Spring 2004 (Vol. 4)

LISTINGS AND MAPS MagniFiQue 7

TO

900 RESTAURANTS PLUS

OVER

700 RESTAURANT REVIEWS INSIDE!

page 6

Profiles of seven rising young chefs making their mark on the Louisville dining scene

CoCktails

SPRING 2004

the Q FaCtor

page 44

There are many regional approaches to barbecue. We help sort it all out and point you in the direction of some flat-out good Q

page 36

What’s Old is What’s New Again We take a look at what’s hot in today’s cocktail choices.

en Fuego

page 22

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spring 2004 FALL 2003 PUBLISHER / EDITOR IN CHIEF JOHN CARLOS WHITE VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS DANIEL F. BOYLE PRODUCTION EDITOR RON MIKULAK COLUMNISTS ROBIN GARR BOB VALVANO CONTRIBUTING WRITERS ROBIN GARR MICHAEL L. JONES RON MIKULAK MARTY ROSEN CHIEF RESTAURANT CRITIC ROBIN GARR CONTRIBUTING RESTAURANT CRITIC MARTY ROSEN CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER DAN DRY

GRAPHIC DESIGN KATHY KULWICKI DONOVAN DEFERRARO ANDY FRAZIER STEFAN TAMBURRO COPY EDITOR DONNA GORDON ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES ANNETTE B. WHITE GINA R. WOLFE TOM SFURA

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From the kitchen of L&N Wine Bar and Bistro (see story Magnifique 7 on page 6) comes pepper-seared ahi tuna with white truffle risotto, veal demi-glace and wild mushroom and asparagus ragout.

Photo by Dan Dry

cove r sto r y Magnifique 7

6

Louisville is blessed with many excellent chefs. We profile seven up-and-comers who have paid their dues and have climbed the ranks to claim a position among the top area chefs.

fe a t u re sto r i e s En Fuego Sullivan University’s culinary arts program has blossomed into one of the best professional training institutes in the nation.

22 Cocktails—What’s Old is New Again What is the latest trend? We take a look at what’s hot in today’s cocktail choices.

36

44 The Q Factor

There are many regional approaches to barbecue—Kansas City, Memphis, Western Kentucky. We help sort it all out and point you in the direction of some flat-out good Q.

58

Dining Guide Restaurant reviews and listings for over 900 area eateries.

90

co l u m n s CUTTING UP AT THE TABLE

by Bob Valvano

Magical and meaningful experiences are often the result of happy accidents. Coach Valvano reflects on fireworks, friends, family and finding magic in his own driveway.

101

Maps

CORK

Now that you have decided where to eat, we’ll show you how to get there.

Our restaurant map directory shows over 900 restaurants on sixteen Louisville area maps.

What’s rich and sweet and mellow? No, not Jessica Simpson.

Robin Garr demystifies some of the better dessert wines available.

34

by Robin Garr

MENU GEMS

20

by Ron Mikulak

RECIPES FROM YOUR FAVORITE AREA RESTAURANTS

TIMOTHY’S FAMOUS WHITE CHILI

56

It started as a trendy oddity, almost a slap at chili traditionalists. But Timothy’s white chili has become a local favorite and a nationally-noted dish. www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004

5

[ chef ]

edward lee 610 magnolia 610 magnolia st.

636.0783 A year ago, Edward Lee was well established in a culinary career in New York City.Then Edward Garber, the legendary proprietor of 610 Magnolia, decided to retire and asked Lee whether he would move to Louisville to carry on the 610 legacy.

“People ask me why I would leave New York for Louisville,” Lee said. “And I say, if you really love food, then you want to be near the source of it. There are no farms within 70 miles of New York City. Sure, there are great ingredients there, but everything has to be trucked in.

“When I came here, I was shocked at the quality of the vegetables. Beautiful vegetables are grown within minutes of the restaurant. For instance, we buy from Greg Graft at Grateful Greens.

He’s got beautiful greenhouses that are five minutes from the restaurant. That’s a luxury that any chef would envy.”

Lee’s arrival in Louisville is the culmination of a culinary journey that started when he was a child in Brooklyn. “I don’t remember a time

By Marty Rosen Photographs by Dan Dry

It takes hard work, discipline and training for a chef to make his mark on a city’s dining scene. In this issue, Food & Dining Magazine interviews seven young chefs who have demonstrated these virtues and are earning their way into the ranks of Louisville’s most respected chefs.

6

Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

when I wasn’t cooking,” he said. Both his parents worked, and part of his motivation for cooking was simply the need to fend for himself occasionally.

But that wasn’t the driving force. “I was always a good kid,” he said. “I was very good at following instructions. I liked puzzles, and I liked mazes. At a very early age, I started looking at recipe books, and I enjoyed solving the recipes. For many adults, food is about entertaining, or eating, or art, but for me it was about solving the puzzle.”

Early on, though, he learned that following instructions can have negative outcomes. “When I was 11 or 12, I decided to cook a squab. I followed the recipe exactly, but the recipe assumed that I was buying my squab from a butcher who would clean it. But I had actually gone to Chinatown and bought a whole squab.

