Something scary this way comes

There’s nothing sweet about sweetbreads – Palermo Viejo chef Francisco “Frank” Elbl shows off the Argentina delicacy, which consists of … wait for it … a calf’s thymus gland. LEO Photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(“Challenging” dishes at Palermo Viejo, Tokyo Japanese, India Palace)

It’s Halloween, blustery winds are whistling through the eaves and rattling the leaves, and there are ghosties and ghoulies and things going bump out there in the night. Let’s eat something scary!

How about a nice plate of sweetbreads, my dearies? The name sounds so appealing. Sweet meets bread. A dessert of some sort? A comforting sweet roll? Well, no. “Sweetbread” is a culinary euphemism, actually, for an organ that would be a much harder sell if it were explicitly identified as a calf’s thymus gland. It’s innards, OK? And it’s delicious.

Today let’s celebrate Halloween with visits to three local favorites for a trio of “challenging” dishes that tickle the taste buds but may require the diner to willingly suspend disbelief long enough to get them down. Trick or treat!
(more…)

Steinert’s: serving the neighborhood since 1883

Steinert’s in New Albany serves basic pub grub at reasonable prices and is a great place to hear a band or watch IU sports. LEO Photo.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes, with Guest Blogger Kevin Gibson

Grover Cleveland would have loved Steinert’s.

Steinert’s Grill and Pub (aka Steinert’s Tavern) looks like pretty much any other neighborhood restaurant/bar, tucked into a largely residential area at the intersection of Charlestown Road and Silver Street in New Albany.
(more…)

Dr. Livingstone would have loved Chez Seneba

The world has shrunk a great deal since the days when the journalist Henry Stanley found Dr. David Livingstone, we presume, in what was then known as darkest Africa. Curiously enough, that famous meeting occurred only a few short years before Steinert’s was to open its doors in New Albany.

To this day, most Americans remain a bit iffy on African geography, not to mention African cuisine. For the record, then, Chez Seneba represents West Africa in Louisville’s world atlas of eats: The owners hail from Senegal, which is pretty much directly across Africa from Ethiopia on the continent’s eastern side, a nation whose spicy cuisine is represented locally by Queen of Sheba on Bardstown Road. More about that another day.
(more…)

Maido: Not just another sushi bar

Maido Essential Japanese is Louisville’s only example of “izakaya” dining, a combination of pub, sake bar and eatery. Pictured are owners Jim and Toki Masubuchi Huie. LEO Photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Maido Essential Japanese)

Here’s a dining critic’s dilemma: I live in Crescent Hill, so I drive past Maido Essential Japanese often. Every time I do, I look over and feel a warm, loving feeling pass over me as I think, “I love that place.” Yet, because duty calls me to dine somewhere different every week, I rarely get to come back to Maido and other favorites … and that’s just wrong.

So it was to my great delight that I turned over a calendar page the other day and saw that enough time had passed since Maido’s 2004 opening to justify a return trip. Hai!

Maido, it should be noted, is Japanese, but it is not just another sushi bar. In fact, it’s not a sushi bar at all, although sushi is made in the kitchen. It’s something much more interesting: Louisville’s only example (and one of the few between the coasts) of “izakaya” dining, a combination of pub, sake bar and eatery that’s beloved by “sararimen” (“salary-men” or business workers) in Japan’s second city, Osaka, and the Kansai region around it.
(more…)

Always popular Rick’s

(Rick’s Ferrari Grille, Voice-Tribune, Oct. 11, 2007)

According to long-established wisdom, one good way to detect an excellent Chinese restaurant is to look for the places where Chinese people eat. In much the same way, a happy, diverse mosaic of American diners generally signals an excellent American restaurant.

And so it is with Rick’s Ferrari Grille, an established St. Matthews tradition that rarely fails to attract a crowd.

After a series of moves over the years, restaurateur Rick Dissell has been back in his original Chenoweth Square location for 2 1/2 years now, and it looks like he’s back to stay. (more…)

Charlestown Pizza Co.

On the town square in tiny Charlestown, Ind., a short trip upriver from Jeffersonville, Charlestown Pizza Company occupies a large venue that looks almost like a dance hall, complete with a big, funky circular crystal light fixture above – a legacy, apparently, from a Chinese restaurant that was a prior tenant.

