NABC events ... and Chef Josh's departure.

The weather might be more cooperative, but we're having a Patio Party with PA Project (bartender Nate's band), tonight at Bank Street Brewhouse. There'll be an acoustic set by Ben and Natalie Felker of The Fervor, and Chef Josh is holding a blind IPA tasting, too (while supplies last).

The fun starts at 6:30 p.m., and there are heaters (don't worry; NABC paid cash for them) on the Taxpayers' Memorial Patio.

The next few days will serve as a transition, because Bank Street Brewhouse is bidding a fond farewell to Chef Josh. Follow the link to read all about this a few other personnel moves.

Josh's last day in the kitchen is Sunday, April 3, which also is the second of two "Indiana Breweries" book signings with authors John Holl and Nate Schweber -- 12 noon on Sunday at BSB, and a Saturday pre-game signing is at 3 p.m. at the NABC Pizzeria & Public House.

It's a Free Frites Fete from 2 - 4 p.m. this Saturday afternoon at Bank Street Brewhouse.

This Saturday (December 11), Chef Josh Lehman is soliciting your opinion with free samples of frites and sauces.

From 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the Bank Street Brewhouse kitchen crew will offer guests free samples of frites in the form of an assortment: Different cuts of potatoes, different types of potatoes (russets, sweet, yukon gold) and different sauces for accompaniment, including the seven sauces currently on the menu, along with ten new ones (green curry, rosemary aioli, blue cheese, dill lime aioli, horseradish, hot chili, mango ketchup, peanut sauce and more).

Patrons are asked to vote for their favorite cuts, types and sauces.

But there's even more.

There will be frites fried in duck fat (which makes everything taste better), and also a special beer for the event.

Anyone care to guess where I'll be on Saturday?

On Bastille Day, July 14, a 5-course French Biere de Garde dinner at Bank Street Brewhouse.

On Wednesday, July 14, the Bank Street Brewhouse will honor France’s national holiday, Bastille Day, with an exclusive five-course, fixed-price French menu prepared by Chef Josh Lehman and his intrepid kitchen staff.

As before, this year’s Bastille Day meal comes complete with flavors of French-brewed Bieres de Garde, as well as American craft versions of Northern France’s famous specialty style of malty, food-friendly ale.

In 2010, we’re adapting a changed Bastille Day format of a single-seating beer dinner, and pairing the beers with the food in an order yet to be determined as of this writing. The Publican will provide comments on the beers. Note that mussels and frites will be available on the 14th for those seeking a lighter bill of fare.

Advance reservations for Bastille Day are highly recommended, and can be made by calling 812-725-9585 or e-mailing steve@newalbanian.com. The price is $65 each, service non compris (not including service).

MENU

Passed hors d'oeuvres

Salad Lyonnaise -- Frisse Lettuce, Shallots, Lardons of Bacon, Poached Local Egg, Lemon Vinaigrette

Capriole Goat Cheese Soufflé -- Lemon , Thyme, Mornay Sauce

Bouillabaisse -- Lobster, Clams, Mussels, Fingerling Potatoes, Saffron Broth, Rouille

3-D Valley Farms Beef -- Gratin Potato, Roasted Shallots, Wild Mushrooms, Dijon Mustard Veal Stock Reduction

Chocolate Mousse -- Local Fruit, Pistachios, Basil

BEER

Brasserie St. Germaine Page-24 Blanche (France; bottle)
Theillier La Bavaisienne Blonde (France; bottle)
Lost Abbey Avant Garde (USA; bottle)
Schlafly Biere de Garde (USA; 2009 bottle)
La Choulette 'Les Sans Culottes' (France; bottle)
NABC’s USA vs. Algeria – Maghreb Biere de Garde (USA; draft)

These Bieres de Garde will be paired with the courses in small portions. NABC’s draft Maghreb will be available throughout the evening for full pours, and additional bottles (varying quantities) of the preceding will be available for purchase at market prices, along with small quantities of other fine Bieres de Garde: Jenlain Ambrée French Farmhouse Ale, Jenlain Blonde Bière de Garde, Thiriez Blonde and Thiriez Extra. Naturally, NABC's lineup of house beers will also be on tap like always.

As a personal note, two previous Bastille Day dinners in conjunction with the late, lamented Bistro New Albany were among my favorite beer dinners ever, any place, any time. We at NABC are proud to revive and perpetuate the Bastille Day tradition in downtown New Albany.

