Fish is popular in Louisville all year ’round, and doubly so during Lent. Many Roman Catholic churches offer community fried fish dinners on Fridays during Lent. The season is under way, with most dinners continuing through the last Friday before Good Friday (March 22 this year). For a listing of more than 60 in the Archdiocese of Louisville, click http://ow.ly/hEQo1. If you’d like your Lent Episcopal style, St. Luke’s in Anchorage (1206 Maple Lane, stlukesanchorage.org) and St. Mark’s in Crescent Hill (2822 Frankfort Ave., stmlky.org) also have noteworthy Friday fish fries.
Vegan, omnivore, it’s all virtuous at Earth Friends Café
“You’re taking forever to eat your soup,” my wife grumbled. “What are you doing?”
“Juft a minip,” I mumbled. I hate to talk with my mouth full. “… six, seven, eight …”
This earned me a glare, but I kept on keeping on. “Garbanzo. Pinto. Great Northern. There’s a lima.”
Continue reading Vegan, omnivore, it’s all virtuous at Earth Friends Café
Theory of Relativity is demonstrated at Exchange Pub
NA Exchange got a new name when it moved down the New Albany hill: Now it’s The Exchange Pub + Kitchen. It got a new look, which is actually an old look, as it makes creative use of a historic building in New Albany’s rapidly gentrifying downtown.
But it didn’t get new food, insists Chef Rick Adams, who swears that the menu he forged at the previous location — including his signature shrimp and grits — hasn’t changed a bit.You would have a hard time making some of the Exchange’s regular customers believe that, though. Adams says one gentleman in particular is adamant that the “new” shrimp and grits is much better than the “old.”
“I haven’t changed a thing,” the chef says, “but he’s sure it tastes better now.”
Continue reading Theory of Relativity is demonstrated at Exchange Pub
Kick (re)start Taco Punk? Sure, why not?
Taco Punk is just over a year old now in February 2013, and I am mighty happy to see it pass that first birthday, the make-or-break point that conventional wisdom sets as a marker of success in the restaurant business.
Some observers might have doubted that owner-chef Gabe Sowder’s amiable NuLu storefront would reach this point, as it has faced more wacky challenges in its first 12 months than I’ve seen in quite a few years on the eats beat.
Continue reading Kick (re)start Taco Punk? Sure, why not?
Eat like a Mayan and love it at Mayan Café
It says something good about Louisville’s dining scene, I think, that our town’s Latino dining experiences go way beyond just plain Mexican. Not that there’s anything wrong with traditional pan-Mexican/Southwestern/Tex-Mex, mind you, but an hombre can’t live on tacos, rice and beans alone.
Continue reading Eat like a Mayan and love it at Mayan Café
All the good headlines are taken
When the announcement came that Lynn’s Paradise Cafe had closed, I considered writing a column headlined “(Lynn’s) Paradise Lost,” but before my monthly column’s week rolled around, there was already an article titled “Paradise lost” – in this very paper.
Continue reading All the good headlines are taken
“It takes real bocconcini”: Mellow Mushroom takes on the locals
“Downtown” St. Matthews has come a long way, from the generation when it was best known for dark bars populated by portly gentlemen drinking cold beer, to the modern era that finds it chockablock with hipster bars populated by trendy young folks wearing skinny jeans and drinking specialty cocktails. I won’t even open the door to a discussion about whether this trend is beneficial or regrettable, although I’ll suggest that this opinion lies largely in the eye of the beholder.
Continue reading “It takes real bocconcini”: Mellow Mushroom takes on the locals
Where will we go for brunch now that Lynn’s is closed?
At least a few million megabytes of social media and a wastebasket full of old-media newsprint have surely been spilled over the recent startling and sudden demise of Lynn’s Paradise Cafe.
I don’t see much point in adding more to that flood, other than to note that we may yet be hearing more about the weird tipping and servers-vs.-management dispute that broke into public view a few days before proprietor Lynn Winter yanked the keys out of the restaurant’s ignition and shut ’er down.
But let’s not get into the who, what, when, where and why of all that right now. A larger question looms: “Where in the heck can we go for Sunday brunch now that Lynn’s is gone?”
Continue reading Where will we go for brunch now that Lynn’s is closed?
Simply Thai’s Middletown shop trails the original
The sun shimmers like a brass gong in the pale, washed-out desert sky. There’s not so much as a breath of cooling breeze. I can see a big cactus, but it’s not much good for shade. Thirsty. So thirsty. The sun beats down, baking, burning.
And then my eyes pop open, doing the familiar where-am-I blink, and hey! I’m home! In bed! And I have never been so thirsty. About four big glasses of cold water put that right, and soon I’m sinking back into a calmer sleep, thinking as I drift off, “I’ll bet it was the pad Thai.”
Continue reading Simply Thai’s Middletown shop trails the original
Lynn’s has closed
Lynn’s Paradise Cafe has abruptly closed, in the immediate aftermath of a media uproar about server tip pooling and management policies. Lynn Winter, proprietor of the 21-year Louisville tradition, writes, “We are touched to hear from so many of our loyal customers this morning. We’ll post an additional statement this afternoon. Thank you again for your continued support!” Join the conversation on the LouisvilleHotBytes forum or my Facebook page.