Chef Josh on frites in Velocity.

Bank Street Brewhouse's Josh Lehman is featured along with other Louisville frites makers.

Fries with flair: Pommes frites are sizzling in Louisville; Pommes frites are sizzling in Louisville, by Erin Keane (Velocity; Jan. 18, 2011)

Lehman's frites ... undergo a multistage process that begins with the whole potato itself, selected, rinsed and hand-cut to a squared-off ¾-inch with the wall-mounted fry cutter in the kitchen — no bags of frozen crinkle-cuts in his kitchen. Then he rinses the raw fries to get rid of some of the starch, which results in a more even golden color. Then they're deep-fried in oil heated to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, blotted with paper towels to remove excess grease, and fried again at 375 degrees to achieve the perfect crisp. The frites are then finished with fleur de sel, a French sea salt.

Rosen on "Top Chefs" in Velocity.

Here's a good piece by Marty Rosen in Velocity about Louisville's ranking chefs, but let me tell you something: I'm admittedly biased, but I'll take our man Josh Lehman -- surely the top chef on this side of the river. You can enjoy his work only at Bank Street Brewhouse in downtown New Albany.

New Albanians, you have a great chef right here.

Talking with Top Chefs: Why is Louisville such a vibrant restaurant scene? The city's well-known kitchen magicians dish up their reasons.

Those of us who live and dine in Louisville believe that we live in one of the best dining cities in America. That's not to say that Louisville's scene is comparable in scale or scope with internationally renowned culinary centers like New York and Chicago, but that in terms of overall excellence and variety, Louisville's scene holds its own against any comparably sized — and many much larger — cities.

"The Beer Issue" in Velocity.

Local craft beer love, courtesy of "The Beer Issue" in this week's Velocity, which for non-Louisvillians is Gannett's weekly "alternative" spin-off from the Courier-Journal, probably soon to be absorbed into the Metromix:

High hops (by Andrew Adler) ... Tyler's and Lori's red hot Louisville Beer Store.

Passion in a Pint Glass (by Erin Keane) ... My Old Kentucky Homebrew supply shop.

Brews Cruise (Erin Keane) ... Five new good beer destinations to add to a previous list in the publication, including Sergio's, Derby City Espresso and NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse.

Is Velocity next? We can only hope.

It looks as though the handwriting may be on the wall for Velocity, which only a couple years back was the Courier-Journal's big ticket attempt to kneecap the Louisville Eccentric Observer.

Velocity's congenital avoidance of meaningful content isn't necessarily an excuse for it to die an agonizing and painful death, even if it's my best reason for the same. After all, these are the people who did light beer reviews for the clueless. I've never forgiven them for pandering like that, even if a couple of writers were eventually found who showed an understanding of craft beer.

The point to me is that embarrassing meaninglessness is so readily available these days, and from so many different electronic and computerized medias, that there's no reason for the target demographic to actually grab a hard copy of the rag -- and that's where the crucial advertisements are located.

But we'll see. Perhaps Velocity will survive the latest Gannett cuts to yawn, pander and be gratuitous another day.

Hard Hits at Gannett in Cincy, by Rick Redding (The 'Ville Voice blog).

While we’re waiting for word about layoffs at the Courier-Journal, Gannett’s operation in Cincinnati is being hit hard. The 10-person staff at CiN Weekly, the weekly entertainment paper (Velocity equivalent) was let go, as was the Enquirer’s editorial page editor.

The weekly is apparently being re-branded as MetroMix, a move already made in other Gannett markets, including Indianapolis and Nashville. Officially, Gannett is calling the new Cincy rag “the premier printed snapshot of all things entertainment that younger adults need to plan their free time.”

In other words, “the best we can do without any staff members to, you know, actually write stuff.”

This cheerful sentence is from CityBeat, a Cincy website following the layoffs:

“Gannett already has made that change in the Indianapolis and Nashville markets, replacing local publications with one standard weekly that uses copy produced from various corporate sites nationwide.”

The story notes that staff members have been placing MetroMix stickers on CiN Weekly distribution boxes. In all, 100 jobs are expected to be lost in Cincinnati.

Bank Street Brewhouse in Velocity.

