Category Archives: Bistros

MilkWood reminds us of Momofuku, only better

Chef Edward Lee’s insanely popular new restaurant MilkWood at Actors Theatre of Louisville reminds me more than a little of Chef David Chang’s acclaimed Momofuku Ssäm Bar and other Momofuku eateries in New York, Toronto and Sydney, but I think MilkWood has the potential to be even better.
Continue reading MilkWood reminds us of Momofuku, only better

Blackstone settles in as Prospect destination

Some restaurants become landmarks through longevity in place, gaining familiarity by virtue of “always” having been there.

The Seelbach’s Oakroom and Brown Hotel’s English Grill fall easily into this category of historic worth, and a generation of Baby Boom icons — the original Bristol, Jack Fry’s, Lilly’s, Equus, Pat’s, DelFrisco’s and quite a few more survivors of the ’70s and ’80s — have become fixtures on the local dining map. (This, perhaps, is why so many felt particular pain as the former Azalea building, a graceful restaurant venue since 1870, was allowed to fall into grubby disrepair so as to justify its destruction in favor of a modern replacement for an upscale eatery, Mesh.) Continue reading Blackstone settles in as Prospect destination

Bistro 1860: a paradise for foodies, just not a wine geek bar

What the heck is a wine geek? A wine geek loves wine, can carry on an extended conversation about the stuff, knows a little about how it’s made, and plans trips around winery visits. He rejects labels like “snob” or even “connoisseur,” though, preferring to be recognized for a hobbyist’s passion. She loves wine, but understands that, after all, it’s really just grape juice — delicious, adult grape juice that goes great with food but is best taken in moderate doses. Continue reading Bistro 1860: a paradise for foodies, just not a wine geek bar

Relish generates a buzz on the riverfront

I rolled north along Frankfort Avenue, on through Butchertown and down the hill toward the river, getting ready to hang a left on … hey! What fresh hell is this? I know I haven’t been around here for a while, but nothing looks right.

“Siri? Siri! Where am I?”

My iPhone’s robotic voice responded: “You are on River Road.”

“I don’t think so. This doesn’t look like River Road to me! It’s got four lanes, and it’s in the wrong place. So many new things! Strip malls! The front of an old house! And where is the Stop Lite?”

I found 12 places matching ‘The Stop’ fairly close to you.

“Never mind! Forget it! Just take me to Relish restaurant!”

Sorry, Robin, I can’t do that. You’re not listening to the music app.

“Aaagggh!”

Churrasco Steak at Relish. LEO photo by Ron Jasin.
Churrasco Steak at Relish. LEO photo by Ron Jasin.
This wasn’t working out. So I put Siri back in my pocket and, adjusting to the radically renovated landscape of inner River Road, found my way soon enough to Relish, just down the road from the Big Four Bridge. Relish shares space in a short new strip mall with the reincarnated Stop Lite Liquors, which looks a lot more classy than its predecessor but, sadly, has lost its iconic traffic light.

“They didn’t want it,” the Stop Lite clerk said, cocking one eye toward the ceiling in the direction, I assume, of building management. This is a real loss. If the old Stop Lite’s flashing red, yellow and green beacon was still around, I wouldn’t have had to summon Siri in the first place. Perhaps we should start a Facebook movement to Restore The Historic Stop Lite?

Relish, however, needs no beacon. Word of mouth alone surrounded this new spot with a trendy buzz since it opened right after Thanksgiving. It’s hard to imagine how it could have done otherwise. It represents the re-entry into the Louisville dining scene of Susan Seiller, who owned and put her stamp on the popular Jack Fry’s restaurant from 1987 until 2008.

Seiller, who also ran the short-lived but much-loved Paloma on Brownsboro Road in the early ’90s before turning it over to Azalea, has brought the style that informed Fry’s and Paloma to infuse what could have been a bland shopping center space for Relish with cool, techno-industrial decor. Walls are pure white, as are the simple but stylish plastic chairs; tabletops are streaky black. No shortcuts were taken with glasses or silverware, and even the heavy paper napkins feel like cloth.

And that location amid River Road’s new look may prove foresighted, as it’s neatly situated to serve both business diners on lunch break or commuters who choose the River Road option on their way home from work. (Lunch service now ends at 4 p.m.; there’s no table service for dinner, but a prepared-foods deli loaded with delicacies from Chef Jack Beeson stays open until 7 p.m. Relish is also open 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays and may eventually add dinner hours, our server said, but don’t expect it soon.)

We dropped in before noon on a weekday, a lucky choice, as the place was slammed by midday. Service moved briskly, though, and we were in and out within an hour.

