I was so excited that Marshall and Hot Springs businesses started reopening this past month. These two small towns, about half an hour and an hour north of Asheville, respectively, are two of my favorite places to visit in WNC, and both were absolutely devastated when Helene hit.
I love spending afternoons on the Laurel River Trail, Sundays at Big Pillow Brewing, and having a pizza and some drinks at Mad Co. Brew House, but my very favorite spot to head upriver to is Zadie’s Market, a cafe and boutique hotel in Marshall’s old jail. It’s situated right on the banks of the French Broad, has amazing food, and is one of the most relaxing spots to spend an afternoon or evening.
Last summer, when I was really going through it, Zadie’s became a real respite for me, a place to get out of town, unplug, and refocus. I went a couple of weeks ago—the first weekend they reopened—just to grab a drink, and then returned the following weekend with my friend Dani since they were beginning to serve food again.
Now, the two items I was particularly excited to get —Zadie’s wings (which are some of the best in the area) and their pimento cheese dip (which they serve with Wheat Thins, which I love) — weren’t avaiable, as they’re currently operating on a limited menu, like so many restaurants in the region. Still, I wasn’t mad because all their food is good. The weekend we went, you could choose between their burger or fried chicken sandwich.
I’m actually not sure I’ve ever had Zadie’s fried chicken sandwiches (I don’t eat a ton of those down here, because I prefer more of a pounded cutlet sandwich than a huge hunk of fried chicken), but I know from past experience that my friends rave about it. Still, Dani and I both opted for burgers, and Zadie’s sets itself apart from all the other smash burgers in the area (sidenote: am I the only one who prefers a non smash burger these days?) by having a beef and bacon patty, which is god damn delicious.
Do you know what else was delicious and not something I necessarily remembered as delicious (I remember that bacon-infused patty)? The bun! There was something different and almost vaguely sweet about it, and I mentioned to Dani that it tasted like something else, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
Well, a couple of days later, I did my weekly Facebook check and saw that one of my mother’s friends had posted about the reopening of The Carawanna, a hole-in-the-wall, diner-style lunch spot in Carbondale, Pennsylvania I grew up going to. The original iteration of the Carawanna had no bathroom (if you INSISTED on using a bathroom, which I never did, but I believe my brother once experinced, they took you down an alley way and up a wooden staircase; it’s wild they were allowed to operate like that for so long), was so thin you could easily stand up and touch both walls, and we always joked that the food tasted so good because the grill hadn’t been cleaned properly in years.
I ate pretty regularly at The Carawanna for at least 20 years, and never deviated from my order: a small fry, two chocolate milks (they served them in cafeteria-style cartons), and two hot dogs. Carawanna hot dogs were special. They were small and served cleaved and half and open, every surface licked by that unclean grill. The Carawanna moved locales sometime after I graduated from college, and in my humble opinion, the food never tasted the same. I’m happy, I guess it’s back in a new iteration, but I don’t know that I’ll be running back next time I go home. Sometimes, the magic is just gone.
You know what else was a highlight of the Carawanna hot-dog experience? The buns! They weren’t traditional hot dog buns, but more like split dinner rolls, and if I’m remembering correctly, they came from Barbour’s Bakery located directly across the street. There was something especially pillowly, and both vaguely sweet and sticky about those buns, and when I saw that Facebook post, I immediately made the connection. Zadie’s burger buns taste just like Carawanna hot dog buns.
Two people will care about this revelation, and those are my brother Shawn and my friend Jacki. They are the only two people I know who, like me, grew up as Carawanna regulars and have also visited Zadie’s with me when they’ve come down from PA to visit WNC. Funnily enough, Shawn, Jacki, and I are staying at the Old Jail Hotel together this upcoming Labor Day Weekend, so I’m excited to get their in-person analysis.
Editor’s Note: When I texted this revelation to Shawn and Jacki, she replied that contrary to my memory, she’s only ever eaten at The Carwanna once, so has no nostalgic connection to their buns—apologies for a misleading title.
AshevilleExplorer 
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