New Albany's Donum Dei Brewery, coming soon to Grant Line Road.

Since the following was written and posted at NA Confidential in early January, I've met Richard "Rick" Otey on several occasions. He and his business partner are moving steadily forward, with a target date of May to be up and running. Otey's goals -- local beer, light food and comfy coffee shop-style seating -- strike me as reasonable. There may be yet another brewery in the works for New Albany; if you know anything about Wrecker Brewing Company, give me a shout.

(January 7, 2014)

I must confess to finding is somewhat amazing, and perhaps even admirable, that a fellow New Albanian has planned a new brewery, bought equipment and signed a lease without someone, somewhere telling me about it.

Well, why not? It's the sort of era when not one but two separate groups look to start a brewery in Tell City. I think it's a great thing, and so here's what little I know about the advent of Donum Dei Brewery.

My first clue came two months ago, when I saw a list of Indiana breweries in development, as prepared by the Brewers of Indiana Guild. Then John Wurth at LouisvilleBeer.com put together a page tracking the progress of brewing start-ups in metro Louisville, which pinpointed an address that sounded curiously similar to that of NABC's Pizzeria & Public House.

And so it is: 3211 Grant Line Road, which as it turns out, is the precise storefront once occupied by Earth Friends Cafe, in the 1990s strip building behind El Nopal. Where'd that garage door come from?

Yesterday Blake drove me past, and I snapped the photos above. Donum Dei means "Gift of God." And that's about all we know about it at present.

For quite some time, it has been a goal of mine to convince both city and indie business operators in the Grant Line Road commercial zone between McDonald Lane and the interstate to combine efforts and market the area as College Park, University Woods (prescient, those apartment builders of old) or some such tag to make the connection with IU Southeast and beautify and rationalize the vicinity. Having another brewery across the street fits perfectly. The Blair family is renovating the ramshackle former employment office into a dance studio. Now all we need is for a family-owned Turkish joint to move into the space left vacant when The Exchange moved downtown.

We just might succeed in spite of ourselves, which is the time-honored (read: only) formula in New Albany.

Black Friday is out: Indie shopping is in, and Plaid Friday is November 23.

NABC is a founding member of New Albany First, which is our city’s independent business association (IBA). It is the New Albany version of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA), which encourages you to Keep Louisville Weird), and is dedicated to encouraging the public to support independently owned, small local businesses.

IBAs accomplish this through three primary focus areas:

1. Public education about the greater overall value local independents often can provide (even when they are not the cheapest) as well as the vital economic, social and cultural role independent businesses play in the community.

2. Facilitating cooperative promotion, advertising, purchasing, sharing of skills and resources and other activities to help local businesses gain economies of scale and compete more effectively.

3. Creating a strong and uncompromised voice to speak for local independents in the local government and media while engaging citizens in guiding the future of their community through democratic action.

NABC and our brethren sink or swim as locally oriented independents, and many of us have pledged support via New Albany First. Happily, the approaching holiday season provides a perfect opportunity to put principles into action.

We all know that “Black Friday” (November 23) is the biggest sales day of the year for big boxes and multinational chain stores -- the ones where the money flees town for corporate headquarters worldwide. In response to media hype and saturation advertising, which steer so much trade to the country's biggest, richest and largest companies on “Black Friday,” the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), of which New Albany First is a member, promotes Shift Your Shopping, of which Plaid (as opposed to Black) Friday is a component.

Instead of Black Friday it’s PLAID FRIDAY! Shift Your Shopping and wear plaid as you shop on Friday to remind yourself and others to make the 10% Shift. The 10% Shift encourages you to shift 10% of your holiday purchases from non-local businesses to Local Independents (also called indies or locally owned and independent businesses). Making the shift to local independents is one way we can build sustainable economies and create jobs in our local community.

It’s simple. You're not being asked to go cold turkey -- just allocate a percentage to independent local businesses, and learn what they can do for you. New Albany First can help locate indies, and another good idea is to follow the "buy local" answer woman, Kate Caufield, whose blog is devoted precisely to this topic: New Albany 365. Local independent business thank you for your support.

Note: Plaid Friday is part of NABC's annual slate of activities around Thanksgiving. For more details, go here.

"Local is an experience as much as it is a sourcing."

This is an excellent column on the nuances of localism, as written by a beer-loving observer in Lexington, Kentucky: On Being Local, at Make Mine Potato.

Food, drink, etc -- New Albany indies "inside the beltway."

NABC's graphics department, otherwise known as staff artist Tony Beard, has been updating the map normally situated to the left of the Bank Street Brewhouse door. I've helped him assemble this list, the purpose of which is to provide quasi-accurate food and drink information to passers-by. In the eventuality that we are not open on a particular day or at a certain time, it is that visitors will patronize another establishment and keep their expenditures local.

The main target is downtown because that's within short driving and walking (or biking) distance, but listings have been expanded to include independent local food and drink businesses inside the beltway. Take a look at the updated list. What are we missing?