Beeson’s concise menu is affordable (nothing over $10) and focused on appetizing yet healthy fare from ingredients, a table card assures us, “sourced … from purveyors with sustainable practices. Some local. Some not.” I wish the menu named the sources. Was that Capriole goat cheese on the onion tart? I don’t know. The beef in the churrasco steak seemed to have the texture and flavor of grass-fed, but where was it from? This is not critical information, but 21st century foodies like to know these things.

We loaded up on lunch and took more deli dishes home, and I couldn’t find a nit to pick. The churrasco steak ($9) was perfect medium-rare as ordered, thin medallions over a Salvadorean-style arepa (corn cake) filled with grilled jalapeños and finished with spicy sautéed mushrooms and bright-green Argentinean chimichurri.

The onion and goat cheese tart ($7) was simple and flavorful, fine short pastry topped with sliced onions sautéed dark brown and sweet, garnished with mild goat cheese crumbles and plated with a pile of fresh, bitter arugula tossed in a gentle lemon vinaigrette.

Lentil chili ($3 for a cup, $6 for a bowl) was thick, spicy and rib-sticking. White runner bean soup ($3 and $6) was filled with beans the size of limas, bits of tomato and slivers of chard in a consoling beef broth. A side of roasted beet salad ($3) with thin shavings of ricotta salata cheese might tempt the most ardent beet-hater.

A hefty ration of coconut pound cake with caramelized pineapple and a scoop of Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream ($7) was really too much for one, or even two, but we finished it all the same.

Lunch for two exceeded the “budget” level but was worth it, with plenty of food but no alcohol still tallying $36.04, plus a $7.50 tip.

Relish
1346 River Road
587-7007
relishlouisville.com
Rating: 92

Cafe Lou Lou Thrives “Where Sears Used To Be”

Here’s something worth knowing about Cafe Lou Lou in St. Matthews: Among all the city’s restaurants, edging out even such close contenders as Equus & Jack’s, Del Frisco’s, Charim Korean and Havana Rumba, it arguably stands closest of all to that iconic Louisville location: “Where the old Sears store used to be.” Continue reading Cafe Lou Lou Thrives “Where Sears Used To Be”

East End Ghyslain resets critic’s attitude

Let me be frank: I’ve had a hard time understanding why so many of my foodie friends have been going ooh-la-la over the NuLu incarnation of Ghyslain. They’ve declared it “sophisticated,” celebrated its French accent, and hurried in to buy restaurateur-chocolateur Ghyslain Maurais’ fancy candies by the sack.
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Majid’s looks as if it’s here to stay

For a while there, the restaurant space at the back corner of Chenoweth Square became something of a joke among local foodies. The spacious facility had enjoyed restaurant success over 20 years or so as the culinary home of the original Rick’s, Indigo and later Rick’s Ferrari Grille.
Continue reading Majid’s looks as if it’s here to stay

Dining doesn’t get more local than brunch at Harvest

Who doesn’t like eating locally grown food? It’s fresh, it’s healthy, it’s more or less off the industrial agri-business grid, and maybe best of all, it tastes really, really good.

Dining “locavore” is trendy, too, if being in on the hippest big thing is important to you.

But allow me to suggest that there’s something more important: Dining locally supports your local farmer. Continue reading Dining doesn’t get more local than brunch at Harvest

Varanese keeps up its tradition

It’s hard to believe Varanese has been around for five years now, particularly when we consider that Azalea, the popular Brownsboro Road eatery that was Chef John Varanese’s culinary home before he moved into these quarters in 2007, still remains vacant and, frankly, is looking more than a little shabby. (An Indiana-based mini-chain called “Mesh” is said to be on the way.)

Meanwhile, Varanese, who settled into his eponymous new establishment (a former service station, later Red Lounge) without missing a beat, is going strong on Frankfort Avenue.
Continue reading Varanese keeps up its tradition

Farm-to-table dining hiding in plain sight at Anchorage Café

“Farm-to-table,” the buzz term for restaurants that seek out and celebrate the health and humane stewardship of local produce, meat and poultry, is one of the hottest trends on the local culinary scene. From Mozz on down to Toast, Harvest, Wiltshire, Garage Bar, La Coop, Taco Punk, Decca, Mayan Cafe and Rye, you needn’t walk any farther than you can throw a Weisenberger Mill grits cake to find farm-to-table cuisine in trendy NuLu.

But one of the best of the genre, surprisingly, is almost hidden out in the leafy environs of suburban Anchorage, where Anchorage Café assembles an impressive collection of locavore small plates. Continue reading Farm-to-table dining hiding in plain sight at Anchorage Café