Neon Bites

15/09/2023

If you haven’t been yet, be sure to check out our friends at . Their hyperseasonal approach to crafting drinks from the moment’s available ingredients makes for perpetual whimsy and an ever-rotating cast of thoughtful cocktail builds.

14/10/2022

Our friends at are celebrating 5 years by bringing back 3 of their greatest hits. Beginning this Sunday for a limited time, you can reprise this Roasted Cauliflower, their take on Beef Tartare, and the classic Carbonara Pasta.

27/09/2022

Biggest of thanks to everyone who came out last night for Bodega, our first pop up at ! If you weren’t able to make it, you can catch us this Friday at Episode 4: The Female Gaze - limited spots available, so be sure to RSVP. In the meantime, head to the link in our profile to catch a special playlist curated by our buddy of The Merryweather!

27/09/2022

Biggest of thanks to everyone who came out last night for Bodega, our first pop up at ! If you weren’t able to make it, you can catch us this Friday at Episode 4: The Female Gaze - limited spots available, so be sure to RSVP. In the meantime, head to the link in our profile to catch a special playlist curated by our buddy JC Dennison of The Merryweather!

19/08/2022

GIVEAWAY: is an organization that works to advance our Commonwealth’s cultural and intellectual reputations and we couldn’t be more pleased than to get to work closely with this organization to support those efforts. From now until September 27th, Kentucky To The World will be selling raffle tickets for this lot of bourbon generously donated by the respective distilleries. Entries can be purchased at the link in our profile now and you can share this post to your story for a chance to win a complimentary entry into the drawing and help us raise awareness for a great cause!

15/08/2022

is bringing back one of our all time favorite pizzas today through Thursday! Celebrating 10 years of , this Barbecue Sausage Pizza features Feast Barbecue Sauce, Jake’s 150 Country Sausage, Fontina, and Red Onion. Best of all: it comes party cut. Available to order now at the link in our profile.

20/07/2022

Beverage Director Brad Jennings and team have brought an innovative program to the Schnitzelburg neighborhood, showcasing methods like hand-shaved ice in the Japanese kakigōri style and commingling flavor pairings true to the concept’s place at the intersection of New Orleans and bourbon culture.

19/07/2022

Product Development VP Dan Callaway has helped shake up the American Whiskey category by supporting a vision for innovation. The engine of their custom distilling method is an interplay of state-of-the-art equipment and a proprietary software package that tracks and controls data points influential to the character of end stage products. Beyond custom distillation, the brand has also made experimentation and collaboration across spirit categories a central focus of product development efforts, allowing them to glean insights from the world’s most beloved cultural exports in the pursuit of precision.

17/07/2022

is a paragon in the showcasing of regional agricultural products in a fashion that both respects their integrity and reveals their potential. Chefs and routinely find a sweet spot between the recognition of tradition and the injection of creativity, often realized in understated nuances that make a world of difference. Here: Steak & Eggs | Salsa Verde, Sunny Eggs, Grits.

21/06/2022

Keep reading for details on a can’t miss 4 course interactive bourbon pairing dinner coming up at North of Bourbon 👇🏻⁣
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On June 27, Chef Lawrence Weeks is throwing down a special 4 course menu made to pair with 4 different Rabbit Hole Distillery expressions plus a welcome cocktail all for only $150 (or like…two tanks of gas these days. A steal!) ⁣
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Call 502-749-3305 or email [email protected] for more info and reservations while they last!

20/06/2022

Earlier today, our friends at bottled up their last limited edition blackberry flavor for the summer. ⁣
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Since launching in May, they’ve been pretty hard to find and have been selling out as soon as they get stocked up in many places. ⁣
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We were lucky enough to get our hands on a crate of them to develop 4 summer cocktails including this gorgeous cobbler. (The fizz!) ⁣
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See the full recipes on their page and grab a bottle (or 4) while you still can.

28/10/2021

23/02/2021

When Please & Thank You owner Brooke Vaughn reached out to us about a new project she was working on to connect female leaders in the food and beverage world, we said “how can we help?”

