Category Archives: Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown

$ Budget (under $30), BY LOCATION, Commentary, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Italian (and Pizza), New and noteworthy

Here’s anuddah New York pie. Got a problem widdat?

Perfetto sausage pie

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

Pizza originated in prehistoric times, food experts say, when Stone Age tribes pounded wheat grains into a coarse batter and baked rough rounds on hot stones. Then they would top this primitive flatbread with whatever roadkill or gleanings were available. They didn’t call it “pizza,” but we think they probably called it good.

Tomatoes and cheese weren’t added for a few millennia, but by the time pizza as we know it was created in Naples and emigrated to the New World in the Ellis Island days, aficionados were surely already fighting over whose style was best.

Locally, folks who’ve tasted the joys of New York City pizza engage in a constant quest to find something akin to the Italian-immigrant style of pie that’s sold on almost every street corner in Gotham. It’s not an easy quest, as Louisville’s own pizza form (perhaps best demonstrated in the mile-high Impellizzeri pie) has earned a strong following in its own right.

Nevertheless, the quest continues, and when I heard that Perfetto Pizzeria had recently opened in the Plainview quarters last occupied by the short-lived Slice of NY, I rushed eastward to check it out.
Continue reading Here’s anuddah New York pie. Got a problem widdat? →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Pacific Rim

Sake Blue is on a roll – lots of rolls

ecuador sushi roll
LEO photo by Ron Jasin.
LEO’s Eats with
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Not so long ago – well, back in the early ’80s – the only place in town to get sushi was a downtown diner, where a Japanese woman came in on Thursdays to produce a special sushi lunch for a small but ardent corps of cognoscenti.

A generation or so later, more than 20 eats emporia provide Japanese fare across the metro area, most of them boasting good to excellent sushi bars. You can even buy sushi boxes at local grocery stores.

Just about everybody in town, or every sushi lover anyway, has a favorite, and a roster of top spots (Kansai, Sake Blue, Raw Sushi Lounge, Jarfi’s Bistro and Z’s Fusion) showed off their wares last month at the annual Sushi in the City gala. The all-you-can-eat event and competition at the Henry Clay was for the benefit of the Family Scholar House of Louisville.

New restaurants carried off top honors, with a judging panel rating the entry from Z’s Fusion as Sushi of the Year. The audience, however, followed another favorite, voting the “People’s Choice” award to the city’s newest Japanese restaurant, Sake Blue.
Continue reading Sake Blue is on a roll – lots of rolls →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, World Food

Economy? What economy? Furlongs is back!

Baked oysters at Furlongs
Furlongs’ baked naked oysters are oysters made for the wary, served on the half-shell just like the real thing but cooked through for reassurance. Photos by Robin Garr

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

One year slouches to a close, another draws near, and if any subject dominates the conversation, it’s the economy.

With the closing of a number of high-profile independent restaurants toward year’s end, including Primo, Melillo’s, Park Place and Browning’s, and Seviche’s suburban operation on Goose Creek Road, there’s been a lot of media coverage – and abundant speculation – about the recessionary economy taking down our beloved local eateries.

We’re not so sure. It’s certainly true that in hard times, more than ever, those of us who love good eats and the fine independent restaurants that cook them need to get out there and support the industry with our business.

But a closer look at the local industry over the past year suggests that Louisville’s independent dining scene is a far cry from the banking industry or Detroit’s dinosaurs. You’ll find few toxic assets on your dinner plate, and lemons turn up only with our fish entree or in our iced tea.
Continue reading Economy? What economy? Furlongs is back! →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Pacific Rim

Harming no animals at Bombay Grill

Vegetarian plate at Bombay Grill
Vegetarian plate from the lunch buffet at Bombay Grill. Photos by Robin Garr

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

If you’ll pardon a brief personal digression, I’ve been mournful lately following the loss of my beloved yellow cat Pepito, who died last month after a short, vicious bout with a virulent feline cancer. I held him in my arms and cried as the vet gave him the injection that eased his pain and took him from us way too soon. He was only 10.

To be frank, after having watched the light fade from the bright eyes of my best friend, I went through a period when I really didn’t feel right about making my meal on anything that had once been part of a living animal with a mommy and a face.

A vegetarian food critic? Appealing, but probably impractical in a general-audience newspaper, even one as eccentric as LEO Weekly. Continue reading Harming no animals at Bombay Grill →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Pacific Rim

DakShin Indian: A taste of a different South

Buffet at DakShin
A closer peek at just one portion of DakShin’s expansive daily lunch buffet. Photos by Robin Garr

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Step into DakShin’s spacious, almost cavernous quarters, blink until your eyes adjust to the dim, and you might think you’ve found your way into an oddly named barbecue joint. Square, rough-hewn log walls frame heavy booths of oak; atop a wall at the back, looming above a large-screen television, rests the biggest canoe you have ever seen.

