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Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Asheville 2025 unofficial Ice Cream Trail: A guide to sweet, cool treats
This story has been updated with additional information. ASHEVILLE - The Asheville area is heating up with new and unique places to cool down with sweet treats this summer. Hilltop Ice Cream Shop, a longtime Fairview favorite, opened its second location in Woodfin at 235 Weaverville Road, formerly Pelican's SnoBalls. Hilltop is one of the many family friendly dessert shops, in good company with other local businesses, like The Hop Ice Cream, Sunshine Sammie's and The Freeze of Asheville. However, there's a new place in town for the adults to play and have their ice cream, too. Potential New Boyfriend, a Hi-Fi listening lounge and wine bar at 647 Haywood Road, offers a menu of savory and sweet bites, including an assortment of ice cream dishes. Guests must be 21 years of age or older to visit. Also, we spoke with Potential New Boyfriend's owner and ice cream maker about the secret to mastering artisanal ice cream and wine pairings. The Asheville Citizen Times compiled an unofficial 2025 Asheville Ice Cream Trail Guide, featuring places to purchase ice cream, gelato, and other cold and frozen treats. It was inspired by Hendersonville's official Ice Cream Trail, introduced in 2023, that encourages locals and visitors to explore the city's local shops. Get ready for a delicious summer, as you discover new dessert destinations and revisit old favorites. Potential New Boyfriend invites guests to listen to vinyl albums while sipping wine and nibbling on gourmet sweet and savory goodies. The ice cream (and all the food items) are made in-house, which is said to be the secret to the menu's success. Ice creams are offered in an assortment of styles and flavors, including affogato (an Italian drink of espresso and ice cream) and ice cream brûlée (ice cream with a caramelized sugar layer on top). Wine and ice cream pairings are curated to enhance the tasting experience, whether ordering a scoop of ice cream or a sundae. Wine pairings are listed on the menu, which includes a "flow chart" describing the selections, or servers may suggest complementary drinks. "Our wine program has a big focus on fortified and aromatic wines ― wines that are infused with other botanicals like fruits, herbs and spices ― so they have more sweet, tart or aromatic pairings," said Disco, the owner, who opened the business last December. Each ice cream is made from scratch with a French-style custard base that's specifically tailored to the item, taking into account its fat content and flavors. For instance, chocolate has a higher fat content than fruit, necessitating adjustments to the recipe. Disco, who previously sold his products at local farmers markets as Gospel Artisanal Ice Cream, said he studied the science of ice cream to develop his original recipes and flavors. Many flavors are unique to what one may find at a traditional ice cream shop and are created with adult palates in mind, such as the rosemary and candied lemon. Classics like the "cookies and cream" is made with Biscoff cookies to give it a sophisticated twist, as is the strawberry and mascarpone cheese, which is a riff on strawberries and cream. The seasonal menu rotates often. "We have too many ideas to keep something for too long, so we do change things more often than a traditional restaurant," Disco said. Potential New Boyfriend also offers vegan ice cream, plated desserts, such as tiramisu and chocolate truffles, as well as savory shareables. Ice cream pints to-go are available. For more, visit or follow @potentialnewbf on Instagram. Annie B's Homemade Ice Cream. AppalachCream. Asheville Chocolate. Ben & Jerry's. Biltmore Ice Cream Parlor. Cold Stone Creamery. Crumbl. Culver's. Double D's Coffee & Desserts. El Rio Ice Cream. French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Hilltop Ice Cream Shop. Insomnia Cookies. Jeremiah's Italian Ice. Kilwin's. La Feria. Mary's Mountain Cookies. Pelican's SnoBall. Potential New Boyfriend. Sugar and Snow Gelato. Sunshine Sammies. Sweets and Seats. The Dolly Llama Waffle Master. The Freeze of Asheville. The Hop Handcrafted Ice Cream. The Mad Dipper. The Sweet Escape. The Ultimate Ice Cream Co. (wholesale). Whit's Frozen Custard. Woolworth Walk's Soda Fountain. YoLo Frozen Yogurt. Unfortunately, Asheville has lost a few favorites, including 10th Muse Comfort Food, Buggy Pops, Luscious Liquor, Marble Slab Creamery, and Rita's Italian Ice and Frozen Custard. Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@ or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram/Bluesky. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville NC 2025 unofficial Ice Cream Trail sweet, cool treats
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
National awards, praise bestowed on Asheville restaurants, bars, breweries
