If you grew up eating pizza in Louisville – or for that matter just about anywhere in the U.S. outside, possibly, the urban Northeast – you may be excused for believing that pizza is all about the toppings. Sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, bacon and pineapple and even anchovies, oh, my: Pile ’em high! And don’t forget to dollop on the sweet, sweet tomato sauce and a lake of molten, stringy cheese. Continue reading Coals Brings The Heat To Make A Fine Pizza
Zen and the art of oh-no-they-didn’t
Last week, I read with interest multiple media accounts of the saga of Amy’s Baking Company, a restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Amy’s is the latest of a long list of ailing restaurants to throw itself into the arms of the producers of “Kitchen Nightmares.” “KN” stars ubiquitous Chef Gordon Ramsay, who famously swoops in to tell you what you’re doing wrong. Nearly every episode follows the same formula; Ramsay is disgusted by your cooking, disgusted by your slovenly ways, and put off by your dated décor.
Continue reading Zen and the art of oh-no-they-didn’t
Sitar plays Indian music to our taste buds
“Sitar.” Sounds like “guitar,” a little, and sort of acts like one, too, this oversize Indian guitar-equivalent that the Beatles loved. It’s a stringed instrument that plays eerie, sinuous music that can’t be duplicated on a keyboard because it slides into the spaces between the keys.
When you think about it, Indian food is kind of like that, too. Continue reading Sitar plays Indian music to our taste buds
MilkWood Becomes A Prime Destination
For the first month or so after it opened in February, if you wanted to check out what Chef Edward Lee and his crew were doing at MilkWood, it was easy: Just wait until the play started at Actors Theatre of Louisville upstairs. The restaurant would empty out, and you could enjoy your meal in almost solitary splendor.
This trick doesn’t work so well any more. Continue reading MilkWood Becomes A Prime Destination
Stop! In the name of Loui Loui’s Motown pizza
Okay, let’s review the geography of pizza, nature’s most nearly perfect food.
Born in Naples, Italy, it came to the United States with Italian immigrants and soon became a favorite in New York City and the urban Northeast.
Like so many other things, this deliciously cheesy, tangy, salty supper on a plate went national with the Baby Boom. And as it grew, it evolved, taking on regional differences as cities made it their own.
Continue reading Stop! In the name of Loui Loui’s Motown pizza
We brunch and booze it up at Hillbilly Tea
Thomas Jefferson said it best: Government should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” This great American tradition, enshrined in the Constitution, would seem to protect us from governmental intrusion in such deeply personal matters as, for example, enjoying an adult beverage with brunch on Sundays.
So why did it take more than two centuries for us to be able to enjoy the simple pleasure of a bloody mary with a morning repast in Louisville?
Continue reading We brunch and booze it up at Hillbilly Tea
Our judge rules Sidebar delicious
Sidebar, the latest about-to-be-hot spot in the Arena Zone, a hip bar and grill with a legal theme, is set to open to the public any day now. This week it’s been serving “VIP” guests in soft openings, something I generally avoid, so I invited HotBytes correspondent Antonia Lindauer to check it out. She likes the looks of the place, and offers us this quick preview:
Continue reading Our judge rules Sidebar delicious
Tasty new fare at Meridian Cafe, but tricky parking remains
If you think the Balkans are bad for bloody border warfare, just try to find a space in the maze of parking lots behind the busy storefronts of downtown St. Matthews. Warring posters warn of dire consequences if pilgrims bound for Mellow Mushroom, for example, or Plehn’s bakery, dare to park in St. Matthews Station’s parking lot. Or vice versa.
Continue reading Tasty new fare at Meridian Cafe, but tricky parking remains
Sweet, Sweet Cornbread And More At Napa River Grill
How do you like your cornbread? Like Scarlett O’Hara, most Southern folk don’t give a damn for sweet cornbread. North of the Mason-Dixon, however, cornbread without a touch of sweetness seems just plain weird.
This topic came to mind the other day at Napa River Grill, where we were offered iron mini-skillets loaded with domed rounds of golden-brown cornbread topped with balls of soft butter. It was good cornbread indeed, crunchy on the surface, crumbly within, coarse-grained and sweet, sweet, sweet. You could put this on the dessert menu and call it corn cake.
Continue reading Sweet, Sweet Cornbread And More At Napa River Grill
First Saturday in May
Derby again already? I feel like I’m still recovering from last year.
Since my column is usually published the last Wednesday of each month, I’ve written a few Derby week columns over the last five-plus years. I started out aiming to reread them this morning, thinking, “Well, I don’t want to repeat myself.”
Continue reading First Saturday in May