We are excited to share our NEW culinary vision with you. Come experience our eclectic menu, designed by and for a well-traveled and adventurous palate. Asheville’s most discerning diners will be sure to find the perfect meal to meet their tastes, whether vegetarian or carnivorous, this diverse menu will satisfy your craving. Our new dishes fill the soul and excite all of one’s senses, and are served up in the cozy atmosphere that you have grown to love at TAP.
Mark & Jenny Henegan are a husband-and-wife team who’ve been in the restaurant business for well over a decade. They met each other in New York shortly after Mark’s 1987 arrival into the U.S. from a small town called Benoni near South Africa’s Johannesburg and Jenny’s arrival from Massachusetts.
Each had very different ambitions from that of the world of food and hospitality; Mark had begun busing tables at his father’s coffee shop at the age of 12 amidst dreams of being a fireman, veterinarian, or pianist while Jenny had started early in modeling and was fast on her way to a 25+ years of successfully working as a model, actor, and spokesperson for many well-know international designers and brands.
They were destined to cross paths and eventually married in 1997.
Shortly thereafter they began their first restaurant venture in 1999 via the opening of Madiba Restaurant in the Fort Greene area of Brooklyn and the first of its kind in all of New York. Madiba pays homage to Nelson Mandela and through the eclectic cuisine, authentic music, arts & crafts and highly successful catering business celebrates the preservation of South African’s culture, vitality, and palette. Madiba has grown immensely to become not only a favorite neighborhood hang out but also a popular tourist destination winning one of the ten best restaurants in America by Gourmet magazine, with a clientele ranging from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Disney’s animal Kingdom Lodge, the U. N., and South African Consulate and Tourism, just to name a few. They also expanded Madiba with the opening of a second location in South Beach Miami which they successfully sold as their first franchise in 2007.
On the heels of their good fortune they set out to locate a new home when perchance stumbling upon the Kenilworth area of Asheville, NC. It is here that they live and love as best friends and proud parents to their two sons Skyler and Troy and family dogs Kola & Rudi.
The Asheville Public (TAP) opened in December 2011 and is fast becoming one of Asheville’s more popular culinary experiences. Formerly The Silver Dollar, TAP presents a restaurant/bar and local family hub with a focus on providing great food and drink. At TAP diners “meet their meal” via not only an introduction to unique dishes but the stories behind them. Serving daily breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekend brunch TAP offers outdoor-seating and many special events in their adjacent TAP on the Green field.
TAP’s Summer hours are:
Mon-Fri: Lunch 11:30AM – 3PM
3pm – 5pm CLOSED between Lunch and Dinner
Dinner hours are 5-10pm Mon-Thur
Fri / Sat Dinner till 11pm
Sunday Brunch 9:30am – 3pm