Letter From The Editor
Photo by Jessica Ebelhar
This month’s guest editor is Kelsey Westbrook. Kelsey (she/her) is a queer bisexual spirits professional, freelance writer, and non-profit organizer. Along with her career as the Beverage Director & Events Coordinator at NoraeBar, Kelsey’s writing has been featured in national publications including Bourbon+ Magazine, Difford’s Guide, Churchill Downs Magazine, and for iconic spirits brands including Diageo and Sazerac - Mr. Boston. Kelsey is the founder of the non-profit Saving Sunny, a community outreach and animal welfare organization. She is passionate about social justice, liberation, and her hobbies include cooking, travel, dog cuddles, and weightlifting.
I set out to curate an issue that had nothing to do with COVID-19. Eight months into this pandemic, we’re sick and tired of the unknown, the gloom and the doom, the polarization and how it affects our livelihoods, namely those of us that work in the “SPIRITS&PLATES” industries.We need entertainment that allows us to turn it all off, even if it’s just for a brief moment of ignorant bliss. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that, as a leader of a bar staff, I fall asleep with worry and I wake up to the same pit in my stomach every. Single. Day.
This is why it shouldn’t have surprised me that as the pitches started rolling in for this issue of TAUNT, and I began reaching out to these incredible writers and leaders in the industry, many of them needed to tell the stories of how this indomitable pandemic has tightened its grip around the neck of our communities and seemingly won’t let go. We have to share what it feels like to be in the workforce daily, face-to-face with the public. We must shine light on the disparities that marginalized folks in the service industry experience, even more so when they’re disproportionally affected by COVID-19. We’re in fight or flight mode and flight is simply not an option. We give what we have to each other because communities must lean on one another to survive, and the food and beverage industry has had to learn this hard lesson this year — no one is coming to save us.
This issue speaks to what we’re going through, but also what we’re creating as a result. Spirits, cocktails, and plates curated by the most talented folks in Louisville are telling the stories of our triumphs and what we must endure to survive. This is our art, and we must showcase it at every moment in history, even those we hope will soon pass. There is not one white cisgender, heterosexual writer in this issue because BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals are leading the charge of community and compassion when we need it most. Food justice, housing and job security, pandemic relief . . . These are all things I see our community members providing for one another. Take in this issue and the things you can do to support this industry from outside and from within. I look forward to the day that resilience does not have to be the greatest attribute of the food and beverage world, but for now, we’ll continue to push for something better. Something brighter. Not back to the way it was, but onward.
<3 Kelsey
Table of Contents
Cover art by Minda Honey
The Covid Hustle
By Aaron Thomas
On Friday the 13 of March, 2020, I stood in a terminal of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, anxiously awaiting my one way flight back to Louisville. The feeling of tension and uncertainty in the air was palpable, as America was, unbeknownst to many, at the start of a reckoning. The novel coronavirus had reached the US, and cases were climbing by the hour.
Redefining Southern Hospitality
Words by Valentina Ashurova
Photos by Kenyatta Bosman
What many Louisvillians and tourists may not realize is that at the heart of this city are BIPOC creators redefining Southern Hospitality.
The Best of Louisville
Ryeshia Reves
So what do white people in the service industry need to be doing? Black people feel abused and unsafe in the Louisville restaurant scene. Trans folks feel abused and unsafe in the Louisville restaurant scene. Something is wrong here. This industry was built on something foul and insidious and it's time to cut the rotten part of the foundation.
Pandemic Proof Your Holiday Drinking
Dante Wheat
What can we do to drink, not drive, and share experiences with one another? Let's bounce back to that seemingly idyllic time between March and June of 2020 but spice up our options a bit -- perhaps even make them more relevant for the weird-ass holiday season we're about to experience.
Food Justice & Bad Advice
Shauntrice Martin
In my efforts in this movement and industry, I decided to explore the experiences of Louisville small business owners in the food industry who have persevered despite the odds. As a woman working in food justice, I've been told all the ways I could fail by men in the industry. Finding the right business partner, investor, or mentor is challenging because a lot of women end up being reduced to all the sexist stereotypes that patriarchy has come to treasure. While we can’t give every woman entrepreneur an amazing mentor, we can share advice from some women whose businesses have weathered the storms. I want to tell these stories, because so many people told me that Feed The West and Black Market could never succeed. If I had given into that discouragement, we wouldn't have fed 31,000 West End residents in six months. By my side are women in Louisville who have persevered, despite the odds: Ms. Wanda Wilson of the Reevesville Family Farm, Cassia Herron of Louisville Association for Community Economics, and Tammy Hawkins of the Parkland Neighborhood Food Mart.
A Word From Our
Community Partner
This issue of TAUNT was made possible by a generous grant from the LEE Initiative.
When Chef Lee and I dreamed up The LEE Initiative, we were in the midst of the “Me Too” reckoning in the restaurant industry. LEE actually stands for “Let’s Empower Employment,” and the idea was to create mentorship opportunities and a path to leadership for women who were starting their careers in the industry. We had a little bit of money, a lot of elbow grease and a beautiful program called the Women Chefs Program that we thought could slowly make real, sustainable change in people’s lives. We couldn't have done it without the support from our partners, especially Maker's Mark, who has been with us since the beginning of The LEE Initiative.
The pandemic changed everything for us, and for restaurants. Overnight the problems became enormous. As restaurants shut down, people lost their jobs, in an industry with almost no safety net. Our job is to feed people and that’s what we did, paying restaurants to stay open as relief centers, finding ways to keep raising money, to keep paying people to work, to keep feeding people. Since March we’ve served hundreds of thousands of families, given away millions of meals, funded dozens of programs, trained young people of color here in Louisville under a program we named for Chef David McAtee, fed protesters in Portland, given farms grants to supply small restaurants, and dreamed up a bigger future for our programs focused on equity.
What we need for a better future is to use this time as an opportunity for change that can truly benefit all people. That’s our ultimate goal in our work; not just to repair a broken system, but to rebuild a better one and help to create the industry that we've always wanted. Building a better industry is what we see here at TAUNT, where the founder realized that she could create a better media industry, and she's done just that. We support TAUNT because the industry and the medium are different, but the message is the same. The old world order needs to end. What we build back from there is up to us.
Lindsey Ofcacek, Managing Director, The LEE Initiative
Thank You To Our Friends 🖤
Spencer Jenkins
Spencer graciously welcomed TAUNT under his umbrella at Queer Kentucky to help us launch. This is a partnership, a friendship, and a momentum that cannot be stopped. Please visit and support Queer Kentucky’s fight for LGBTQ+ visibility in the Bluegrass State.
David Welker
David Welker designed our TAUNT logo and the STATUS QUO social media teasers. He is also designing our upcoming merch (Crop tops are coming, y’all!).
Jon Fleischaker & Michael Abate
Jon and Michael were unbelievably generous with their time and encouraging of TAUNT’s mission to toy with what Louisville’s media scene should look like.
Josh Moss
Thank you to Joss Moss for his mentorship and early enthusiasm for TAUNT. TAUNT appreciate’s Louisville Magazine’s collaborative spirit in helping spread the word about the new kid on the scene.
Deedra Tate
Deedra Tate and Don Meredith Co. printed our big ol’ thank you postcards. And they did the things you want most out of a printer – For the job to be fast and done right. If you’re trying to get a handwritten thank you in the mail, donate to TAUNT.
Our 300+ Donors
Folks from all over the country tossed cash TAUNT’s way during a global pandemic because they believed in Minda and the believed Louisville is a city worthy of the nation’s concern. Let’s get heard.