Category Archives: St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

$ Budget (under $30), St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, World Food

Wild Eggs hatches breakfast … and lunch!

Wild Eggs

(Wild Eggs, Voice-Tribune, Nov. 8, 2007)

Who doesn’t love breakfast? The resounding success of a series of fancy yet comfortable breakfast and brunch spots around Louisville strongly suggests that most people in the Derby City do.

First there was Lynn’s Paradise Cafe, which has all but become a local institution in nearly 20 years of serving us pancakes, french toast and more. A couple of years ago, Toast on Market opened to rave reviews and has been packed ever since.

And now, in the East End, Wild Eggs seems poised to make it a morning trifecta.
Continue reading Wild Eggs hatches breakfast … and lunch! →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Bistros, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Always popular Rick’s

Rick's

(Rick’s Ferrari Grille, Voice-Tribune, Oct. 11, 2007)

According to long-established wisdom, one good way to detect an excellent Chinese restaurant is to look for the places where Chinese people eat. In much the same way, a happy, diverse mosaic of American diners generally signals an excellent American restaurant.

And so it is with Rick’s Ferrari Grille, an established St. Matthews tradition that rarely fails to attract a crowd.

After a series of moves over the years, restaurateur Rick Dissell has been back in his original Chenoweth Square location for 2 1/2 years now, and it looks like he’s back to stay. Continue reading Always popular Rick’s →

$ Budget (under $30), St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, World Food

Inside story at Sahara Café

Sahara
Sahara Café chef Mavash Rubino is from Iran, and the range of Middle Eastern fare that she prepares shows a distinct Persian accent. Sahara ranks right up there with other local Persian spots. LEO Photos by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Sahara Café, Wild Eggs)

A small puzzle accompanies Sahara Café, a new Middle Eastern eatery in St. Matthews: Is it a restaurant inside a shop, or is it a shop inside a restaurant?

I think maybe it’s both. Located in the new retail building at the northeast corner of Lexington Road and Bauer Avenue, just down the street from Lotsa Pasta, its close but comfortable quarters incorporate the family-owned Sahara Café and A Small World, a gift shop featuring, they say, “handcrafted home-decor items from around the world.”
Continue reading Inside story at Sahara Café →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Digging into the Feed Bag

The Feed Bag

(The Feed Bag Deli and Catering, Voice-Tribune, Sept. 13, 2007)

Okay, it’s not quite as hard to get into the Feed Bag as it was to gain entry to a Prohibition-era speakeasy: No one will challenge you through a peephole or insist that you prove you were invited. In fact, if you’re having a tough time finding your way to this almost-hidden St. Matthews treasure, chances are someone will offer directions with a smile.

Nevertheless, The Feed Bag isn’t exactly high-profile. First there’s the small matter of its location: Despite its Breckenridge Lane address, it’s not really visible from this or any other thoroughfare.
Continue reading Digging into the Feed Bag →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, South End, Southern Indiana, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

On wings of fire

Wings
Back Door wings are legendary. Have them mild, medium, hot or “Burner.” LEO Photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Nine fine spots for wings)

The calendar says it’s September, and just about everybody in town is fired up for the Cards vs. Cats weekend. So where are the colorful leaves, that hint of wood smoke in the air and the crisp, hazy autumn afternoons that define “football weather”?

OK, so it’s a little early for that, with temperatures still hitting the 90s and few signs of autumn around. But one constant of the season remains: Whether you’re tailgating at the stadium or planning a hearty repast for an afternoon of football on TV, it’s hard to imagine a better football snack than a mess of spicy, crispy Buffalo-style chicken wings.
Continue reading On wings of fire →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

The quest for great ‘cue

Shane's Rib Shack

(Shane’s Rib Shack and Pig City BBQ, Voice-Tribune, Aug. 31, 2007)

For many years, when I’ve been in the East End and craved excellent barbecue, my go-to spots have been Jucy’s near Pewee Valley and Vince Staten’s in Anchorage.

Jucy’s remains a favorite, but Staten’s, sadly, has lost a step since local writer Vince Staten (co-author with the C-J’s Greg Johnson of the fine book “Real Barbecue“) moved to Tennessee and the eatery that still bears his name moved out U.S. 42 to new shopping-center quarters on the site of the old Melrose Inn in Oldham County.

While the barbecue at Vince’s (without Vince) remains acceptable, it’s no longer memorable; so I’ve been looking for some new go-to places in the neighborhood when I’ve got a hankering for smoked ribs, pulled pork, brisket and all the fixins.
Continue reading The quest for great ‘cue →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Chef Dan seeks out the little donkey

Salsarita's
Salsarita’s chicken burrito with black beans, medium salsa, guacamole, lettuce, cilantro, red onions and cheese. Photo by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Qdoba, Moe’s, Salsarita’s)

When a top chef takes a break from cooking for other people and ventures out to dine on someone else’s fare, what goodies is he likely to choose? Ethereally trendy foams and smears and other cutting-edge num-nums of molecular gastronomy?

Well, maybe.

But if you ask Chef Dan Thomas, sous chef at Big Spring Country Club and late of City Café, Café Metro and Equus, about the casual snack that smacks his piñata, a fond, distant look comes into his eyes and he literally licks his chops.

“Burritos,” he said. Continue reading Chef Dan seeks out the little donkey →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Commentary, New and noteworthy, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, World Food

Plus ça change at Café Lou Lou

Cafe Lou Lou
One of the reasons Café Lou Lou’s new locale works is the retention of the original look, including striking art pieces. LEO photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes

The 19th century French satirist and polymath Alphonse Karr was not, as far as we know, a food critic. But when he penned the lines, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” (“The more things change, the more they stay the same”), he might as well have been talking about Louisville’s Café Lou Lou.

A lot of us obligate urbanites were horrified to learn earlier this year that Chef Clay Wallace and co-owner Helen Ellis planned to move the popular eatery’s quarters from Frankfort Avenue in Clifton to St. Matthews, literally across the street from where Sears used to be.

Leaving the artsy, hippy-dippy diversity of Clifton for almost-suburban St. Matthews? How can this be, we wailed! Café Lou Lou can’t possibly stay the same! How can it survive in the whitebread land of SUVs?

As it turns out, the answer to these questions turns out to be, “Very nicely indeed.” Or, if you prefer, “Plus ça change.”
Continue reading Plus ça change at Café Lou Lou →