Friday, September 25 is the soft RE-opening for dining inside at NABC Pizzeria & Public House.

Trek to the Deck, 1999.

Think of it as a public service announcement. We did curbside at NABC on Saturday, and if I may say so myself, the Roundhouse was brilliant. Sunday was spent eating leftover pizza and bread sticks. I've emphasized one passage in bold.   

Facebook post 

Well, guess it’s that time of year again, ya know, the one where there was a pandemic & you haven’t had customers in your building for six months?!

Soft opening THIS Friday September 25th on the Pizzeria dining room side.

We will resume our regular carryout service as before meaning customers will call in an order, you’ll be quoted a pick up time only this time you’ll be required to wear a mask upon pick up.

We will continue to be a first come first serve operation with the exception of the “waiting room” being outside the building to encourage physical distancing.

DOORS OPEN at 11am THIS Friday September 25th 2020

PLEASE NOTE our hours of operation have changed for the time being:

Friday & Saturday LUNCH & dinner
11am - 9pm

Monday- Thursday dinner only
3pm - 9pm

Masks must be worn upon entry and only taken off while seated at your space please.

ALL employees will wear masks properly and continuously.

We will be very diligent about cleaning spaces especially after each use.

IF the allotted spaces fill to capacity we will get a cell phone number from you and ask that you wait outside the building.
We will call you as soon as a space is cleaned, sanitized and available!

Operating a restaurant during COVID-19 has been challenging to all of us. We are, thankfully, a popular independent, local, family owned & operated business. We all need each other to make this work.

Please be patient, kind, & respectful to one another. We are doing the best we can do under these circumstances.
Hand washing, mask wearing, & distancing is the key to all of our health.
Be safe & well during pandemic & cold&flu season

RECAP:
11-9 on the weekends Friday & Saturday

3-9 Monday-Thursday

Masks must be worn upon entry and only taken off while seated at your space please.

IF the allotted spaces fill to capacity we will get a cell phone number from you and ask that you wait outside the building.

Roll With It.

At Food & Dining Magazine today I wrote a brief report about the (partial; carryout only) reopening next week of NABC, my former company.

Someone messaged me to ask how this feels.

It's very simple. I spent roughly half my life affiliated with the people, company and building. Those years always will be a part of me. Of course I want them to do well.

Please go back and patronize NABC, beginning next Monday. I'll be doing it.

New Albanian Brewing Company Pizzeria & Public House will reopen on August 10 for carryout only

In July the New Albanian Brewing Company Pizzeria & Public House (3312 Plaza Drive off Grant Line Road, New Albany) celebrated its 33rd anniversary as a family-owned and operated business. NABC is among New Albany’s oldest food and drink purveyors under continuous family ownership, and the brewery (founded 2002) is the 12th oldest in the state of Indiana.

However, NABC “electored” to suspend service on March 28, promising to return when management felt comfortable with safety for patrons and staff amid the pandemic. Now a reopening date of Monday, August 10 has been set for call-ahead curbside carryout only ...

Legacy Pizza & Bakery aims to include dine-in service by September, so read all about it.

On Monday, Legacy Pizza & Bakery (1001 Vincennes) issued a progress report on Facebook. It's a family business doing it the old-school way, with great food and hard work.

Not a misprint, because Legacy Pizza and Bakery has OPENED in New Albany (April 23)

The short version: business has been very good and the Doerings are embarking on phase two, which is finishing the interior for dine-in service. This will require a shortening of business hours for the next six weeks, until the remodeling is complete.

Opening a carryout-only pizzeria during a pandemic may have seemed crazed at the time, but if you've had Legacy's food, it's obvious that the quality can't be denied. What's more, being open for pizza at the same time as two of the city's biggest pizza purveyors were closed -- Wick's (permanently, it appears) and NABC Pizzeria & Public House until August (we think) -- is savvy, to put it simply. 

