107 Market & Deli serves up collaborative concept on Black Mountain Avenue
Foothills teams with Cup of Jomo for all-day coffee and sandwich shop; announces return of Butcher Table dinner
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
February 20, 2023
The team at Foothills is teaming up with Cup of Jomo this March for the launch of 107 Deli & Market on Black Mountain Avenue. The all-day concept will serve breakfast and lunch while hosting the return of the Butcher’s Table dinner series. Photo by Fred McCormick
A pair of neighboring Black Mountain Avenue businesses will serve up a collaborative concept this March, when 107 Market & Deli introduces a new downtown option for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The all-day retail space and eatery, which brings Cup of Jomo across the street to an indoor setting through a partnership with Foothills, will feature coffee and a rotating selection of sandwiches. Evenings will offer a casual elevated dining experience with the re-launch of the Foothills Butcher’s Table dinner series.
The business marks Foothills’ return to its former Black Mountain Butcher Bar location that closed last year, with the opening of The Grange on Broadway Avenue. The adjacent butcher shop, which sources whole animals from local farmers, will supply provisions to accommodate a simple menu with familiar favorites.
“It will be influenced by the butcher shop, with a breakfast sandwich that features sausage or bacon and an egg,” said Casey McKissick, who co-owns Foothills with his wife, Amanda. “The deli-style lunch menu will have a few selections, with cold sandwiches, like Italian subs, and one or two hot sandwiches, with a bag of chips.”
Cup of Jomo, established in the spring of 2021 by Joseph Morris in the WNC Outdoor Collective, will add its neighborhood coffee shop vibe to the mix.
”It was a no-brainer,” Morris said of joining the 107 Market & Deli project. “I’ve always had a very good relationship with Foothills, and I’m a frequent patron. For Cup of Jomo, it’s an opportunity to have a street-front presence on Black Mountain Avenue in an all-seasons space, so I’m really excited about it.”
Cup of Jomo will brew up a variety of lattes, espressos and more at 107 Market & Deli, which will open on Black Mountain Avenue in March. Photo courtesy of Cup of Jomo
Cup of Jomo, which uses whole beans from Dynamite Roasting, Co. to brew a range of classic and signature coffee drinks, was a natural fit for the Foothills team, which counts itself among the many regular customers at the current walk-up shop along Vance Avenue.
“He has our favorite coffee in town, and Joe’s our neighbor,” Casey said. “He comes to The Grange to eat poutine, and we go over there to drink coffee, so it’s always great to have neighbors you like and want to work with.”
While hungry patrons can sip lattes and nibble on fresh sandwiches, inside or outdoors, the market will display a variety of local goods, including deli offerings from Foothills and other selections from local purveyors.
“We’ll have spices, condiments, kitchen necessities, soaps and even flowers,” Amanda said. “We’ll also be selling Foothills and Cup of Jomo merchandise, and local beers and drinks.”
The hours of operation for the deli and market have yet to be determined, but it will operate daily until 3 to 4 p.m., according to Casey. In the evenings, the space will host the re-launch of the Foothills Butcher’s Table series.
“It’s a throwback to 2013, when we started it as a pop-up series with guest chefs,” he said. “It’s family service at butcher-style tables, five courses and a pre-fixed menu that is very much driven by what (Director of Production Meg Montgomery) has in the butcher shop.”
The Butcher’s Table dinner series, which was first launched by Foothills in 2013, will return this March, as 107 Market & Deli opens on Black Mountain Avenue. Photo courtesy of Foothills Local Meats
Curating the dinner selections, which will include seasonal dishes incorporating locally farmed ingredients, will be a collaborative effort between the chef and butcher, Casey added.
“We know what you’re eating before you get here, but you probably don’t,” he said. “It’s a dining concept that’s not represented here in Black Mountain, and it’s really a steakhouse setting we’re offering as experts in whole-animal butchery. It’s a steakhouse in the way a butcher would actually do it.”
Foothills will announce upcoming Butcher’s Table dinners on its social media platforms, and encourage patrons to make reservations, said Casey, who added the events would be both casual and educational.
“It’s a relaxed, but elevated dining experience,” he said. “Not everyone seated gets a perfectly portioned steak that’s identical to the rest of them. We have a selection of steaks, because that’s how it works when you use the whole animal, and we display them on a shared platform.
“If there are five steaks there, the people sharing them have maybe only heard of half of those cuts, but we cut them everyday and we’re good at preparing them,” Casey continued. “There’s an educational component to that kind of dining because it’s a way of exploring our whole-animal philosophy in a higher-end dinner.”
While the new venue will provide a permanent home for the Butcher’s Table series, the space will be available for private events when dinners are not scheduled. Catering services and a full bar are available through Foothills with the rental service, according to Casey.
“We see 107 Market & Deli as a community gathering space, where people can stop by and catch up over a cup of coffee, come in for a really good sandwich or show up for a special dinner,” Casey said of the business, which will open sometime in the middle of March. “We’re excited to partner with Cup of Jomo, and we’re all looking forward to bringing something new to Black Mountain Avenue.”
For more information about the Butcher’s Table dinner series or private event rentals at 107 Market & Deli, email catering@foothillslocalmeats.com.