Despite the dismal economy, Chick-fil-A will open a new stand-alone restaurant at 5001 Shelbyville Road on Thursday, January 8th that will add 65 new jobs to the local economy.

And this won’t be your run-of-the-mill grand opening, either. With their tailgate-type atmosphere and free goodies, Chick-fil-A openings have become so popular that there are groupies who travel around the country attending them.

Some have logged more than twenty Chick-fil-A openings to date. The “First 100 Fans” promotion, as it’s known, was launched in 2003 to mark the opening of the chain’s first stand-alone restaurant in Arizona. Five years later, the event continues to draw fans from around the country. Overnighters - with tents, computers, games and even swimming pools in tow - turn the grand opening event into an all-night party.

“When we first started this promotion, we were stunned when someone arrived 18 hours in advance and asked where he could wait in line,” says Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A and son of its founder. “Five years later, we’ve given away more than $8.5 million in free food across the country to loyal customers who’ve braved snow, wind, rain and triple-digit temperatures to help celebrate the opening of each new Chick-fil-A.”

Starting Wednesday evening, January 7th, the Shelbyville Road parking lot will be filled with tents, games, prizes, live music and dancing, and folks can start lining up at 6:00 a.m. already. Campers will be fed throughout the day, and Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy will join them later on with his own tent and sleeping bag. In all, $26,000 in free Chick-fil-A food will be given away to customers, including a one-year supply of free meals (52 coupons) for each of the first 100 adults, age 18 and older with identification. The line can begin forming up to 24 hours prior to the opening, and prizes will be given away on January 8th sometime between 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., with the restaurant opening afterward.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

New Year’s has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean that the partying has got to stop. It’s still Christmastime, so don’t you dare think about taking down the tree just yet. Don’t forget about the Twelve Days of Christmas! Contrary to popular belief, these are not the twelve days before Christmas, but rather the twelve days after. In most societies that observe Christmas, the celebration actually begins with Christmas Day on the 25th of December and ends on January 6th with the Epiphany, the day the wise men arrived bearing gifts, so you’ve still got several days to go before the Yuletide spirit peters out. Trust me, it’s okay if you still want to listen to those Christmas CDs you pulled out in mid-November.

Here are two things you can do to keep the holiday spirit alive:

Have a party to take down your Christmas tree on January 5th or 6th.

The most depressing part of the holidays for me is having to take all the ornaments off the tree and try to wrangle it out to the curb with a minimum of needle-loss. It’s the ultimate anti-climax in my books. It’s even worse when you’re doing it all by yourself. So, I’ve learned that inviting friends over for an end-of-the-holidays dinner party can provide a wonderful sense of Christmas closure, not to mention it goes a lot faster when you’ve got lots of people to help you untrim the tree. This is also a great way to make sure that you’re not one of those schmucks that still has the tree up when Easter rolls around.

On a side note, nothing says you have to actually tell your invitees that they will be helping you take down the Christmas decorations. I just invite them over for dinner, and once they’ve been liquored up a bit, I casually pull out all the ornament boxes and say: “Oh, by the way…”

What are they going to do, refuse? Usually not, especially when you tell them they don’t get any dinner until the tree comes down.

Have a Twelfth Night feast.

The twelfth night of the twelve days of Christmas counts as the official end of the winter holiday season and is also a traditional day for wassailing apple trees. In the Kentucky of yore, revelers keeping alive the yuletide customs of southern and western England would gather in orchards where they sang to the trees, poured offerings of hot cider over their roots, and left cider-soaked toast in the branches for the birds. They would also make lots of noise with shouts and gun fire to scare away evil spirits and invite good luck for the coming year.

If you don’t want your neighbors to think that you’ve got a couple of screws loose, you can forego the honoring of the apple trees and offer your guests a cup of mulled cider instead. Or, prepare a jug of the lamb’s wool wassail alluded to in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream: Take 1 quart hot ale and mix it with 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and sugar to taste. Add 6 roasted apples that have been cored, peeled and mashed and serve in heat-proof goblets. The lamb’s wool moniker comes from the fluffy chunks of white apple that float on the surface of the wassail.

