STAFF REPORTS

Foothills Meats is reintroducing its retail sales in Black Mountain with a new butcher bar and restaurant in the old Red Radish location on Black Mountain Avenue.

Nestled between Tayloe's Oyster Bar and Louise’s Kitchen, the restaurant - Butcher Bar: Black Mountain - will give residents and visitors a sneak peak during the Sourwood Festival this weekend. During the open house, festival attendees will be able to see the space under construction, They can meet the crew and dine on the patio from a menu of hamburgers, hot dogs, tallow fries and more. The restrooms (and air conditioning) will be open to all during the festival.

Foothills Meats closed its butcher shop in Black Mountain in summer 2015 and has been looking for a place to reopen its retail market, owner Casey McKissick said. It has maintained its commissary kitchen all along in its space across from Dynamite Coffee.

A pioneer in the local food scene, Foothills Meats was established in 2002 as a farm that produced organic vegetables, flowers and meat. Adhering to a whole-animal philosophy that directly benefits farmers, the company in 2008 began focusing on livestock production on its farm and began offering custom-cut and handcrafted meat products from local, pasture-raised meats.

“We are thrilled to, once again, serve our friends and long-time customers in Black Mountain," McKissick said of the restaurant slated to open this fall. “Our hearts have always been in Black Mountain. We eat, shop and work here every day since we started selling produce at the Black Mountain Tailgate Market in 2002. We decided this is a good time to expand our retail offerings.”

This is the local meat company's second butcher bar announced this summer. The first, Butcher Bar: West, is slated to open in Asheville in September. Both butcher bars will be serviced by the Black Mountain commissary kitchen, where Foothills' original retail butcher shop opened in 2013.

McKissick said the new restaurant in Black Mountain, at 107 Black Mountain Ave., will offer a casual dine-in and carry-out experience that maintains the company's focus on local foods and handmade meats.

Butcher Bar: Black Mountain will feature a “browse and buy” butcher counter that will offer fresh meat staples such as ground beef, pork chops and steaks, as well as rotating items from Foothills' house-made deli line that will include bacon, hot dogs and sliced deli meats. The location will be a pick-up point for its "meat share" CSA program and for special orders from the commissary kitchen.

Butcher Bar: Black Mountain will serve Foothills' signature menu items such as burgers, house-made hot dogs and tallow fries. Featured will be selections from its smokehouse and daily specials. The culinary team will use seasonal, local produce and promises to deliver “good eats for the non-meat eaters.” The bar will offer a small, curated selection of draft beers as well as bottles and cans from hard-to-find breweries for enjoying at the bar or to-go. The bar will also serve up simple classic cocktails.

“Black Mountain has been our home for many years,” McKissick said. “The town has been so supportive as we grew. “We are so excited to be back."

Butcher Bar: Black Mountain's website should be up this month, he said. To learn about Foothills Meats, visit foothillslocalmeats.com.