Brooke, along with Chef Ouita Michel, Lori Beck of Holy Grale and Lara Swan of Great Bagel, have already created the first edition of a visually stunning directory of female owned establishments designed by Brooke’s husband Jason Pierce of MPerfect design.

Duchess is hosting two events on for a masked up meet and greet at 21c Museum Hotels and Honeywood in Lexington. We’ll be on hand in Louisville capturing stories from attendees with our female cofounder Taylor Cochran. If we could clone ourselves, we would absolutely go to both.

Head to kentuckyduchess.org to find out more about the events and to download the directory. Help us get the word out by sharing this post and we hope to see some of you on March 8. ♥️

17/02/2021

Here comes a post we never wanted to write.

After 50 years in Louisville, Another Place Sandwich Shop is closing at the end of this month. In those five decades, the shop provided space for music, memories, and the kind of unpretentious but lovingly made lunch fare that made everyone feel at home. The legacy started by the Goodwins and carried on by Allison Casale and Nathan Price is a legacy of community and ours is mourning its loss.

Of course, the pandemic played a large role in its closure, but we want you to dive deeper. Examine how our local government failed our local businesses, especially downtown, and left them to fend for themselves over the past year. When the government placed blame on protesters, Another Place Sandwich Shop fed them. When their window was broken during a confrontation between protestors and police, they painted the board they put up in its place with a Nina Simone quote, “Get up from the table when love is not being served.”

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a hard one. Hard on a personal level. Hard on an institutional level. We’ll be writing more about this soon because the shop was always about more than sandwiches and it’s time to serve them back the love they have always dished out.

11/10/2020

transplanted from Louisville to Lexington last year to take on the role of Executive Chef at , the Kentucky bistro of beloved industry mentor and serial entrepreneur . On November 8th, Chef Weeks is set to collaborate with Chef of sister restaurant for a seven-course duck dinner showcasing product from , whose proteins have received acclaim from and menu placement with Michelin chefs for their exceptional quality. Rounded out with a Pinot-centric selection of wine pairings by beverage director , you’d be hard pressed to find a more complete snapshot of proficiency reflecting the region’s foodways provenance.

07/10/2020

Did you become an amateur baker in quarantine like the rest of us?

You put work into that loaf so let’s put that bread to work! A sturdy, substantial, crusty bread can make for a messy sandwich but it can also make a meal of one slice of toast.

Take this little jammer from our very own for example: Saturday Loaf Levain, Lemon Curd, Strawberry Jam, Ricotta, Walnut, Mint, Balsamela, and Viennese Biersalz from our friend . If your pantry isn’t as wild as Tommy’s, let this serve as your reminder that you can pile anything on a good slice of bread and call it a day.

15/09/2020

Neon Bites started with a love of the service industry. ⁣
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It’s where we came from, it’s where we met one another and our enduring connection to our local industry can occasionally extend to collaborating in the conception of beverage menus like ’s specials for between beverage director Emily Albert and Tommy from our team .⁣
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Seen here is the San Luis Del Rio Negroni, featuring Vida from their San Luis Del Rio palenque, & Rossi Bitter Liqueur, Aperitif, Trincheri Dry Vermouth, and a tincture of Lime and Calabrian Chili garnished with dehydrates of Lime Wheel and Torched Calabrian. Plan a happy hour or dinner there this week to check out the rest of the menu. One dollar from each cocktail sold will be donated to the ongoing efforts of our friends at the . We’ll drink to that.

13/09/2020

Tomorrow night, you should plan to have dinner with our family.

pops up at from 4pm-9pm serving up better wings and hot dogs than your uncle could have ever dreamed of making at the family cookout.

Chef Connie Hartsock () switches up the flavors for every pop-up so if you want a taste of this Curry Würst with Vinegar Slaw, Curry Ginger Maychup and Scallions, we’ll see you there.

