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 Robin Garr's LOUISVILLE Restaurant Reviews |
Now online: Reviews of Browning's brewpub beers (see below)
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Browning's Slugger Field 401 E. Main St. (502) 515-0174 |
Over a 13-season career, Browning would accumulate a lifetime batting average of .349, topped by a .457 average in 1887. That was good enough to earn him the nickname "The Gladiator" and rank him fifth in baseball's all-time records, trailing Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby and leading such luminaries as Ted Williams and George Herman "Babe" Ruth.
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You could look it up: For more information about Pete Browning's baseball record, see his life statistics at Baseball-Reference.com and Baseball-Almanac.com. |
Making beautiful adaptive use of the shell of the historic red-brick Brinly-Hardy "train shed" that now houses Slugger Field, Browning's manages to capture a warm 19th century feeling in an all-new facility. Shiny copper brewing kettles and mash tuns set the tone, rising a full three stories behind glass in full view of the dining area.
The dining area is spaciously cozy and inviting, with an attractive bar, comfortable booths and chairs and large black-topped tables. Simple beige decor and impressive industrial-style lamps in wire cages over the booths create a timeless atmosphere that invites comparison with such old-time Louisville landmarks as a much cleaned-up Cunningham's, the downtown Mazzoni's before urban renewal, or even the late, lamented Imorde's of a generation past. A new restaurant made to look like an old one, it's a good fit with Slugger Field, a new stadium made to look like an old one. Six large-screen televisions offer a variety of sports and news fare; they're tuned to Bats baseball, of course, when there's a home game playing.
Browning's menu offers largely informal fare, from pub grub and ballpark specialties with Kentucky accents to pastas and pizzas, although a good selection of entrees makes it a fine choice for a more substantial dinner as well.
Ten appetizers range in price from $5.95 (for many items such as fried banana peppers, steamed musels, chicken wings or nachos) to $8.95 (for pan-fried oysters). Soups are $3.25 or $3.50 for a cup or $4.25 or $4.50 for a bowl of Texas red chili or Kentucky burgoo, respectively; salads are $2.95 (for a small house salad) to $8.25 (for a Caesar topped with shrimp). Ten sandwiches are $4.95 (for a bratwurst) to $6.95 (for a grilled chicken or grilled portabella mushroom sandwich).
Among the more substantial items, four pizzas are $6.95 (for a vegetarian pie) to $8.50 (for pepperoni and Italian sausage); three pasta dishes are $11.95 (for the unexpectedly Frenchified linguine Bolognaise) and $12.95 (for blackened chicken fettuccine or seafood over linguine). Seven entrees, not counting daily specials, are $9.95 (for a Louisville Hot Brown) to $16.95 (for pork barbecued ribs).
Full bar service includes an abbreviated but inexpensive wine list and a good selection of bottled and tap beers with a selection of quality microbrews including Sierra Nevada and a couple of items from Chicago's Goose Island. Why buy commercial beer, though, when Brewmaster Eileen Martin (who local beer enthusiasts will recognize as former brewer at The Silo, the city's first brewpub) is making artisanal beers in the copper-plated brewery that dominates the premises. For reviews of the first six beers Martin has on tap, see my report below.
We stopped in for lunch during the first week of operation, and found the quality of food and service fully up to what I would expect from the management, which also operates the excellent Judge Roy Bean's as well as the adjacent Wellinghurst's Steak House at Slugger Field.
The pan-fried oyster appetizer ($8.95) featured six fresh shucked oysters deep-fried in a crunchy breading. They were sizzling-hot and delicious in flavor if not totally grease-free, served on a white plate decorated with dried parsley flakes and tiny red-bell-pepper dice, accompanied with a ramekin of serviceable cocktail sauce topped with minced scallions and a lemon slice dusted with Old Bay seasoning on one end and salt on the other. Squeeze on the lemon and get a taste of the spices. A neat idea, although the oysters were good enough that no sauce was really needed.
