While in Chicago last weekend at the National Restaurant Association show, I quickly remembered why that city is one of my favorites: it is a service-minded town. Granted, taxi drivers are not talkative like Chicago cabbies used to be, and I miss that. But at every other point of service contact made in my brief 24-hour [...]
Read More →Category Archives: Words to Chew On
Steve Coomes: Six distilled spirits you want to sip now and store for later
Last week, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States brought about a dozen writers to town for the last stop on a 10-day tour of what it calls America’s Whiskey Trail. Kentucky is a fitting end, don’t you think? The writers’ tour ended with a Crafts, Cocktails & Bluegrass party at the Distilled Spirits Epicenter on [...]
Read More →Secular outrage over LACES formation is overheated, understudied and misinterpreted
(Full disclosure: I am a Bible believing non-denominational Christian. I spent the first 18 years of my life growing up Catholic, yet never truly accepting many of its core tenets. I followed that with 12 years what could fairly be described as heathenism before, at age 30, accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior. I am [...]
Read More →Zoning approval puts Beer Engine back on track for 2013 opening
Following a lengthy zoning approval process, Beer Engine, a craft brewery in Danville Kentucky, is back on track for 2013 opening in Germantown. Last summer, owner Brian Holton set about launching the business in what formerly was The Zeppelin Café at 1036 East Burnette. But, all progress came to a halt when Holton was told [...]
Read More →More than 200 beers to taste at Highlands Beer Festival May 18
Think you’ve tasted lots of beers? Then you might find next Saturday’s Highland’s Beer Festival a brew brush-up. At current count, vendors and breweries will be pouring tastes of 213 beers (from about 60 breweries), a sampling impossible to manage in the 5-9 p.m. time period for sure, but we’re sure a few will give [...]
Read More →Chef Tyler Powell leaving St. Charles Exchange to captain kitchen at Silver Dollar
My, what a difference a month makes. That’s how long Tyler Powell was executive chef at St. Charles Exchange before announcing he’ll leave May 22 to take charge of kitchen at The Silver Dollar. Powell got the St. Charles post in April in the wake of the departure of then executive chef Patrick McCandless. According [...]
Read More →Classy-casual Sidebar at Whiskey Row opens to public ahead of May 14 grand opening
I go to a lot of soft openings/pre-openings/VIP receptions/previews/peeks … whatever you want to call them … before a restaurant officially takes off the wraps, and I sometimes leave those events thinking, “This one’s not long for this world.” I harbor no such thoughts about Sidebar at Whiskey Row, which smartly conducted several private [...]
Read More →Bluegrass Brewing Co., Lexington Brewing and Distilling prepare to create collaborative brew
Kentucky’s two largest brewers may be cooking up something special. Louisville-based Bluegrass Brewing Company’s bottling operation and Lexington Brewing and Distilling Co. (LBDC), maker of Kentucky Ale and several other beers, have begun talks to produce a collaborative brew. Currently, the product has been loosely dubbed the I-64 Corridor Collaboration: LBDC-BBC Limited Edition Collaboration Brew, though no official production [...]
Read More →Opening tonight: Meat bartenders staffing Angel’s Envy Derby Week ‘pop-up bar’ on Main St.
Angel’s Envy, a super-premium bourbon brand produced by Louisville Distilling Company, is bringing back its popular “pop-up bar” for Derby Week. The bar will be staffed with bartenders from (the currently idled) craft cocktail lounge Meat, who have produced a one-off list of crazy-good drinks for the week. The bar is located at 400 E. [...]
Read More →
