Follow the Facebook link to read the entire statement. Here's the cheat sheet:

Our temporary hours will be Wednesday-Saturday, 12-9, Sunday 3-8. We do very little business before 3 on Sundays, and Tuesdays are our slowest day of the week and being closed back to back on Mondays and Tuesdays will allow us to complete bigger projects and will not disrupt service.

One thousand times this: "American liquor laws are pretty stupid. And the COVID-19 pandemic gives us a once in a century chance to change them."

Photo credit: The Atlantic.

A pandemic is awful, and it's also an awfully good time to make common-sense reforms.

As a preface, frequent readers will recall that I'm a hardcore atheist. This said, thank God for Andy Crouch. For a very long time he's been one of my favorite beer writers. Right now, I'd vote for him over Trump or Biden.

Quite literally I've been saying this for DECADES.

The Case for Public Drinking, by Andy Crouch (Beer Edge)

America has long relegated the consumption of alcohol to bars and restaurants. In doing so, localities have further sought to control the public’s ability to consume alcohol under stringent liquor laws. Many states and cities limit the number of alcohol sale licenses, causing an artificial and inflated market for their value. Each year, the bar, restaurant, or brewery pays a few hundred or thousands of dollars in these markets to renew their licenses, paying the fees directly to the city or state. If you want to open a new establishment in an area that has hit its limit on licenses, you either have to contemplate not serving booze—something that is rarely tenable in major markets—or you have to buy someone else’s license.

This governmental created scarcity causes the value of liquor licenses to skyrocket, often going for hundreds of thousands of dollars on the open market. And none of this profit goes to the city or state, only into the pockets of private companies and owners.

And:

As much as I would like to sit arm to arm with a complete stranger at a local bar, casually discussing local events or the weather, it’s going to be a long time before most people feel comfortable doing that.

Until we’re able to return to that kind of normalcy, assuming it can return, local and state governments should continue the creative thinking they’ve developed during the pandemic response and contemplate allowing breweries or bars to operate beer gardens in large, outdoor public settings and to relax local laws governing open containers.

With the weather improving, people want to get together while still being able to maintain proper physical distancing. Beer gardens satisfy a long suppressed hunger for open-air forums of public fun. The public should be allowed to enjoy some communality and conviviality, fresh air, and a beer or two all in the company of good friends and their restorative laughter.

The restaurant industry press has noticed, too (thanks, W) ...

Restaurants profit from looser alcohol regulations during coronavirus pandemic, by Bret Thorn (Nation's Restaurant News)

With to-go beer, wine and cocktail sales thriving, will states revise rules on booze delivery, takeout and curbside pickup permanently?

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the country, many state liquor authorities displayed uncharacteristic flexibility in loosening their regulations, allowing many restaurants to sell beer, wine, spirits and cocktails for takeout and delivery for the first time in an attempt to help those businesses survive.

Restaurateurs responded with alacrity, developing bottled cocktails and cocktail kits, launching wine discounts or even reducing their inventory of premium spirits in order to manage cash flow better.

And even as state restrictions are being lifted and restaurants gradually reopen for dine-in, many operators are hoping the added revenue stream of to-go alcohol will remain in place permanently — or at least longer into what is expected to be a slow recovery.

... as has journalists covering food and drink from the consumer's end of them.

Liquor Laws Loosen Up in the Face of Delivery-Only Dining, by Caleb Pershan (Eater)

Some states are letting restaurants turn to takeout booze to make up for lost profits

If all goes well with temporarily relaxed liquor laws, waivers could very well be extended, and conceivably made permanent. “The best case is people figure out how to do this well, and realize they could have done it lawfully this whole time... A lot of [restaurants] who might just never have thought of it might find that the condo across the street will buy $20 or $30 bottles of wine with carryout.”

One of four $10,000 LEE Initiative “Grants for Good” is awarded to Pints&union to support restaurant workers relief efforts in SoIN.