When I’d finished cooking it, it was perfect, with a beautiful color, but I didn’t know I was supposed to remove the intestines, so when I cut into it, this green bile came out.

My family was horrified, of course, and we ended up eating pizza.

“But I learned that you have to clean the bird.”

Despite his youthful love for cooking, he didn’t consider it as a profession. “I assumed that I’d graduate from college, get a job, and wear a suit,” he said. And he did earn a literature degree at NYU before starting a half-hearted career in the publishing business.

But discontented, he decided to try the food business. Working under wellregarded New York chef Frank Crispo, his interest began to flourish. “I went to culinary school for about two weeks,” he said, “ and decided it wasn’t for me.” Instead, he began a ten-year odyssey, moving from kitchen to kitchen and soaking up ideas. For a while he was the chef-partner in a New York City restaurant named Clay.

Then he began a long pilgrimage.

For nearly a year, he worked in French, Italian, and Belgian restaurants, “cleaning people’s refrigerators and scrubbing floors,” he said. But in return for the labor, he was able to spend time in some of Europe’s great kitchens, including Marc Veyrat’s world-famous L’Auberge de L’Eridan in Annecy, France. “This was a small town,” Lee said, “and opened my eyes to the idea that you don’t have to be in a big city to do an incredible restaurant. If

At 610 Magnolia, Chef Edward Lee offers Dungeness crab cakes with paddlefish roe in blood orange gastrique.

there’s one chef who really is an inspiration to me, it’s Veyrat, because he’s just such an individual.”

When he returned to the states, Lee began a series of pilgrimages to the great restaurants of the U.S. “I wanted to understand how great American chefs were interpreting the European tradition,” he said.

During those trips, someone mentioned 610 Magnolia, a restaurant that hadn’t surfaced in his research. “There was a piece on the Internet that said the owner was an eccentric, grouchy guy, but if you

could get over that, you’d have one of the great meals of your life. When I read that, I was hooked. I called Ed Garber up, and he said I could come visit, if I liked. He showed me around, and we became friends.”

That was two years ago. Then Garber called Lee; Louisvillian Brook Smith came aboard as financial backer and partner; and Lee found himself in the heart of the bluegrass state.

“It’s been not only a job change, but a life change,” Lee said. “But the welcoming here has been incredibly warm. Every chef I’ve met has invited me for dinner and www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004

7

offered to help me locate resources if I need them.”

These days, Lee is still solving puzzles, but they’re of a different order.

“What I loved about European cuisine was its tradition, its technique, and its history.

But the drawback of that is that if you’re a French chef you, must do it the French way. The French have been making duck confit the same way for 300 years. Why would you change it? But with American chefs, whatever their heritage and ethnic background, they start to interpret and they ask questions. I think it’s very American in a broad cultural sense to ask questions, to say ‘I know you’ve done confit this way for 300 years, but why not do it a little bit differently?’ The best American chefs take whatever cuisine they’re working in, whether it be Italian, French, or Spanish, and they ask serious questions. They ask, ‘Can we do it differently, can we make it more fun?’

“That’s the puzzle that intrigues me now. I want to know how I can change this or that recipe, do something that’s fun, that pushes the envelope, but is still rooted in the tradition—and still tastes good. I still want to create that thing, that solution at the end, but nowadays the solutions just have more elegance, and I have more questions.”

[ chef ]

anthony lamas jicama grill 1538 bardstown rd.

454.4383 By the time he was 5 years old, it was clear that Anthony Lamas had grownup culinary tastes. “When I visited my aunt,” he recalled, “we’d have ‘five-dollar days.’ All the kids in the family would get five dollars they could take to the store and buy anything they wanted. All the other kids would run around buying cakes and cookies, but I’d go back to the meat department and grab a steak. My Nini, my godmother, would say, ‘What’s this?’ and I’d say, ‘I want steak.’

“When my mom would take us to restaurants, I wasn’t interested in the children’s menu. Hamburgers and hot dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches didn’t do 8

Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

anything for me. By the time I was five, I was more interested in shrimp chilaquiles or ceviche. They said I had expensive tastes.”

Lamas, now chef and owner (with his business partner Jun Eugenio) of Jicama Grill, on Bardstown Road, grew up in an agricultural region of Central California; his family raised sheep and cattle and had horses. And food was central to every family event.

By the time he was nine, he had started washing dishes and doing prep work in his uncle Albert’s Mexican restaurant, Lamasty. “I liked being there,” he said. “I liked washing dishes, and doing prep work, and I thought it was so cool that my uncle had a restaurant that people came to. I’d see him at the door greeting people, saying, ‘Hello, Mr. Smith,’ and I was just proud to be there.”

But it wasn’t until later that Lamas discovered a professional passion for cooking. As part of the opening crew at the Loew’s Coronado Bay Resort, he came under the influence of the nationally renowned Jeff Tunks.

Tunks, the first of three James Beard chefs under whom Lamas would work, recognized the young man’s potential, and suggested he should either attend culinary school or serve an apprenticeship. The result was a five-year apprenticeship that introduced him to the full range of kitchen arts in one of the finest restaurants in Southern California. “I really owe everything to Jeff,” said Lamas. “He really took me under his wing and showed me the art and quality that was possible.”

