Readers familiar to F&D’s web site know that one of the digital editor’s most enduring of pet peeves is the way that language has been corrupted by the imperative of making money on/from/in the internet, even if he misses those colorful e-mail messages from Nigerian royalty with fortunes to claim. Topping this listing of grievances is the practice of enticement with non-specific clickbait headers. Yes, I understand that William Randolph Hearst is long dead, and with him journalism as we knew it. The name of the game is directing iPhone traffic to invasive and insulting advertisements. It d ..read more

Not the fizzy American rice beer, but the original article from (at the time) Czechoslovakia, in Vienna, 1987. Today is May 1, or May Day. In Europe it’s a traditional festival marking the beginning of summer, in addition to being known in a great many locales worldwide as International Workers’ Day. Saturday, May 4 marks the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, which I need not explain, to be immediately followed by Cinco de Mayo (the 5th) on Sunday, and the opportunity to gingerly treat one’s Derby hangover with huevos rancheros and multiple micheladas (beer and tomato juice), all the regret ..read more

The Myriad Hotel (900 Baxter Ave. in the Highlands) will be hosting its inaugural Derby Block Party on Saturday, May 4, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at its Myriad Swim Club. The party runs until the end of the Kentucky Derby race, around 7:00 p.m. The Pool Bar will be serving house-made sausages, lamb burgers and drink specials, including a special frozen Moroccan Mint Julep with Angel’s Envy bourbon, ‘create your own’ specialty pool beverage packages. The cover is $25 per guest, with a la carte food and drink options available for purchase. Also for Derby, the hotel’s Paseo restaurant is offering ..read more

F&D’s Cocktail Contessa columnist Heather Wibbels is an award-winning whiskey and cocktail author and the managing director of Bourbon Women. She is a digital content creator and photographer, creating whiskey drinkers one cocktail at a time. In addition to Heather’s writings here at F&D, her creations can be found in Bourbon Plus, American Whisky Magazine, Drinkhacker, Insider, The Manual, Alcohol Professor, and The Bourbon Review. You can find her book, “Bourbon is My Comfort Food,” online or order it at independent booksellers. In the current Spring 2024 issue of F&D, Heather e ..read more

(Cover photo credit: Cosentino, Australia) When I first took over the job of F&D’s digital editor in 2019, one of my priorities was to post seven days a week. Previously we’d been covering weekdays well enough, but omitting weekends. I thought there’d be plenty of local items for Saturday, leaving Sunday to fill. This is how “Edibles & Potables” came to be. It’s a Sunday slot that ranges beyond our metro Louisville coverage area, intended to be food (and drink) for thought. Wikipedia provides an introduction to The Nation, to which I’ll be referring today. The Nation is a progressive A ..read more

J. Bell Wine Co., a boutique winery from the state of Washington, has announced the establishment of a tasting room in Louisville in Clifton at 2704 Frankfort Ave. There also will be a small production facility nearby. The winery has no firm timetable but hopes to be up and running in summer. We turn again to Michael L. Jones at Louisville Business First for a deeper dive. J. Bell Wine Co. to open tasting room and wine bar in Clifton The Wine Room will offer natural wine products from the J. Bell Wine Co. and small bites as well as host wine-related events. (The winery) has a vineyard and tas ..read more

Chef Shaq Kitchen (612 S. Fifth St.) is expanding. Chef Shaq Kitchen to open second location in Russell neighborhood, by Kailen Olison (WHAS11) LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The owner of Chef Shaq Kitchen, Shaquan McDonald, announced on his Facebook that he will be opening a second location right before Kentucky Derby 150. The second location will be located at 2300 West Market Street in the Russell neighborhood. It’s set to open May 1. The original Chef Shaq Kitchen opened at 612 S. 5th St. in July, 2022. The text: We’re excited to announce our second location opening on May 1st, just before Derby ..read more

The fast casual FDKY BBQ restaurant in Jeffersontown (9606 Taylorsville Rd.) will close permanently after the business day on Friday, April 26. Here’s the text: This is the last week we will be open for business! We will plan on Friday, April 26th as our last day. We will be running out of items permanently later in the week (Thurs/Fri). We will do a “Yard Sale” Monday, April 29th from 11am – 3pm. Items for sale will be mostly tables & decor. Most of the equipment has been bought, but there will be some items. Thank you all again for a wonderful 10 years!!! Writing at Louisville Business ..read more

A pedestrian on 57th Street sees a musician getting out of a cab and asks, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Without pause, the artist replies wearily, “Practice.” In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell advances this famous Carnegie Hall preparatory notion to a whole other level: the “10,000 hour rule,” stipulating that it takes 10,000 hours of determined practice to master complex tasks like playing an instrument, performing surgery or drinking beer. (The columnist smirks, pausing to await a purely inevitable reply.) “But Roger, drinking beer isn’t a complex task at all. It’s easy. You pop ..read more

The Fresco Tea Bar location at 1370 Veterans Pkwy #100 in Clarksville closed on April 19. The text: Well Fresco Family… we have some news. As many of you know, today will be our last day at the Clarksville location on Veteran’s Pkwy. Our temporary lease has been taken over by a permanent tenant starting in May. The location will now host an authentic Mexican Restaurant from Louisville who will be expanding to the Indiana side. Thank you for making us part of the community there, and we will continue to serve you from our other 2 locations in New Albany & Jeffersonville, not to mention ou ..read more