Menus for a Twelfth Night dinner can vary, but I like to do something traditionally English. Start off with cream of mushroom soup with dry sherry, then have smoked salmon from Scotland (with Champagne, of course), followed by roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and honey-glazed root vegetables as the main course. Finish it off with a nice plate of Stilton with a glass of port, and don’t forget the King Cake for dessert. A distant cousin of the New Orleans treat we associate with Mardi Gras, this Medieval sweet is more like the fruitcakes we know in this country. In early America, the person who found the bean hidden inside the pastry became the king for the evening and enjoyed an honorary position of prominence for the night.

January 6th also symbolizes the beginning of the carnival season, so there’s one more reason to celebrate and keep the spirit alive. Whatever you do, have a glass of something for me. Happy holidays from the Bluegrass Peasant!

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

If you’re going to be eating out New Year’s Eve, you might as well do it right and ring in 2009 at one of the area’s ritzier restaurants.

Corbett’s, an American Place, will greet the New Year with a seven-course dinner for $100 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Chef Dean Corbett has created an elegant menu just for the occasion. His culinary team, including chef Chris Howerton and corporate chef Kevin Rice, will prepare the meal, and director of wine and spirits Troy Ritchie will ensure that each guest has a glass of bubbly for the New Year’s toast.

This year’s menu will include corned beef and cabbage rolls as the first course and then move on to lobster medallions with white lentils and pickled yellow beets, followed  by a salad of Bibb lettuce, blood oranges, applewood smoked bacon, and blue cheese vinaigrette.

The fourth course attraction will be sautéed bluenose grouper with fried Weisenberger grit cake, asparagus, and chestnut cream sauce, and mimosa sorbet will set the stage for the fifth course, which is seared Tanglewood duck breast, accompanied by bourbon-smoked barley, winter squash, and huckleberry reduction. For the sixth course, diners will tuck into Creekstone prime beef tenderloin with creamy fingerling potatoes, haricot vert, and truffle demi-glace. The meal will conclude a chocolate trilogy, followed by mignardises, those tiny, bite-sized goodies that have become all the rage at trendy restaurants.

Corbett’s, located at 5050 Norton Healthcare Boulevard in Old Brownsboro Crossing in east Louisville, will have New Year’s Eve seatings available until 10:00 p.m., and reservations can be made my calling (502) 327-5058.

More New Year’s Choices after the Jump…

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Derby City Espresso and Cake Flour:

Happy Boxing Day! Although it’s most prominent in England, Boxing Day is a holiday usually celebrated on Dec. 26 around the world. The exact origin of the holiday is somewhat obscure, but it dates back to the Middle Ages when it counted as a day for lords to present gift boxes to servants who had been busy working on Christmas Day. It was also a day for priests to open the church alms boxes and distribute their contents to the poor. Throughout the centuries, it has been observed as a holiday based on compassion and helping out the less fortunate.

This year, Holly Hill Inn will observe Boxing Day with a special lunch and dinner, with all guests asked to bring a box of non-perishable food items. All donations will be delivered to God’s Pantry Food Bank in Lexington, and if they prefer, diners may donate cash or a personal check made out to “God’s Pantry Food Bank.” God’s Pantry Food Bank was founded in 1955 by Mim Hunt, who began distributing food out of the basement of her home. It has grown through the years into a large and effective hunger relief organization. Today the people at God’s Pantry work together with other members of the Kentucky Association of Feeding America Food Banks to distribute over 30 million pounds of food to 120 Kentucky counties. Given today’s challenging economic times, their work is important to the welfare of many Kentucky families.

Holly Hill Inn’s Boxing Day Lunch and Dinner on Friday, December 26 will be offered from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. and from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Inspired by the traditional foods of the British Isles, the special holiday menu will include the same dishes for lunch and dinner, with the exception of Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding that will be added for dinner. For appetizers there will be a Sausage-wrapped Scotch Egg, House-cured Salmon, an Oyster Pan Roast, Crab Cakes, and Parsnip Vichyssoise. Entrées will feature Old-fashioned Ham Steak, English-style Lamb Curry, Bangers and Mash, Crispy Fried Flounder, and Chicken Pot Pie. To finish off the meal, and as a memento of the day, patrons will be sent home with a box of tasty goodies to thank them for their generosity.

