You’d think I’ve been doing this culinary critiquing long enough that I’ve been just about everywhere and tried just about everything. But the other night Anoosh Bistro delivered a first: An appetizer so fine that I couldn’t eat just one. Continue reading Anoosh Bistro’s memorable fare delights
Category Archives: Bistros
Couvillion is tres bon, I garontee.
I really like Couvillion. I like the Cajun-country catfish dish, and I like the new Germantown restaurant. I can hardly wait to tell you about this. But first: What the hell is a Couvillion, and how do you even say it? Continue reading Couvillion is tres bon, I garontee.
Even on a quiet night, Marketplace rocks
We had such a good time checking out Main Street last week that we decided to hit the other end of downtown for dinner at Marketplace. Hmm. This block is different.
Walk down Fourth Street toward Broadway on a quiet evening when there’s nothing playing at the Palace, Mercury Ballroom or the Brown Theatre, and you may not meet another human being. Until you get to Marketplace Restaurant, anyway. Continue reading Even on a quiet night, Marketplace rocks
Fine drinks meet fun plates at Red Herring
After many years standing vacant at the top of the hill in Clifton, prompting strollers on the Avenue to muse, “Boy, that would make a great restaurant,” the historic white-brick Hilltop Theater has taken its place on the city’s dining scene as Red Herring Cocktail Lounge & Kitchen. Continue reading Fine drinks meet fun plates at Red Herring
Dining at Harvest is like eating at a farmers’ market
Who doesn’t like to spend a summer Saturday morning browsing a farmers’ market, loading up on fresh veggies, enjoying a breakfast burrito or a barbecue sandwich, listening to music and running into friends? That’s what I love about Harvest Restaurant: It’s like a big farmers’ market that’s open all year, with air-conditioning and table service! Continue reading Dining at Harvest is like eating at a farmers’ market
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … SuperChefs!
Holy pancakes and waffles, Batman! This place has got a bat-ton of food, piled as high as Gotham’s towers! With great power comes great responsibility, and SuperChefs’ latest and most impressive location meets that standard and then some. Continue reading Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … SuperChefs!
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
Fork & Barrel’s warm vibe surrounds fine, pricey fare
When a restaurant launches in the springtime in Louisville, the owner invariably faces a difficult decision: Rush to open the doors before Derby season? Or take it easy and get all your culinary ducks in a row before opening up more gently in the post-Derby calm?
The issues involved in this decision are not trivial. Opening in time for Derby may pay off, but it poses challenges, too. If things go poorly, the train wreck happens in front of a critical audience.
So, props to Fork & Barrel’s owners, Chef Geoffrey Heyde and his wife, Emily, who risked opening on busy Frankfort Avenue just a few weeks before the race, following a quick but stylish remake of the space that had long housed Basa Modern Vietnamese. Continue reading Fork & Barrel’s warm vibe surrounds fine, pricey fare
We relax with upscale comfort food at The Blackstone Grille
Let’s see … Mexican, Mayan, Venezuelan, Nigerian, soul food, Indian. What culinary genre haven’t I tried lately? Oh, wait, how about some good, old-school American food? Continue reading We relax with upscale comfort food at The Blackstone Grille
Get on the bridge of your choice and go to Portage House
The East End Bridge will open this weekend, and when it does, Louisville will have more ways to get across the Ohio River than ever: four by car, two by train, and one on foot or via bicycle.
This is good news, because Southern Indiana has more good places to eat and drink than ever these days, and it would be foolish for hard-core Louisvillians to stay rooted sullenly on the Kentucky side when it’s time for dinner.
Today let’s thank Paul Skulas, past chef at Holy Grale and Gralehaus and now owner and chef of Jeffersonville’s new Portage House, for the latest and one of the most attractive new arrivals on the “Sunny Side.” Continue reading Get on the bridge of your choice and go to Portage House