A romantic relationship with a girl from Louisville resulted in a visit, and

though the relationship didn’t work out, the trip led to a new career path. “I’d read about Louisville and knew about restaurants like Lilly’s, The English Grill, Dietrich’s, and Shariat’s.” (The latter two have recently closed.)

Eventually he took a position at Lilly’s (where he worked with another James Beard Chef, Kathy Cary), and later became part of the opening crew when Jim Gerhardt (the third of his Beard mentors), Michael Cunha, and Adam Seger took over The Oakroom.

During these stints, Lamas began to understand Kentucky regional cuisine and started thinking about ways to meld his own background with the ingredients and tastes of his new home.

At the now-defunct Picasso in lower Clifton, he transformed what had been a sandwich shop into a more ambitious restaurant and garnered critical and diner interest. “Picasso gave me a chance to play,” he said. “I introduced empanadas and ceviches and began to develop some confidence in

creating dishes that used my Latino heritage, but with a twist. I was using grits, but I’d put chipotle chiles and smoked cheddar in there. I started making ceviches, but I used crawfish to give it a southern feel.”

By the time he left Picasso, he’d begun to develop a personal following.

Positions at Baxter Station and Timothy’s completed his tutelage, and four years ago, he and Eugenio leapt at the opportunity to open their own place.

“When you work for somebody else,” he said, “it’s kind of like being an artist with one arm. I was fortunate that people let me try things, but now I have the opportunity to express myself. I think that’s why chefs want to own their own places. For me, it’s a passion. When I bleed, I bleed fatback.”

These days, Lamas is riding a wave of popularity that seems destined to last.

On October 16 of this year, he makes a return visit to the James Beard House in New York. A few years ago he was there as one the Rising Stars of American

Cuisine. His return visit results from a culinary championship sponsored by Woodford Reserve and judged by writers from Southern Living, Bon Appétit, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Restaurant News.

Lamas’ winning dish is typical of his multi-cultural approach: an adoborubbed pork tenderloin, with chipotle smoked cheddar grits, Woodford Reserve chipotle orange glaze, and an Indiana sweet corn salsa. “We’re really excited about it,” he said. “They’re calling it Nuevo Latino in the Bluegrass.”

But he remains ambitious to take on new challenges as well. “I would like to add another restaurant, maybe with some better parking and more space. I want to keep Jicama, because people have just embraced us so generously, but within two years, I think I would like to open a second restaurant with a different concept.”

But almost certainly without a children’s menu.

Chef Anthony Lamas’s ahi tuna ceviche in coconut-ginger broth, served in a coconut shell.

[ chef ]

jeff grubb lentini’s 1543 bardstown rd.

459.3020 Two things nudged Lentini’s chefowner Jeff Grubb into the restaurant business: the desire to drive and the desire to grow his hair long.

At 16, the St. Matthews native’s parents were carrying him as a part-time driver on their auto insurance policy. “I was only allowed to drive to and from school and work,” he recalled, with a chuckle. “And the nice thing about the restaurant business is that there are a lot of gray areas in terms of what time you start or leave the job. So that was really my motivation.”

So he took a job busing tables at the highly-regarded Equus restaurant in St. Matthews. But Equus owner Dean Corbett didn’t think his long hair looked quite right on the floor, so Grubb was put to work washing dishes.

Then, maybe a year later, what had been a job became a passion. “I used to

10 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

assist the chefs with all the tedious stuff, the dicing and chopping that anybody can do if they can handle a knife,” he said. “And one day Dean came up to me and said, ‘You’re screwed.’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean, I’m screwed?’ and he said, ‘You’re good at this. You’re gonna be doing this the rest of your life.’ And he was right. I spent six years at Equus, and I learned things there that I still draw on every day.”

If Grubb’s Equus experience was the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in culinary arts, his post-Equus experience sounds like a series of graduate seminars. “I’m the kind of guy who, whenever I need to learn something I don’t go to school, I get a job,” he said. And those jobs have included stints not only at restaurants like Lilly’s, Angelo’s, and Timothy’s, but a period cutting meat for Kroger, smoking foods at the Pepperwood General Store, and working as operations director for Creation Gardens, Louisville’s premier purveyor of produce for the restaurant industry.

Although his career track had long been set, the decision to become an entrepreneur and take over Lentini’s as an owner was a long time coming. “I

remember saying over the years that I really didn’t want to become an owner, because it’s too much work.” But last August, on Grubb’s birthday, his friend Kerry Wells visited him at the Bluegrass Brewing Co. (“I figured I needed to learn how to brew beer,” said Grubb.) The two had been contemplating Lentini’s for a while and finally decided to bite the bullet and take over the restaurant.

“Being an owner isn’t really that different if you’re the kind of person who cares about what you’re doing,” Grubb said.

“It’s really about keeping the customer happy. The big difference is if you’re just the chef you don’t have to worry about paperwork or making the LG&E deposit.

“This is a great opportunity, and a great challenge. At one time, Lentini’s was the place to go in Louisville, and we’re trying to return it to its former glory. It’s a place where generations of people celebrated prom nights, anniversaries, and special events, and it’s an honor for us to be in charge of that. We have people who have been coming in for years, and they tell us that right now it’s the best it’s ever been.”

