Dear Taco Punk: Come on over to the West Bank. I have a kitchen, you know.

Back when Taco Punk launched its Kickstarter campaign, Eater Louisville's then-kingpin Zach Everson was giving Taco Punk a very hard time.

Now Gabe's tacos, Zach and Eater itself all are gone. Time passes much too quickly when we're together eating ... and drinking.

Taco Punk chef/owner Gabe Sowder announces closing, cites traffic snarls related to bridge construction, by Terry Boyd (Insider Louisville)

Taco Punk is closing … again. This time, it sounds like it’s for real.

Gabe Sowder and his crew, who’ve been with him through thick and thin during three years, have posted the restaurant will close Friday, Oct. 3.

When pressed by Eater Louisville and N and T, FCHD unable to get its story straight.

Gone, not forgotten.

After the Floyd County Health Department's attorney, Rick Fox, meandered through another round of evasive and tort(uous) verbiage with the News and Tribune's Jerod Clapp, Eater Louisville's Zach Everson succinctly dismissed Fox's "lawyerly things" (underlining is NAC's):

Rick Fox, the attorney for the department's board of directors, told the News and Tribune

that he "received the tort claim on Tuesday and hasn't met with the department's board to discuss it yet.

But he said to make sure there weren't any misconceptions about the photo and the associated post on E. coli, they decided to take it down.

"They removed the photo, not in that the health department had done anything wrong, but we most certainly don't want to give the wrong idea," Fox said. "If they think someone's getting the wrong idea, we don't want to do that. As I understand it, the Floyd County Health Department truck was just showing that they were doing their normal inspections. Those [inspections] are subject to public review, the truck could have been in front of any business."

Fox apparently doesn't understand it well. The truck wasn't in front of any business; it was in front of a business that was appealing a citation from the health department, and whose owner was publicly and repeatedly criticizing the department.

I'll make just one further point: On the day that the FCHD staged its stock-photo-op in front of Bank Street Brewhouse, there was no "normal" inspection of the premises.

Dissembling is a part of the subterfuge, for sure, but can't they at least do it artfully?

At Eater Louisville: "Floyd County Health Department Uses Bank Street Brewhouse to set 'Foodborne Diseases' Photo Shoot."

3:45 p.m. August 13 update: Floyd County Health Department adds photo of handsome devil to its web site, but retains actionable photo.

In spite of my shy and retiring nature, it was inevitable that the Floyd County Health Department's photographic intimidation/harassment/retaliation would come to the attention of metro area media. The story here appeared last Thursday, but because I already was on the road to Wisconsin, this is the first chance for posting it.

Floyd County Health Department Uses Bank Street Brewhouse to set 'Foodborne Diseases' Photo Shoot, by Zach Everson (Eater Louisville)

... "I'm pretty sure that was an accident," said Dr. Tom Harris, Floyd County Health Officer, pointing out that the picture was labeled "stock photo." When told that an NABC Bank Street Brewhouse employee witnessed the photo shoot the Wednesday before it was posted, and asked how many restaurant pics the Floyd County Health Department's photo archive contained and that Floyd County is 148 square miles, was it really an accident that its most recent website photo was taken in the 10 feet in front of the NABC Bank Street Brewhouse, Dr. Harris said that it was his department's prerogative to post what it wants on its website.

Dining in New Albany for Derby? Well, why not?

The Derby edition of Eater Louisville's Heatmap has two New Albany establishments among the 15 metro Louisville go-to spots: Feast BBQ and The Exchange.

The Eater Louisville Heatmap: Where to Eat Right Now

Granted, this is but one food and drink web sites among many, and it didn't even exist during previous Derbies, but the fact remains that it's pleasant to live in a place that's part of a positive conversation. For once.

That's it: We're the Right Bank.

You know, I think Zach Everson's done it. We now have the name to describe downtown New Albany's food, dining and bar district: The Right Bank. Much better than Come To City, don't you think?


EATER MAPS: 8 Downtown New Albany Restaurants Worth the Trip, by Zach Everson (Eater Louisville)