A small house salad ($2.95) was good, too: Fresh, crisp romaine and a bit of iceberg lettuce, with pale tomatoes, thick slices of cucumber, and crunchy croutons that look as if they might have been snipped from a toasted pita, sprinkled with nutty sunflower seeds and served with a side dish of rich, chunky blue-cheese dressing.
My wife loves catfish and declared her lunch choice, the fried catfish sandwich ($6.95) a two-thumbs-up treat. A thin, boneless fillet was nicely crusted with a light flour and black-pepper dredge and fried perfectly (no excess fat whatsoever on this item), served open-face on rye bread with lettuce and tomato and excellent crisp, sizzling black-peppered fries and a well-made, rich tartar sauce.
I couldn't resist a tongue-in-cheek entree called the Slider Plate ($5.95), a ration of six tiny burgers that honor both baseball and you-know-what with their name and style. They're not intended as an authentic replica of White Castles so much as a chuckling homage to the traditional late-night treat, but they're tasty all the same: Small, paper-thin and rather lean and dry squares of ground beef are topped with melted yellow cheese and placed on square egg buns, with lettuce, tomatoes and ripple-cut pickle chips in the center of the plate.
Desserts are $3.50 for Valentino's ice cream, Derby Pie or a fresh fruit plate, $3.95 for New York-style cheesecake; we'll try them on another visit.
With freshly brewed iced tea ($1.99), lunch came to $29.45 plus a $6 tip: not an inexpensive lunch, but a hearty and delicious one, in a setting that Pete Browning might have approved. $$$
(April 2002)
As it turned out, this was a good move, as a combination of technical and regulatory issues delayed the arrival of Brewmaster Eileen Martin's made-on-the-premises beers for nearly two months.
Now Martin is making up for lost time. She rolled out the first local brew, a blonde, two weeks ago; added three more items last week, and brought on two more this week for a selection of six. They're $3.50 a pint, and short tasting glasses are available to help you choose.
I've tried them all, stopping in frequently after Bats' games to see what's new, and am happy to report that they are beers of real quality and flavor interest ... BEER drinker's beers, with hearty malt and distinct hops flavors. If Bud or Miller Lite is your quaff, you might do well to stick with those watery alternatives. But if you like a real beer, you can hardly go wrong with anything on Martin's list.
Here's my review of all six, roughly in order from light to heavy.
CREAM ALE: Pale gold with a hint of brass color. Relatively little head retention, but good prickly carbonation in the beer. Very hoppy with the citric "grapefruity" scent of Cascades hops; light and fresh, perhaps the best starting point if you're just discovering microbrewery beers.
BLONDE: Pale gold in color, a hearty beer with a thick white head that leaves thick "Belgian lace" on the glass. There's a bit of pleasant toastiness from roasted hops and a good hoppy bitterness in the flavor, while the aromas focus on sweet malt. A very fine beer on first tasting, although it seemed a bit oxidized on a second visit two weeks later. Bear in mind that artisanal beers are generally best fresh.
RED ALE: Hazy amber in color with a thin head, this beer's delicious roasty malt aromas and crisp and bitter flavor with pleasant nutlike nuances make it one of my favorites.
ESB: Short for "extra special bitter," this British ale is right on target for the style. Clear amber-gold in color with a creamy head, it offers a good balance of sweet malt and bitter hops in a full-bodied brew.
NUT BROWN ALE: A well-turned local version of the British brew from Newcastle, this one's a hazy dark reddish color, with an attractive hint of butterscotch in its full-bodied, bittersweet flavor.
OATMEAL STOUT: An unseasonably chilly evening drove us in from the stadium for a warming brew, and this hearty pint hit the spot. Very dark in color, it shows an attractive mix of fruity and sweet ale flavors with a nice bitter edge and just a hint of the "ashy" quality of very dark-roasted "black patent" malt.
(June 2002)
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