09/07/2020

When we were growing up, this area was mostly abandoned; chock full of historic buildings that were decaying more and more every year. The strongest presence in this neighborhood before revitalization efforts began were a few renegade art galleries and a handful of tenacious Louisville staples like . The businesses that have risen around them to bring the neighborhood back to life looks to us like a realization of the district’s purpose all along. ⁣
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In the late 1800’s, East Market Street was a bustling center of commerce that grew around the famed Bourbon Stockyards located on East Main Street. With the growth of bourbon tourism bringing so many visitors to the area today, its original spirit has returned. ⁣
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In the 1880’s, the open-air marketplace and shops served certain specialties that suited the stockyards’ focus on bourbon and livestock. The pork processors and cooks grandfathered in a modern neighborhood staple, . The German immigrant tanners and leather artisans paved the way for ’s bespoke boutique. Bohemians, artists and playwrights found refuge in the district’s upper floor apartments. These days, NuLu is lined with as many art houses as eateries including , , and .gallery. ⁣
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And, of course, what would the original Bourbon Stockyard district be without a bourbon distillery? Today, we’re happy to have the thoroughly modern distillery holding down the central section of East Jefferson Street complete with a top-floor overlook that offers an incomparable view of how far these streets have come. ⁣

08/07/2020

We were fortunate enough to attend a soft opening for the new bar Vetti location on the corner of Shelby and Market Streets in the heart of Nulu last week. This week, you should make a reservation and experience it for yourself. ⁣
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The move has more than doubled their capacity for guests once it’s safe to operate at full capacity again, but even now, this larger and immaculately designed new space is hospitable to dining-at-a-distance. ⁣
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The menu features new seasonal items, one of the city’s best beverage programs care of Emily Albert, and a fresh design thanks to the talents of Zimmer-Design (who we also trusted with branding our company). ⁣
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For now, bar Vetti is running service every Tuesday - Saturday from 5pm-9pm, but we can’t wait to see this program continue to ramp up and grow in its new home. ⁣

07/07/2020

We first met Chef Nikkia Rhodes in preparation for the Kentucky to the World program we helped produce in collaboration with The LEE Initiative this past March, The Future of Food is Female.

Since then, Nikkia was forced to close her commercial-grade kitchen classroom as schools shuttered across the country to quarantine. Fortunately, her family at The LEE Initiative launched a national relief program to provide food and necessities to displaced restaurant workers.

And then, just when things looked like they might be settling back to normalcy, David “YaYa” McAttee was shot and killed by The National Guard outside of his West End barbeque stand.

To honor his legacy and continue her own, Nikkia is now running a community kitchen with some of her students from Iroquois High School named for McAtee in the space that once housed Chef Edward Lee’s Milkwood Restaurant.

You can read more from Kentucky to the World staff writer Michael Phillips in their latest blog: https://www.kentuckytotheworld.org/blog/nikkia-rhodes-promotes-learning-in-the-mcatee-community-kitchen

04/07/2020

In a year full of brand new reasons to feel uncomfortable, has the unique distinction of being a day we should have always felt uncomfortable celebrating. America is supposed to be a melting pot made for you and me; the poor, the tired, the yearning to be free. ⁣
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A nation that provides opportunity and community to immigrants, refugees and POC is how America sees itself. But that truth is not self-evident. It’s shallow. We’re sure that this fresh peach cast iron bread pudding looks like it could have come straight out of your grandma’s Southern Living Cookbook. But that, too, is a shallow assumption. The base recipe is Mexican in origin, just like its creator—Chef Paco Garcia of FOKO - Logan Street Market. ⁣
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And on that note, we’ll let Chef Paco’s operating partner, Josh Gonzales, take it from here: ⁣
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“It's a bittersweet feeling. Overwhelming feelings of gratitude exist because we have always remembered Independence Day as a day of rest and time off work, where beautiful memories are shared with family and friends, celebrating life. And, ultimately, because we have the freedom to pursue our dreams and turn them into reality. ⁣
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On the other hand, it hurts so much to see our people dying at the hands of the police's excessive use of force and our people dying in cages at the hands of ICE. It's heartbreaking to see that we are part of a system where people's rights are dependent upon their identities, so we begin to question how free are we? Why are we so unfamiliar with and why don't we celebrate that day with so much hype? ⁣
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We are not all equal and the fight for freedom continues. We don't want to sound bitter and don't want to make people feel that celebrating the is a bad thing, we just believe that education is a key component in our betterment as humans and society. So, we hope that along with the celebration people take a proactive approach to educating themselves.” -Joshua Gonzalez of FOKO Louisville ⁣
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03/07/2020