Seven months in business and building a strong word-of-mouth reputation, it turns out that it’s run by folks who learned their pizza and beer at New Albanian Brewing Company (née Rich O’s/Sportstime Pizza). That’s a very good pedigree indeed, and it’s reinforced on Charlestown’s beer list, which features a, er, mug shot of New Albanian publican Roger A. Baylor, warning diners away from mass-market “lite” beers with a stern, “Don’t Drink Swill.”

Indeed, these folks are very serious about their beer, and the selection is exceptional, featuring about 18 bottled beers, all extremely interesting artisan brews with a strong focus on Southern Indiana and the Louisville area.

Draft microbrews, they tell us, are coming soon.

We couldn’t resist splitting a discreet lunchtime glass of The Three Floyds Pride And Joy Mild Ale from Munster, Ind.; and a pleasant glass it was, golden in color with a creamy head, a very fresh, nose-tingling “dry-hopped” citrus-grapefruit aroma and pleasantly bitter flavor.

The short menu includes a variety of Italian-style sandwiches ($3.75 for a half-sandwich, $7 for a whole), plus salads and a couple of hearty Italian-American dishes (baked spaghetti, $4.50, and baked lasagna, $6).

Fresh-made, hand-tossed pizza comes in three sizes (8-inch solo, 14-inch medium and 18-inch large), ranging in price from $3 (for a cheese solo) to $25.50 (for a large with “ultimate” toppings, your choice of five to 10 goodies that include the familiar – pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms – and the more out-there – jalapeños, pineapple, garlic, but no anchovies).

We went with a medium sausage, pepper and onion and were quite satisfied. The crust was well-made and paper-thin if not quite cracker-crisp. Tangy tomato sauce was painted on with proper discretion, topped with plenty of melted cheese showing appetizing brown caramelized spots. Our three-topping selection was amply topped but not overloaded with mild sausage (no hint of Italian fennel) and good, freshly chopped bits of green pepper and white onion cooked just to al dente crispness in the pizza oven. It’s cut in squares, not wedges, and qualifies as a good, straightforward rendition. No, it’s not New York style. Nor is it, well, “Tuscan.” It doesn’t have to be.

We packed about half of the oversize delight in a take-home box, and passed on the dessert pizza ($5), a small pie dressed with cream cheese and your choice of cherry, apple or peach.

A fine meal and a memorable beer (plus an iced tea and a cola) rang up a toll of only $20.71, plus a $4.29 tip.

Charlestown Pizza Co.
850 Main St.
Charlestown, Ind.
(812) 256-2699

Launch your gondola in a river of red

Tuscany Italian Restaurant dramatically exceeded expectations for shopping-center dining. The chef, a native of Mexico, has lived and cooked in Italy, and it shows. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes

Some days I feel like authentic Italian cuisine, and nothing but the real thing will do. Some days a plate of spaghetti and meatballs seems just right. Happily, our city offers a few good options for the authentic stuff (Primo and Volare top my list), and we’re practically awash in eateries (with Melillo’s leading the pack) where you can fill up with hearty, red-sauced Italian-immigrant cuisine. Not to mention pizza.

Food snobs may diss the long-simmered, garlicky tomato-sauced stuff as inauthentic, but who doesn’t love it? Still deeply rooted in the peasant cuisine of Sicily and Calabria in Southern Italy from where so many Americans came, it has become comfort food for us all, never mind whether we have a vowel on the end of our name.

This week we travel to opposite ends of the metro region to check out two worthy recent additions. We’ve been up the river a piece in Indiana to find excellent pizza and intriguing beers at Charlestown Pizza Company, and out into the South End to discover heart-warming comfort food with a hint of a south-of-the-border accent at Tuscany Italian.
(more…)

Inside story at Sahara Café

Sahara Café chef Mavash Rubino is from Iran, and the range of Middle Eastern fare that she prepares shows a distinct Persian accent. Sahara ranks right up there with other local Persian spots. LEO Photos by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Sahara Café, Wild Eggs)

A small puzzle accompanies Sahara Café, a new Middle Eastern eatery in St. Matthews: Is it a restaurant inside a shop, or is it a shop inside a restaurant?

I think maybe it’s both. Located in the new retail building at the northeast corner of Lexington Road and Bauer Avenue, just down the street from Lotsa Pasta, its close but comfortable quarters incorporate the family-owned Sahara Café and A Small World, a gift shop featuring, they say, “handcrafted home-decor items from around the world.”
(more…)