An Evening Of Irish Music And Good Food

     Set in the steamy equatorial rain forest of Nicaragua, "Tropical Depression" tells a poignant, touchingly funny tale of a young couple, Lupe and Ascensión Guzman, who, after being deported from the United States, have returned to their jungle village of Krukrulitos at the foot of the percolating volcano Momotombo. Here they struggle to readjust to life under one roof with Ascensión's overbearing, over-opinionated, up-in-your-business extended family where emotions are always simmering and the roost is ruled by the family's iron-willed matriarch.

"Tropical Depression" 
by Patti Liszkay
available it on Amazon:
https://www.amzn.com/1685131832

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​AN EVENING OF IRISH MUSIC AND GOOD FOOD

      Last month I posted a blog on the wonderful Irish band that played every Sunday evening on the patio of the Blarney Stone Tavern (see post from 6/11/2023, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/the-blarney-stone-tavern-irish-patio-band),

...of which my good friend Carol, a brilliant Irish fiddler, is a member.

     Recently the band moved their Sunday evening performance location from The Blarney Stone to the Smokehouse Brewing Company, a microbrewery and barbeque eatery located in the Columbus suburb of Grandview Heights.

     On July 16 my mate Tom and I met some friends there to hear the band play in their new digs and to eat some barbeque.
​        The interior of the Smokehouse Brewing Company has a friendly brew pub décor, 

...and a great area for the band to play and for the audience to enjoy the still wonderful traditional Irish music,

...created by the fiddlers,

...flutists

...and players of the accordion,

...harp,

...dulcimer,

...banjo and guitar,

...bouzouki,

...and an Irish drum called the Bodhran.

    It was in the music room close to the band that most of the diners had gathered, ​

...and where we likewise joined our friends for dinner,

...and happily discovered that the food was yummy and the portions copious. 
​      Among us we had the brisket platter,

...the brisket sandwich loaded with onion straws,

...and the brisket and chicken sampler.

    The drinkers among us (myself not included) opted to try the dark brews, which they pronounced very good.

        And so we spent a lovely evening tapping our feet to lively jigs,

...and reels, 

...or listening to the beautiful ballads led by the band's Irish tenor.

      For the information of any music-lovers who live in the Columbus area, the band now plays at several venues during the week.

     How lucky we are here in Columbus to be gifted with such a musical gem.