An Italian classic by chef David Grubb of Lentini’s: osso bucco Milanese, veal shanks braised in their juices with celery, carrots, onions, and tomato, topped with gremolata on a bed of saffron risotto.

For Grubb, the restaurant is an opportunity to make a detailed exploration of the principles of Italian cooking. “When we do a dish that’s a regional specialty, we’re as true to the regional characteristics as we can get. But if you go to Italy and ask grandma why she’s using this herb or that vegetable, she’ll tell you, ‘Because it’s there.’ They do a lot with what they have. I told an African-American friend of mine that Italian food is the soul food of Europe.

When you eat a bowl of minestrone; a fresh salad; some warm, steaming lasagna; and finish up with tiramisu, you feel good about yourself, and that’s what we want.”

“We can’t get redfish or certain ingredients that are available in Italy, but the idea of using fresh, seasonal materials is the key for us, to adjust the menu as the seasons change to take advantage of what’s available.”

He continued, “This is a business that works for me. I’m a problem solver, and a person who wants people to be happy, and I can make just about anybody happy with food.”

[ chef ]

daniel stage le relais 2817 taylorsville rd.

451.9020 “I’m happiest when my sous chefs and the people around me are pushing me to try new things,” says Daniel Stage, Executive Chef at Le Relais, a restaurant that’s earned critical acclaim as the finest French restaurant in the region. “They’ll come in and say, ‘I read about this mushroom, or that ingredient,’ and we’ll get some in and play with it. I think it’s important to always be evolving as a chef, and I have so much still to learn about cooking and flavors.”

Not that Stage isn’t already pretty knowledgeable. His resumé includes dishwashing and pantry work at the old Remington’s 1320 restaurant on Hurstbourne Lane and tenure as sous and executive chef at the Louisville Country Club, as well as a lengthy tenure as sous chef at Shariat’s, where he came under the influence of Anoosh Shariat.

Stage, a Highlands native, began working in restaurants while studying engineering at the University of Louisville, but after a couple of years he got caught up in cuisine. Now 32, he made the decision to pursue food as a career at 24.

“People like Anoosh kept pointing out to me that I had a real knack for food, and that I ought to consider doing this as a career. My sense of flavors seems to be very keen—for some reason, I’m able to mix a lot of flavors together and create very balanced plates.”

Part of Stage’s success may stem from a natural gift, but he’s also extremely studious. He has supplemented his practical experience with wine and sauce-making courses at the Napa Valley campus of the Culinary Institute of America. And he’s a voracious reader of cookbooks and magazines. “Larousse Gastronomique is my favorite cookbook,” he said. “I just like to sit down and read it. I have the old edition, and it’s just about ripped in half. Pages are missing; it’s an absolute mess. I’ve had it for 10 or 15 years and I still read it to this day.

I think I’ve read the entire thing a couple of www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004

11

A dish at Le Relais, by Chef Daniel Stage: seared red grouper with braised fennel, asparagus risotto, ginger-seaweed salad, and Tobikko flying fish roe, finished in a lobster broth reduction.

times, and I’ll still come across things and say, ‘I’m gonna make that today, because I’ve never made it.’”

But perhaps just as important for Stage have been his travels to Europe. “When I came to Le Relais, I had picked up a little of this and a little of that. The chefs I’d worked with had taught me technique, but my background was a mix of Asian, French, and other techniques. At Le Relais, we’re really the only restaurant in town that bills itself as a classic French restaurant, although a lot of places are using French techniques and sauces. But here I really had to focus on the French aspect. So a few months after I became Executive Chef, Anthony [Le Relais owner Anthony Dike] and I went to Paris to visit bistros and fine restaurants. It really raised my awareness of the differences between brasseries, bistros, and restaurants, and the differences between the styles of food. It was a good experience for me because it made me realize that I was on the right path, that I was doing good French food.”

Though some diners are intimidated by the notion of French cuisine, Stage describes the Le Relais 12 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

style as a comfortable “upscale bistro, from the décor to the food.

We push it a little more to the restaurant side, but we have the feel, the close tables, the white tablecloths, the veal chops, roasted chicken, things that are a bit more bistro.”

Ask him what he loves about the restaurant business, and he sums things up with startling simplicity: “I’m trying to achieve satisfaction for every guest that comes through the door. I want to be able to say at the end of the night that I did not put out a single bad dish. That’s my gratification, knowing that people can come in and get a great meal and relax.”

And though by any measure he’s been successful at doing that, he says, “I’m still working on learning everything I can. I’m focusing in on beverage service. I have a fair amount of wine knowledge, but I’d like to carry that a bit further, to really understand things like teas and coffees, things that pull the restaurant together as a whole.”

And, he says, “There are still plenty of dishes in Larousse that I haven’t gotten around to cooking.”

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[ chef ]

rick adams

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l&n wine bar & bistro 1765 mellwood ave.

897.0070 Almost from the moment it opened late in 2003, the L&N Wine Bar & Bistro was lauded by reviewers and crammed with customers. They were attracted by the cozy, homey atmosphere and an innovative (at least in the Louisville region) approach to wine that emphasizes inexpensive demystification and experimentation.

