Balcones Distillery Gets Rid of Owner; "Space Whiskey" Traveled Through Space For Three Years

CITYWIDE— CultureMap explores the resurgence of seafood towers in the city's hottest new restaurants including Liberty Kitchen and Oysterette, Del Frisco's, and Holley's. To help readers navigate the iced raw bar scene, they have broken down a list of local eateries offering the chilled sampler, what comes on it, the price, and suggested beverage pairings. [CultureMap]

EVENT PLANNING— French bistro Lucille's is hosting a "Lights Out" wine dinner as a remembrance to a night last year when the restaurant was forced to continue dinner service in the dark after an explosion blew out their block's power grid. Chef/owner Chris Williams turned the disaster into a positive by refusing to close and using candles to light up the dining room and the kitchen. The evening was a success and Williams wishes to bring that ambiance back to Lucille's with a Dinner in the Dark event tonight at 7 p.m. The $98 tickets for the seven-course tasting are available by calling 713-568-2505. [HoustonPress]

BOOZE BATTLES— According to CultureMap, the drawn out battle between the owner of Balcones Distillery, Chip Tate, and his investors has finally come to a close with Tate being removed from the board of directors earlier this week. The feud, raging since August, started when members of the board felt Tate was not acting in the company's best interest and went as far as to file a restraining order to enforce a ninety-day suspension. Tate seems to be optimistic of the future stating, "Starting now I'll be building a new distillery with a great new crew and the future is bright." [CultureMap]

STUNTS— Whiskey that's traveled through space? Three years ago, Ardbeg collaborated with NASA and space research company NanoWorks to send a batch of distilled whiskey to orbit the Earth on the International Space Station where it has been aging ever since. The "Space Whiskey" returned home in September and, while it's not available to be tasted by the general public, it is now on display at Spec's Downtown (2410 Smith Street). [HoustonPress]