After a long hiatus, I’m back and in the mood to blog again. Where did I go? Well remember when your parents told you that you should pursue your dreams and you can do anything as long as you set your mind to it? You could say that’s what I’ve been doing paired with a heavy dose of procrastination, watching college football, playing XBOX 360, and a little bit of teaching.
My dream at age 25, from July 15, 2011 to a date TBD was and still is quite comical. I wanted to be and want to be a comedian.
This was a photo taken of me on October 6 at the Slice of Life Comedy Open Mic at The Pulp Lounge. I find this photo very peculiar, because I think it captures the one moment in the 10 plus times I’ve been on stage that I didn’t ask myself the question, “Why in the world are you here? And why do you do this to yourself?”
But comedy is just one dream I have. I dream that someday I may be in shape and be able to last 3 rounds in a UFC cage. If I’m never in shape, I dream that I will win some type of fencing title that nobody has ever heard of. I dream that one day one of my students will think I’m the greatest teacher they have ever had not because they failed to fail my course, but because they learned something profound that impacted their life. I dream that one day my research will revolutionize how health professionals communicate with stroke victims. I dream that Eminem will feature me in one of his songs, and in that moment a lyrical and rhetorical fire will burst from the depths of my soul that I never knew existed. Finally, I dream about being a competent and a dependable food blogger (I know, shoot for the stars kid! Mom would be so proud.).
In the upcoming months, when you visit notsoacademicfood.blogspot.com you should expect more frequent restaurant reviews, recipes, and restaurant saving tips. Depending on how many desserts I skip over the next couple months, you should also expect a much needed web redesign.
Why Blog?
Like most Americans I love food. I come from a family that loves food. Loved it so much in fact that my dad’s midlife crisis was choosing to purchase a new set of pots and pans, and an Emeril cookbook instead of the iconic Harley that usually christens such meltdowns. After watching my dad prepare meals inspired by Bobby Flay, Emeril, Giada De Laurentiis, Guy Fieri, the Neelys, Tyler Florence, and yes even the Tupelo Honey cookbook, I know the hard work that it takes to whip up some of these meals. Or in other words, I blog because some meals deserve/need to be celebrated.
The other reason I blog is because I’m broke. After spending six years in higher education to complete two degrees, I racked up quite a bill of student debt. A student loan bill that eats up most of my monthly teacher salary or in other words, where I spend my money counts, really counts. There are very few restaurant menus I haven’t read in Asheville, not only for the options offered, but more importantly the price. I’ve spent hours on Urbanspoon, Chowhound, and Yelp making sure when I decide to spend my money at a restaurant it counts.
It is clear from Internet research, the best restaurants in Asheville are The Admiral, Zambra, Limones, and Curate. However, these establishments scare me because the money involved, to have a complete meal (drinks, appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert) is money that matters, and to not like a meal after spending that type of money would make my stomach hurt, figuratively and literally.
This is not to say it is impossible to be budget conscious at the above establishments. The Admiral just started offering a late night menu with all items priced below $10 and several months ago, my girlfriend and I racked up a brunch bill at Curate that was cheaper than Sunny Point.
huevos rotos con jamon iberico fermin (fried egg over crispy potatoes with cured ham)
torrijas (modesto bakery brioche soaked in a citrus cinnamon custard and seared until golden brown, served with fresh berries and sherry sabayon)
My point is I blog, because I want to add to the mass amount of information already available, pay it forward so to speak, to allow consumers to make smart choices about how they spend their money, celebrate restaurants that offer good food at affordable prices, and at all costs, avoid stomach pains from bad overly priced meals.
So in spirit of being cost effective, I figured what better way to kick off blogging again by sharing how I save while dining out in Asheville. My go to sources for saving on Asheville dining include:
If you follow me on twitter @Notsoacademic or read a few of my past blog posts, it’s no secret I love WNC Insider. I love WNC Insider because it’s the best deal to save money on dining in Asheville. The 2012 line up which is on sale now, features BOGO deals (Buy one entrée get one free) at 65 restaurants for only $33. That’s insane!
WNC Insider has introduced me to some of my favorite Asheville meals, which include:
Asheville’s Best Pizza
Iannucci’s Sicilian Style Pizza topped with Italian Sausage, Egg Plant, and Fresh Tomatoes. I would eat this baby for dessert!
Asheville’s Best Breakfast Dish
The Corner Kitchen’s Homemade Corned Beef Hash (topped with two Poached Eggs, light Horseradish Sauce)
My Guilty Pleasure
Tolliver’s Crossing Irish Pub’s Best Darn Burger Period (Soaked in Murphy’s Irish Stout, we pile everything but the kitchen sink on top, lettuce, tomato, bacon, jalapeños, mushrooms, grilled onion, with choice of cheese) It’s disgusting how much I love that burger. I’ve only had a burger at one other establishment, so can’t exactly crown it best yet.