But what keeps them coming back is the food that comes from Chef Rick Adams’s kitchen. Adams, a 28-year-old Louisville native (and Jeffersontown High School alum) said, “My inspiration was trying to come with a comfort-food style, but at the same time with a personal twist.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, “Of course, we use the term comfort food pretty loosely.” Fair enough.

Duck beignets with apricot chutney, scallops and gnocchi, veal stew, and vegetables Wellington may not fit the customary definition of comfort food, but the restaurant’s “Blue Plate Special,” a contemporary take on meat loaf and macaroni, certainly does.

The menu reflects Adams’ commitment to economy and quality. “We were trying to keep things in a medium price range,” he said. “But we still wanted the food to be special.” The solution was to treat relatively humble foods with a haute cuisine sensibility.

Making do with whatever is on hand is something Adams mastered at an early age. His father, he recalled, took up cooking as a hobby when Adams was 7 or 8 years old, “and that really put me on the path. But being in the Boy Scouts was really a big inspiration for me. It’s hard to believe, I guess, but we’d go camping, and part of the experience was to plan our menus and cook the food.” Good campfire cookery, he said, puts a premium on imagination and improvisation, and those are skills that are bankable in any good kitchen.

Adams’ kitchen resumé begins, as do so many chefs’, with a dishwashing job at 14 (at Captain’s Quarters). By the time

he was 18, he’d decided that he wanted a career in cuisine and trained under chefs at Zephyr Cove, the Hyatt Regency’s Spire, and Blue Parrot Grill and served as sous chef at Steam Fire & Ice. “I discovered that I like the lifestyle,” he said.

“It’s definitely extremely hard work, but it’s also an exciting, fun atmosphere. It was really at Zephyr Cove, making salads and working the line, that I started understanding what was possible with food. And since then, it’s just been a natural progression of learning new things and taking on more responsibilities. It’s a very stressful business, but I get paid to do something that I love, that I thoroughly enjoy. And I get the instant gratification of creating something and then immediately seeing that people are pleased with what I’ve created.

“In terms of forming a staff, when we first started, I think there were a lot of people who didn’t believe in the concept [behind the L & N], but it’s really caught on, and now there’s a lot of interest. We really have a crew that’s very passionate about what we’re doing.”

And while Rick Adams has been mastering the kitchen arts, his wife April Adams has been mastering other aspects of the restaurant business: she’s the manager at Z’s Oyster Bar & Steakhouse.

The two of them should be a formidable part of the Louisville dining scene for years to come.

At the L&N Wine Bar, one of Chef Rick Adams’s signature appetizers: pan-seared diver scallops with basil gnocchi, charred heirloom tomato sauce, and balsamic reduction, topped with crispy leeks.

[ chef ]

There’s some rare energy in a kitchen when everything is clickin’ right. It can be the worst hell, too, but when everything is just flying so perfect, and everyone’s just clickin’ together … yeah, it’s a good time.”

By the time Seckman, now 37, was in his early thirties, he felt stuck at the sous chef level and decided to get a degree at the Western Culinary Institute, an American Culinary Federation accredited institution in Portland, Oregon.

Not long after that he came to Louisville, attracted by a sous chef position at Lynn’s Paradise Café. Stints followed at 211 Clover Lane, Indigo Bistro, and Fox Hollow Spa before he and his silent partners opened the North End Café.

At first the restaurant served only breakfast and lunch. “People weren’t really used to dining in that neighborhood,” Seckman said. “So we wanted to give it some time to build up.”

But the concept always called for serving all three meals. “I like breakfast,” he said. “I like going out for breakfast, and it’s a challenge, because it’s hard to cook. So we have breakfast. Lunch is just fly in and eat. I wanted dinner to be nice but not

christopher seckman north end café 1722 frankfort ave.

896.8770 For nine years, Christopher Seckman had been thinking about the concept he finally achieved with the North End Café, on Louisville’s Frankfort Avenue.

But he couldn’t find the right mix of partners to pull it off.

A third generation restaurateur (his grandfather and father were front-ofthe-house men, and his brother is a chef), he washed dishes and bused tables as a youth and moved to the kitchen when he was 23. “I was working the front of the house at Mere Bulles in Nashville, and this big old Jamaican woman who was working the pantry told me I didn’t need to be a waiter. She said, ‘You need to come in the kitchen and have a skill, because it’ll serve you later in life.’ So every night I’d go in and before it got busy, I’d tell the chef I’d do some prep work or something in return for dinner. So I got to kickin’ with the kitchen.

And I liked the energy in the kitchen.

16 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

outrageously priced. I think people are looking for a place where they can go out and eat, have a nice meal and chill. So we try to keep everything simple but follow the cooking techniques. What I push my cooks on is to cook it properly all the time, all the different techniques, the braising, the grilling, the sautéing, and to know all the subtleties of the techniques. That’s how we give people great food without charging them lots of money.”

And the key to holding costs down, Seckman said, is creative sourcing. “This spring, we’re planting a garden, about 100 feet by 50 feet, so we’ll have a good source of produce.