Things started getting just a wee bit crazy on Thursday and Friday, and I trust this will help to explain it. I've tried to keep "official" pub communications separate from this blog and my own social media presence, but these are exceptional times and I want to push the news as far as possible.

Pints&union web site (from expedience, I'm using the beer blog at the web site as non-beer communications outreach)
Pints&union Facebook 
Pints&union Instagram

Here's the scoop.

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Three weeks ago, Chef Edward Lee’s 610 Magnolia restaurant in Louisville KY was turned into a relief center for restaurant workers who’d been laid off or experienced a significant reduction in hours and/or pay because of the COVID-19 crisis.

Virtually overnight the LEE Initiative’s team (Lee, Lindsey Ofcacek, Collis Hillebrand and Kaitlyn Soligan) repurposed the organization to launch the Restaurant Workers Relief Program, providing food, supplies and assistance for restaurant workers in need. Just as quickly, it became a prototype for all of America.

Thanks to overwhelming community support, an anonymous private donor, and the continued generosity of Maker’s Mark, the LEE Initiative almost immediately was able to expand the Restaurant Workers Relief Program to 15 locations nationwide.

Restaurants across the country now are providing to-go meals, groceries, diapers and other essentials to those who need them.

Now, with support from Maker’s Mark, the LEE Initiative has awarded $10,000 grants to four like-minded organizations around the country.

The organizations receiving these grants were selected based on the positive work they’re already doing to support the restaurant industry during COVID-19.

Pints&union in New Albany (Joe Phillips, owner) is humbled to be one of the grant’s recipients, and the only one located in the state of Indiana.

The other three recipients are: Kelly English of Memphis TN (Fino’s Italian Deli); JJ Johnson of New York City (Fieldtrip Harlem restaurant); and Erik Bruner Yang of Washington D.C. (Power of 10 Initiative).

Prior to receiving this grant, Joe immediately pivoted Pints&union to do what’s possible to help people during the COVID-19 situation.

In addition to offering regular carryout/curbside to our customers (which we’ll continue to do), we’ve donated take and bake family meals and distributed groceries to service industry workers, single parents and local non-profits, including Rauch Inc., which provides services to people with disabilities.

Beginning Wednesday, April 8th, Pints&union will offer drive-through grocery service for restaurant workers from 5:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. on the alley side of our building. Restaurant workers must have their IDs and paycheck stubs as proof of employment.

We’re a small pub and intend to begin the campaign with five-days-a-week relief (Tuesday through Saturday) to start, aiming for seven later if it’s possible.

Note: Curbside carryout service will continue at the front of the building.

Inventory will change weekly or daily as donations arrive and are distributed. Times may vary depending on need and will be posted.

Take away meals are first come, first served and will consist of frozen soups, breads, pickled vegetables and the like. Extending the shelf life of donations and helping the food supply chain minimize waste are our chief goals. We’ll have life essentials on hand as well for those in need (limited supply). All variables are subject to change and we’ll keep everyone posted at Facebook and Instagram.

It must be stressed that the LEE Initiative’s grant is intended to serve as seed money. We need you to donate whatever you can, in cash or in kind, to help keep our relief efforts moving forward.

Go to: https://leeinitiative.kindful.com/

Select campaign: Restaurant Workers Relief Fund

Select amount: ($)

Go to this tab: “Are you funding a chef's grant program?”

Select: Joe Phillips RELIEF

Or, send us an e-mail at pints&union@outlook.com, and let’s get the conversation started. Thanks for your patronage and donations. We’ll continue to help for so long as help is needed.

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: The most recent ATC amendments to the previously recent carryout alcohol amendments.

One of the unforeseen side effects of traditional phone books going the way of the dodo and Edsel is that I'm precluded from using the image to illustrate Indiana's ridiculously huge collection of statutes pertaining to beverage alcohol.

