Bosna-Mak: A trip to Bosnia without leaving town

Goulash and Mushroom Soups  Photo: Robin Garr

Voice-Tribune review by LouisvilleHotBytes

I’m not saying that I’m old, mind you, but I’m not the only one around here who can remember when Louisville’s idea of Mexican food was chili con carne, our take on Italian cuisine was pizza, we judged chow mein as the pinnacle of Chinese cuisine, and - except maybe for bratwurst - that was about it as far as ethnic fare was concerned.

But times have changed, and Louisville’s increasingly diverse urban family has been a good thing for us culturally, spiritually and, of course, in terms of a much wider variety of good things to eat.

Thanks to the work of organizations including Kentucky Refugee Ministries and others, Louisville has become one of the nation’s most welcoming cities for international newcomers. Since the 1990s, says the city’s Office for International Affairs, fully half of Louisville’s population growth has been counted in international residents. More than 80 languages are spoken by students in the Jefferson County Public Schools.

Quite a few of our new neighbors have opened restaurants, ranging from Mexico to countries farther south of the Rio; the Near East, Southeast Asia, China and Japan; more from Africa, and plenty of new arrivals from Europe.

Perhaps one of the most unexpected new ethnic communities comes from war-torn Bosnia, one of the many tiny Balkan countries that got back their independence when the Iron Curtain fell and took Yugoslavia with it. Fierce ethnic and religious rivalries brought Bosnia under the gun of “ethnic cleansing.” The United Nations eventually intervened, but only after a small flood of refugees headed toward the U.S., many of them bound for Louisville.

Which brings us around to a short review of Bosna-Mak, an interesting little Bosnian eatery in a short strip of Bosnian stores that lies perpendicular to the old Bardstown Road in Buechel.
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Otto’s takes on tough competition with “best burger”

The Otto BurgerPhoto: Robin Garr

Voice-Tribune review by LouisvilleHotBytes

The economy being what it is, I find myself ordering hamburger about as often as steak these days. But if I’m going to have a burger, I want it to be a good one. And happily, quite a few local beef emporia have made this wish an entirely possible dream.

Recently Otto’s Cafe, the first-floor coffee shop at the Seelbach Hotel, entered the hamburger sweepstakes with a take-no-prisoners news release that flatly declares Otto’s new hamburger the best in town.

“Now that consumers have tried the rest,” the Emailed statement boldly declared, “Otto’s at The Seelbach Hilton is inviting everyone to try the very best!”

Going on in considerable detail, the PR spun a tale of friendly corporate espionage: Culinary staff fanned out across the city like a squadron of food critics, ordering hamburgers and checking them twice, trying to see which were naughty or nice.

Disappointed by prefab frozen patties, dried-out, pounded and pressed burgers devoid of juicy deliciousness (I’m just passing along the story here, folks), the Otto’s burger creators concluded that high-quality fresh-ground, hand-packed beef parked on a house-baked bun was the way to go.
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Who put these foodie sugar plums in my stocking?

Caffe Classico’s Saffron Asiago risotto cakes

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

New happenings at Caffe Classico and The Comfy Cow

With visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads, and neither a kerchief nor a stocking cap in sight, a long winter’s nap has been the furthest thing from Mamma’s, er, Mary’s and my heads as the holiday season draws near.

We’re obligate foodies, we’re ready for eats, and we see no conflict between celebrating Christmas the old-fashioned way, with joyous services on Christmas morning, followed by a late lunch, making the trek over the creek and through the woods to Vietnam Kitchen. It’s a perennial favorite among the many Asian eateries that remain open on Christmas Day.
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Thai Orchids bloom in Stony Brook

Voice-Tribune review by Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes

Thailand’s tropical shores, forests and mountains are home to beautiful orchids, making this beautiful tropical flower all but the unofficial symbol of this ancient Southeast Asian kingdom.

Hailing Thailand’s symbolic flower in its name, Louisville’s Thai Orchid arrived last year when Sala Thai departed Jeffersontown’s Stony Brook for a downtown location (now sadly defunct).
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Irish Rover’s hearty fare warms a winter night

Smoked salmon and potato gratin.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

The leaves on our big, old magnolia tree were rattling eerily, and the skies were a dismal gray. The icy wind cut through my parka as if it were a throwback baseball shirt.

