On Tuesday, October 6, Wink Salon reopened in Biltmore Village after nearly two years of rebuilding. A week later, on October 13, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting for the Tempur-Pedic flagship store at 9 Kitchin Place. The Historic Biltmore Village Association already lists the store as open. In the same village, All Souls Cathedral is still closed. Its rebuilding permits were submitted on October 1, and its construction target is in February 2027.
Those three dates sum up the village this fall. Its shops and restaurants are coming back on a 2026 schedule. The cathedral and the streets at the center of the district are working toward 2027. For anyone in The Ramble, Biltmore Village is the closest place to get coffee, run an errand or have dinner out, so the useful question is less whether the village has recovered and more which parts of it are open now.
The Storefronts Came Back First
In late September, the Historic Biltmore Village Association said three businesses would open within six weeks. Kara Irani, the association's executive director, described them in a way that also describes the whole recovery:
"One is a returning business, one is a local business that is adding a second location and one is a brand new business coming into the Village. That is very indicative of what our recovery has looked like."
Those three are Wink Salon, which is returning; Chemist Spirits, which is adding a second location; and Tempur-Pedic, which is new to the village, as 828 News NOW reported. The village's restaurant list fits the same three groups.
Returning businesses came back over 2025. New Morning Gallery reopened in May 2025, and Corner Kitchen at 3 Boston Way followed on August 11, 2025, according to Mountain Xpress and WLOS. Finch Grocery says on its own site that it is open again after the flood.
The new arrivals have come mostly in 2026. Gemelli opened at 28 Hendersonville Road on Friday, April 17, 2026. It now serves dinner Thursday through Tuesday, and its daytime café, Affogato, serves coffee, espresso, gelato, baked goods and lunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the same days. LKN Cheesecakery opened in summer 2026, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times. Village Artist Market opened at 32 All Souls Crescent on September 4, 2025.
Not every business is coming back. Mountain Xpress reported in September 2025 that Well-Bred Bakery and The Cantina would not return. The newer businesses are filling a village with a different lineup than it had in 2024.
What's Open, by Where It Came From
The association's current dining list includes Affogato, Corner Kitchen, Gemelli, LKN Cheesecakery, McDonald's and Red Stag Grill. Its shop list includes Bette Boutique, Biltmore Iron and Metal Co., Chico's, Huckleberry House Collective, JW Bell, Dogwood Darlings, New Morning Gallery, Palm Village, Monkee's of Biltmore, Spartina 449, Talbots, Soma Intimates, Village Antiques & Interiors and Williams Sonoma. The table below covers the places where a date or address has been reported.
| Business | Where | Type | Open since |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Morning Gallery | Biltmore Village | Returning | May 2025 |
| Corner Kitchen | 3 Boston Way | Returning | Aug. 11, 2025 |
| Village Artist Market | 32 All Souls Crescent | New | Sept. 4, 2025 |
| Gemelli | 28 Hendersonville Road | New to the village | Apr. 17, 2026 |
| Affogato | 28 Hendersonville Road | New | 2026 |
| LKN Cheesecakery | Biltmore Village | New to Asheville | Summer 2026 |
| Tempur-Pedic | 9 Kitchin Place | New | Late Sept. 2026 |
| Wink Salon | Biltmore Village | Returning | Oct. 6, 2026 |
The 2026 rows show how the village is filling in. A dinner restaurant, a daytime café, a dessert counter, a salon and a national retailer opened within months of each other in a district that flooded in September 2024. In September, Irani called the village "recovering" and described the work as "intentional steps towards a full recovery."
The Next Three Doors
The businesses still behind "coming soon" signs are the clearest guide to what this winter will look like. None of the three has a confirmed opening date.
- Penny Black is Chemist Spirits' cocktail bar in the historic Biltmore Village post office at 2 Brook Street. It is named for the first adhesive postage stamp, introduced in 1840, and will follow the Prohibition-era speakeasy style of the distillery's Antidote Bar on the South Slope. The Citizen-Times lists the opening as "this fall."
- Ole's Guacamoles lost its Tunnel Road location in the Helene floods and is renovating the former Moe's Original BBQ building at 4 Sweeten Creek Road. As of the Citizen-Times update on October 9, 2026, it had not announced an opening date.
- piebird is a new restaurant from DoubleTree by Hilton, going in at 115 Hendersonville Road on the former TGI Fridays site. Hilton's announcement says it will open at the end of 2026. The October 9 Citizen-Times roundup says the first quarter of 2027.
Penny Black stands out from the other two because of its building. The old post office is part of the district's original fabric, and a bar designed around its history fits the recovery Irani describes. A business that already operates elsewhere in Asheville is choosing to put its second location in the village's own historic architecture.
The Center Runs on a 2027 Clock
The businesses can reopen one at a time. The shared parts of the village have to wait for funding, design and permits.
All Souls Cathedral is the clearest example. In May 2026 the church estimated it would cost $10 million to reopen. Its capital campaign page reports $762,300 in direct donations and pledges so far, with grants listed separately. The campaign's calendar this fall has been specific. Pre-construction began in early September, final plans were approved in mid-September, the campaign launched on September 27, and permits were submitted on October 1. Construction is targeted for early February 2027 if fundraising allows. The cathedral held a prayer service on September 27, exactly two years after the storm. According to the association, that service was about the only way the village marked the anniversary.
The streets are on a similar schedule. The City of Asheville's Biltmore Village infrastructure recovery project covers Biltmore Plaza and Kitchin Place, Boston Way and Swan Street. Design was expected to be finished this fall, with construction targeted for early 2027. Several of the businesses in the table above are on those streets: Corner Kitchen on Boston Way and Tempur-Pedic on Kitchin Place. The storefronts that reopened first will be next to the street work when it starts next year.
The two schedules line up closely. The cathedral and the streets around it are both aiming for early 2027, and new businesses keep opening along streets that have not been rebuilt yet.
Between the Estate's Seasons
The village sits at the gate of the Biltmore Estate, and the estate's calendar also changes this month. Biltmore's Luminere is an evening light-and-sound experience with seven projection-mapped scenes and pre-dusk access to the house's first floor. Its last date is October 18. Live Music at the Bandstand continues through October 31, from 4:30 to 8:15 p.m.
Christmas at Biltmore begins November 3 and runs through January 10, 2027. Antler Hill Village is lit nightly from 5 p.m. to midnight for the whole season. Candlelight Christmas Evenings runs November 3 through January 9, 2027. It is not offered on November 17, November 26 or December 24, and tickets include daytime access to the estate grounds.
That leaves about two weeks, from October 19 to November 2, after Luminere ends and before the Christmas season begins, with Bandstand music continuing through October 31. The village's own holiday program, "It's A Wonderful Village," will include a Dickens Christmas, visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus, children's crafts and games, and holiday food and drinks. As of the October 1 update to Explore Asheville's holiday guide, its 2026 dates had not been announced.
For those two weeks, Biltmore Village's 2026 openings are open, the holiday programs at the estate and in the village have not started, and Penny Black could open on any of those days. Gemelli's dinner, Affogato's gelato, a counter at LKN Cheesecakery and an afternoon at Village Artist Market on All Souls Crescent are all on this year's schedule. All Souls Cathedral, which shares its name with the market's street, is still waiting for its permits.
The Wright family has been in Western North Carolina for generations, and Marilyn Wright brings a builder's eye to how a historic district comes back after a storm. If you would like to talk about how the Biltmore Village recovery and its 2027 construction schedule relate to your property in The Ramble or nearby, request a private consultation.
