Blind Pig's Alcohol License Hearing Rescheduled for August; Meat's Possible Reopening Delayed

The Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control hearing to "revoke or suspend" The Blind Pig's alcoholic beverage licenses has been pushed back until Aug. 13 according to a staff assistant with that department. It originally had been scheduled for May 16. The Butchertown gastropub is still open and does still have its liquor license.

The delay, however, does push back the possible reopening of Meat, the pre-Prohibitionesque cocktail bar that resides on the floor above Blind Pig at 1076 E. Washington St.

In early April, Meat abruptly announced its temporary closure. A week later, Meat's owner Peyton Ray said a dispute with the Blind Pig involving liquor licensing was the reason. Meat had been "depending on the liquor license of the guys downstairs," Ray said at the time. "Unfortunately, our relations with the guys downstairs deteriorated so much and so quickly that they finally, the other day, just turned off the lights, locked the doors, turned off the water." (Blind Pig's chef/owner, Joseph Frase disagreed with Ray's allegations but declined to comment further at the time.)

Meat then applied for its own liquor license. Back in April, Ray had said he'd "probably find out more on the status of our [alcohol] license application" on the date of the Blind Pig's hearing—which had been scheduled for May 16. "We're fully planning on reopening, we just don't know when that's going to be—it could be at the latest, July," Ray said at the time.

When asked yesterday how the new August hearing date impacted his plans to re-open Meat, Ray responded via an email from his PR counsel, Carolyn McLean: "It would be premature to speculate about the re-opening of Meat before the Kentucky Alcoholic Beverage Control Board resolves its issues with The Blind Pig's liquor licenses," Ray was quoted as saying.

In another twist to the story, Ray purchased the building that Meat shares with the Blind Pig, in May, a transaction that surprised Frase.

A voice mail message was left for Frase, at 4:27 p.m. yesterday asking for the reason for the delay. The Kentucky Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control official who told Eater about the new hearing date was asked via email about the reason for the delay on May 30. This article will be updated should either person respond.

·All Meat Coverage [~ELOU~]
·All Blind Pig Coverage [~ELOU~]

[Photos: Courtesy Blind Pig and Zach Everson]