$ Budget (under $30), Breakfast and lunch spots, sandwich spots, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries

Bruegger’s halts the bagel whine

It’s getting harder and harder to be a food snob around this town. Years ago, it was easy to complain about all the good things we couldn’t get to eat here. Real Mexican? Ethnic Chinese? Sushi? Thai? Back in the bad old days, Louisvillians who liked to complain about what they couldn’t have were in a target-rich environment.

Nowadays, thankfully, the sounds of whining have ceased, as our city’s lovably evolving restaurant scene has filled in most of the gaps. Sure, there’s still arguably a dearth of spots to enjoy authentic Greek, real kosher-style deli food or some finely nuanced variations on Tex-Mex. Nor have the raw-food or dining in the dark movements made inroads here, but that’s perhaps just as well.

The long-running jeremiads about Louisville’s lack of New York City-style pizza seem to have abated with the arrival of Papalino’s and Coals Artisan Pizza; and Roots has effectively silenced the quality-vegetarian complaints. Now, by and large, whiners are reduced to niche markets. Why can’t we have a Tibetan vegan momo bar, or a place to get Navajo fry bread?

But we can still complain about bagels! Continue reading Bruegger’s halts the bagel whine →

Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

Soldiers of the kitchen

I remember with pleasure and deep gratitude the first time I was paid a sincere compliment in a professional kitchen. As a recent culinary-school graduate, I was working a very busy pantry shift in a downtown restaurant on a “show night.” (A “show night” means there are one or more concerts, plays or sporting events in the area; nearby restaurants get hit hard just before curtain or buzzer time.)
Continue reading Soldiers of the kitchen →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Pacific Rim, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries

A taste of Korea at Charim

Even if you don’t have much experience with Korean food, you’ll find it easy to like, especially if you try it at an eatery as amiable as Charim.

For the most part, Korean dishes won’t seem unfamiliar to anyone who enjoys the varied cuisines of Asia. Some of its dishes seem to bear a resemblance to familiar Chinese fare; other items might remind you of Japan. Overall, there’s a robust, hearty and often spicy character that’s all Korean. Continue reading A taste of Korea at Charim →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, Italian (and Pizza), underSlideshowEntries

Volare continues the upscale Italian tradition

“Volare, oh oh … Cantare, oh oh oh oh … Let’s fly way up to the clouds …” With Dean Martin’s classic rendition of the pop Italian ballad firmly planted in our ears, let’s talk about Volare and how it fits into the pantheon of Louisville’s top Italian tables.

It’s all connected, after all, and goes back to the 1970s, when, for a century or more, “Italian” food had meant the hearty, tomato-sauced American-immigrant fare that families brought through Ellis Island from Calabria and Sicily, Italy’s poverty-ridden deep south.
Continue reading Volare continues the upscale Italian tradition →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Bistros, underSlideshowEntries

East End, South End, where’s the North End?

Ever since North End Cafe opened in Clifton nearly a decade ago, the name of the place seemed a little odd to me. When I grew up in Louisville, we sorted our town into East End, South End and West End, and back in those Baby Boom days of Elvis, tail fins and ducktails, those were the urban ends of the city, not the suburbs. There was not much out there but farms, as far as we knew.

So the arrival in 2003 of this comfortable, casual bistro in Clifton made little geographical sense to me. What’s a North End? Someplace over in Indiana? Nope, it’s right there on lower Frankfort Avenue, inner end of what we used to call the East End.
Continue reading East End, South End, where’s the North End? →

Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

So you want to open a restaurant?

You absolutely love good food and love dining out. Perhaps you’re preparing for semi-retirement. Maybe you worked in a restaurant when you were younger (or do so now). You have some money saved, or somehow miraculously have a funding source — a backer, a fan, a parent — someone with a fat checkbook who believes in you and your talents. You’re inspired by your culinary experiences and think, “Hey, why not? Let’s open a restaurant!”
Continue reading So you want to open a restaurant? →

News announcements, underSlideshowEntries

It’s fish fry time!

Yes, we know Louisville is the inland epicenter for fried white fish at any time of year, but consumption ramps up further during Lent, when many Roman Catholic churches and a few Episcopal churches offer festive, fun fish dinners on Fridays.

The fishy fun begins Friday! Check a Catholic church near you, or click the Archdiocese of Louisville website, archlou.org, which in past years has published a canonical list during Lent.

I’m heading out to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Anchorage (1206 Maple Lane, stlukesanchorage.org) though, where my buddies in the church’s men’s group, the Brotherhood of St. Andrew, will be frying fish — and more — Fridays from 6-8 p.m. through the end of March.

Want something a little more fancy than a fish sandwich? Try their sautéed tilapia filet with white wine sauce over a bed of wild rice accompanied by roasted vegetables with a balsamic reduction. A fish sandwich with two sides, hushpuppies and a drink is only $7.75. A half pound of boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce is $7.50. The tilapia dinner with a drink is $9.75.

$ Budget (under $30), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, underSlideshowEntries, World Food

The small stuff punks Taco Punk

Life’s little frustrating moments: You’re watching an earnest worker trying to put together your lunch. He fumbles. She slips. You ask for this. He gives you that. Oops, a fresh bit just hit the floor. You’re glad you’re watching, deeply suspicious that if the deed had gone unobserved, the five-second rule would have come into play.

This is taking longer than it should, and things don’t get better. You want to offer advice. Then you want to walk around the end of the counter and help. Continue reading The small stuff punks Taco Punk →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, underSlideshowEntries, World Food

Kashmir keeps on keeping on

Back in the day, trendy new eateries like the Bristol and Myra’s fired up a generation of Louisville foodies with the revelation that fine dining could be about more than white tablecloths, surf-and-turf and fancy Italian cuisine.

But it didn’t take long for us to become blasé. Even as the city’s dining revolution burst all around us, with still-standing landmarks like Equus, 610 Magnolia and Le Relais, we were soon whining for more. “Get us Greek food,” we ranted. “We want a real Jewish deli! And Indian food! We need an Indian restaurant!”
Continue reading Kashmir keeps on keeping on →

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