Coffee

“Earth Friends Café & Coffee Bar” 3211 Grant Line Road (at Summit Square) 812-725-9393

“Quills Coffee” (coming in November 2011) 137 East Market Street

“Hobknobb Roasting Company” 419 State Street New Albany, IN 47150 (812) 944-4555 (also maintains a kiosk in the NA-FC Public Library)

---

Sweets & Ice Cream

“Honey Creme Donut Shop” 514 Vincennes Street 812-945-2150

“Rookies Cookies” 310 Pearl Street (812) 948-8858

“Sweet Stuff Bakery” 323 East Spring Street 812-948-2507

“Zesto Ice Cream” (seasonal) 2740 Charlestown Road 812-944-6845

---

Classic Taverns

“B & B Pub & Grill” 1423 Culbertson Avenue 812-725-9955

“Hitching Post Tavern” 115 West Market Street 812-945-8854

“Hugh E. Bir’s Cafe” 324 East Market Street 812-945-8884

“Pastime Grill & Pub” 424 East Market Street 812-945-9055

“Uptown Bar” 330 Vincennes Street 812-945-1850

“Vic’s Cafe” 1839 East Market Street 812-944-4338

“Vickie's Good Times Bar” 114 East Market Street 812-941-8000

---

Package Beer, Wine and Liquor (no food)

“Bottles Unlimited” 427 State Street 812-945-6765 (also owns Uptown Liquors at 609 Vincennes Street)

“Bridge Liquors” 110 Knable Lane 812-949-6396

“Keg (New Albany)” 302 Pearl Street Suite B 812-948-0444

“Sunset Spirits” 2706 Paoli Pike 812-944-4031

---

Pool Halls

“Jack’s” 3308 Plaza Drive 812-948-1600 FULL BAR/BAR FOOD

---

Restaurants (with alcoholic beverages)

“(The) Bank Fusion Cuisine and Lounge” 203 East Main 812-944-1929 FUSION/LOUNGE/NIGHTCLUB

“Feast BBQ” (coming in Spring 2012) 116 West Main Street BARBECUE

"Habana Blues" 148 East Market St 812-944-9760 CUBAN

"(The) Irish Exit" 207 East Main Street 812-944-1929 IRISH PUB

“La Bocca Restaurant” 134 East Market Street 812-725-9495 ITALIAN

"La Rosita Mexican Grill" 336 Pearl Street 812-944-3620 MEXICAN

"Louis Le Français" 133 East Market Street 812-944-1222 FRENCH

“Mac’s Hideaway” 1636 Slate Run Road 812-945-4256 PUB GRUB

“NA Exchange pub + kitchen” 3306 Plaza Drive 812-948-6501 GASTROPUB

“NABC Bank Street Brewhouse” 415 Bank Street 812-725-9585 BREWERY/CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN … carry-out beer sales on Sunday

“River City Winery” 321 Pearl Street 812-945-9463 WINERY/ CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN … carry-out wine sales on Sunday

“Sam’s Food & Spirits” 3800 Payne Koehler Road 812-945-9757 AMERICAN

“Toast on Market” 141 East Market Street 812-941-8582 CONTEMPORARY BREAKFAST/LUNCH

“Tucker’s American Favorites” 2441 State Street 812-944-9999 SPORTS BAR

“Wick’s Pizza” 225 State Street 812-945-9425 PIZZA

---

Restaurants (without alcoholic beverages)

“Dock Seafood” 1125 State Street 812-944-2951 FISH & SEAFOOD

“Jackson's Seafood” 400 West Main Street 812-945-3474 FISH & SEAFOOD

“Hing Wang Chinese Restaurant” 2123 Spring Street 812-542-2728 CHINESE

“Lancaster Cafeteria” 223 West 5th Street 812-949-2400 HOME COOKING

“Little Chef” 147 East Market Street 812-949-7567 CLASSIC DINER

Black is out, plaid is in.

NABC is a founding member of New Albany First, which is our city’s new independent business association (IBA). It is the New Albany version of the Louisville Independent Business Alliance (LIBA), which encourages you to Keep Louisville Weird), and is dedicated to encouraging the public to support independently owned, small local businesses.

IBAs accomplish this through three primary focus areas:

1. Public education about the greater overall value local independents often can provide (even when they are not the cheapest) as well as the vital economic, social and cultural role independent businesses play in the community.

2. Facilitating cooperative promotion, advertising, purchasing, sharing of skills and resources and other activities to help local businesses gain economies of scale and compete more effectively.

3. Creating a strong and uncompromised voice to speak for local independents in the local government and media while engaging citizens in guiding the future of their community through democratic action.

Obviously, NABC sinks or swims by being independent and locally oriented, and we have pledged support by joining New Albany First. Happily, the approaching holiday season provides a perfect opportunity to put principles into action.

We all know that “Black Friday” (Nov 25) is the biggest sales day of the year for big boxes and multinational chain stores -- the ones where the money leaves town for corporate headquarters worldwide.

In response to the media hype and saturation advertising that steer so much trade to the country's biggest, richest and largest companies on “Black Friday,” the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA), of which New Albany First is a member, promotes the idea of America Unchained, which commences the weekend before Thanksgiving). Meanwhile, an initiative arising in Oakland CA called Plaid (not black) Friday is beginning to pop up in communities across the nation.

NABC aims to join in the fun on Plaid Friday this year. First and foremost, we remind you of the intent:

Instead of Black Friday it’s PLAID FRIDAY! Shift Your Shopping and wear plaid as you shop on Friday to remind yourself and others to make the 10% Shift. The 10% Shift encourages you to shift 10% of your holiday purchases from non-local businesses to Local Independents (also called indies or locally owned and independent businesses). Making the shift to local independents is one way we can build sustainable economies and create jobs in our local community.

It’s simple, and you’re not being asked to go cold turkey -- just allocate a percentage to independent local businesses, and learn what they can do for you. Here at NABC, we’re discussing what we might do on Plaid Friday beyond dressing up for the day. I have a few ideas, so stay tuned for more.

Save ear X-tacy.