Still, I'll mildly note that phone books are as obsolete as Indiana's approach to beverage alcohol regulation.

This is no fault whatever of the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC). Politicians erect an edifice of laws pertaining to beverage alcohol (and more significantly, taxation), and the ATC acts as the special police unit to enforce these statutes. Often the ATC is compelled to adjudicate weirdly conflicting statutes.

The commission is by no means perfect; its own interpretations clash at times, and as with any entrenched bureaucracy, there are those who consider themselves as priestly guardians of the Latin Mass, with no intention of seeing it translated into the vernacular at the risk of common people comprehending it.

In the main, I've found the ATC to be pleasant and helpful. Most of the complaints permit holders have about Indiana's bewilderingly complex alcoholic beverage laws are better directed to the state legislature, where the sausage is made.

But what of Dry-Sausaged Pastry IPA in our time of COVID-19?

Those of us in the food and drink business who derive sustenance from the sale of alcoholic beverages on-premise initially were kneecapped by COVID-19 curve-flattening measures that included prohibition for drinking on site. Governor Holcomb responded quickly by loosening age-old alcoholic beverage carryout rules (they vary by permit type), if nothing else allowing us to deplete inventory (read: ballast) while trying to find a channel for safe navigation amid these treacherous waters.

It's only been nine days since the governor revised the playbook, and the ATC has been defining and redefining the details ever since. It simply cannot be easy for the commission to relax its own time-honored enforcement mechanisms during the current crisis, but they're grinding it out. 

Over the weekend State Representative Ed Clere brought to my attention another of these ATC modifications to the governor's temporary changes -- or, "Amended Rules under Executive Order 20-05."

I called the ATC's District 4 office in Seymour to verify what I thought I was reading, and received confirmation:

Amended Floorplans
The Chairman orders 905 IAC 1-41-2(e) temporarily suspended to the extent that it does not include areas where alcohol is sold to a person located in an area for pick up immediately adjacent to the licensed premises. The Chairman further orders that all licensed premises are automatically extended to include the areas where alcohol is sold to a person located in an area for pick up immediately adjacent to the licensed premises, including a parking lot area for vehicles.

Carryout of Alcoholic Beverages at Clubs
The Chairman has temporarily suspended the provisions of 905 Indiana Administrative Code 1-13-3 to the extent it requires alcoholic beverages to be consumed on-premises, thereby allowing holders of club permits to sell alcoholic beverages for carryout consumption.

This means that licensed establishments now given a temporary dispensation to serve carryout alcoholic beverages can include these with the food when employees literally carry out the bags to customers waiting outside, most often in their cars. Customers needn't come inside any longer to get their alcoholic beverages, which the commission realized would defeat the broad purpose of curbside service.

Because the ATC's fundamental mechanism for regulating licensed establishments is the floor plan, the commission's temporary point of view is that floor plans now extend outside the building to the closest parking spaces where curbside customers await their orders. These might be the first row of parking spaces nearest the door at The Exchange's parking lot, or the street spaces nearest the entrance at Pints&union. It's my belief that as long as an establishment's curbside service plan of operation is direct and sensible, there'll be no issues.

Interestingly, yesterday the ATC released another "battlefield revision."

March 30th, 2020: Parking Lot Restaurants / Tailgating
The Governor’s executive order prohibits in person dining services, including service to vehicles for in person dining. The Governor’s Executive Orders are designed to eliminate large gatherings and maintain social distancing. Parking lot restaurants will be considered a violation of the Governor’s Executive Orders and will be treated accordingly.

"Parking lot restaurants" cannot be the same thing as someone hitting the drive-through at Rally's and parking while consuming burgers. Better that than driving while eating.

Rather, it seems to suggest that somewhere in Indiana, a food service establishment in search of loopholes decided to begin "waiting" on individuals in cars the way they'd do so at tables -- and that's a no-no.