For more information, call (859) 846-4732.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

It’s that time of year again when many families pull out the old pickle ornament and hide it deep in the branches of the Christmas tree, claiming that the kid who finds it first in the morning will have good luck for the year to come, and perhaps snag an extra gift or two.

It’s an old, old tradition, they say, going all the way back to the Old Country when Herr Burgermeister Meisterburger banned all the toys in Sombertown… No, wait, that’s Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, isn’t it? Well, in any case, many claim this custom originated in Germany and was subsequently brought to this country by immigrants, who passed it on from one generation to the next.

To back up the Christmas pickle - die Weihnachtsgurke - story, many written accounts have popped up all over the Web, and you can even order this unique ornament from companies in Germany. In the cute, little box, you’ll even find a printed flyer explaining how German families hang a pickle-shaped glass ornament on the Christmas tree and how the first child to find it on Christmas morning gets an extra-special treat from St. Nick.

Bah, humbug!

Anyone who knows anything about Germany and its customs will see right through this holiday ruse. First off, Germans, as a rule, open their presents on Christmas Eve, not on Christmas Day. In addition, St. Nick doesn’t bring presents for Christmas in Germany - he does that on the 5th or 6th of December, on St. Nick’ Day. If you’re in the north of the country, a Santa-like figure, the Christmas Man (der Weihnachstmann) delivers the gifts; if you’re in the south, that job goes to the Baby Jesus (das Christkind).

Read the Rest After the Jump…

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Not keen on cooking this Christmas? Not up for another turkey dinner at the in-laws? Tired of all those dirty dishes?

Although most of the city’s eateries shut down in observance of Christmas, there are several options for those wanting to eat out on December 25th.

Red Pepper Chinese Cuisine (502) 891-8868 at 2901 Brownsboro Road will be open until at least 9:30 p.m. and Kashmir Indian Restaurant (502) 473-8765 at 1285 Bardstown Road will serve lunch from 11:30 a.m to 3:00 p.m. and dinner from 5:00 to 10 p.m. And the old standby for Louisville’s population of Christmas Day refugess, Vietnam Kitchen (502) 363-5154 at 5339 Mitscher Ave, will serve from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

If your taste buds would rather stay in this hemisphere, there’s always the list of ever-reliable hotel restaurants that cater to stranded travelers and buffet nuts. One of my favorites is the Christmas Day menu at The English Grill in the Brown Hotel.

The cost is $58 per person, plus tax and gratuity, which includes an appetizer buffet with soup, antipasto, salads, seafood and assorted breads and breakfast pastries. For the main course, entrees such as sautéed George Bank cod, prime petit beef filet and braised lamb loin will be served. A Viennese dessert display will feature Grand Marnier vanilla mousse, chocolate opera cake, mini savarin and assorted mini tartlets and orange madeleines. Seating times are 12:30 p.m., 12:45 p.m., 1:00 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 3:45 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. For reservations, call Neal Ward at (502) 736-2998.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

Dear Mr. Language Man: What’s the story on the use of supper and dinner? Half the people I know eat supper at night, the other half eats dinner. I plan on eating Christmas Eve dinner, but my wife plans on eating supper. Is one more correct than the other? — Mark S., Louisville, KY

Dear Mark: To answer your question briefly, no. In this country, “supper” and “dinner” are generally considered synonyms, both of them referring to the evening meal. However, as is so often the case, one’s individual use of the word most likely depends on geographic and economic factors. In general, people often consider dinner a more formal affair, whereas supper is a less formal repast. “Supper” tends to be served in more rural areas as well, and in some places they serve “dinner” at lunchtime. I remember coming across a cookbook when I was younger that explained that “dinner” was served in the evening on every day except Sunday, when “dinner” was served as the big noontime meal. For Sunday evening, it explained, “supper” was served. I like the idea of a laid-back meal on Sunday night after a drawn-out affair during the afternoon, and I still tend to do it that way today: dinner six days a week, supper only once.

For more information, go to this excellent site I found that explains the historical evolution of these two words in this country.