But take another look, and then a sniff. Elusive, aromatic scents of curry direct your palate away from barbecue. Check the television and you’ll find Bollywood-style MTV, piped in straight from India. The art on the walls is Indian, and so are the massive, colorful, Tiffany-look light fixtures that dangle from the high ceiling.
Continue reading DakShin Indian: A taste of a different South →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, Commentary, Guest columnist, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown

Caffe Perusa is a secret that can’t be kept

Caffe Perusa
Caffe Perusa’s “A Study of Oysters” features oysters prepared in six different ways, from a traditional oyster dressing to crispy with rosemary barbecue sauce. LEO photos by Jane Mattingly

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

Walking into Caffe Perusa is a bit of a shock – it’s true that Louisville has a diverse and reputable fine-dining scene, but to find something like this in a strip mall is unexpected.

The wood floors, impeccable décor and crystal-adorned table settings in the main dining area are set off by a perimeter lined with booths that feature white Roman ionic columns and circular arches, set against accents of gold and red. The two-level, 10,000-square-foot restaurant also has four private dining rooms and a wine cellar that holds 10,000 bottles. Outside seating is being developed and should be open in a few weeks.
Continue reading Caffe Perusa is a secret that can’t be kept →

$ Budget (under $30), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes

That’s not a gordita. This is a gordita

Turbo-charged BLT
Las Gorditas’ fresh fare includes two tacos, carnitas and lengua, and a gordita.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

In Mexico City, a sprawling metropolis of 20 million souls, you’ll find a taco stand on just about every corner.

In Louisville, not so much.

But the good news, as Louisville’s small but thriving Latino community grows, is that it’s now possible to enjoy a Mexico City-style experience at a taco wagon or two around town.

One of the best, a relatively recent arrival, rolls into the parking lot at Eastland Shopping Center (where Buechel meets Fern Creek on Bardstown Road) just about every weekend evening.
Continue reading That’s not a gordita. This is a gordita →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown

Deli in the ‘burbs

Jason's Deli
Jason’s Deli, a relatively new arrival, is attracting big crowds to the East End suburbs.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

If Stevens & Stevens is the ultimate Louisville urban deli, a relatively new arrival, Jason’s Deli, is attracting big crowds to the East End suburbs. This 20-year-old national chain originated in Tucson, Ariz., a mighty long way from the Big Apple, but they’re obviously doing something right: There’s almost always a crowd, but the lines move fast, and I’ve never had a problem finding a table.
Continue reading Deli in the ‘burbs →

$ Budget (under $30), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Italian (and Pizza)

The Boombozz theory of evolution

Boombozz
The most recent addition to the Tony Boombozz empire is the brand-new upscale casual Boombozz Bistro in Jeffersontown with an expanded menu and table service. The walls are bright and bold, the colors of tomato sauce and mozzarella, artichoke and sun-dried tomato. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with Louisville HotBytes

Like a primordial anchovy creeping out of the sea and beholding bigger and better things on shore, the first Tony Boombozz pizzeria burst into view just a decade ago as a tiny but portentous creature.

Louisville’s pizza lovers looked upon it and saw that it was good. So it wasn’t long before the small pizzeria moved into larger quarters on Frankfort Avenue, then spawned a second location on Bardstown Road, cannily providing artisan pizzas on both of the city’s primary restaurant rows.

Now there are four, with the addition of a fast-casual dining room in Springhurst, and, out past Jeffersontown in the distant ‘burbs, the subject of today’s sermon: a brand-new upscale casual Boombozz Bistro with an expanded menu and table service. (Coming later this year, an expanded Bardstown Road operation and tap room with 30, count ’em, 30 draught microbrews.)
Continue reading The Boombozz theory of evolution →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown

Turkey Joe’s

Turkey Joe's
Hot wings are the specialty at this new East End dining spot. You can take your pick of chicken, turkey or boneless chicken.

Another day’s quest for hot-and-spicy warmth took me out to the East End to sample another new arrival on the local dining scene, Turkey Joe’s (“Wings, Burgers and More”). A collection of U of L and UK athletic memorabilia and beer signs sets the scene, and even the servers wear Cardinal red or Wildcat blue jerseys.

Hot wings are the specialty, and you can take your pick of chicken, turkey or boneless chicken. We went with six chicken wings ($4.55) and three turkey wings ($4.55), and threw on a turkey burger ($7.95), just for the experience.
Continue reading Turkey Joe’s →