This just in: NABC subversion at the Farmers Market today.

Chef Josh Lehman's going to sling some of his chorizo hash for breakfast at the Farmers market today, and I'll be there to dispense wee samples of lager and ale for those desiring a bit of a wash. The fun begins nine-ish, or perhaps a bit after. While there, I bet I buy some steaks from those great folks in Depauw.

Reserve now for Bank Street Brewhouse and Chef Josh Lehman's five-course, fixed price menu for Oaks and Derby.

Bank Street Brewhouse and Chef Josh Lehman's five-course, fixed price menu for Oaks and Derby.


Here's the ad that Tony designed for the Louisville Restaurants Forum:

Bank Street Brewhouse closed today for Easter, but we'll be at Louisville Beer Store for Chef Josh's food and beer pairings.

Note that Bank Street Brewhouse is taking today off for Easter. We'll reopen on Tuesday, April 6 at 2:00 p.m.

My recommendation today is the Louisville Beer Store (746 East Market in Louisville) and Day Three of NABCieged Harder (II). NABC has taken control of LBS's draft lines for the weekend, and the first two days were suitably revolutionary, with a Trolley Hop on Friday and flights narrated by the Publican (that's me) on Saturday.

Chef Josh Lehman will be at LBS today for The Pairing, with a special 4-course food and matched beer flight beginning at 3:00 p.m. Here's the menu:

Belgian Dubbel
rabbit & accompaniments

Hoosier Daddy
shrimp & grapefruit ceviche

Thunderfoot
celery root soup, duck confit salad & blood orange

Smoked Abzug
Kentucky spoonfish caviar & eggs with crepes

For more information, visit the Louisville Beer Store web site, and don't forget that our own Nate "Nasty" Little's PA Project headlines the Bank Street patio kickoff party this Wednesday, April 7.

Weekend NABC update: Food, beer, art, outside sales and our webmaster.

In the upper right hand corner of NA Confidential's main page, there is a photo link to the area of New Albanian Brewing Company's web site, where you can sign up to receive NABC's weekly newsletter. Here's a delectable excerpt from this week's edition.

Chef Josh Plans Weekend Surprises for Bank Street Brewhouse Dinner Menu

Josh Lehman, our Chef at the BSB Brasserie, is getting playful again and is already shaking up his dinner menu, at least for this weekend.

Look for Pork Ribs in a roasted red pepper barbecue sauce and served with cabbage and beans to join the dinner lineup on Friday and Saturday evenings. Chef Josh is also planning to offer a Shrimp and Grits dish with sauteed shrimp, locally cured ham, poached egg and polenta; Beef Short Ribs with roasted shallots, mayonnaise and a baguette; and a Country Ham Plate with ham from Kentucky's Newsom Farm - Josh says they offer some of the best ham in the country.

Josh is also considering a Smoked Salmon and Potato Salad for Sunday.

Obviously, I'd like for you to dine at Bank Street Brewhouse this weekend. However, my ulterior motive here is to note that I haven't lately seen many weekly brewery/pub newsletters as comprehensive as NABC's has become, and you should know that this has nothing much at all to do with me.

Rather, it is the work of New Albanian resident Michael Burp, who also is our webmaster. Michael's been laboring in obscurity, and I want to give him a nod and thank him for all the hard work. He's a valued member of the team, and we appreciate it!

Other NABC weekend highlights:

Saturnalia Winter Solstice draft fest, beginning today at the Public House.

The Louisville-KY/Female-Art-Collective/85470041544?ref=mf">Female Art Collective's Mustache Bash, Saturday at the Public House.

NABC has beer on tap at 50 locations in Indiana and Kentucky.

LEO's Sara Havens profiled Bank Street Brewhouse's Sunday build-your-own Bloody Mary bar, and in Velocity's "The Beer Issue," both Bank Street and our original location were noted.

Saturday random thoughts before a walk through the city.

The preceding days have been a grind, and today's temperate weather is appreciated. I’m going outside, and you should, too.

Yesterday at the Bank Street Brewhouse construction site, we learned that the kitchen’s hood fabricator measured incorrectly, and the biggest component will not fit through the doorway as had been previously guaranteed, which may result in a wall being removed. That’s a pain, and it looks like there’ll be a discount, whether or not they know it yet.

So … we’re trying to be open in a limited capacity by February 26 or shortly thereafter, with food and drink, if not the whole treatment expected to be offered when all the dust finally settles.

