The Eagle landed in Louisville two years ago this month, fourth shop in a Cincinnati-based mini-chain. I have to confess that I didn’t pay much attention at first. But then I found out that The Eagle isn’t just another Highlands bar. Its fried chicken is also a big thing. It’s not your industrially fried chicken, either. It is, according to the firm’s website, “cage free, free roaming, all natural chicken.”
Thoughts upon dining at the amiable new Ramen Inochi, latest in the city’s growing circle of Asian soup eateries: If you’re ever in the mood to start a foodie fight, ask your friends whether ramen or pho is better. I tried this on Facebook and Twitter the other day and had three dozen arguments going by lunch.
But you don’t have to be a social media troll to love these traditional Asian soups, and Louisville clearly knows this. In the past few years we’ve seen a mini-tsunami of restaurants that specialize in these memorable soups.
Well, let’s parse that a little: Meet the new 80/20@Kaelin’s. It’s not like the old Kaelin’s, but it’s certainly rooted in the mystique of the beloved old eatery at Speed Avenue and Newburg Road.
The original Kaelin’s was a Louisville favorite for most of the past century, family-owned from 1934 until its family owners sold the business in 2004. Owner Carl Kaelin was allegedly inspired to invent the cheeseburger on a brisk October day in 1935. Continue reading 80/20 @ Kaelin’s makes the old tradition new again→
Fresh from delicious brunch experiences at LouVino and Con Huevos, I must ask a simple question: Who doesn’t love brunch? I certainly do!
Some folks love brunch buffets, and there’s a lot to like about a sumptuous feeding trough of pans loaded with breakfast and lunch goodies. But I like a set menu of brunch dishes even better. Sure, I’m down for unleashing my inner glutton at a massive buffet, but my inner foodie recognizes the value of chef-created individual dishes.
Both Con Huevos and LouVino offer thoughtful, inviting selections of brunch dishes that consistently show the delicate, complex but balanced nuances of flavor that reveal serious creative spirit and dogged attention to detail in the kitchen. Continue reading LouVino and Con Huevos win at brunch→
For a few brief, joyous moments of federal sanity last year, it seemed we were going to be friends with Cuba again. Thanks, Obama! But now the new boss has taken Cuba off the table for now. Thanks a lot, Donnie.
But if we can’t easily go to Cuba, it seems that Cuba is coming to Louisville. Cuban immigration to Louisville accelerated so fast in the past decade that the local diaspora has attracted national media attention. Continue reading All aboard on Mi Sueño Cuban Express→
You’ve probably heard of the Impossible Burger, the heavily capitalized, much publicized meat-free burger that’s so much like the real thing that you can cook it rare and watch it bleed. It’s not animal blood, of course, but a soybean protein called leghemoglobin, “heme” for short, plant-based cousin to animal hemoglobin. Continue reading The Impossible Burger at Morels Cafe. Yeah, it’s impossible.→
I can’t think of a better way to get my attention than to tell me about a new eatery that serves world cuisine. Clue me in, and I’ll be there before you can drop a Salvadorian pupusa. Heck, even another Thai, Korean, Indian or Mexican joint will get my motor running.
So when I learned that a new Indian place, Himalayan Restaurant, had opened on Bardstown Road at virtually the same time as El Taco Luchador launched its new St. Matthews branch, I started spinning like a falling cat with buttered toast strapped to his back. Continue reading Indian at Himalayan makes us happy→
Mmm, it’s in the ‘90s again. Wouldn’t it be great to go get some steaming hot soup? How about a big bowl of pho from Pho Cafe!
No matter how much a hot bowl of creamy chowder says “winter” to you, think about the Vietnamese, and all the other nationalities that ring Asia’s tropical southeastern edge, where hot soup is a main meal, people understand that hot soup cools you off. Continue reading However you say it, Pho Cafe offers year-round delight→
There’s this funny thing about plant-based meat analogues, a.k.a. fake meat: Hard-core carnivores and hard-core vegans all seem to get downright angry when they catch someone eating fake bacon, veggie burgers, or even amazing meat-free goodies like those on the menu at Morels Cafe. Continue reading You’ll eat fake meat and like it at Morels Cafe→
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