Category Archives: Northeast Metro

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, Northeast Metro, Wine bar, World Food

It’s all about the wine, and great food too, at Cuvée Wine Table

I’m a wine geek. Or you could call me a wine nerd. But please don’t call me a snob.

Look, I’ve enjoyed wine since I was a teenager, Chianti diluted with 7Up with Italian-American friends in Brooklyn. Later I found out about this cool place called Napa Valley, where you could get free wine, a long time before most of you had probably heard of the place. I’ve been writing professionally about wine since around 1980, and have been lucky enough to visit wineries and judge wine competitions around the world.

But you’ll never catch me taking this stuff too seriously, and you shouldn’t, either. Continue reading It’s all about the wine, and great food too, at Cuvée Wine Table →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, Northeast Metro

Guaca Mole soars over all walls with Mexican delights

Here’s a memorable twist on an immigrant story: Havana-born Fernando Martinez has tried to get to America three times and made it twice. First, in the mid-1990s, he and his mother and a few friends tried to make their way from their native Cuba to the U.S. in a hand-built raft. Continue reading Guaca Mole soars over all walls with Mexican delights →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Italian (and Pizza), LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro

Mercato brings Italian style to Norton Commons

Some of Louisville’s top chefs, such as Anoosh Shariat and Bim Deitrich, have built their reputation on a string of restaurants spread over decades, making every one a success.

And then there’s Fernando Martinez, who does restaurant entrepreneurship a whole ‘nother way. With his wife, Cristina, and cousin Yaniel Martinez, Fernando keeps adding more and more restaurants to a growing squadron of fine eateries that all run simultaneously. This is no cookie-cutter chain either, but a variety of excellent restaurants, all different in style and even national origin. Continue reading Mercato brings Italian style to Norton Commons →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro, Pacific Rim, Vegetarian/Vegan, World Food

We miss Diwali but dine well at Taj Palace

If we lived in India, there’s no way we could have been unaware that last week was Diwali, the Festival of Lights, when Indians – and Hindus around the world – celebrate the triumph of good over evil with a holiday filled with lights, color, fireworks, music and dance and plenty of good things to eat.

Diwali is like Christmas, New Year’s, Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July all rolled into one, or in other words, about as big as Derby. Diwali doesn’t have much of a profile here in the U.S., though. Well, the Hindu Temple of Kentucky off Westport Road did have a celebration last week. We couldn’t find Diwali at any of the local restaurants, though, but that didn’t keep us from enjoying a delicious Indian meal at Taj Palace. Continue reading We miss Diwali but dine well at Taj Palace →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Commentary, LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro, Pacific Rim, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

I want to bring the heat at Thai Cafe, but the chef won’t let me

Where in the world do you find the globe’s most fiery-spicy cuisine? This seemed like a simple enough question when I dreamed it up amid a sudden craving for culinary fire the other day, but it’s hard to get a definitive answer. Continue reading I want to bring the heat at Thai Cafe, but the chef won’t let me →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, Italian (and Pizza), LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro

Mangia! Mangia! Family Italian in Prospect

My friend Bob has a vowel on the end of his name, and he proudly hails from New Jersey, so when he told me to check out Bistro 42 in Prospect for its great Italian* food, I figure he knows what he’s talking about.

Um, what’s with that asterisk on “Italian*”?
Continue reading Mangia! Mangia! Family Italian in Prospect →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Chinese, LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro

New urbanism, same old Chinese in Norton Commons

There we were, Mary and I, sitting and chatting as we waited for our apps in the comfortably cozy confines of Tea Station Chinese Bistro. We sipped Tsing Tao beers and gazed out at the main drag of Norton Commons, the new subdivision with the old-time look, trying to figure out why this village somehow feels both appealing and a little creepy all at the same time.

Norton Commons was Louisville’s first large venture into the “New Urbanism” (or at least the first since St. James Court was developed in 1887). Hey, New Urbanism is cool! Something new, made to look old, compact and walkable, retro in style, quaint but, um, “safe.”

So what’s not to like?
Continue reading New urbanism, same old Chinese in Norton Commons →

$ Budget (under $30), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Hikes Point, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Northeast Metro, QuickBytes, South End, Southern Indiana, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, Vegetarian/Vegan

Signs of the apocalypse: The White Castle veggie slider

I can’t resist mentioning this briefly, since my mini-report on the HotBytes forum and Facebook on New Year’s Day blew up with “Likes” and comments, hinting that there’s public interest in this bizarre development: White Castle, at least for a while, now offers a veggie burger, of all things. They’re only 99 cents each, cheap, but like their meatful siblings, it takes a few to satisfy an appetite.
Continue reading Signs of the apocalypse: The White Castle veggie slider →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro, Seafood & Water's Edge

Mitchell’s Fish Market re-chains, stays about the same

Here’s one reason why I don’t often review corporate chain eateries: They’re generally predictable. Even the good ones don’t change much, unless the stockholders scream for change, and nothing good generally comes of that.

Take Mitchell’s Fish Market: I last reviewed it in November 2001, when it and its then-corporate partner Martini Italian Bistro had just arrived as anchor restaurants the new Summit shopping center. Continue reading Mitchell’s Fish Market re-chains, stays about the same →