Dear Mr. Language Man: My family wants plum pudding for the holidays this year, but my daughter doesn’t realize that this is more like a cake than an American pudding. Also, we were watching the latest Harry Potter movie at home, and the students of Hogwarts were talking about pudding, and it evidently had nothing to do with custard. Can you clarify for me? — Linda B., Lexington, KY

Dear Linda: First off, when our English friends talk about pudding at mealtime, they mean dessert. In Pink Floyd’s The Wall” you can see the implications: “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding.” In the British Isles, pudding could be anything from cake, pie, or ice cream to trifle or pudding in this country. North American puddings evolved from the British egg-based custards and constitute a relatively recent arrival on the dessert scene. What the English call a pudding - such as their plum pudding or Christmas pudding - is a steamed concoction that indeed is more like a cake than a creamy custard.

This page walks you through the ins and outs of making an English holiday pudding. Learn everything you ever wanted to learn about pudding at Wikipedia’s website.

Dear Mr. Language Man: What is mincemeat? I don’t get it.  — Alan L., Louisville, KY

Dear Alan: This is the time of year when mincemeat pies make a rare appearance on kitchen tables around the country, and as people warily eye them from afar, not sure if they should try a piece or not, the persistent question remains: Is there or isn’t there meat in these things?

Look up the term “mincemeat” or “mince meat” in any dictionary, and you’ll find that it’s defined as a spiced mixture of chopped fruit such as raisins and apples with other ingredients. The other ingredients are often molasses, beef suet, brandy, and chopped, or minced, meat. (In England, by the way, they generally buy “mince” or “mince meat” and not ground beef.) In this country, I find that most makers of mincemeat pie opt for the meatless version (the filling for which you can buy in cans at the grocery store,) however, you will find the die-hard pie fanatics who insist on packing these treats with as much chopped meat as they can. Aside from sweet mincemeat pies, there are also savory varieties available, those being more akin to the hearty meat pies that constitute an integral part of British cuisine.

For more, read Linda Stradley’s fascinating explanation on the history of pies.

Included is my favorite recipe by Mark Twain for English Pie:

To make this excellent breakfast dish, proceed as follows:

Take a sufficiency of water and a sufficiency of flour, and construct a bullet-proof dough. Work this into the form of a disk, with the edges turned up some three-fourths of an inch. Toughen and kiln-dry in a couple days in a mild but unvarying temperature. Construct a cover for this redoubt in the same way and of the same material. Fill with stewed dried apples; aggravate with cloves, lemon-peel, and slabs of citron; add two portions of New Orleans sugars, then solder on the lid and set in a safe place till it petrifies. Serve cold at breakfast and invite your enemy.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

Corbett’s “an American place” has introduced a new lounge menu just in time for your holiday celebration. And in an effort to ward off the doldrums of a sagging economy, drink specials and $8 small plates will be featured.

“With these new offerings, we were able to reduce the price of the items on the lounge menu in response to people tightening their belts and watching their spending right now,” says chef owner Dean Corbett. “We also wanted to freshen up our lounge menu with some new items, particularly as people will be dining out with family and friends over the holidays and looking for a fun place with delicious food.”

The new menu will be served 5-11 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and bar specials will feature discounted wine flights, $1 off all beers and $5 premium well drinks. New economy-priced menu items - all priced at $8 - include Tempura Shrimp with plum sauce and micro greens; Diver Sea Scallop atop Weisenberger grits, Country Ham and Lobster Butter; Chef’s Bruschetta on house focaccia; Confit of Duck with multi-grain porridge; Pumpkin Risotto with apple cider and spiced pecans; Smoked Salmon “Brick Dough” Croquettes with olive caponata; Mixed Greens with Tea Smoked Duck, walnuts, poached pears and blood orange vinaigrette; Foie Gras Torchon with concord grape geleé and toasted peanuts; Lump Crab Cake with white truffle aioli; and Calamari with three-olive caponata, house hot sauce, caper and balsamic onions.

Corbett’s “an American place” is located at 5050 Norton Healthcare Boulevard in Old Brownsboro Crossing in east Louisville. Corbett’s is open for lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner hours are 5 to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information or to make a reservation, call (502) 327-5058.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

Everyone knows Kosair Children’s Hospital, Kentucky’s only full-service, free-standing pediatric hospital that treats all children regardless of the family’s ability to pay. Although the regional facility serves more than 109,000 children annually, the hospital relies solely on support from the community to keep its operations running.

