A funny food writer who shared joy during Helene gets a warm welcome upon his return
“It’s weird, you know, trying to organize a party for a complete stranger. But that’s Asheville.”
That’s what local insurance agent Jody Peterson told me at Sweeten Creek Brewing. On an unseasonably warm, sunny afternoon in March, dozens of members of the Asheville Foodies Facebook group had gathered to welcome a new but already beloved resident, Tony Prieto, to the community.
Prieto, an insurance adjuster from Miami, came to western North Carolina a few weeks after Hurricane Helene hit and saw local residents’ despair at the scale of the destruction firsthand. So, he combined his love for food and his self-deprecating humor to pen uplifting and hilarious restaurant reviews.
All he wanted to do was put a few smiles on people’s faces and let them know that local restaurants were open and needed their business.
He didn’t expect that his posts would rack up thousands of views and hundreds of comments. Or that people would flood his feed with recommendations for other places to try. Or that he would get recognized while dining out.
“We needed something to make us smile during those heavy, heavy times. And it was Tony,” Peterson said.
She even quoted part of his Nov. 22 review of Biscuit Head, in which he “called Asheville Fire Rescue to have an external defibrillator on hand” after ordering the Filthy Animal, a biscuit topped with fried chicken, pimento cheese, bacon and scrambled eggs.
Sometimes, she said, reading his posts was the only time she laughed all day.
Prieto returned to Miami in December – but only to get his affairs in order. He had fallen in love not just with our food but with our community. He now posts under The Cuban Bear Eats, a reference to both his heritage and one of Appalachia’s most insatiable animals.
And there’s no better proof that his instincts were spot on than Peterson’s insistence on throwing a welcome party for a man she’d never met.
“It was the Asheville thing to do,” she said.
A community effort
In the wake of Helene, communities across western North Carolina came together to help each other get through the worst. The welcome party, too, was a group effort – but unlike so many other collaborations recently, one defined by joy.
When Peterson contacted Prieto, he was still in Miami. So she asked him for a few local friends who could help, and he put her in touch with James Shand.
Shand moved to Buncombe County from Nashville six days before the storm, looking for “somewhere calmer.” Looking for volunteer opportunities, he found Prieto’s “cheeseball posts that were really amusing and from the heart” and realized they had mutual friends in Miami, where Shand grew up.
They soon became good friends, and Shand helped convince Prieto to make the move to the mountains. “There’s a sense of community here that it’s hard to find,” Shand said.
Shand’s role in putting together the party was to suggest a weekend afternoon at a brewery so it wouldn’t conflict with any evening plans.
The choice of Sweeten Creek Brewing came from Melissa Pickard, Prieto’s girlfriend. Amazingly, she knew nothing about Prieto’s reputation in the area when she found his Dec. 30 review of Bear’s Smokehouse BBQ, which he posted after he had returned to Miami.
“I read his post and thought he was really funny, and sent him a message that said something like, ‘I’m a girl that likes food. You’re a guy that likes food. That’s not a fat joke. Next time you’re in town, let’s grab a bite to eat,’” she recalled.
Prieto initially assumed she reached out as a fan of his posts, since he received lots of messages – many from women. However, Pickard said she “didn’t know anything about his presence during Helene.”
Then, he sent her a CharlotteFive article that highlighted his newfound fame. “When I went back and read through the stuff, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ It was crazy to me,” she said.
Pickard suggested Sweeten Creek Brewing as the location for the party because it was where Prieto had tasted Bear’s BBQ in the post that caught her eye. (The smokehouse has a limited menu at the brewery, along with their main South Slope location.)
“He does bring a lot of joy,” she said, looking around at the packed tables and the “wonderful” turnout.
Beer, Biscuits and Bundtinis
Peterson and her co-worker Sarah DePasquale didn’t just book the brewery and send out invitations over social media. DePasquale designed a picture of a bear sitting behind a low table of food in front of a mountain backdrop that not only graced one of the tables but also served as the design on custommade beer cozies that came in small goodie bags.
“I really wanted something that channeled Tony’s Facebook page, The Cuban Bear Eats,” she explained.
Small Cuban and North Carolina flags were placed by a (not custom!) sign that read: “Well Butter My Butt & Call Me a Biscuit Look Who’s Here.” A tray of red velvet bundtinis (Prieto’s favorite) from Nothing Bundt Cakes towered above a dozen biscuits from Flour, which Prieto called a “Biscuit Mecca” in his Feb. 22 review.
“It’s without question, the greatest biscuit the world has ever seen. The top and bottom were crispy while the inside was airy and fluffy,” he wrote. He noted that he didn’t even get to eat one at the party, since they were so popular.
But the centerpiece was a gluten-free cake baked by Diana Casteel of Pies By Di in Hendersonville. As soon as she learned a party for Prieto was happening, “it was not even a second thought” to volunteer to bake something. The yellow cake with chocolate ganache, Oreo filling and chocolate frosting even had chocolate sprinkles as a nod to its edible picture of Prieto eating ice cream.
“He’s honest, but he’s kind,” Casteel said of Prieto’s reviews. “He’s got such a great sense of humor.” Even though everyone loved the cake, Casteel didn’t even bring cards to hand out because “this is for Tony.”
Guests came from far and wide, starting with Prieto’s brother and sister-in-law, Alex and Roxana. They surprised him on Friday morning, driving up from Miami to support him and make sure he was settling in nicely.
But there was also Bree Williams, who came from Johnson City, Tennessee. She recently moved back to the eastern part of the state after many years in Orlando, Florida, and calls Asheville “a second home growing up.” She even took his advice and tried a couple places he reviewed, including award-winning Chai Pani.
“After the biscuits today, I’m going to Flour,” she said.
Meeting Prieto, “he’s just as nice as you would expect,” she said.
“I want to know his secret to being in a town for a couple of weeks and already having all these friends.”
As for the man of the hour? He was too overcome to speak.
“There’s no words,” he said – an ironic statement, given his words are what brought people to Sweeten Creek Brewing and continue to bring people out to support local restaurants.
It might be hard for Prieto to understand his impact. But as a local writer reporting on the destruction Helene brought to our area, I get it. Even those of us who did not suffer damage or — worst of all — lost loved ones still feel our neighbors’ pain.
Peterson only recently ventured out to Swannanoa, one of the hardest hit areas, Kleenex at the ready. She still hasn’t been able to face the damage in the River Arts District.
Prieto’s posts were a light in the darkest times, and they continue to bring a smile to our faces. We fell in love with him because he fell in love with us first, and his welcome party was our way of saying, “Thank you.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
