This Land Was Made For You and Me: Digging Into Groce Family Farm
When you factor in the abuse and exploitation of migrant farmers, the ecological devastation of monocropping, protein substitute demands upending entire economies, and the rate of suicide for independent farmers being higher than any other occupation, it gets harder and harder to defend a one-size-fixes-all lifestyle choice.
Big Jungle Cat
The Big Jungle Cat is a play on the Jungle Bird by North of Bourbon Beverage Director Brad Jennings.
North of Bourbon Has Deep Roots Down South
“New Orleans just does that to people,” said Lawrence in between shifts on a rainy night when I visited him recently. “It gets in your blood and you feel like you’re part of it, but some of those spots were just missing the soul. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this to come home and do it right.”
No Diving.
‘Depending on what you want out of life...’ is the crux of every dive’s mission statement. There’s a place and time to put on something nice, have a cocktail, try to impress a date with something a little more… refined. But sometimes all you want out of life is a place to shed the conventions of refinement for the relief of raw relaxation. Something a little more in tune with just being and belonging and taking a load off. That usually feels pretty good too.
F*ck a whiskey allocation.
Seriously, when was the last time someone came into your bar and was like “Oh damn, you don't have a 2020 George T Stagg release? Close me out, this place is trash.” Probably never.
Red Hog Breaks It Down
Red Hog Restaurant & Butcher Shop started on a simple premise: use everything. It was (and still is) Louisville’s first and only “nose to tail” butcher shop that supplies grocery customers as well as the kitchen in the adjoining restaurant space.
Get Shucked: The Summer that Started the Lou Oyster Cült
A natural pearl pendant necklace. That’s what I gifted my wife Charlotte for her 30th birthday last year. A short time later, I wrote an in-depth feature on Louisville’s ascendant pop-up restaurant movement.
The Modern Mint Julep
The Mint Julep was popularized by its synonymous relationship with The Kentucky Derby. A typically divisive classic, this new riff aims to win hearts with ease by offering a more balanced profile than the traditionally booze-forward build.
Butchertown Girl
Crème de Violette is an oft-overlooked modifier popularized by the Aviation cocktail. Here, it brings a floral undertone to this simple summery Champagne-based drink.
Springtime in Kentucky Sour
While we’re waiting for the green to return to the trees this spring, we can at least get a little green in our glasses from this bright little concoction.
Short Documentary: The LEE Initiative’s Spirit of CommUNITY
The way Private Select works is singular among single barrel programs in the bourbon industry because the selector has control over the final product that is bottled through their unique stave selection and cold aging process.
bar Vetti: Regional Italian Rooted in Its Region
When the restaurant says that it’s “regional Italian rooted in its region;” it means that Chef Andy McCabe has meticulously learned the fine art of scratch made pizza and pasta.
Short Documentary: Kentucky’s Lost Lamb Legacy
At the peak of American shepherding in 1942, Kentucky was home to 1.4 million head of sheep.
Black Soil Kentucky Revives our Better Nature
Black Soil co-founder Ashley C Smith is reintroducing and revitalizing the connection between farming and people of color.
Large Format Ice Finds its Place in Kentucky
Rich Finck has made it his mission to fill a gap in Kentucky’s beverage industry with luxury ice.
Chaga Tea Mocktail
Mesoamerican cultures have long gone underappreciated for their contributions to the domestication of ingredients essential to world cuisines.
Pistachio Bourbon Punch
It’s no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society; especially in the midst of a global pandemic. Here’s an elixir to share from a distance with the ones you love by Neon Bites cofounder Tommy Johns.
Jalisco Highball
Tart Citrus and Spicy Jalapeño make for the perfect companions to the earthy agave flavors of this highball interpretation of the classic Margarita.
Bulleit Master Blender Eboni Major Delivers
Eboni Major is delivering phenomenal spirit profiles in a bourbon industry over-crowded by male leadership.
Alligator Margarita
First featured on the fall/winter 2018 menu at Louisville’s Butchertown Social by Beverage Director Dante Wheat, whose work can now be found at industry blog Raw Pineapples.