for the holidays; Christmas-themed cocktail pop-ups take over local bars; a South Slope restaurant supports Helene efforts through specialty cocktail sales; and chef and wine dinners to attend this holiday season.

Restaurant openings, reopenings and more

Summit Coffee’s River Arts District location was destroyed by Tropical Storm Helene. However, its coffee truck is open 7 a.m.-3 p.m. at 175 Clingman Ave., outside of All Souls Pizza.

Master BBQ, a Filipino food truck formerly at Zillicoah Beer Co., sustained damage during the storm but will be back to business with a new mobile eatery later in December.

Baba Nahm, A Middle Eastern eatery, is nearing its grand opening day at its new location at 60 Biltmore Ave. Meanwhile, Chorizo, a Latin restaurant, is moving into its former location at Grove Arcade.

Finch Grocery was displaced from its Biltmore Village location. Find the local shop at its new pop-up location at 4 Wall St., above Mayfel’s, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. every weekend (Thursday-Sunday) in December.

Follow the Citizen Times for updates.

Holiday yule logs

The Hop Handcrafted Ice Cream’s holiday yule log cakes are back, continuing a more than 40-year tradition.

Customers may order custom rolled ice cream cakes until Dec. 17 ― or until The Hop reaches its 500-log limit.

Logs are made with a scratch-made chocolate cake with a choice of ice cream flavor ― salted caramel, peppermint stick or vanilla bean ― covered in a signature chocolate ice cream. Then, cakes are customized with festive decorations.

Vegan ice cream options are peppermint stick and vanilla bean. Vegan ice cream logs may be requested with gluten-free, non-vegan cake.

Festive art designs include toadstools, holly leaves, poinsettias and a wrapped present.

Mini yule logs (4-6 servings) are $25.99 for traditional and $26.99 for vegan, plus tax. Regular yule logs (10-12 servings) are $47.99 for traditional and $48.99 for vegan, plus tax.

Order at hopicecreamnc.com/online-store and pick up at The Hop Creamery, 167 Haywood Rd in West Asheville.

Holiday bar hopping

The international holiday cocktail pop-ups Miracle and Sippin’ Santa are back in Asheville.

The New York-founded program takes over bars for the season with festive decorations, signature drinks and one-of-a-kind glassware and merchandise.

The Golden Pineapple, 503 Haywood Road, is hosting Miracle offering cocktails like the Snowball Old-Fashioned made with rye whiskey, gingerbread, aromatic and wormwood bitters and orange essence. The hours are 5 p.m.-Midnight from Thursday-Sunday through Dec. 31.

Sippin’ Santa, a tiki Christmas-themed bar pop-up, is at Hi-Wire Brewing’s The Tiki Easy Bar, serving drinks like Yule Tide made with tequila, Applejack, lime and maple-cranberry syrup. The hours are 4-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 3-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3-9 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 31.

This year, 10% of proceeds from the sale of Santa Pants, Christmas Carol Barrel and Santa Heads signature glassware will be donated to the Seva Foundation, a nonprofit eye care organization that works with communities worldwide.

For more, visit miraclepopup.com and sippinsantapopup.com. Follow The Golden Pineapple at @thegoldenpineapplebar and The Tiki Easy Bar at @thetikieasybar.

Ukiah’s cocktails and wings

Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse, 121 Biltmore Ave., is raising money to support Beloved Asheville’s Tropical Storm Helene relief efforts. From Dec. 3-31, $1 of every Plum Luck cocktail sale will be donated to the organization through the restaurant’s “giving2sips” charitable program.

Ukiah is open for dinner service Tuesday-Sunday.

Beginning Dec. 4, Ukiah’s Smoked Wing Wednesday weekly special will offer smoked chicken wings, crispy fried pickles and a signature hot and white dipping sauce for $16. Select cocktails will be sold for $10 and select beers for $5.

For more, visit ukiahrestaurant.com.

Asheville restaurant events

Many Asheville restaurants have reopened while others are limited to hosting special events only following Tropical Storm Helene. Diners are encouraged to support local restaurants as they rebound but recommended to check hours and services before visiting.

As the dining community regains normalcy, some establishments are reintroducing special dining experiences, even if not for regular business. Here are several upcoming events to add to the calendar.:

• Dec. 5. La Bodega by Cúrate’s Pintxo Party series will return with special guest chef Ashleigh Shanti of Good Hot Fish from 6-8:30 p.m. La Bodega remains closed so the event will be hosted at its sister restaurant, Cúrate at 13 Biltmore Ave. downtown. Shanti will sign copies of her new cookbook, “Our South: Black Food Through My Lens.” Cinco Jotas will perform a live jamón carving, guests will be offered bottomless Jamón Ibérico, and pintxos will be served with Spanish wine pairings by Rise Over Run. The cost is $125, including multiple pintxo courses and beverage pairings. RSVP on Resy.

• Dec. 9. Rendezvous, a French restaurant, will host a Winter Wine Dinner at 6 p.m. at 184 New Haw Creek Road in East Asheville. The cost is $85 per person, plus tax and tip. View the menu and reserve a seat at ashevillerendezvous.com.

• Dec. 8 and Dec. 22. Rhubarb’s Sunday Supper series is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. every two weeks in the downtown restaurant’s private event space at 7 Southwest Pack Square. The three-course, family-style Appalachian cuisine menu will feature farm-focused and locally sourced ingredients. The cost is $45 per person. To RSVP and request the current menu, email info@rhubarbasheville.com.

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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and covered the arts, entertainment and hospitality in Louisiana for several years. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville Food Bites: Restaurant openings, Christmas cocktails, more