Mmm, it’s in the ‘90s again. Wouldn’t it be great to go get some steaming hot soup? How about a big bowl of pho from Pho Cafe!
No matter how much a hot bowl of creamy chowder says “winter” to you, think about the Vietnamese, and all the other nationalities that ring Asia’s tropical southeastern edge, where hot soup is a main meal, people understand that hot soup cools you off. Continue reading However you say it, Pho Cafe offers year-round delight
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
Who doesn’t love street food? I sure do! Give me a corn dog, or maybe a big slice of New York City pizza that I can fold over and carry down the street, and I’m a happy boy.
So naturally I was delighted to discover a recent South End arrival, Á-Châu, which bears the magical words “Vietnamese Street Food” in big letters over the front door. Continue reading Street food in the South End: Á-Châu
There’s something lovably gritty about the stretch of urban Louisville along Lower Brownsboro Road in Clifton that some call “LowBrow,” and we’re okay with that. Take that well-worn restaurant building that sits up on the bank across from Kroger. Home to a dozen short-lived spots over the past couple of decades, it started life as a Pizza Hut sometime back in the ‘70s. You know the place: It’s one of the city’s most storied “restaurant graveyards.”
But now a new arrival has upped the ante significantly … Continue reading Chik’n & Mi gives the noble bird an Asian spin
About a half-mile away from Chik’n & Mi, in the heart of Clifton, the guys at Mirin get ramen right. I needn’t repeat my recent glowing review (Jan. 11, 2017), but news of lunch hours and an expanded menu drew me back for a revisit the other day. I still love it just as hard. Continue reading Mirin gets ramen right
I’m pretty sure I have told you before that I love Indian food. Why do I love it? Let me count the ways: It brings bold, bright flavors, that may be as fiery as the gates of hell or as mild as a baby’s kiss, whichever way you like it. Continue reading We celebrate and highly recommend the Indian joys of Tikka House
What do Americans know about Nigeria? Not much, to be frank, and sadly enough, a lot of what it isn’t good. Beyond Internet scammers with wacky schemes and Boko Haram terrorists, what do we know?
The most populous country in Africa, whose Yoruba culture goes back more than 1,000 years, and one of the world’s top producers of oil, Nigeria boasts coastal cities with glittering office towers and luxury living for the 1 percent. On the other hand, about 70 percent of Nigerians live in extreme poverty.
In other words, it sounds a little bit like Trump’s America! But let’s not go there today. Let’s focus instead on the warm and friendly people of a tropical nation with a hearty cuisine that’s well worth discovering. Continue reading Funmi’s favors us with Nigerian flavors
Our immigrant neighbors have taught us to love tacos. They’ve introduced us to gorditas, and roti, chapatis and naan, bao and banh mi and pitas and lavash and much, much more; and for all these carb-loaded delights we are much in their debt.
Now say hello to the Venezuelan arepa, yet another appealing way to enclose something good to eat within a tasty wrapper, a hand-held treat that long pre-dates the invention of Lord John Montagu, fourth Earl of Sandwich. Continue reading Arepas y mas! Nahyla’s brings us Venezuelan delights
It has been 30 years since Bruce Ucán came to Louisville from the Yucatan region of Southern Mexico, home of the ancient Mayan culture. For just about all of that time, Ucán has been cooking for us, to our great delight. Continue reading Mayan Cafe conquers boundaries with a world of good flavor
Did you ever wait in line at Rumplings? I sure did. And I hated it when that little ramen-and-dumpling place just off Bardstown Road went away after only seven months.
So here’s good news: Griffin Paulin, one of the minds behind the original Rumplings team has opened Mirin, a new ramen-and-more shop on Frankfort Avenue in Clifton. Continue reading Mirin, Hai!