By tomorrow I may have finished the preview of the food offerings being planned by our chef, Josh Lehman. For now, just let me mention how much of a pleasure it has been to get to know Josh, who’s the son of my high school classmate, Lance. There are many aspects of growing older that I don’t savor. One that’s enriching is seeing life come full-circle, and working (and drinking beer) with an extremely talented younger fellow who’ll be embarking on what I trust will be a great career adventure in our employ.

Earlier in the week, we successfully placed a down payment on the brewing system. Delivery is expected to be late April, and allowing for installation and the initial brewing experiments, June probably will be the month when beer brewed at the Bank Street Brewhouse is actually served there. Until then, there’ll be as much beer as possible brewed at the Grant Line site.

We’ve retained the services of an Indy lawyer who does work for the Brewers of Indiana Guild, and he’ll be securing the federal and state licensing for brewing downtown. He told me yesterday that he’d just met Ed Clere, our new state representative, and is impressed. That’s great news, since the Guild will be hoping to make progress in educating the stat’s legislators about craft brewing in Indiana.

Getting a bit more personal, there’s been much feedback from my Thursday Tribune column about "coming out" as a European – some of it even signed and coherent. I understand and cherish the fact that there’ll be disagreement on such matters, and I believe the newspaper does, too, but sometimes one must grapple with the inexplicable.

Receiving anonymous criticisms from people I don’t know is sad, and yet it makes sense in a way. But having a longtime customer and friend tell others, not me, that he’s decided to sever ties with me and the business, and take his American money elsewhere owing to the stridency of my views, makes no sense at all.

To be sure, he's become increasingly more conservative politically as time has passed, and yes, the Public House tends toward a more liberal orientation in most ways.

Except for this: Hasn’t he ever heard of the friendship between Ted Kennedy and Orrin Hatch?

I can think of five good friends off the top of my head whose political views are somewhat to the right of Attila the Hun, while I'm the contrarian leftist that you all know and (love?) ... and they’ve never boycotted me because of it. We discuss and debate, sometimes agree, and sometimes agree to disagree. Then we drink together, as it should be.

I suppose it isn’t possible to predict when someone’s inner torment and perhaps even escalating anger render them unable to make rational decisions, although this surely must be one of those times. Too bad he can’t even talk about it with me. Males are like that, and I wish we weren’t … not that I’ve ever made the same mistake.

Time to walk now. I'll take the camera, and post anything that looks worthy of picturing here.

"Pub Snacks, Revisited" -- another NABC beer and food pairing, coming Monday, July 28.

Time for a business tout -- NAC's "sponsor", so to speak ...

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Can it have been eight months since Josh Lehman and Andrew McCabe wowed us with the Creative Costume beer dinner?

"Creative Costume" beer dinner review: Multiple thumbs up.

They're back, and another innovative food and beer pairing will take place in Prost on Monday, July 28. It's called Pub Snacks, Revisited, and is intended to definitively answer the question of what beer best accompanies smores, anyway?

As an added bonus, the 28th also kicks off Dogfish Head Off-Kilter Sixers week.

Here are the facts:

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Pub Snacks, Revisited

A New Albanian Brewing Company (NABC) beer & food pairing, featuring Sous Chef Joshua Lehman and Pastry Chef Andrew McCabe, both of Le Relais Restaurant.

Rich O’s Public House
3312 Plaza Drive
New Albany, Indiana 47150

At Prost, the special events wing
Monday, July 28th ~ 6:45 p.m.

$50 per person ~ all inclusive, Reservations taken in advance at Rich O’s Public House or by phone:
(502) 939-6734– ask for Andrew
(812) 989-2321 – ask for Josh

Menu

Soup & Sandwich
Heirloom tomato bisque, cucumber, brioche grilled cheese
~NABC Saison

Mussels
Ginger, tamarind, coconut milk
~NABC Phoenix Kentucky Komon

Peach Pizza
Whole wheat crust, italian sausage, tellagio cheese
~NABC Elector (Imperial Red Ale)

Soft Pretzel
Gruyere, Jalepeno
~NABC Elsa Von Horizon Imperial Pilsner

Corn Dog
Duck sausage, Sweet Corn Mustard
~NABC Old Lightning Rod (Colonial Strong Ale)

Smore
Smoked Marshmallows, Graham Cracker, Spicy Chocolate
~NABC Jasmine the Mastiff (Sweet Stout)