Grassroots community movement Asheville Strong has published a digital cookbook to raise funds for restaurant worker crisis relief. The book, Asheville at Home: Iconic Recipes From Your Favorite Local Restaurants features more than 35 recipes from chefs at the city’s independent eateries.
“We asked for an iconic recipe, but otherwise contributors were given free rein to provide the dish they want to share,” says Asheville Strong manager Brandon Amico. “We think at-home cooks will love trying these Asheville-famous dishes, and we hope those who don’t consider themselves great cooks will be inspired to try out the recipes.”
The cookbook features items from restaurants including Buxton Hall, The Market Place, Biscuit Head, Old Europe, Cúrate, Chai Pani, The Corner Kitchen, 12 Bones, Creekside Taphouse, Chupacabra Latin Café, RosaBees and Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack. Shannon McGaughey, co-owner and general manager of Vivian, shares the restaurant’s best-selling soufflé omelet.
“Aside from being a customer favorite, it’s a recipe with simple ingredients that challenges the cook a bit with technique,” says McGaughey. “The main thing is you really need to whisk the heck out of those egg whites, as in, you must be able to hold the bowl upside down over your head.”
The full-color digital PDF cookbook is edited by Amico, Asheville Strong founder Catherine Campbell and editor Stepfanie Romine (The No Meat Athlete Cookbook and Cooking with Healing Mushrooms), and designed by Alyssa Phillips of Amp’d Designs.
Asheville Strong began in order to drive gift card sales and keep small local businesses operating in the wake of the coronavirus and has since evolved to take on other community and small business focused initiatives.
Asheville at Home can be purchased at AshevilleStrong.com for $19.95. Net proceeds will be donated to NC Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Restaurant Workers Relief Fund.
