What’s interesting about Kentucky is we’re fiercely proud of our two centuries of bourbon heritage, yet it’s taken nearly that long for us to get really fired up about it and promote it 
seriously.
The state’s whiskey makers surely are saying and sighing simultaneously, “It’s about time!” and they’re right. They’ve done their part; it’s time to do ours.
The good news is the urge to promote the only true American whiskey is upon us, and the pride in our potable past is really starting to surge.
If you’ve ever watched an episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Moonshiners,” you know that even the most rudimentary hooch operation is a scientific marvel.
How did anyone ever think, “Now, if I boil this grain/sugar cane juice/roast this agave and let it sit a few days, it’ll ferment, stink like the devil … and then I’ll add yeast, let it stink and bubble some more and then boil it and condense it and it’ll taste really good.”
Even smarter minds considered how to turn that rocket fuel into something that actually tasted really good by aging it for years.
Which brings us to the point of this blog: When it comes to whiskey, tequila and most rums, the really good stuff is born of time in a charred wood barrel and years of confinement in a dusty warehouse resting undisturbed (but, unfortunately, not un-taxed in Kentucky).
It’s rare that a restaurant runs into trouble less than two months after opening.
Even rarer is when one business partner sues the other over said trouble without killing the business.
Rarer still is when that same restaurant manages not only to survive such turmoil, it rebounds from those woes.
But positively unusual is when the remaining partners—who never wanted an ownership stake in the thing to begin with—invest in the restaurant to give it a new direction and identity.
Such summarizes the brief life and soon to be death of Mozzaria, the grandly planned, ill-conceived and grossly mismanaged Italian restaurant that opened on Fourth Street Live in May.
When the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act was deemed constitutional in June, many saw it as a promise of free healthcare paid for by employers.
Get real. Please.
Despite the government’s good intentions of hoping to insure the populace, there is nothing affordable about the PPACA. As is usually the case with anything the government gets involved in, it will cost more for all parties involved.
Especially if you’re an hourly worker paying for insurance.
Normally we put new menu information in our press release section because it’s not always news.
The new lineup at Asiatique, however, is an exception because, well, it’s exceptional. Asiatique executive chef and co-founder Peng Looi insisted, “My customers would kill me if I did a complete overhaul,” but to our eyes, this is at the very least a major makeover, a fusion-fest of international cuisines, which is what he does best.
Beer Engine, a small and well-regarded craft brewery in Danville, Ky., will open a second site in Germantown sometime around the middle of next year. The site is the old Zeppelin Café at 1036 East Burnette, cattycorner to Check’s Café. 
Founder, owner and brewer Brian Holton, who not only lives in Louisville, but works as an emergency room nurse at Baptist East Hospital, said that despite Germantown’s excellent brewpub reputation, is long overdue.
An insider left a tip on the IL Facebook page: “I see Mozzaria is now Quattro.”
Trust us … we don’t ignore tips.
So, we drove over to Fourth Street Live from the Insider Louisville World Headquarters in NuLu to snoop.
In about five minutes, employees were confirming Mozzeria will change to Quattro, Italian for “four,” as of Dec. 1.
Unless you’re a problem drinker, consuming alcohol privately just isn’t fun. The great social salve has little value without actual socializing.
Especially when it’s good stuff, like premium bourbon, which is practically bubbling up through the Bluegrass these days. Good spirits are best shared, discussed, sniffed, sipped and savored (repeat procedure) with those who appreciate them. Which is why some bourbon-loving folks started The Bourbon Society here in 2006. Sipping, socializing and learning about the only true American spirit’s history is, indeed, fun for them, and they’d like you to join them for their next meeting.
The phrase “going old school” is way overused these days, but here’s an occasion when it’s entirely appropriate. These guys are going ancient.
On Nov. 18, Holy Grale (a truly exceptional beer bar if you’ve never been there) will host a St. Sour’s Day celebration of sour beer.
Yes, sour beer, as in intentionally, flavorfully sour, not “left open in the cooler in my trunk” sour-rank. Sour beers get their tart flavors as a result of fermenting in open vessels—some of which as large as indoor swimming pools—which attracts wild yeasts. Since most brewing is done in closed vessels that are sterile, sour flavors don’t develop. In open environments, wild yeasts feast and bring acids to the party. (Would druggies say that’s out of sequence?)
Jacquelyn Zykan, bar director over the cocktail programs at Doc Crow’s Southern Smokehouse and Raw Bar and La Coop Bistro: à Vins, has earned the title of Certified Specialist of Spirits (CSS) from the Society of Wine Educators.
Why is this noteworthy? Because it shows how beverage pros continue to move beyond tap jerking and cocktail mis-making to become serious craftspeople elevating drinking and dining out.
Plus, just as chefs have become increasingly popular, bartenders have, too, and rightfully so.
Zykan (who prefers the term “craft bartending” over “mixology”—which makes me an instant fan) is known for her stylish approach to cocktail classics. She is the featured bartender at the Kentucky Derby Museum’s interactive Urban Bourbon Trail Exhibition, and she has contributed several recipes to the Four Roses company website. Zykan is also the St. Germain liqueur brand ambassador for Kentucky.
