Hot Sheet: Asheville Food Fan Stu Helm slathers Tubby with praise in effort to get the Duke's Mayonnaise mascot to visit Asheville; sign the petition today

Also, Lost Nenes Grocery could be coming to Patton Avenue; Fish Brains roller skate shop, StretchLab look to open; Amethyst Realm cacao lounge to celebrate grand opening; more

This story sponsored by Citizens Fuel Co., a family-owned Asheville company.

Here’s more of what’s going around:

Asheville Food Fan Stu Helm, an all-around champion of local restaurants, has started a petition to convince Duke’s Mayonnaise to send their mascot, Tubby, to town. You can sign the online petition here. (As of this writing, Helm has collected 108 signatures.)

Here’s part of what Stu writes about his campaign:

For fun and civic pride, we need Tubby to come visit Asheville and give us his blessing, Y'all! The cooks, eaters, and world-class chefs up here in these mountains love Duke's Mayonnaise, and we want to get Tubby to come see us, so that we can give him the key to our city and treat him to a real good time! It's been a very tough couple of years for us, and we deserve some fun, and I can't think of anything more fun than a giant, sentient, tub of Duke's Mayonnaise. Can you?

Helm has apparently received one encouraging message saying a Tubby visit is possible. So we’ll see.

If you, as I, were unaware of Tubby’s existence until now, here’s a little background. Tubby was “born” last year, when South Carolina-based Duke’s introduced him at the Duke’s Mayo Classic, a college football game the company sponsors. (The game, set for Sept. 2 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, will pit the University of North Carolina against the University of South Carolina. It will be broadcast by ABC.)

Tubby, the brand’s first mascot in its 105-year history, was designed to personify Duke’s “twang,” according to the company. The mascot has shaggy brows and shifty eyes, all an effort to personify their “saucy personality,” which is often on display via the company’s Twitter account. Now you know.

Helm is determined to have Tubby visit. His petition plea is simple: “Please send Tubby to Asheville. We will treat him like a king and love on him to no end.”

---

The following items are gleaned from permit applications submitted to the City of Asheville’s Development Services department. These applications, which are public records, often come early in a project’s planning process, and projects may not always come to fruition. Here we go:

Truck to Trailer is planning to open at 2398 Hendersonville Road in Arden. That location, which has been long vacant, was once home to Brown’s Pottery. It’s near the 12 Bones Smokehouse South location (2350 Hendersonville Road).

Amethyst Realm, a cacao lounge and community flow center, is set to open at 244 Short Coxe Ave. The center plans to celebrate its grand opening with a full slate of events schedule Friday through Sunday (June 2-4). Events include yoga flow, tarot card readings, live music performances, a fire performance, aerial silk performances and more. Amethyst Realm’s cacao offerings and cacao drinks will be available to buy. Follow them on Instagram at @amethyst.realm.avl.

Fish Brains, a new inline and roller skate shop, is planning to open at 39 Glendale Ave. Follow them on Instagram at @fishbrainsavl.

Los Nenes Grocery, a 15,000-square-foot supermarket, could be coming to 1645 Patton Ave., the location of a long-vacant former auto shop, according to a request to city planners for early assistance. Tienda Los Nenes, located in a shopping center off Patton Avenue behind Aldi grocery store (1341 Parkwood Road, Suite 110), opened as a bakery more than a decade ago. Over the years, the vibrant business has grown to include a butchery and a store specializing in all kinds of goods from Latin America. They’ve got everything from cookies, doughnuts and bread to seafood and cuts of pork and beef.

Asheville Charcuterie Co. is looking to open at 77 W. Walnut St., a location that’s behind Malaprop’s Bookstore. The entrance is a little alleyway off of Walnut Street, right around the corner from the bookstore. Asheville Charcuterie Co. opened in February 2021 to respond to the need for more casual catering options for Asheville and surrounding areas, according to the company website. Since then, the business has expanded to include charcuterie workshops, event catering, and private and corporate events.

Laurita’s Kitchen Mexican Food LLC plans to serve Mexican street food from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays through Sundays at 10 Michigan Ave. in West Asheville. That location is home to BJ’s Food Mart along Haywood Road.

There For You Dog Training LLC plans to locate its home office in a shopping center at 92 Louisiana Ave., Suite B, in West Asheville.

A food trailer court could open on part of the property at 792 Haywood Road in West Asheville, according to another early assistance request.

Camp Porter Cove LLC plans to demolish a small building on a 2.9-acre lot at 1325 Tunnel Road that was once a RV park. The LLC is registered to a South Carolina-based hotelier. There are no other development plans currently on file with the city.

Citizens Fuel Company plans to demolish an old building at 12 Midnight Dr., next door to the new Wrong Way River Lodge & Cabins, and build a new office building.

27 Ace Bikes LLC is looking to open in the former Guitar Trader spot at 732 Haywood Road in West Asheville. The electric bicycle company’s rental and sales location has been on Depot Street. (Also, The Guitar Trader is still in business online.)

StretchLab, a business that employs “flexologists” who offer customized, assisted-stretch sessions, is looking to open in a shopping center at 1829 Hendersonville Road in south Asheville.

Thanks for reading,

-j