We eat with our fingers, tastefully

Ethiopian restaurant Queen of Sheba recently moved into the old Mazzoni’s building across from Bowman Field. Photo by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

“Don’t eat with your fingers!” This nugget of parental advice is known to just about every child. It’s an integral part of the process of growing up with good manners.

From time to time, though, there’s a certain pleasure in casting aside knives and forks and diving right in. This casual approach works with fried chicken, for instance. Or the appropriately named finger sandwiches. Or a rack of juicy ribs. Just bring plenty of napkins.

Aficionados of ethnic food know another finger-food delight that, with a bit of experience, can actually be consumed with a degree of delicacy in a white-tablecloth setting. We’re talking about Ethiopian fare, an East African alternative that may currently be enjoyed at two local eateries.

Both Blue Nile and Queen of Sheba serve Ethiopian food in the traditional style, all dishes spread out on a large, communal plate lined with thin, spongy injera bread, with more of the bread served in rolls that replace our Western knives and forks.
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Napa River Grill settles in at Westport Village

Crowds packed the preview grand opening of the new Napa River Grill, which left Dupont Square for Westport Village. Photo by Robin Garr.

Napa River Grill moved last week from its longtime location in Dupont Square, opening June 16 as an anchor restaurant in the fast-growing Westport Village complex.

We took a quick peek on opening night without stopping to dine, amid a crowd so large and happy it was hard to make out the details. (more…)

French Flying: Le Relais soars

If you’re in the mood for a more casual experience, the rear patio at Le Relais is more laid-back and offers a bonus: It overlooks the runway and hangars, so you can watch small planes come and go. Photo by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com, with Guest Critic Paige Moore-Heavin

Le Relais consistently ranks among my top five restaurants in Louisville, and on any given night, it can make the top one. Yet a lot of people are wary of experiencing this great dining room. Some fear it will be too expensive. Others sweat the potential embarrassment of being unable to read a fancy French menu.

There’s no need for concern, says LouisvilleHotBytes correspondent Paige Moore-Heavin, who recently checked out Le Relais and found the price doable (especially if you go for the special-deal prix fixe menu) and the friendly attitude entirely bilingual. Here’s her report:
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No need to roll your own at Mazzoni’s

Mazzoni’s, the 125-year-old Louisville tradition, is still going strong in its new Middletown digs. The fried oysters should not be missed. Photo by Robin Garr.

Mazzoni’s, the 125-year-old Louisville tradition, moved out to Middletown from its longtime quarters on Taylorsville Road earlier this year. I wandered out the other day for a couple deep-fried delights and found its new shopping center quarters virtually indistinguishable from the old, complete with the trademark 27-foot-long walnut serving bar (which dates all the way back to its old downtown location) and gallery of old Louisville pictures on the walls.
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Dim Sum touch our hearts

Jade Palace, the popular local Chinese eatery that has been around for about 20 years, has a new look this year as the Westport Village renovation put a fancy facade on the old building. Photo by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Centuries ago, long before “small plates” became trendy and before the Spanish came up with the idea of placing a little dish with a snack on top of their Sherry glasses to keep the fruit flies out of their wine, the Chinese realized that a procession of small plates bearing bite-sized snacks would be a civilized way to while away a convivial meal.

This tasty treat, called “dim sum,” which is Cantonese for “touch the heart,” has become a Chinese tradition, the Saturday or Sunday equivalent of weekend brunch. Diners may choose among dozens of bite-sized snacks in an artful contrasting array of hot, cold, savory and sweet. Many items are steamed; others are deep-fried, and a few come in more unusual presentations, rolled in glistening Chinese wheat pasta or wrapped in a dark, sturdy lotus leaf.

The dim sum crave has spread around the world, and just about every city around the world now boasts a place or two where dim sum may be enjoyed. In Louisville, that place is Jade Palace, an East End eatery that has featured these goodies for 20 years or so. (more…)

Industry Standard: The Invisible Menu Page

Insider Info For Those Who Dine Out
With Columnist Marsha Lynch

A friend of mine recently told me she had to cut short a restaurant visit because her godson couldn’t find anything on the menu that he wanted to order. “Why didn’t you just get him a grilled cheese, or a kid’s pizza or something?” I asked. Her answer? “Those weren’t on the menu.”

All of a sudden, I realized she didn’t know about The Invisible Menu Page. I found myself wondering how many other people are unaware of this glorious restaurant phenomenon.
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Unchained Macca’s delights at Westport Village

Macca’s Florida Seafood Grill & Bar holds down a prime spot in the Westport Village center. Outside seating, clean restrooms and a full bar, with plenty of scurrying employees wearing matching attire, put Macca’s squarely in the upscale-casual realm. Photo by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com, with Guest Critic Kevin Gibson

If Macca’s Florida Seafood Grill & Bar, with its clean, corporate, angular design and requisite marine-centric décor, looks like it could be part of a chain, that’s probably more than coincidental – this sleek, family-friendly restaurant was originally going to be an R.J. Gator’s franchise, but corporate expansion plans by the Florida-based restaurant chain got put on the back burner, reportedly for economic reasons.
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Make mine migas at North End Café

North End Café’s migas are the Tex-Mex breakfast of champions. Photo by Robin Garr.

Looking for a tasty Tex-Mex breakfast? One of my favorites comes from North End Café, a popular eatery renowned for its breakfast but not often counted among the city’s destinations for Border Country cuisine.

North End’s expansive breakfast menu features more than two-dozen goodies, including such traditional items as biscuits and gravy ($4.75), steak and eggs ($11.99), or even a warm bowl of oatmeal ($4.79). Some dishes add creative touches – you can get your biscuits, for example, with the option of vegetarian mushroom gravy; and French toast ($5.49) gets a subtle touch from the addition of orange spice flavors.

Down at the bottom of the menu you’ll find a tasty Tex-Mex snack: (more…)