The ReSurfaced season closes with a Fried Chicken Throwdown.

The ReSurfaced project is concluding for the year. It has proven to be a creative way to insert something temporary (or pop-up) amid permanence.

And there's nothing wrong at all about fried chicken, is there?

RESURFACED CLOSES WITH GALA FRIED CHICKEN THROWDOWN, by Ron Mikulak (Food & Dining Magazine)

Saturday, Oct. 25 from 3-6 p.m. the pop-up event space ReSurfaced, behind the facades at 615-621 W. Main St., will bring its popular mini-season to a close with a Fried Chicken Throwdown, a culinary competition for the best fried chicken and the best side dishes. Prizes of $500 in each category will be selected by votes of the attendees. Admission to the event is free, and tastes will be sold for $3 for chicken and $2 for sides. All proceeds will benefit Slow Food Bluegrass.

Restaurants vying for this new culinary title (the first of an annual event, the organizers hope) include Loop 22, Wiltshire on Market, Silver Dollar, The Monkey Wrench, Eiderdown, Roux, and possibly other late entries. Chefs who fry up a mean drumstick but are just hearing about this, can send a message of interest to Slowfood Bluegrass via Facebook

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The NABC Weekend: Slept off the HH hangover? It's time for more beer.

Let's begin with a tremendous welcome for Seeds and Greens Natural Market and Deli (207 W. First Street in New Albany, near The Exchange), which will celebrate its grand opening on Saturday morning with a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. There'll be food samples, door prizes and a chance to look around. The market will close at 5:00 p.m. We're very happy to have this new option.

Before, during and after your Seeds and Greens inspection, here's the weekend beer list at Bank Street Brewhouse for rehydration.

The NABC Pizzeria & Public House has started periodic pourings (Wednesdays and Fridays) of Franconian lagers via traditional gravity-dispense (Anstich) kegs from breweries in Bamberg’s Franconian hinterlands. These come to us from Starlight Distribution via Shelton Brothers, and are a yearly ritual. The beer for Friday, October 17, is Weissenohe Altfränkisch Klosterbier. It will be tapped at 3:00 p.m. and won't last long. For more information, visit the NABC web site.

Today through Sunday (October 17 - 19), Jeffersonville is reviving its Steamboat Days civic festival, and NABC's Hoosier Daddy and Black & Blue Grass will be on tap at the Craft Beer Garden, operated by our friends at Cluckers.

Tonight (Friday, October 17) is one of our favorite annual events: LIBA Louisville BrewFest, held at Louisville Slugger Field. According to LIBA, “This Louisville celebration of local, independent brewers, independent businesses, and independent thinkers will shelve uniformity and celebrate our uniqueness.” NABC's Community Dark and Hoosier Daddy will be joined by Action! APA in the VIP slot.

Through October 25, open Thursday through Sunday each weekend, ReSurfaced: A Pop-Up Plaza on Main takes place at 615-621 West Main Street in Louisville.

Thursdays 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Fridays 11:00 a.m. – 11 p.m.
Saturdays 3:00 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Sundays 1:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Here’s the idea, courtesy of the city of Louisville: “The first initiative in the ReSurfaced movement is to take the currently underutilized space behind the facades of 615-621 West Main Street in downtown Louisville, and create a six week long pop-up beer garden, outdoor cafe, and event space beginning on September 19, 2014.”

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NABC has two locations in New Albany. Our original Pizzeria & Public House near IU Southeast offers a pizzeria-style food menu, NABC’s beers of proven merit and a list of quality guest beers. In downtown New Albany, our taproom at Bank Street Brewhouse no longer prepares meals, but you can pair NABC drafts and bomber bottles with delivery food, carry-in or the contents of your own picnic basket.

ReSurfaced: Coming soon to a vacant space on West Main Street in Louisville.

Yesterday in Louisville, Mayor Greg Fischer announced a "pop-up plaza and beer garden" coming to West Main Street in Louisville.

The web site is www.resurfaced.org.

Mayor Announces Vacant Space on Main St. to be Transformed into Arts, Performance Space

ReSurfaced initiative is a six-week project -- Sept. 19-Oct. 25

LOUISVILLE (Aug. 19, 2014) – A vacant block of West Main Street downtown will be turned into a temporary plaza with art, music, movies and craft beer, Mayor Greg Fischer announced today.

The project, called ReSurfaced, will take place Sept. 19 to Oct. 25 and involve local arts groups and architects, food trucks and local craft beer brewers, transforming 615 W. Main St. into a pop-up plaza and beer garden ...

As usual, a wee bit of local history is in order. Once upon a time in Louisville, there was to have been a 62-story skyscraper to be called the Museum Plaza.

It was not built, and the plan has been officially "dead" for at least three years.

In the run-up to Museum Plaza, several infrastructure improvement projects were completed by the city. One of them was on the 600 block of West Main Street, where four buildings were demolished, but their historic facades buttressed and kept intact. This was slated to be developed as the entrance to Museum Plaza from the Main Street corridor.

The space has remained vacant since 2007. Here is the bird's eye view of the hollow cavity.

This is the space intended to host ReSurfaced, and the beer is to be entirely locally brewed, which is a welcome development. The overall plan was discussed during recent meetings of a special committee to advise Mayor Greg Fisher on what the city might do with respect to supporting local breweries. I was happy to be a part of it. Now we'll see what happens next. ReSurfaced is a great idea, but as I've learned, implementation can be a real bear.