LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
Just out the pike from the Clifton J. Gumbo’s, the classic Crescent Hill storefront that houses the Frankfort Avenue branch of Heine Brothers Coffee has long been an appealing place to grab coffee, tea or espresso and a pastry or dessert.
Not long ago, the addition of a breakfast panini made Heine’s a reasonable option when you’re in the mood for a quick, hot breakfast.
Continue reading Hot breakfast at Heine’s?
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| Vegan chili dog. Photo: Robin Garr |
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
Speaking of creative eateries, Conez & Coneyz may be one of the smallest dining venues on Frankfort Avenue, but it’s also one of the most eager to please.
When the owners chose to set up a hot-dog stand last year near the epicenter of an urban neighborhood rich in recovering hippies and seminary students (occasionally both embodied in the same person), they weren’t all that surprised to hear an instant demand for a vegetarian dawg.
Ultimately, they sourced two dogs that weren’t merely vegetarian but vegan: a Loma Linda brand item that turns to textured vegetable prote for almost-sausage flavor; and a Vegi-Dog made by Cedar Lake that’s all-grain protein. One chilly afternoon, I tried the Loma Linda as a chilidog, topped with vegetarian chili and chopped onions.
Continue reading No animals were harmed in making this chili dog
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Pugliese “Pug” roll at Blue Dog Bakery, a great stop for morning breads, pastries and coffee. There’s a full lunch menu, and it goes without saying that Baker Bob Hancock’s artisan breads are the best in the region. But it’s generally the “pug” roll and lattes that bring us out just about every Saturday morning.
Blue Dog Café and Bakery
2868 Frankfort Ave.
(502) 899-9800
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LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
You can, and probably do, call it a Danish pastry, but its roots lie in Vienna. Nevertheless, the Danes have made this rich and delicious pastry their own, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better one in the Old Country than you can enjoy right here in Louisville at Danish Express.
This quaint St. Matthews storefront occupies a cozy space with big plate-glass windows that make up the entire front wall, facing east to bring in bright sunlight in the morning.
It’s open from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. daily (except Sunday), offering breakfast throughout and lunch at midday. The breakfast menu – including but not limited to the rich, oversize Danish – makes it one of the city’s top spots to break a fast. At lunchtime, it’s still a decent place for a quick meal, but facing much sterner competition, it’s not quite as close to the front of the pack.
Continue reading The eponymous pastry seals the deal at Danish Express
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| Our Best Restaurant in Jeffersonville is a family-owned business that started as a single eatery in Smithfield, Ky. Photos by Robin Garr |
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(Our Best Restaurant, Perkfection Café; Z’s Fusion opening report)
It would be easy to dismiss the dining options in little ol’ Jeffersonville, especially when you look across the majestic Ohio River and see … Hooters. But there are some rich and varied dining choices over yonder, from the delicious and affordable Mai’s Thai to the old favorite Come Back Inn.
Reporter Kevin Gibson tried a couple of Jeffersonville’s choices recently – Our Best Restaurant, located just off Ind. 62, and Perkfection Café & Bar – and found good things at both.
Continue reading Don’t dismiss little ol’ Jeff
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| Bazo’s, which recently moved to new quarters off Dupont Circle, serves one of the city’s best fish tacos. Photo by Robin Garr |
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(Bazo’s, Caffe Classico, J. Gumbo’s, Stan’s)
OK, everybody listen up. I’ve told you this before, and chances are you’re going to hear it again: There’s a recession on.
Yes, a recession, and a lot of us are hurting. We’re cutting back on luxuries and hoping we won’t have to cut back on necessities.
For those of us who love food and drink and dining out, we’re whipsawed: It’s harder to justify dropping a pile of bucks on a big evening out, so fine dining may be one of the first indulgences to drop off the budget. But this decision puts a hurtin’ on Louisville’s local, independent restaurant community, the Louisville Originals and Keep Louisville Weirds that make our city an exceptional place to dine for its size.
Continue reading Recession-busting dining, cheap but fine
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| Lunch Lady Land: Exteriors of two Antique Malls each containing a new lunch spot – the new mall at Jackson and Broadway that has the resurrected Colonnade Café inside (below), and Olivia’s in the Goss Avenue Antique Mall. Photos by Robin Garr |
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
Ladies who lunch and go antique shopping (and men who do the same) have an unprecedented wealth of options these days, as a series of moves and changes has expanded the antique mall circuit from one popular eatery to three.
Let’s summarize: When the Louisville Antique Mall on Goss Avenue announced plans last year to move from its hulking 19th century brick industrial building to a different hulking 19th century brick industrial building on East Broadway, its critically acclaimed lunch spot, The Café, went off on its own to open a free-standing restaurant just east of downtown.
Then, not long after the Louisville Antique Mall made its move to East Broadway, a new luncheon establishment on its fifth floor revived the name of the old Colonnade cafeteria downtown. The move didn’t leave the old building on Goss vacant for long: Soon the Goss Avenue Antique Mall opened in slightly different but overlapping quarters. And sure enough, it has a lunch spot, too, dubbed Olivia’s Restaurant.
Continue reading Lunch and antiques, not necessarily in that order
Following up on last week’s report on Cake Flour, the yummy new organic bakery on East Market: LouisvilleHotBytes forumite Andrea Essenpreiss is building quite a reputation for herself in La Grange and Oldham County – and quickly spilling over into Louisville – with her recently established business, Q&A Sweet Treats.
Continue reading Q&A Sweet Treats: Outrageously good
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| The Speakeasy in New Albany was modeled after Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. The idea originated from proprietors and local musicians Lori (pictured above) and Brad Tharp. Photo by Nicole Pullen. |
LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Treet’s Bakery Cafe, Speakeasy, Connor’s Place)
With three interesting new restaurants recently joining Bistro New Albany, Federal Hill, La Rosita and others in historic downtown New Albany, Louisville’s Sunny Side is looking mighty bright these days.
I’ve been eager to get over and check it out, but the scare stories about miles-long traffic backups during the recent I-64 construction had me so nervous that I wimped out and asked a Hoosier buddy, GREG GAPSIS, to pick up his knife and fork and tell us what’s going on over there.
Continue reading Things are looking bright on the Sunny Side
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| Click the image link to watch a 2-minute video tour of Caffè Classico |
In a town that’s virtually awash with fine artisan coffee shops, it’s hard to declare a single favorite among so many good ones. I’m such a regular at Heine Bros. on Frankfort that the baristas all know just how I like my latte; I love the commitment to handmade quality at Sunergos in Germantown and the new Jackson’s Organic on Lexington Road and Blue Mountain on East Main; and there’s a lot to like at Day’s, Highland Coffee and many more.
But if you put together quality and mood and add a point or two for excellent food and a good wine list as a serious option for those evening hours when coffee doesn’t seem quite right but a glass of vino does, it’s hard to beat Caffe Classico on style points. Continue reading A video tour of Caffè Classico