Bottom line, get ready to save money and lots of it at some very good Asheville/Hendersonville restaurants. I love them and I hope they still love me after I inform them for the second year in a row I think I gave them the wrong shipping address for my card.
Follow them on twitter @RelyLocalAVL and you will soon find out they’re twitter junkies, but for good reason, because they have a lot of deals to share. The coupon link has 53 deals for local restaurants. For $16, you can purchase the Rely Local Rewards card that offers 23 deals (typically 10-15% off your bill) at local restaurants.
I used my Rely Local Rewards card a while back at Viva Deli.
Viva’s sandwiches are huge; this particular Muffaletta (mortadella, genoa salami, prosciutto, swiss, muffaletta spread, lettuce, tomato, and onion served on foccacia bread) was my lunch and dinner for the day.
I like this Groupon-esque website because it gives back 10% of your purchase to a local organization of your choice.
Other Groupon-esque websites include:
Brought to you by 98.1 The River, and other radio stations. Deal for Neo Burrito West starts tomorrow.
Brought to you by The Asheville Citizen-Times that launched on October 18th
Brought to you by ABC 13 WLOS and MY 40 WMYA. Currently has a deal for Lime Leaf Thai Fusion in Hendersonville.
You never know somebody may have just discovered the Internet and not know about Groupon?
After a first impression this website doesn’t look like a very good deal. Example: Buy a $25 gift certificate to Pack’s Tavern for $20. Requires a minimum purchase of $35 at Pack’s and excludes alcohol, and tax. Good deal if you plan on spending $35 dollars, because you save $5. Bad deal if you don’t normally rack up $35 dollars in food because you are spending more than the $5 you saved in my case to get to the $35 minimum.
However, Restaurant.com releases promo codes all the time for 80% off their gift certificates. So if you pay attention and wait for promo codes you can get $25 gift certificates to multiple restaurants for just $4 or less. Also be aware that these certificates are usually only good Sunday-Thursday and depending on the gift certificate amount could require up to a $100 minimum purchase.
A user and local business driven website that shares drink and food specials of the day.
A coupon booklet you should receive by mail. But if not, just print them off the website. The current booklet expires November 15.
Another by mail coupon booklet, that expires 1/22/2012.
A good blog to follow whether you want to save on dinner bills, grocery bills, movie admissions, rentals, etc.
Dining Deals coming soon:
According to AIR’s website “When you purchase AIR's Passport, you will receive a coupon booklet representing over $1000 in dining savings. The coupons are good for one year. Cost for the booklet is $50. You can also purchase the passport at The Asheville Store at the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau at 36 Montford Avenue. Presale Passports will be mailed November 21st, 2011.” I personally can’t tell you much about this card. The website does not go into detail what the “$1000 in dining savings” is. So my girlfriend and I plan on visiting the Asheville Store soon to find out what kind of deals the passport offers. At first glance, $50 seems a little pricey but the passport has 37 participating restaurants including Chai Pani, Luella’s Bar-Que, Mela Indian Restaurant, and Tupelo Honey, all of which has been reviewed on this blog.
This card is rather new and is brought to you by Love Asheville (Asheville Grown Business Alliance). According to communication on Facebook the cards will be printed and distributed in January and the deals start on February 1st. Asheville restaurants that have signed up to participate so far include Bouchon Creperie, French Broad Chocolate Lounge, The Dripolator, The Hop, The Junction, Magnetic Theatre, Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack, Short Street Cakes, Woody’s Pizza & Hoagies. The card is priced $15 and for every card sold $5 goes to the Asheville City School foundation and another $5 goes to the PTO that sells you a card. Pre-sale for the Go Local Card started today and can be purchased through Claxton Elementary, Issac Dickson Elementary PTO, Jones Elementary PTO and Vance Elementary PTO.
Keep an eye out on:
This lady quit her job and now she is broke like me. She does an awesome job of mining the Asheville scene for in most cases free events or at the very least very cheap things to do in Asheville including dining.
The site posted the following on their Facebook page on September 19th “Folks we are in the beta phase of Happy Hour so input and support are greatly appreciated. Go to www.happyhourasheville.com and register your phone for text specials coming soon!” So far the website just lists Beef ‘O’ Brady’s happy hour specials. I love happy hour specials, so I hope this site gets off the ground and participates with local dining establishments as well.
Thanks for being patient with me and I hope to bring you content on a regular basis in the future. Any deals you use while dining in Asheville I missed?