“And it’s an experiment, but we buy whole cows. We buy all natural cattle on the hoof from a farm in Mount Sterling, and we have it butchered at a mom-and-pop, USDA-inspected plant outside Cynthiana, so it runs me basically three dollars a pound. I give them all my specs, and they take it down to the primal cuts and age it. Then I bring it down the rest of the way.

“And we use the whole cow.

What I do is run the filet until that’s gone, then run the strip. And we do lots of braising. We’ll braise off the shanks, pull the

meat off the bone and shred it a bit to make a little pasta dish, maybe put a little Asian twist on it, sort of an Asian beef stroganoff.

“I get all the bones and the liver, and we’ll do things like beef tongue tapas.

When we do that, it sells out in one night.

Everybody says, ‘Oh, my gosh, beef tongue!’

They know it’s not gonna be available long—it’s like a one-day kind of thing.”

The logistics of phasing an entire cow through the menu might seem complicated to some chefs, but Seckman says, “It’s easy, if you just make sure the techniques are done right for each cut.

The trick is the techniques.

“What we do is based on continental cuisine. That’s where I try to keep it. Every now and then the other influences creep in. I try to keep them out but I can’t. We were playing with a beef

dish last night, and we added some ginger and soy sauce and some demiglace. We’ve got all kinds of influences coming in, so I call it American cuisine, because American cuisine really takes in the rest of the world.

“A lot of it is who you’ve got cooking for you. I’ll tell my cooks, ‘Okay, here’s the dish tonight,’ and I’ll just sketch it out, and say here’s what we want to do. Then somebody else will take the lead on it, and I don’t have total control— they might add a Moroccan influence, or who knows?

“But mostly I really think we’re very simple. I mean, we do a steak with mashed potatoes and green beans, and that’s about as basic as it gets. But we make sure it’s all cooked exactly the way it should be.”

On the menu at North End Café: “deconstructed” lamb stew, served on potato rounds, with celery, carrots, onion, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, garnished with rosemary, prepared by Christopher Seckman.

[ chef ]

nathan carlson avalon 1314 bardstown rd.

454.5336 If snowboarding were a yearround occupation, Nathan Carlson might never have become the chef at Louisville’s highly regarded Avalon restaurant. At 18, he moved away from his parents’ home in Vancouver, Washington (not far from Portland, Oregon) to take a job in a restaurant located near Mount Rainier. After spending several months washing dishes, busing tables, and occasionally helping out on the line, he headed to Colorado for a season of snowboarding (supported by a job managing a crew of housekeepers). When spring came and the snows thawed, he wound up back in the kitchen at Mount Rainier.

The kitchen, though, was in his blood from an early age. Even when he was in the crib, he said, he insisted on joining his mother, Barbara, in the kitchen.

“I always had an interest in food,” Carlson said. “When I was a kid, everybody was always saying, ‘You’re gonna be a chef, aren’t you,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know.’ But here I am.”

His mother was an eclectic cook.

One night she might prepare braised beef heart with egg noodles. (“We had a lot of German in our blood, and that kind of food went back to her mother and grandmother, who used everything they could find, including the cheap cuts of meat, because they didn’t have much money.”) The next night it might be Japanese soba noodles, or Mexican.

“There was a lot of food diversity in that part of the country—Asian, Mexican, and Central and South American influences. We had access to great produce and wonderful seafood. It was a big family thing to go out crabbing or clamming or fishing for salmon or trout.”

During his second season at Mount Rainier, the chefs started to see Adams’s potential, and over time he was given increasing responsibilities, eventually becoming lead line cook in the full-service restaurant.

Six years ago, romance drew him to Louisville, and though that relationship www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 17

didn’t hold up, he landed a job at Ramsi’s Café, began culinary arts studies at Sullivan University, and then took a position at the English Grill, where he worked for four years under the tutelage of chef Joe Castro, eventually becoming sous chef. “Working for Joe really opened my eyes about the potential of cooking,” he said. “Everything was detail, detail, detail. Joe knows so much and has such a broad range of knowledge. And he wants it done right, which is sort of the way I’ve become myself.”

After breaking up with a girlfriend, he decided to take a different path for a while. Indeed, he decided on a very long path: in 2001, he left the English Grill and spent “six days shy of six months” through-hiking the Appalachian Trail. “It was something I’d always wanted to do, and I figured before I got real deep in my career choice I’d better go ahead and do it while I had the opportunity.”

Afterwards, back in Washington, he came across an Internet posting for the chef ’s position at Avalon. He flew in to meet Avalon owner Steve Clements, accepted the position, and found himself, at age 27, confronted with the formidable task of designing menus, purchasing kitchen equipment, assembling a staff, even helping with the design of the bar. “I was really into drafting in my late teens, and that helped,” he said. “At one point I was saying, ‘Holy cow, can I really pull this off?’ But I think we did a pretty good job, really.”

Apparently that’s a widely shared opinion. From the beginning Avalon received strong positive reviews and attracted a loyal following. “We call our food ‘Fresh American Cuisine,’ ” said Carlson. “What is American cuisine? There all kinds of regional cuisines, but they each have influences from other places. By using that phrase, we allow ourselves really to do whatever we want. And basically I delve into a variety of cuisines, a lot of different types, dabble here and there. I have a huge appreciation for the classic French and Asian cuisines. I also like to play with 18 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

Middle Eastern and Mexican, Central and South American ideas.

