Wicked Weed Brewing plans new South Slope restaurant with Asheville chef Jacob Sessoms

ASHEVILLE - It's been nearly two years since Wicked Weed announced its purchase by beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Wicked Weed co-founder Walt Dickinson is not at all hesitant to talk about the elephant in the room.

Here's the thing, he says: A rising tide lifts all boats.

That's the guiding star principle behind the big project underway at the brewery's Funkatorium on Coxe Avenue, soon to add a restaurant called Cultura, developed and managed by James Beard-nominated Table founder Jacob Sessoms. 

Ben Hester, former sous chef of the renowned Townhouse and longtime right-hand man to Sessoms, will run the kitchen.

There's also a coffee bar in the works, led by Marshall Hance of Mountain Air Roasting; a new event space; and a rehab coming for the entire building, changing the face of one of the region's first dedicated sour beer facilities.

But about that big beer elephant.

"We get stuck in 'localism,' but startup companies being bought by Fortune 20 companies is usually a really good thing for an economy and other small businesses," said Dickinson.

Co-founder Ryan Guthy told the Citizen Times in July that A-B InBev had given the brewery millions in capital expenditure funding alone, and on Wednesday, Dickinson explained just how important it was to keep that money local. 

"Corporate America can be a bad thing if wielded improperly, and it can be a very good thing if wielded properly. Our goal now is to show people that when you get that support and you have people that are still engaged in the company ... that power can be wielded to create exponential good."

►Read more: Wicked Weed owners focus on growth, not backlash, after sale

►Read more: Wicked Weed donates hundreds of thousands to Asheville nonprofits

An 'all-encompassing ecosystem'

Sessoms described the vision for the Funkatorium and Cultura space as an "all-encompassing ecosystem," where local artists, potters, chefs and other makers can thrive in distinct spaces.

"It's still going to be approachable as a pub, and then we're putting in this 80-seat dining room with probably 25 craft-cocktail seats, a full coffee bar where we will provide the full coffee experience."

The restaurant, slated to open in spring, is a centerpiece, a culmination of years of friendship and idea sharing between Sessoms and Dickinson, an expression of ideas gleaned from years of travel and food research.

Cultura's kitchen is equipped with a combination wood- and gas-fired deck oven, from which will issue large-format wood-roasted shareable meat entrees and a pizza variety Sessoms and Dickinson don't yet know what to call, but refer to as "not-pizza."

►Read more: Asheville chefs (and one food writer) reveal the best thing they ate this year

Think medium-thick squares of crisp-yet-airy sourdough, fermented with Wicked Weed's house yeast, and finished in the oven with still-crisp vegetables and cured meats.

"Not red sauce, cheese bombs, but focusing on the toppings," Dickinson said. 

The rest of the menu will highlight vegetable-forward small plates and large-format meats: large slabs of prime rib, bone-in New York strips, whole-roasted chickens or game birds and wood-roasted porchetta.

Platters of food, flowing drinks

The owners envision Cultura as a place where people can experience a sort of royal Bacchanal if they want with large platters of shareable food and flowing drink. 

That vision will be helped along by a couple of six-person booths made by wine-stained foeders turned on their sides, a chandelier hanging from the curved interior, lighting a wooden table within. 

"We wanted to say the beer experience is more — it can be more." Dickinson said. "We are believers in how amazing mixed-culture fermentation is, how amazing natural yeasts and bacteria are for anything — for cheese, meats, beer, wine, cider — it doesn't matter."

Inside Cultura, there's little indication that this space was formerly an office space with dropped ceilings.

On one wall near the Coxe Avenue entrance, there's a full bar, where cocktails exploring the intersection between beer and liquor will be served.

It will create a seamless line running through to the adjoining Funkatorium space, which will remain casual, but with a new elevated pub menu to come. 

Exposed rafters and walls will be covered in oak panels, stained a subtle shade of wine.

Wine comes up surprisingly often with these beer brewers. 

Their Arden facility has 3,000 wine and spirit barrels and large oak foeders, and their growing spontaneously fermented beer and cider sector required securing a winery license.

"For us, it's always been about elevating the category and and getting people to understand that, especially with the sour beer, these beverages have a place in special occasions, just like wine," Dickinson said.

Beer can be even more engaging and dynamic because there are no rules, he added. 

"Part of this is taking that to the next level, with sour beer and food pairings. We want people to try to understand beers the way that they're understanding wines."

That's illustrated in the design and for the barrel house, which will evolve into a dedicated event space, with an in-house catering kitchen forthcoming, as well as a new, state-of-the-art, five-barrel R&D system through which all new brews will run. 

"Every new product that comes out of Wicked Weed will come out of that building," Dickinson said.

Over the system, there's a mezzanine, where Dickinson envisions VIP seating for events with a view of the brewery.

Evoking a wine feel

With more wood and delicate lighting coming to the event space, Dickinson wants to evoke the sort of romanticism winemakers do so well.

Both Dickinson and Sessoms think bringing beer-making back into the building will be a big draw. "When people come in, there will be a brewer making beer, it will smell like beer," Dickinson said. "It will be back to doing what it was supposed to do."

"We want to continue the experience of the beer drinker in Asheville and growing that scene, but also getting life back in here, get brewing back in this building, and find a way to show people the vision of Wicked Weed going forward," Dickinson said. "Because it's been a journey."

The journey has enabled Wicked Weed to execute increasingly involved visions, but also to incubate other businesses as the brewery grows.

That's part of the impetus behind adding the coffee bar between the Funkatorium's service bar and the retail room. It's to create a great coffee experience, but it's also to support the work of Marshall Hance, the revered roaster behind Mountain Air.  

"This is less about creating a new product. It's about communicating that beer is more than just the pub," Sessoms said. 

He ticked off the many locals the business will support, including East Fork Pottery, which will make all the restaurant's tableware, quite an investment alone. 

"It's really great how Walt and Ryan and the whole Wicked Weed core team is working on fostering community on the South Slope, but also Asheville more broadly," Sessoms said.

"Those of us that have been practicing in this food and beverage space for a long time, Wicked Weed has decided that's where its support needs to be. And that's now part of their story."