Category Archives: Commentary

Robin Garr’s musings about food and restaurant matters that don’t fit neatly into the “review” category.

Commentary

What’s an influencer? Is there money in it?

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

I was putting on my disguise and puffing up my wig, getting ready to go review a restaurant, when a New York Times headline caught my eye: “The 21st-Century Shakedown of Restaurants.” (The Times’ headline is pictured above.)

“This isn’t a joke,” opinion essayist Karen Stabiner wrote. “This is a 21st-century shakedown. Here is how it works: An influencer walks into a restaurant to collect an evening’s worth of free food and drink, having promised to create social media content extolling the restaurant’s virtues.” Continue reading What’s an influencer? Is there money in it? →

Commentary

“Find us on Facebook” Or not. Restaurants and social media

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

In the overall scheme of things, it hasn’t been all that long since Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. And it’s still recent history when Steve Jobs started the process of getting a tiny, powerful computer into everyone’s pocket.

How in the heck did we figure out how to eat before we could grab our smartphone and in a matter of seconds check out everything we wanted to know about where to go for dinner tonight and figure out what to have when we got there? Continue reading “Find us on Facebook” Or not. Restaurants and social media →

Commentary

Let ‘em eat cake: the view from the judges’ table

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

“Uh. Two things I don’t much like: Maraschino and Amaretto,” I whispered to fellow judge Caity DiFabio as yet another slice of cake dropped on our star-spangled table.

She nodded, and then we picked up our forks, and we were like “Whoa.” Whoever made this cake knew what to do with flavors. It was remarkable! Judge Josh Moore agreed, and the deal was sealed. Amanda and Eleanor B…’s almond maraschino cake with Amaretto had won the annual cake contest at the Crescent Hill Old Fashioned Fourth of July Picnic. Continue reading Let ‘em eat cake: the view from the judges’ table →

Commentary

What could possibly go wrong? Oops!

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

One cold day last winter, I joined a group of friends at a popular local breakfast spot. I pulled up a chair, said down, reached for a menu, and … oops! hey now, what’s this? I’m stuck to the chair!

Sure enough, I was literally glued in place. It took an actual effort to pull up and break loose from my mooringswith an audible pop. On closer inspection, the problem became clear: A previous occupant had left a small pool of pancake syrup pooled on the seat.

Silly me for failing to look before I sat down, but still: GRRR! Continue reading What could possibly go wrong? Oops! →

Commentary

Restaurant fame may falter, but we’ll always have our go-tos.

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Things are changing, and this makes us nervous. We’ve already mourned the loss of Harvest, Decca, and Rye during the pandemic, and their replacement in place if not in spirit by a branch of Cafe Lou Lou and a squadron of Latin-accented Olé Group eateries.

And now James Beard House reveals its annual restaurant award winners for 2023, and once again Louisville strikes out without a sniff of glory.

I just recently lamented about the way Louisville dining lately isn’t like it used to be, and I know I’m not alone in singing this chorus. Is it time for us to accept that our dreams of world recognition as a top-tier restaurant city aren’t to be?

Maybe. Maybe not. Continue reading Restaurant fame may falter, but we’ll always have our go-tos. →

Commentary

Modica: Mocktails and cocktails made with Pride

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

The two guys work together like the practiced team that they are. Their elevator speech is sharp. Then they seque smoothly into a clear presentation. They look at each other. They smile. They laugh. They finish each other’s sentences.

Meet J.D. Mitchell and Eric Wentworth, co-creators and corporate co-owners of Modica, billed as “the world’s first superfood cocktail and mocktail mixer.” Continue reading Modica: Mocktails and cocktails made with Pride →

Commentary

We get happily lost on Memory Lane

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

The Louisville dining scene sure has changed since I was a kid! Or has it? There’s hardly a better way to spark a conversation among food-loving locals than to start talking about dining out the way it used to be.

It’s no coincidence that one of my recent columns that attracted the most comments was “Memories! The Closed Louisville Restaurants That We Miss The Most” (LouisvilleHotBytes, Oct. 22, 2022). Remember? Talking about old favorites like Hasenour’s, Casa Grisanti, Allo Spiedo, and all the other beloved eateries that many of us (cough cough) are old enough to remember with nostalgia. Continue reading We get happily lost on Memory Lane →

Commentary

Love food and dining? Make food justice a part of your diet.

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

If you love good food, cooking and dining out as much as I do, allow me to invite you to make the food justice movement part of your culinary life, too.

Um, what is food justice? Good question. Let’s start with a definition. Here’s a good one from Boston University’s Community Service Center: Continue reading Love food and dining? Make food justice a part of your diet. →

Commentary

Nitpicks and whines: Dining annoyances

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

I was excited to go to one of my favorite upscale eateries recently. I was full of happy smiles until I sat down at our table and picked up a menu, ready to peruse its tasty delights

D’oh!

Thanks to an overhead light that blasted down from behind my head like an airport runway beacon, much of our table was bathed in harsh light. But that light was placed above and behind me so everything in front of me was lost in dark shadow. (Image recorded for posterity above.) Continue reading Nitpicks and whines: Dining annoyances →