ASHEVILLE - Asheville’s downtown food hall, The S&W Market, will bloom with more food and beverage options this spring.
Flour, a café-style food stall, will tentatively open in May at the S&W Market at 56 Patton Ave. downtown.
Chef Gordon Gibbs is partnering with siblings Carter and Kyle James, of the James Brothers restaurant group, to open Flour.
The James Brothers restaurateurs began with Bun Intended, also at S&W Market, supporting the vision of Chef Erica "Shorty" Imhoff with her concept that specializes in Thai-inspired street food style bao buns, snacks and plates.
Gibbs was the executive prep chef for the eatery’s food truck and food stall and is stepping out to make his culinary dreams a reality with Flour.
“We see this as an opportunity to tell Gordon’s story now,” Carter James said.
Gibbs’ 13-year career in culinary arts and hospitality began as a dishwasher at a restaurant when he was in high school and then as sous chef at Storie Street Grill in Blowing Rock. In 2016, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked alongside renowned chefs including four-time James Beard Award-winning chef, cookbook author and restaurateur Suzanne Goin of AOC and Jon Shook, Vinny Dotolo and Courtney Storer of Jon and Vinny’s.
Gibbs also cooked for Los Angeles Times American food critic, Jonathan Gold.
At Flour, Gibbs will showcase his expertise and affinity for local, seasonal ingredients, fermentation and baking ― with a specialization in bread and pastries ― demonstrated in rotating menus of diverse cuisine styles and culinary techniques.
Gibbs said he has married his two Los Angeles experiences, as he fell in love with making bread, like focaccia, pizza dough during his three years working at the Italian restaurant, Jon and Vinny’s and AOC restaurant and wine bar enhanced his knowledge of cooking with fresh ingredients from local farmers markets and producers.
“I brought that back here with me, even while working at Bun Intended for the past three years, at home I was making bread and experimenting with things and making pizzas,” said Gibbs, who also has hosted local sandwich pop-ups.
Breakfast and pastries at Flour
Flour’s placement in the front of the food hall will allow passersby to watch the chefs at work.
The food stall is under renovation and the completed design will incorporate florals sourced from regional flower farms, as a play on the business’s name.
Coffee and pastries will be served all day with breakfast and lunch menus offered.
Breakfast will debut with a trio of biscuit sandwiches including a classic bacon, egg and cheese, whipped butter and jam, and broccolini and cheddar.
Also, morning diners may order a granola yogurt bowl made with a Greek yogurt base and topped with coconut cacao granola, house almond butter, local fruit and honey. The breakfast bowl is gluten-free.
The gluten-free breakfast plate will come with a soft egg, ham, cheese, house pickles, fruit, honey and a market salad, and may be prepared as vegan.
Many of Flour's pastries will be available throughout the day, like the blueberry sour cream crumb cake and the lemon poppy Bundt cake with a Greek yogurt glaze.
The cookie collection will feature chocolate chunks and pistachio brittle cookies. Or stack up the matcha, strawberry, white chocolate cookies and ricotta almond cookies.
On Flour’s lunch menu
The hearty focaccia sandwiches are intended to be stars of the menu, and what inspired the concept.
Flour’s approach to its menu is to make items fresh, in-house, including the bread and pastries, and primarily use locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.
The spiced cauliflower focaccia sandwich will be made with tahini, zhoug (a jalapeno, cumin and cilantro sauce), pickled onion, herb salad and lime. It’s one of the vegan and dairy-free options that all diners may appreciate, too.
The roast chicken salad focaccia sandwich, a dairy-free item, will be prepared with Castelvetrano olives, Calabrian chili aioli and local lettuce.
“The beauty of keeping the menu simple is that we can constantly switch things out, run some specials and do what we’re into and hyperfocus on that. It’s always changing with us,” Gibbs said.
The lunch menu will feature a rotating selection of market salads and sides, based on farmers markets' availability, and focaccia pizza specials.
“It adds a nice balance as that healthy option in a food hall where we can emphasize the great produce that we get in this area,” Gibbs said. “There’s a lot of amazing farms and veggies, so we’re going to lean into that when it comes to the salads and the market veggies.
Flour’s spirited beverage program
Flour’s beverage menu will offer caffeinated drinks, co*cktails, wine and nonalcoholic options.
Coffee, espresso, matcha and tea will be available, as well as sparkling and mineral water, artisanal sodas,
Several wine-based spritz co*cktails will be offered, like Aperol Spritz, Hugo Spritz and Amaro Spritz.
“Good stuff to have with a sandwich out here on the sidewalk,” Kyle James said.
Grab-and-go food and beverage items will be available for retail sale, too.
Flour
Where: 56 Patton Ave., The S&W Market, downtown
Opening: Tentatively May
Info: For more, visit swmarketavl.com and follow on Instagram @flouravl.
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Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with asubscription to the Citizen Times.
