Your opinion about a hypothetical bill of fare?

"The attitude of the restaurant seems to be: if they don't get it, then we don't want them as a customer."

in my humble opinion, the attitude is more "if they don't WANT (or least attempt) to get it, then we don't want them as customers"

which i completely agree with

i'm hungry Roger and Josh

Throughout this thread, there continues to be an almost palpable fear that we'll be clubbing diet coke drinking baby seals over the head as they come through the door. In some ways, I'm flattered that my reputation precedes me ... but really, that hasn't been the intent, ever. From the beginning, the idea has been to have alternatives and to be prepared to offer them, whether through server testimony or the excellent idea of having a written statement of ethics. We've actually discussed having something of that nature on hand to help.

The real subtext here has been this: Will customers entertain alternatives fairly and honestly offered? My wife, who often drinks diet coke, merely shrugged and said that she's cool with it as long as we have sparkling water as a substitute. That's the attitude, and might well be why we're married.

Phil: Yes, I looked at the BB website. Awesome stuff, indeed. What we'll be trying to do is that, but toned down about 75%. The Belgian beer list is impressive indeed, although I might pick nits about the need to have three draft pilsners when one would do just fine. Thanks for the link!

And, thanks again to everyone who's tossed a thought into this thread. Fairly soon we're going to wade out into the deeper water and see what happens. Should be much fun.

Dave, you and I both know that someday (maybe already) there'll be a Facebook group called "Fans of Bistro New Albany" or something similar. Pioneers don't get due props, and the unfortunate fact is that when it comes to eateries and urban revitalization, often those making a go of it had to crawl over the debris left behind by the generation that had the balls to give it a go when conditions weren't as favorable.

Well ... it ain't over 'til its over, and you'll get your due, if for no other reason than my aim to be the one writing the history of it.

I really miss Bistro NA and cant wait for Roger's new place to open...Living in the Knobs with a 2 year old gives me limited opportunities to get out and if I could cut the drive from 30 minutes each way to 15 then that's more time to get to the good stuff.

Throwdown with Bobby Flay is running a repeat featuring mussels and fries. It's making me hungry. It will repeat tomorrow morning at 12:30am. I think I may have to set my alarm and watch it again.

I cannot wait to check out out the culmination of Roger's great effort. Will there be authentic Belgian desserts? I know the crepes will not be made using 12 inch flour tortillas, as another Indiana restaurant dared serve my wife. Pricepoint was a term used earlier; but I, like Roger don't care that much about food percentage, I assume. For example, the markup on some of my beers has been only in the 20% range. I believe the satisfaction of being able to offer that special dish or beer is more important than the 300% markup. But in the end we need a profit to continue enjoying our work. The facts are : I have lived in this area 10 years. I have made the trek to Richos every couple of weeks with at least my son. Sometimes our entire family makes the trip from Simpsonville. I am bypassing many eateries for a simple reason. No other place has what I am looking for; service coupled with cool customers, ambience, family friendly fare, and great beers. I am sure the new project will offer people like myself more than enough reasons to visit. One being the fact Sunday will be open. As far as people wondering if it will be kid-friendly, don't cross the river. There is a play area in all the big mc Doggfoodalds. Having been throughout Europe, I can attest that nobody has the kids play area that serves great beers and food. But, you will see families spend hours eating and drinking. How can the Europeans possibly do this when there is not even the cartoon channel? After 4 or 5 Duvels kids become very quiet. Kidding!! One of my beer dinners had a family celebrating Dad's bithday. Three hours later the children, aged 5 and 7 were still enjoying themselves because they brought books. Yes, books!! So, the kid friendly atmosphere comes from the families we are happy to see come through our doors. More power to Roger for not offering swill. I am sure he may have instructed his great staff to not laugh in the face of anyone ordering a water. Please turn to the side when howling with derision. The diet coke or lack of, is another point that has been touched upon by the critics. I try to thank the DDs by having those available. Actually when I move to the city, I will try to offer the drink I was raised with, Wetvleteren. OOPS I meant Guarana made by Antarctica in Brasil. So, if Roger offers something different to the non beer drinkers, I think he have final say. Good luck and thanks for having saved me thousands of dollars. You see, my brother used to call me and say, let's go to Europe for the weekend. Now he knows to come to Sergios or Richos.

After 4 or 5 Duvels kids become very quiet.

Kidding!!

Thanks, Sergio. That made me giggle.

Richard, you are a case study of sorts. You live nearer to the original location, and work closer to the new one. You also patronize the YMCA downtown. Do you think the addition of the Y will impact your choice of venues to "rehydrate"?
I wrote the following on Sunday at my blog after observing perhaps 60 cars parked near the YMCA at 2 p.m.:
There also were cars in the parking lot just out of view to the right. While resting for perhaps ten minutes before resuming my ride, perhaps a half-dozen people left the gym and another half-dozen arrived.
Seems like potential customers to me, but almost nothing is open downtown on Sunday.
The Bank Street Brewhouse team discussed this again last week, and once things are up and running, we're going to take a shot at Sunday hours of 12 noon though 7:00 p.m. (or maybe 8:00 p.m.) We're still thinking adult refreshments and a very simple food menu.
This seems to me the ultimate in chicken/egg arguments. Most businesses aren't open because no one's downtown on Sunday, but no one's downtown on Sunday because most businesses aren't open. The Y is open, so this would seem to indicate that people will come downtown on Sunday if there's a reason. Granted, there quite a few children at the Y on weekends, and children themselves aren't a brewery's target demographic (they have parents, right?). Still, it seems like something worth chancing.

Yes, the Y will impact my choice of venues. On one hand, I am not really thinking of dining on my way to the gym, and after leaving the gym, I am thinking of a healthier fare perhaps than beer and fries, but there is that sense of entitlement I might feel for a job well done on the elliptical that will cause me to stop by occasionally on a Sunday afternoon. Because of where I reside in relation to your other location, I see the new venue as more of a lunch stop for me.

Did we notice that Tom Colicchio is the newest spokeschef for Diet Coke? It seems that Diet Coke has . . . wait for it . . . flavor.

Lite beer has flavor, too -- especially if you pay a celebrity to say it's so.

::snicker snort::

Even I know that light beer has no flavor.

::snicker snort::

Even I know that light beer has no flavor.

Oh, they have flavor. For me, the mass produced mega-swill light beers still have some wretched corn/rice metallic flavors in them. Sort of puke-like. They attempt to imitate water, but they can't quite do it while providing three percent alcohol with non-barley ingredients and limited hops.

We will forever be a "light-free zone" at Ray's...

-Nimbus

Preach it, Brother Nimbus.

We should assembe a guide to Louisville-area light free zones. I think I'll post this as a separate topic if I recover from Gravity sickness.