You can never know too much. I try to keep up with trends. That’s the big thing. You keep an eye on what’s going on in New York and San Francisco, and what people are doing out there, and it encourages you to be innovative in what you’re doing.”

The other thing that keeps him innovative is a strong emphasis on fresh ingredients. “I’ve been thinking about spring for a month longer than I should have,” he said. “I can’t wait for good asparagus, fava beans, young onions. I’m one of those people who’s always thinking a season ahead. When summer comes around I can’t wait for the tomatoes and watermelon; when fall comes I can’t wait to have a warm dish of spiced pork. And we want the freshest available. I don’t want a tomato salad on my menu in midwinter, but in the summer I love serving our summer tomato farmer’s salad, made with heirloom tomatoes.”

Carlson shared an anecdote about the challenge of running a major kitchen. When he hired his sous chef, Chip Lawrence, longtime colleague at the Brown, Carlson said, “I told him, we’re gonna have to play good cop-bad cop, and you’re gonna have to be the bad cop. The weirdest thing was, it totally reversed, and I was instantly the bad guy. One day, when we’d been open for a couple of weeks, I had been at work since 9 in the morning prepping things. I’d already done half of somebody else’s prep list, and at 5:30 [that evening] I noticed they still weren’t set up and ready to go. I started using some colorful language, and everybody just stopped and stared, because that just wasn’t me.” With a chuckle he continued, “And now nobody knows the other me. But I would venture to say I have one of the best crews in the city.” F&D Rice flour-dusted crisp quail and oyster mushrooms in a tamarind and sweet pepper BBQ sauce, presented by Chef Nathan Carlson

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www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 19

CORK 101 Dessert Wines Here’s an odd bit of wine trivia: under U.S. law, a “dessert wine” need not be sweet, and a sweet wine might not be a dessert wine.

How’s that again?

It has to do with taxation, not flavor or connoisseurship. In the beady eyes of the tax collector, wines are categorized not by taste but by alcoholic content. Perhaps based on the assumption that strong wine deserves punitive treatment, wine producers, importers and distributors are taxed more heavily on wines in the range of 14 to 24 percent alcohol than on “table” wines under 14 percent.

Because many sweet wines are “fortified” with brandy to increase their alcohol content, some regulatory bureaucrat whose name is lost to history declared all wines of this type “dessert” wine for tax purposes, regardless of their actual sweetness.

In fact, there’s a surprising variety of dessert wines, in just about every imaginable strength, color and flavor. Let’s take a few moments for a quick glossary that may help you make a choice that will please you when you’re having an afterdinner glass in a restaurant or picking out something from your local wine shop.

SAUTERNES, from France, with a silent “s” at the end, is one of the most classic dessert wines, made in very much its current form for more than 200 years.

(Thomas Jefferson, who along with writing the Declaration of Independence and arranging the Louisiana Purchase was one of the most serious wine enthusiasts ever to occupy the White House, loved this stuff and ordered it from France by the case.) Gold in color and toothache-sweet, it’s made from grapes that were allowed to hang on the vines long after the normal harvest time (hence the nickname “late harvest” for wines of this general type), and that are affected by an odd, unsightly but beneficial fungus called botrytis cinerea that punctures the grapes and allows them to dry into intensely concentrated raisins. The most famous and pricey Sauternes is Chateau d’Yquem. At the other end of the value spectrum, “Sauterne” (without a final “s”) used to be a generic name for cheap, sweet white wine, a practice that is happily dying out.

OTHER LATE HARVEST WINES. Late-harvest wines affected by the beneficial botrytis are made around the world, from Australia and South Africa to Germany—where the most concentrated varieties bear the jaw-breaking names “Beerenauslese” and even “Trockenbeerenauslese,” which translates, roughly, as “hand-selected dried berries” —and Hungary, where the famous dessert wine Tokaji was once the drink of emperors, later of commissars, and is now available for us all to enjoy. Canada’s recently trendy ICE WINE is similar, made from grapes allowed to freeze hard on the vine.

MUSCAT. Made from a grape variety widely grown around the world, Muscat wines are known for their musky, spicy, grapey fruitiness. The French Muscat des Beaumes-de-Venise is a delicious example; a California-grown version, Quady Vineyards “Essensia,” is similar, with a haunting tart-orange aroma and flavor. The Australian dessert wines called “Liqueur Muscat” are rich and syrupy, evoking caramel and honey.

SHERRY may bring to mind faculty lounges frequented by gentlemen with patches on the elbows of their tweed coats, but this potent, usually fortified wine from Jerez in Spain deserves a better reputation. Made both dry (Fino and Amontillado) and sweet (Oloroso, Cream, Pedro Ximenez), Sherry is the result of an unusual process, fermented in open vats that foster development of a natural yeast, fortified with brandy, and aged in stacked rows of barrels called a solera. Strong and warming and often golden in color, its subtle flavors bring to mind mixed nuts, from walnuts and pecans to hazelnuts and almonds. Try the dryer versions with Spanish tapas at Louisville’s De La Torre’s and its new tapas bar, La Bodega.