The moral of the story? I'm actually quite hesitant to offer one. Interpretations and reinterpretations will continue through the duration of the special/temporary regulatory period, for as long as the coronavirus emergency persists.

And THAT might be a while.

BEER WITH A SOCIALIST: In Indiana, the carryout adult beverage playing field is leveled ... temporarily.

On Monday (March 23) the governor of Indiana released two significant executive orders: 20-08 (Directive for Hoosiers to Stay at Home) and 20-11 (Relating to Carryout Consumption of Alcohol).

At the Indy Star, Domenica Bongiovanni explains.

Restaurants and bars now have a chance to make more money from carryout during the coronavirus outbreak — as long as they don't defy directives to keep their dining rooms closed.

Two of the four executive orders Gov. Holcomb issued on Monday deal with ensuring people stay away from each other and boosting local businesses crunched by restrictions meant to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Executive Order 20-10 enforces stiff penalties for establishments that continue to allow patrons to dine on their premises. Executive Order 20-11 relaxes the rules on carryout consumption of alcohol to relieve some of the financial hardship that specific alcohol permits could cause during the public health emergency.

It came as a mild surprise to me that draft beer in growlers was included in the easing. Future implications?

Later in the day the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission got on with the fine print.

Ultimately there came a key clarification: Those establishments selling bottles, cans and growlers must do so inside their establishments; not for delivery, and no curbside.

This being Indiana, for the ATC to restrict carryout sales to customers walking inside the building seemingly contradicts the governor's aim to keep them out in favor of curbside. The gist of Holcomb's comments on Monday as they pertained to alcoholic beverages is that there'll be zero tolerance for any establishment serving any product for on-premise consumption.

So, what does it all mean?

I think it all means that until March 31, and perhaps afterward if the order is renewed, establishments previously licensed to sell alcoholic beverages on-premise only, now enjoy the same privileges as others with the requisite carryout addendum.

They must make the transaction indoors, and it looks as if this dispensation extends to refilling growlers BUT after digesting yesterday's various announcements, it also appears that enforcement by all agencies amid the newly loosened regime will focus on social distancing -- those taped-off navigation channels and spaced X markings.

People coming inside to get a growler filled must wait. They probably should be instructed where to wait; it's better for everyone's safety AND the added benefit is a way for establishments to cover their butts. The state clearly is saying that businesses allowed to remain open will be "graded" by their compliance with social distancing. I suggest taking this seriously.

My hunch is the more taps installed, the greater interest in growlers on the part of retailers -- and the ATC's follow up post actually did specify "permissible" containers (growlers, howlers and crowlers). Obviously those restaurants now able to fill growlers probably don't have any on hand; furthermore, filling incoming growlers brings us back to the possibility of unsanitary containers and potential enforcement activity by the health department.

Also this: Excepting growlers of beer, the alcoholic beverages sold have to be pre-packaged. We're not being allowed to batch cocktails and serve them for carryout with a roll of toilet paper crowning the jug.

How all this plays out in terms of the wholesalers isn't known to me at this time. I know they're watching. I don't know how quickly carryout sales will deplete existing stocks. The CDC says the coronavirus can live up to 24 hours on cardboard. We're already sanitizing all incoming.

This is how I see the playing field today. However, we're likely to witness numerous revisions and supplemental straitjackets as the days progress. Stay nimble, people.

Indiana is following suit as Kentucky temporarily allows alcoholic beverage carryout and delivery by licensed restaurants.

Governor Beshear temporarily loosens restrictions on alcoholic beverage carryout and delivery by licensed restaurants (Food & Dining Magazine)

Indiana's measures broke just before 9:00 p.m. on Thursday evening. The Alcohol & Tobacco Commission will be allowing restaurants already licensed to sell adult beverages inside their buildings to temporarily expand their permits to carryout sales.

In short, take home a few beers with your food. The relaxation does not apply to draft beer, which remains the domain of small breweries.