The first day of winter may not arrive until Monday morning, but it already feels a lot like winter around here, and last week I had a powerful lust for comfort food in a cozy setting. I posted queries on the LouisvilleHotBytes Forum and my Facebook page and found lots of friends with similar hankerings. These foodie buddies quickly racked up a score of good ideas.

Jack Fry’s, Equus and Jack’s, Baxter Station, Palermo Viejo, Havana Rumba and the L&N Wine Bar & Bistro all received multiple nominations as top spots in the cozy ’n’ filling sweepstakes. Bourbons Bistro, August Moon, Pat’s Steak House, Gasthaus, Selena’s, Come Back Inn, Bristol Bar & Grille, Napa River Grill and Cumberland Brews all had their partisans, too.

But one local establishment dominated the competition like Tiger Wo … well … let’s just say that the Irish Rover earned a solid lead in my casual online opinion poll.
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Save Jade Palace for dim sum

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

I’ve reviewed the dim sum many times over the years, returning most recently to examine the chicken feet and other “challenging” specialties for a review in the Jan. 7, 2009, LEO Weekly. It is also a regular stop on our brunch circuit when I’m not reviewing.

But what’s Jade Palace like in the evening, when the dim sum carts aren’t rolling?
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Olmsted’s Bistro open to everyone

Voice-Tribune review by Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes

Just about everyone in Louisville knows that our impressive collection of city parks from Cherokee to Iroquois to Shawnee - and the tree-lined parkways that connect them - were designed in the 19th century by the prominent landscape-architecture firm, Olmsted Brothers, headed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.

It’s perhaps a bit less well-known that Olmsted designed other landscape projects around Louisville, including the oak-shaded lawns of the Masonic Home of Louisville on Frankfort Avenue, for which Olmstead designed the plans in 1867.

Originally the Masonic Widows and Orphans Home, now providing residential personal-care and nursing-care services for seniors, Masonic Home today is a stately campus of red-brick buildings, most of them built during the 1920s. Its central building is now called the Olmsted after the famous architect.

The Olmsted has been open to the public for catered meetings and events for several years. Now, after a recent renovation of its lower level, its 48-seat dining room - dubbed The Bistro in Club Olmstead - is open to the public for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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Comfort with Cajun accent at Coach Lamp

Coach Lamp’s fried chicken.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

The sturdy brown-painted brick building near the top of the hill where Vine Street rises from Broadway toward Breckenridge Street has been an east-of-downtown landmark since 1872. It has served as a saloon, a general store and then a saloon again.

Since around the time of Louisville’s 1937 flood, it has been a neighborly eatery and pub, known for cold beer and a signature roast beef-and-mashed-potato plate.

In 2000, under the guidance of new owners Gail and Billy Darling, it added an upscale component: Enter and stay on the right and you’ll enjoy the friendly bar, which really hasn’t changed much since the 1937 floodwaters receded. But walk to the back of the room, turn left, go down a small slope and you’ll pass — like Dorothy entering Oz — into a much more stylish room where the scene is casually artful and the fare upscale.
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First Look: Two tasty new ethnic spots - La Catalana & Cocos Lokos

Stuffed eggs at La Catalana

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

Adding more options to Louisville’s growing ethnic-eats scene, two interesting restaurants have opened in recent weeks, offering dishes that your mother never made at home … unless your mother came from the Caribbean or Barcelona.

Cocos Lokos (”Crazy Coconut”) has been open for a few weeks in the Hunnington Place shopping center near I-64 at Hurstbourne. Started by former employees of Havana Rumba, it offers Cuban cuisine accented with a few dishes from around the Caribbean.

La Catalana (”The Catalan Woman”) opened last week in the short St. Matthews strip center that also houses Havana Rumba and Del Frisco’s, just behind … wait for it … where the old Sears store used to be. It’s Louisville’s first restaurant featuring the Catalan fare of Barcelona, Spain, plus a selection of dishes from around the Mediterranean.
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Gratuitous gratuity

INDUSTRY STANDARD:
Insider Info For Those Who Dine Out
With Columnist Marsha Lynch

You’re out to dinner at a favorite restaurant with five good friends when you spot a notice in tiny print at the bottom of the menu: “An automatic gratuity of 18 percent will be added to parties of six or more.”

You might be tempted to take umbrage. Perhaps you pride yourself on tipping well. Maybe you regularly tip 20 percent unless service is a disaster. Why would a restaurant, by policy, require you to pay something that is, by definition, a gift to be given at your discretion?
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