The reviewer mentions the evening menu, pictured below (scallops and flat iron steak). The evening menu is offered Thursday - Saturday.

Review: New Albanian Bank Street Brewhouse; The atmosphere is almost as good as the beer, by Josh Thomas (Velocity).

Connor's Place in Velocity.

Velocity's Bar Hopper visits Connor's Place and finds good things to say about the beer, food and ambience.

Congrats to Dave Himmel for good press!

Velocity's Bar Hopper finds Cumberland Brews to her liking, and I agree.

Last week’s Velocity contained yet another article about a local brewpub that was written knowingly by a writer, Joanna Richards, who obviously “gets it,” a facet of the publication’s beer coverage that, shall we gently note, hasn’t always been in evidence.

Velocity Bar Hopper visits Cumberland Brews

With great beer, a cozy atmosphere and food I'd eat even if I weren't drinking, Cumberland Brews is one of my favorite hangouts in town.

The place seems designed to facilitate intelligent conversation in rooms that feel like inviting dens with rich colors, low lighting and solid wooden furniture -- it's a country inn for Bardstown Road wanderers.

Kudos to the Allgeier family and brewer Matt Gould for helping to establish Cumberland Brews as a Louisville institution.

Velocity's "Bar Hopper" on NABC.

It’s not exactly a secret that I’ve given Velocity, the Louisville Courier-Journal’s brightly colored and scantily worded mock-alternative weekly, quite a hard time at numerous past junctures.

When last we peeked into the world of Velocity, the Courier-Journal’s weekly ad-driven alternative wannabe corporate paean to cluelessness as a demographic preference – a place where relevance crawls off to die – it really wasn’t pretty.

My previous gibes were entirely merited, because apart from other complaints pertaining to Velocity’s aura of marketing-first, knowledge-a-distant-second approach to its primarily youthful readership, I’ll simply say that its coverage of beer has been inadequate.

Perpetual curmudgeonly probation aside, New Albanian Brewing Company made the cut for this week’s “Bar Hopper” column, and to give the devil his due, it’s a very good piece about my business.

Velocity’s Joanna Richards on NABC

I find myself wondering how many people will read the review, drive to New Albany in search of NABC, and only belatedly realize that NABC and Rich O’s are the same establishment … and that we actually have our own house beer? These facts are duly noted within the column, but often it doesn't matter.

Thanks to Ms. Richards. You did good work.

The Velocity beer reviewer strikes again.

At least give Velocity, otherwise known hereabouts as the Courier-Journal’s shameless “Generation ?” advertising supplement, a slight degree of credit for knowing not to challenge its readership's ever shorter attention spans.

Year of the Beer: Celebrate the Chinese New Year with a sampling of Asian brews, by Danielle Bermingham.

We toured the beer world to bring back some Asian brews for you to imbibe while embracing another culture (and a great excuse to party).

The majority of the brews we sampled had a pungent sour flicker and a gold to golden-red tone. The beers were light and best served cold, a perfect accompaniment to spicy curries or zinging stir-fry.

Surprise -- each beer reviewed today is a standard golden lager, none of which have anything to contribute to a good meal other than a price tag higher than that of bottled water. Singha? Admittedly good when fresh, perhaps better than many, and still inferior to numerous world pilsners and even a few Euro lagers.

Imagine the possibilities with those “spicy curries.” Foreign-style export stout, India Pale Ale … Aventinus Weizen Doppelbock.

Frank Zappa was right to suggest that a country must have a beer to be a real country, but just because a country has a beer, it doesn't mean the beer is worth a damn. The time-honored "shop for beer by national flag" approach always struck me as ironic at best, since most of the imports are weak lagers with the most to lose during transit. Consequently, whole generations have grown to adulthood thinking that cardboard is a noteworthy flavor profile of imported beer. And it is -- just not in a favorable way.

I swore to myself that I wouldn’t let this reviewer get to me, but so far she’s done fruit beers, light beers, Asian beers … it’s enough to make me run to the fridge for a delectable, dark, rich Okocim Porter.

Wait … I actually have one.

No cabbage rolls or mushrooms, though. Looks like I’ll just have to drink it all by itself.

That wasn't so hard, was it?