In some instances, it appears this may extend to deliveries, too; it's a little-known fact that several types of ATC permit always have allowed deliveries, even if few establishments take advantage of it.

The ATC will be requiring establishments to apply for a supplemental carryout addendum, and the "devilish" details are as yet not forthcoming. Then again it's been only 12 hours. There'll undoubtedly be hitches and glitches, but I can say with certainty that quality people are "on it," and I'll try to thank them all profusely in due time.

Maybe ... to repeat MAYBE ... some restaurants will have permission by the end of the business day today (Friday). If not, next week seems probable.

ON THE AVENUES: If it's a war, then the food service biz needs to be issued a few weapons. We need improvisation and flexibility to survive the shutdown.

ON THE AVENUES: If it's a war, then the food service biz needs to be issued a few weapons. We need improvisation and flexibility to survive the shutdown.

Noon Friday Update (March 20): As of yesterday evening, Indiana is implementing certain temporary carryout privileges for restaurants, as advocated in this column. It's an ongoing story, with an overview here.

This will be a truncated edition of the weekly column. Since last week's entry, everyday "normality" as most of us have experienced it throughout our lives has been suspended -- temporarily, or so we're told, although it's worth remembering that most challenges of COVID-19's magnitude usually end with a plethora of new, altered realities, some big and others small.

As a social worker, Diana as yet remains in the trenches, seeking to provide daily needs and services to at-risk populations. My world is the food, drink and hospitality business, and we're in a state of siege. It is an existential crisis unlike any we've faced in the past century.

What I'm about to write may strike some as trivial in the context of society's needs at this juncture, so let me assure you that I'll not be asking for the moon and stars at a time of universal dumpster fires. Rather, I'm urging a common-sense improvisation pertaining to measures already announced, something that might assist my brethren to make it through to emergency's end.

There may be other relevant improvisations I'm missing, and if so, let me know. Ears are wide open, and there's ample opportunity for consideration.

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My thinking on this matter began evolving when I saw this quote in the Indy Star by Eric Holcomb, governor of Indiana.

"We are at war with COVID-19 and we will win this war."

This is when it occurred to me that in the context of state-mandated closure orders for restaurants and bars -- my family, my community -- we're the ones being asked to bear the brunt of the anti-COVID-19 resistance by buying time and being crippled or extinguished if necessary -- in effect, to do what we can with to delay the invading hordes while stronger lines of resistance are being built in the rear.

It's a common theme in military history, although it may not be the best time to recall what happened to Poland's cavalry at the outset of the Second World War.

If it's wartime analogies the governor prefers, then mine make perfect sense. It is not at all far-fetched, considering that the business fatality rate will escalate exponentially the longer the closure order (exempting food carryout) stands.

If this is a war, and if normality is subject to experimentation and revision, then perhaps it would be a good idea to examine further ways to help us fight the battle. 

And boost morale.

Naturally restaurants and bars are eager to do their part within these revised (and improvised) frameworks of operation. It remains that carry-out, curbside and delivery meals alone are an imperfect compromise for many of us, given that our business models rely on the margins from alcoholic beverages.

Those of us without state permits allowing for alcoholic beverage carryout sales, as with holders of riverfront area licenses, are being placed at even more of competitive disadvantage as we all struggle to make it through the state-mandated suspension of normal activities.

We're holding inventories of beer, wine and spirits that are locked down. Most beers and wines don't improve with age, either. Meanwhile package stores, supermarkets and drug stores are not subject to this p(P)rohibition.

If all on-premise sales are off-limits for now, restaurants and bars already have lost one of their stool's three legs. Without alcoholic beverage sales, the second leg is gone, too.

One-legged stools might be tenable, but only barely.

Concepts that include words like "temporary," "modification," "expedient" and "let's throw this against the wall and see if it sticks" need to be considered. As I wrote on Facebook:

"If we're at war, and if restaurants and bars are expected to bear the brunt of a calculated wartime strategy of 'social distancing,' then can they at least be allowed to use the weapons they already possess to stay alive, so they can continue to fight another day?"