This year, it will get a little extra help during the holidays from Proof on Main. For Christmas Eve, the restaurant will prepare and donate a special holiday dinner for a group of children and their families in the hospital’s Cancer Care and Renal Center. Proof on Main’s executive chef Michael Paley will prepare the dinner, including a salad, choice of two main entrees and bread, for approximately 30 people. The meal will be delivered to the hospital and served on-site by volunteers and hospital staff.
“Last year, we donated meals to the families at Baptist Hospital East’s Oncology Unit, hoping to add a little cheer to their daily routine. This holiday season, we look forward to continuing this tradition, especially to help children at Christmastime,” says vice president Sarah Robbins. “We are honored to be making Christmas dinner for children and their families who unfortunately have to be in the hospital at this time of year.”

This special holiday dinner was organized by Meghan’s Mountain Charitable Foundation Inc., founded by cancer survivor Meghan Steinberg. Intended to help others overcome their struggles with cancer, Meghan’s Mountain provides a conduit for charitable donations to local and national cancer organizations. Through a partnership with organizations such as the National Marrow Donor Program and Kosair Children’s Hospital, Meghan’s Mountain raises funds for direct patient care while providing support for those going through cancer treatment, families, friends and survivors of cancer.

Proof on Main is located at 702 West Main St. For more information, call (502) 217-6360.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

Chef Michael Paley of Proof on Main has been chosen as the Official Chef for the Kentucky Society of Washington’s 2009 Bluegrass Ball in Washington, D.C.

He was chosen because of his support of Kentucky agriculture and the national renown he has brought to the regional dining scene. In the Oct. 2008 issue, Bon Appétit mentioned Paley as the most notable chef in Louisville as part of a feature on America’s “foodiest” small towns. In November, chef Paley traveled to Italy as an official Kentucky delegate for the International Slow Food gathering, where he gave culinary enthusiasts their first taste of Kentucky bison.

Proof is an official attraction on Louisville’s Urban Bourbon Trail and is renowned for their selection of over 50 fine bourbons. In the upcoming weeks, it will be a hotbed of activity as Paley and his staff prepare for one of the most historic inaugurations in the nation’s history.

Said to be the ultimate celebration of Kentucky hospitality, the Bluegrass Ball will take place on Monday, Jan. 19 in the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C. when Kentuckians celebrate the 2009 Presidential Inauguration. To represent the rich culinary traditions of the Bluegrass, Paley has designed a menu showcasing the finest ingredients from around the Bluegrass. The gala menu will feature grilled Kentucky bison tenderloin and warm vanilla pudding cake with cherries marinated in Kentucky bourbon.

The Kentucky Society of Washington was established in 1912 and is one of the oldest state societies in the nation’s capital. The Society was organized for the promotion of goodwill and fellowship among Kentuckians in the Washington area, for the preservation and perpetuation of the history and traditions of Kentucky, for the stimulation of state pride and for the cultivation of the best of Kentucky spirit and hospitality.

To make reservations at Proof on Main, call (502) 217-6360. Proof on Main is located at 702 West Main Street.

As promised, here’s a recipe to make tamales for your Latin-style Christmas Eve celebration.

To start, you’ll need the following:

1) 1 (16-ounce) bag of dried corn husks, which can be found in the ethnic food aisle of many stores or at a local Hispanic grocery store

You’ll need to fill a large pot with warm water and soak the husks until soft and pliable. You can also use banana leaves, but they won’t need to be soaked. Just unthaw them and cut into squares.

2) 1 steamer for tamales, known as a tamalera or vaporera

If you don’t have a steamer, don’t worry. You can use a large covered stockpot and a strainer or colander or bamboo steamer.

3) Tamale dough or masa. To make your own big batch, you will need:

4 pound bag of prepared Maseca Corn Flour (not corn meal)
3 teaspoons ground white pepper
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups corn oil
2 quarts pork or chicken broth (many prefer to use the broth leftover from cooking the pork for the filling)

Read the rest after the jump…

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As you put the finishing touches on this year’s Christmas tree or Hanukkah bush, don’t forget the goodies. Edible treats have been a tradition since early tree decorators began hanging bright red apples from evergreen boughs hundreds of years ago, and today it’s a nice way to add an old-fashioned, personal touch to your holiday centerpiece.