The spirits industry in Kentucky extends far beyond distilling. The industry has nurtured an entire ecosystem of proxies and ancillary endeavors to service the range of applications enjoyed on the consumer end of the value chain.⁣
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There are the obvious economic advantages provided by the boom in tourism and growing popularity of Kentucky Bourbon Trail, but today we’re talking about the bespoke businesses that have risen to support the industry. ⁣
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This is Rich Finck, the founder and incredibly friendly face behind Kentucky Straight Ice. If you’ve ever been to a special bourbon event, dinner, pop-up or festival, odds are you’ve seen Rich hammering away custom-stamping gorgeous, crystal-clear ice cubes. ⁣
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As photogenic as Rich’s ice is, that’s not why nearly every distillery in the state calls on him. Sturdy, large cubes (or “good ice” for those of us who make drinks) drastically slows the dilution rate of chilled straight spirits and cocktails by creating a large, broad surface area for chilling as opposed to many smaller chips of ice which have a tendency to melt swiftly.⁣
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And folks, when you have to wait a minimum of 4 years to taste the bourbon you’ve distilled and aged, you’d better believe you’d want people to be able to enjoy it with a proper dilution ratio⁣

01/07/2020

Bars in Kentucky were allowed to open again on Monday. ⁣
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If you would have asked us how we felt about being back in our homes-away-from-home back in March, you would have been met with unbridled excitement. But as we’ve seen with reopenings in other states, things aren’t quite as simple as we would have thought at the onset of this while we watched numbers in other countries steadily decrease. Turning the lights back on now feels dark, ominous even. ⁣
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Red light? Green light? How are you feeling about reopening? For many Louisville bars and bourbon tourism magnets, like The Silver Dollar, there is no rush to reopen with so much uncertainty. ⁣
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“Ultimately, the reason that we're choosing to wait is because of our staff. Most of the people that work for us have been with the company for a long time and their health and safety are our priority. I'd never want to put our employees in a bad or dangerous position. When we do open, they will always have the right to ask a patron to maintain a 6-foot distance or to wear a mask, and we'll back them if they feel that they need to ask a guest that is unwilling to follow the rules to leave. When the time is right to reopen, it will be a place for people that are considerate of the health and safety of our Staff and other Guests.” -Susie Hoyt, Beverage Director ⁣at The Silver Dollar

28/06/2020

Distillery Tours
is often referred to as the distilling capital of the States, with clusters of storied campuses dotting the pastoral hills of Louisville’s peripheral counties as the foundation of America’s spirit heritage. A short drive from the state’s capital of Frankfort on Glenn’s Creek lies the former castle home of one of the bourbon category’s most revered names: Colonel E.H. Taylor. Its medieval aesthetic and landscaped grounds made for a commanding view in the late 1940’s when many distilleries presented as little more than sawmills; a predicate to today’s tourism-driven model. By the early 70’s, however, the facility fell on hard times and was abandoned until 2014 when it was purchased by a team of partners that would become . Today, the beautifully restored facility operates with a sense of stewardship for how the Commonwealth’s distilling legacy is presented to the world.

27/06/2020

Batched is curbside cocktail competition we created in collaboration with to digitally showcase the skill of talented men and women behind the stick.

How it works: Two bartenders have 5 hours to create a unique cocktail.

We provide three mandatory ingredients, the spirit, and four 4 oz bottles to house cocktails.

Bartenders may use anything they like in their cocktail, but MUST use the spirit and three mandatory ingredients provided.

Kits are dropped off July 5th at 12 PM, and cocktails will be picked up at 5 PM.

The three mandatory ingredients will be revealed 24 hours before the competition starts.

Contestants present their cocktail to the judges on Instagram Live.

Their drinks are judged on: Cocktail Name, Prominence of Ingredients, Drinkability, Flavor Complexity, and Presentation.

The winner is announced at live 6:30 PM.