ASHEVILLE - Asheville diners and imbibers know what the city has to offer, and the nation and world are taking notice. Beverage industry and Southern lifestyle publications have applauded local restaurants and bars for their menus and overall excellence. Several breweries and distilleries have been awarded medals in international craft beer and spirits competitions. Taste the best of the best ― here are some of Asheville's latest award-winning and accolade-earning destinations.: Southern Living editors scoured the country for the best new bites, finding three Asheville establishments worthy of making its list of the 20 Best New Restaurants in the South.: Good Hot Fish, a modern fish camp owned and operated by Chef Ashleigh Shanti, a former "Top Chef" and recurring Food Network contestant, offers a menu of creatively crafted seafood and Appalachian dishes ranging from catfish to trout bologna sandwiches. The eatery opened in January 2024 inside Eulogy, a music venue at Burial Beer Co., 10 Buxton Ave., in South Slope. Luminosa, a modern Appalachian-meets-Italian cuisine restaurant, opened in May 2024 in the historic Flatiron Building, which has been renovated as The Flat Iron Hotel at 20 Battery Park Ave. Led by Executive Chef Graham House and Chef de Cuisine Sean McMullen, Luminosa's seasonal menu regularly rotates with pasta, pizza and other vegetable-forward plates. Potential New Boyfriend, a wine bar and music listening lounge at 21 Haywood Road, opened in West Asheville in December. The menu of snacks and desserts, curated by pastry chef Dana Amromin, complements its modern, chic aesthetic and beverage selections. Save room for the artisan ice cream made by the owner, Disco. Good Hot Fish, Luminosa and Potential New Boyfriend were the only North Carolina businesses on the list, which can be viewed at Craft Spirits Magazine released its annual list of the best bars in the nation, with nods to two downtown watering holes, The Crow & Quill and Top of the Monk, which represent the Southeast on the list of favorites. The honorees were nominated by readers and selected for their approach to not just serving but also celebrating craft spirits. The Crow & Quill is a Prohibition-era speakeasy-style bar located at 106 N. Lexington Ave. featuring a catalog of nearly 1,100 spirits, including about 800 whiskeys. The Crow & Quill was one of 27 on the 2024 USA TODAY Bars of the Year list. Top of the Monk is the third-level cocktail bar at 92 Patton Ave. It's the top-floor concept with a rooftop deck in the same building as the craft beer taprooms, Thirsty Monk on the main floor and Delirium Bar in the basement, which are temporarily closed. View Craft Spirits Magazine's May/June issue with the complete list at The 2025 World Beer Cup awarded four medals to local breweries Diatribe Brewing Co., at 1042 Haywood Road, took home the gold medal in the Chocolate Beer category for its Chocolate Porter. Highland Brewing Co.'s Daycation Gold won the gold medal in the German-style Kölsch category. Visit Highland Brewing's taproom at 12 Old Charlotte Hwy. Hi-Wire Brewing Co. won the silver medal for its Hi-Wire Lager in the International-Style Pilsner category. Hi-Wire has three Asheville taprooms, including the recently reopened RAD Beer Garden at 284 Lyman St. Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.'s Weizenbock won the gold medal in the South German-Style Weizenbock category. Its Mills River taproom is at 100 Sierra Nevada Way. Two local distilleries were awarded honors in the 2025 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Oak & Grist Distilling Co., at 1556 Grovestone Road in Black Mountain, won a gold medal for its American single-malt whiskey, Descendent. Chemist Spirits also won a gold medal for its American single-malt whiskey. The distillery and its cocktail bar, Antidote, are at 151 Coxe Ave. The winners are listed at The Mule, the bar at Devil's Foot Beverage, will host Winner's Circle, celebrating the awardees from 1-4 p.m. June 28 at 131 Sweeten Creek Road. The event will feature live music, hot dogs ("weiners for the winners") and samples and fights from the winning beverage companies. For more, visit The Mule on Facebook. The James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards have two WNC finalists in the running for medals. Silver Iocovozzi, chef and co-owner of the Filipinx restaurant Neng Jr.'s, is a nominee for the Best Chef: Southeast category. The West Asheville restaurant is at 701 Haywood Road. April Franqueza, of The Dining Room at High Hampton Resort, 1525 Highway 107 South in Cashiers, is a finalist for Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker. The winners will be announced live at the James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on June 16 in Chicago. Chef Ashleigh Shanti is up for a James Beard Foundation Media Award for her debut cookbook, 'Our South: Black Food Through My Lens,' in the U.S. Foodways category, designated for "books with recipes focused on the cooking or foodways of regions or communities located within the United States." The Media Awards ceremony will be on June 14 in Chicago. For more, visit Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Tips, comments, questions? Email tkennell@ or follow @PrincessOfPage on Instagram/Bluesky. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Winner, winner: Asheville restaurants, bars, breweries rack up awards