I hope that Governor Holcomb will consider a short-term departure from the "everyday" that would allow us to serve the needs of customers for the duration of the war against coronavirus, as well as give us a statistical chance of surviving the conflict.

Holcomb should instruct the Alcohol & Tobacco Commission to temporarily suspend enforcement of Indiana's bewildering carry-out alcohol laws, until such a time when restaurants and bars can go back to operating as they did before the crisis. Merely loosen up, temporarily. Existing permit holders know the rules, and the vast majority follow these procedures.

We aren't newbies. We just don't have a box checked on a sheet of paper.

Our patrons are accustomed to coming inside, hanging out, eating a meal and having a couple of beers. For an indefinite period, almost surely long after March 30, they can't do this. Buying bottles and cans of beers and wine to take away with their food does not seem like a radical reordering of civilization.

I'm saving the most corona-vincing argument for last, because as it pertains to relaxing enforcement of an alcohol law or three to help keep us in the ballgame.

KENTUCKY
ALREADY
IS DOING IT. 

That's right. The Kentucky Restaurant Association lobbied Governor Andy Beshear for a measure of temporary rationality, and I'm told that by Friday 20 March restaurants will be able to sell carry-out beverages with food -- only with food, which is a proper distinction, as are other qualifiers (package not draft, etc)that might be required.

I've written this in one sitting, straight through, and there'll be mistakes. I understand perfectly well that my topic isn't a priority, and nor should it be, which actually reinforces the simplicity of the point being made here.

This isn't rocket science.

It's a tool (or a weapon, your choice) to assist us in carrying on as we carry out ... calmly.

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Recent columns:

March 12: ON THE AVENUES: Keep calm and carry on.

March 5: ON THE AVENUES: I've got the spirit, but lose the feeling.

February 27: ON THE AVENUES: There is a complete absence of diversity among regular News and Tribune columnists.

February 20: ON THE AVENUES: For downtown New Albany, escaping reality might soon be a bridge too far.

City Hall, BOW take note and help as "New Albany Restaurants Transition to Curbside Pickup/Delivery Options."

On Monday evening this idea was passed along to 3rd district councilman Greg Phipps; twelve hours later it had been vetted and approved by the Board of Works. Impressive and praiseworthy given that precisely the same body once required six months to consider the appropriateness of a street piano.

Sorry. Couldn't resist it. This move is welcomed; thanks.

New Albany Restaurants Transition to Curbside Pickup/Delivery Options

To better facilitate curbside and carry out orders, the City of New Albany took action and approved curbside parking for local restaurants in front of their businesses. New “Curbside Service Parking Spaces” will become available throughout downtown during this emergency and signs are being created and placed as soon as they are fabricated.

LIVE TO EAT: These downtown New Albany restaurants are offering carry-out and curbside meals.

New Albany Social took some time off during the past year, but Kelly Ott Winslow posted this list on Monday evening, and it has been shared 1,596 times as of 10:10 a.m. on Tuesday.

That's simply fantastic.

Please remember that although the restaurants listed have always prepared food to go, our new abnormal means that virtually all of them are reinventing themselves on the fly without much of a road map.

As an example, I know for a fact that city officials are working on plans to help define the word "curbside" (reserved parking spaces) to assist in the effort of restaurants being social with take-away food albeit with minimal human contact, but in this and other considerations it will take some time to work out the kinks.

Over at Food & Dining Magazine we'll be trying to push as much information as we can given the circumstances. All that can be said with any accuracy is that local restaurants and bars will be doing what they can to survive for the foreseeable future, and your patronage is crucial.

For bars with little or no food service, the COVID-19 "curve flattening" measures are tantamount to Our New Prohibition. I'll try to report about them, too.

Stay tuned.