food
the straight dish
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Changeable industry sharpens the discerning sweet tooth
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cial! e p S Lunch w/drink $3.99
c u n n a C
Mexican Restaurant And Grill
Best Mexican Food in Asheville!
photos by aaron cook
Melanie McGee Bianchi
ORGANIC Food & Beer Available
KARAOKE THUR./SUN.
Lunch Specials • Mon. - Sun. 11 am - 4 pm Sunday • Kids Eat Free! kids (10 and under) from kids menu SERVERS NEEDED
DAILY SPECIALS
Mon. 99¢ Tacos Tues., Thurs., Sun. 99¢ Domestic Drafts $2.99 House Shots Wed. $1.99 Margaritas Fri. Dance Party
(828) 505-3951 • 164 Tunnel Rd. Asheville, NC 94
OCTOBER 21 - OCTOBER 27, 2009 • BEST OF WNC • mountainx.com
Deceptively pretty mass-produced desserts have done a great job raising diners’ expectations — but they’ve also corroded their sugarcoated instincts. In the late 1980s, a certain ubiquitous restaurant-supply company started hawking fully loaded cheesecakes and candy-stuccoed tortes. (Remember Snickers Pie?) It looked great under glass: Every mathematically presliced piece was exactly the same size as the last. And, thanks to pork lard and heaps of preservatives, it stayed “fresh� forever. The artful fondant swirls and buttercream rosettes never melted. Such fancy-dessert wholesalers gradually expanded and updated their repertoire, so chain and indie eateries alike can today pass off these ersatz confections as house specialties. But factory-prepared goodies, no matter how pretty, are also pretty tasteless. It takes only one bite of an authentic dessert to reorient one’s taste buds to the real thing. Enter Roz Taubman, owner of The Black Bird Restaurant, an upscale farm-to-tablestyle tavern in Black Mountain. Taubman’s been running restaurants for 30 years, but her background as a pastry chef continues to flavor her establishments. Her creations have been featured in Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines, and although The Black Bird has only been open about two months, she’s already experienced large parties making return visits just for dessert.
The Black Bird’s Southern Custard Coconut Cake is positively gothic, golden-flavored and rich enough to make one cast about for a fainting couch. Lighter appetites will favor the wholesome hat trick dubbed Apple, Pear and Sour Cherry Crisp, which tastes as fresh and seasonal as it sounds. But profoundly afflicted sweet tooths like mine can only go for Taubman’s award-winning Triple Mocha Mousse Torte, which unfolds like a good story in masterfully plotted layers of density, with a lushly impenetrable deep-chocolate-pastry-crust finale. Taubman admits her situation is unique. Because she’s the owner, she’s willing to come in at 6 a.m. and work her magic until the rest of the Black Bird crew, including executive chef Bobby Buggia, arrives to start prepping lunch. “I couldn’t pay someone to do what I do,â€? she points out. “It’s labor-intensive, and it costs a lot of money, which is why so many restaurants rely on frozen desserts. Also, most executive chefs don’t like making pastry. But I think it’s a sad state. The exceptional restaurant should emphasize pastry as much as entrĂŠes.â€? Chef Vincent Donatelli, a 27-year veteran of resort-level dining, including a stint at Orlando’s Universal Studios, heads the Baking and Pastry portion of A-B Tech’s award-winning culinary program. Via e-mail between classes, the local instructor shares his own thoughts on the vagaries of the industry. “Over the last 10 to 15 years, quite a