Every year, I bake big batches of multi-sized gingerbread stars and hang them on the tree along with simple red-and-white striped candy canes. As result, the tree always has an informally festive, almost whimsical appearance, and the house smells great.

This year I put up a second tree, and instead of clear lights, I wrapped the Frazier fir with strands of multi-colored bulbs and hung ornaments in different shades of pink and gold. To finish it off, I took wax-paper wrapped pieces of homemade taffy and wired them to the ends of the branches. The tree appears elegant and playful at the same time, and guests are encouraged to help themselves to a piece of candy. It’ll also come in handy as bait when I invite people over to take down the tree on January 6th. But I find that hanging miniature bottles of bourbon from the branches really ensures that I have a crowd to help take down the tree.

I’ve heard some people say they don’t like putting edible things on their tree for fear of attracting ants or other sweet-toothed insects, but I’ve never had a problem with bugs in the many years I’ve been hanging cookies and candy on my trees.

Pets, on the other hand, are a different story.

Read the rest after the jump…

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Maggie and Miguel de la Torre have announced that De la Torre’s restaurant will re-open on Wednesday, Dec. 17th, after a fire on November 22nd damaged the second floor of the La Bodega side of the business. Louisville’s only Spanish restaurant will open for dinner Wednesday, Dec. 17th through Saturday, Dec. 20th. For the Christmas holidays, the restaurant will be closed Sunday, Dec. 21st through Dec. 25th. They will re-open for regular business hours beginning Dec. 26th. La Bodega, the adjacent tapas bar, will remain closed while under construction.

Patrons are encouraged to visit the restaurant for the following events:

The 20th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, Dec. 20th. Celebrating 20 years of serving the authentic flavors of Madrid, chef Miguel de la Torre has created a special all tapas menu in honor of the occasion. 20 new tapas and new wines have been added. Favorites from the previous dinner menu are now available as tapas. In all, the new menu features over 40 tapas selections.

All Bottles of Wine $20 on the 20th Day of the Month. To thank their patrons, the De La Torres will feature a special 20th anniversary celebration on the 20th day of each month. Through July 2009, on the 20th day of the month, all bottles of wine will be on sale for only $20.

Spanish Classes. Maggie de la Torre will offer beginning Spanish and conversational Spanish classes at the restaurant. Classes meet weekly at no charge:

Beginning Spanish Class - 8 weeks, Tuesdays, 6:30-7:30 pm, mid-January start date to be determined
Beginning Spanish Class - 8 weeks, Thursdays, 6:30-7:30 pm, mid-January start date to be determined
Conversation Class - Ongoing, Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 pm

De la Torre’s serves tapas Tuesday-Saturday, beginning at 5:30 pm, with full menu service late night Fridays and Saturdays until 2 am. The restaurant is located at 1606 Bardstown Road in the Bonnycastle neighborhood of the Highlands. For more information or reservations, call (502) 456-4955.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant

Napa River Grill has come out with new items for its winter menu. The newest offerings include appetizers and entrées with prices ranging from $9.95 to $26.95.

Warm, rich flavors to offset the winter chill feature in new starter offerings such as Slow Roasted Short Rib with cremini mushroom risotto, braised red cabbage, and port wine demi-glace for $12.95 and the cheesy Queso Fundido, a south-of-the-border fondue served with flour tortillas, which blends Chihuahua and gouda with chorizo, guacamole, and roasted jalapeno salsa for $9.95. New dishes with pork, seafood and beef round out the entree selections.

The Calimyrna Pork Chop is a slow roasted bone-in pork chop served with sweet potato hash, brown butter Brussels sprouts and Madeira fig demi-glace for $21.95, and for an elegant and fresh seafood choice, try the Ahi Poivre Noir, tuna dusted with black pepper and seared rare and served with wasabi mashers, Asian vegetables and a sweet ginger soy for $26.95.

The Soda Canyon Braised Beef Chuck Roast, classic winter fare, comes with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, English peas, baby carrots, pearl onions, and a cabernet brown gravy and costs $17.95. Napa River Grill is located in Westport Village at 1211 Herr Lane and is open daily for dinner. Lunch is available Monday through Friday. Happy hours are 4:30 to 7 p.m. daily in the lounge area only. For more information or reservations, contact Napa River Grill at 502-423-5822.

by David Dominé, The Bluegrass Peasant