The Fishery satisfies in Lent and all year ‘round

If you like seafood and fish, dine in a city that’s close to the water. This seems like good advice, but for reasons lost to history, Louisville has always been an exception to this rule.

The city is, and has been, crazy for seafood – particularly fried mild white fish – and we reportedly rank second only to Boston in cod consumed per capita, even though we must look hundreds of miles farther than the muddy Ohio for our source of supply.
Continue reading The Fishery satisfies in Lent and all year ‘round

Small plates add up to big meal at Mojito

Mary’s dish towered on her plate, an architectural construction of mashed potatoes, beef tenderloin, Cabrales blue cheese and a nest of sweet potato curls, piled high and reaching for the sky.

My entrée lay flat enough to slide under the door, a long, oval flatbread topped with shredded duck, goat cheese and green herbs.

“Hey!” someone in our group said with a laugh. “We’ve got horizontal and vertical food.”
Continue reading Small plates add up to big meal at Mojito

A taste of Jordan at Petra Mediterranean

Even amid our town’s evolution toward ethnic diversity over the past generation, the stretch of Bardstown Road in Buechel stands out. Within a few steps of Six Mile Lane, you’ll find an Asian market run by a Korean family, a European market run by a Russian family and a string of Bosnian businesses, including a restaurant-market and a bakery.

Recently joining the mix is Petra Mediterranean, a family-run spot that offers the cuisines of the eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia, with accents from the proprietors’ homeland, Jordan.
Continue reading A taste of Jordan at Petra Mediterranean

Chuy’s says “¡Hola, Amigo!” to Louisville

Back in the early ’90s, I had occasion to visit Austin a couple of times on what was then my day job, and got to know and like the capital city of Texas and home of the Lone Star’s state university.

Austin was a good-size town, busy and fun, not only loaded with the innovative non-profit groups that had brought me there but blessed with a noteworthy music scene, the world’s first Whole Foods Market, and maybe best of all, dozens of eateries serving some of the best Tex-Mex food I had ever tasted. Continue reading Chuy’s says “¡Hola, Amigo!” to Louisville

Praying for poutine at the Holy Grale

Poutine. Pronounce it “Poo-teen,” as the Canadian French do. Say it in a cardiologist’s office and hear the alarms go off. Utter it in a restaurant in Montreal, and you’ll be delivered a bowl of classic Quebeçois blue-collar fare.

And now you can have an offbeat version of poutine at the Holy Grale, a cozy little shrine to quality beer and international street-food snacks with a twist.
Continue reading Praying for poutine at the Holy Grale

This rolled oyster hits a Home Run

The demise of Flabby’s Schnitzelburg in July 2010, following on the heels of its sibling eatery, Mazzoni’s, which failed in the autumn of 2008 at the ripe old age of 124, seemed to spell the death of a great Louisville culinary tradition — the “rolled” oyster.
Continue reading This rolled oyster hits a Home Run

J. Harrod’s — comfy dining in Prospect

Local historians argue to this day about whether the Harrods Creek community (“Harrod’s” Creek before the U.S. Postal Service deleted the nation’s apostrophes) takes its name from Capt. William Harrod, one of Louisville’s first settlers in 1779, or James Harrod, the pioneer explorer who founded a fort at what is now Harrodsburg, Ky., in 1774.
Continue reading J. Harrod’s — comfy dining in Prospect

Irish Rover’s winter menu offers seasonal comfort

Nearly 20 years after its opening as a pioneer on the Frankfort Avenue restaurant row, the Irish Rover has settled in to its neighborhood setting so comfortably that it feels as if it’s been there as long as the 150-year-old brick building it inhabits. While it’s as authentically Irish as a pub in Limerick, maybe, or Killarney, the Rover makes a perfect fit in Clifton. With its dark but cozy bar and its sunny, lace-curtained dining rooms, it’s almost two pubs in one, both as Irish as can be.
Continue reading Irish Rover’s winter menu offers seasonal comfort

Have it your way at Majid’s St. Matthews

lamb chops

So, what kind of restaurant is this new Majid’s St. Matthews? Is it Iranian? Yes. Mediterranean? Sure. Is it American? That, too. Majid’s is affordable, but you can go pricey. It’s a great bar, and it’s a classy dining room. It’s casually dressy and upscale casual. In short, it comes about as close to being all things to all people as a restaurant can.
Continue reading Have it your way at Majid’s St. Matthews

Louisville's top spot for talk and reviews from the food and restaurant scene