Special thanks to this round’s spirit sponsor:

26/06/2020

Today, at 4pm EST, Bulleit Whiskey Blender Eboni Major will be joining Erin Hayes from Westward Whiskey on over on Instagram to discuss real, holistic diversity representation from spirits and industry brands. The initiative has highlighted the reality that on the occasions when the industry amplifies a female voice, it’s almost always a white voice. ⁣
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Which brings us to a big question facing the industry right now: what exactly is the right thing to do as a brand? Change your profile picture black for a day? Will that be enough to show solidarity? Nah; for many, that’s a facade at best. Let’s let Eboni share some wisdom in the ways that change can start from within a brand. ⁣
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“I personally believe brands should take a stance, but ultimately everything in life is about choices. I think the question is simple, what side of history do you want to be on? How do you want to be remembered? African Americans have historically been excluded from an industry we built. And it is the responsibility of this industry to establish positive, long standing change.⁣
We deserve more than a seat at the table. Give qualified talent the seat, the mic, the recognition, the respect, and the value they deserve. Treat everyone equal and stop moving the finish line for people of color.” - Eboni Major⁣

25/06/2020

Yesterday, we talked about the German, Italian and Hoosier roots behind the massive breaded pork tenderloin sandwich at bar Vetti from Chef Andrew Arvin McCabe. Today, we’re offering a throwback cocktail recipe from current bar Vetti beverage director Emily Albert’s days running the bar at Louis’ the Ton. ⁣
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Like all things at bar Vetti, this drink is proof that when you combine Italy and Kentucky some pretty delicious things will happen. Fernet Branca and Campari, both hailing from Italy, are distinctly different in flavor and bitterness, but they make a perfect compliment for each other as well as for Kentucky Bourbon. ⁣
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Emily used Old Grandad BOB in her recipe, accenting its orange peel and vanilla notes with a bit of honey, fresh orange juice and rhubarb bitters. For fans of negronis and old fashioneds, take a spin in a ferrari next time you’re stirring up something special to sip on at home⁣

24/06/2020

is a departure from conventional fusion tropes, offering regional Italian rooted in its region...along the Ohio River’s partition of Kentucky and Indiana.

Chef is a tried and true Indiana boy and as anyone from the Hoosier State will tell you, the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich is their unofficial, edible state mascot.

The soul is undeniably German. If you’ve ever had pork schnitzel, you can easily see why. To get from the schnitzel to the sandwich bun, you need the help of first-generation son of German immigrants named Nick Freienstein.

Freienstein opened in 1908 in Huntington, Indiana which is nestled among the tiny towns disrupting wide open crop fields in the region between Fort Wayne and Indianapolis. The cozy, unfussy and wood paneled diner has remained relatively unchanged in its 112 years due to this sandwich, a combination of Freienstein’s Frankenstein combination of a nostalgic dish from his parents and the popular burgers and sandwiches he sold from a cart downtown while saving money to open his diner.

Today, there’s a rabid fanbase for the BPT sandwich and even a “Tenderloin Trail” Trip guide from . It’s beyond bucket list-worthy, to be certain.

23/06/2020

Culinary fusion is pervasive. The intersection of techniques, ingredients, and rituals routinely occurs as a result of migration from one geography with an existing culinary framework to another with its own established identity in food and drink. The commingling of multiple traditions often serves as a dialogue between the cultures rendering a singular character distinct from its parts.

People have a tendency to use “cajun” and “creole” interchangeably, but the two are not the same. Cajun cuisine traces its origins to the Nova Scotia region in Canada and a minority group known as the Acadians who were forced out of their home territory, eventually settling in Louisiana.

The Acadians were descendants of French settlers and brought French cooking techniques with them to the deep South where they were confronted with a slew of new ingredients to work with including spices, sausages, seafood and gamey meats like gator. This, coupled with some influence from their new West African descendant neighbors eventually led to what we know today as Cajun.

The spread you see here is from Chef Paul Skulas’ Cajun restaurant in Louisville’s Germantown neighborhood called Couvillion. Couvillion the dish is the perfect example of fusion done right, a French court bouillon riff using local ingredients and other cultural influences that became something so distinctly New Orleans in realization.