Other fortified wines that bear some kinship to Sherry include MADEIRA (from the Portuguese island in the Atlantic off the North African coast) and MARSALA (from Sicily, most often seen today in the kitchen as an ingredient for Chicken Marsala or the dessert zabaglione).

BANYULS is an offbeat dessert wine. Produced in the Pyrenees

by Robin Garr

Mountains where France meets Spain, it’s a naturally sweet, red dessert wine made from the Grenache grape. Rare but not impossible to find in Louisville winespecialty shops and wine-savvy restaurants, it is widely regarded as the best possible wine match for decadent chocolate desserts. Banyuls and dark, bittersweet chocolate form an amazing flavor combination that reminds most tasters of ripe and juicy raspberries.

Another rare and relatively affordable sweet red wine that works and plays well with chocolate is the Greek MAVRODAPHNE OF PATRAS. Saving my favorite dessert wine for last, PORT may be the most familiar and respected dessert wine. Made in, and named for, the city of Oporto in the Douro Valley of Portugal, it’s based on a sturdy red wine made from native grapes. Centuries ago, the thirsty British, looking for a good red wine that would stand overseas shipment from the Continent and would keep through the winter without spoiling, came up with the idea of “fortifying” their hearty red table wine with brandy, which produced a strong and warming wine that could be made very sweet by adding the brandy to kill the active yeast and stabilize the wine before all the natural sugar of the grapes was converted into alcohol. Port comes in a variety of forms, from basic non-vintage “ruby” Port to the soft and mellow “tawny” Port, long aged in oak barrels, to the luxurious and age-worthy “vintage” Ports made entirely from grapes picked during a single harvest.

For a good compromise between the simple, ready-to-drink Ruby and the pricey Vintage bottlings that really need cellar time before they’re ready to enjoy, look for “Late Bottled Vintage” Port, which offers much of the character of true Vintage Port without the waiting or the expense. I recently found a good one in Louisville at The Wine Rack, 2716 Frankfort Ave: Osborne 1997 Late Bottled Vintage Oporto ($16.99) was full-bodied and sweet, full of tasty blackcherry and spice flavors supported by Port’s robust alcohol, lemon-tart acidity and soft tannins. It’s a fine dessert wine, better still if accompanied by fruit and a wedge of blue Stilton cheese. F&D

VISIT ROBIN’S WEBSITE AT LOUISVILLEHOTBYTES.COM, LOUISVILLE’S TOP ONLINE SOURCE FOR INDEPENDENT, UNBIASED RESTAURANT REVIEWS. 20 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

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Fuego

en

Sullivan University’s red-hot Culinary Program has risen to one of the tops in the nation

By Robin Garr Photographs by Dan Dry

Things have been warming up in recent years on Sullivan University’s cool, treeshaded campus, and now it seems that the Culinary Arts program is red-hot. For a long time only three sat at the adults’ table of professional culinary training: Johnson & Wales in New England, California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, and the Culinary Institute of America (the other CIA) in West Point, N.Y. and Napa.

But, with its international student body, and graduates working their way up the ladder of top eateries in Louisville and across the nation, the reputation of its culinary program has been escalating, and now Sullivan can legitimately claim a fourth seat at the adult’s table of top-notch professional chefs’ trainers. www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 23

S

ullivan University’s National Center for Hospitality Studies and hand-made candy. The Bakery is run by a separate offers degrees in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, professional staff, but pastry arts students learn the techniques for creating the products made there for sale. professional catering, hotel and restaurant management, Juleps, a full-service catering operation, provides students and travel and tourism. Nearly 1,000 students are enrolled with experience in marketing, planning, and serving large public in these programs this year, representing 38 states and 12 events. Clients have included the Jefferson County Public countries from outside the U.S., taught by 26 chef-instructors Schools, National City Bank, and the Kentucky Council on Postwhose white coats would be bedecked, if they chose to wear Secondary Education. Juleps has them all, like Russian generals with served dinner for 1200 people at dozens of gold, silver and bronze Boy Scouts events, and caters Pat medals from international culinary Day’s pre-Oaks Day party honoring competitions. jockeys.

The culinary program’s The highly-acclaimed Winston’s, classrooms are equipped not with a white-tablecloth restaurant, serves desks and blackboards but gourmet-style fare that is comstainless kitchen tables and petitive with the region’s top tables. wooden baker’s boards. Sturdy Winston’s enables students in their Vulcan restaurant ranges and final quarter of study to apply what industrial-strength mixers are the they have learned in a practicum, a teaching tools. Students report real-life training ground for for class in neat white jackets, managing, cooking and serving in a professors sport the tall white retail restaurant environment. chef ’s hats called toques, and the Sullivan is about more than delicious aromas of simmering just cooking, of course. The largest stock, roasting meats and baking private college in Kentucky, with loaves permeate the atmosphere. campuses in Louisville, Lexington The university’s public face and Fort Knox, it traces its history differs too. You’ll find no football under the Sullivan name to 1962, stadium or basketball arena at when it opened its doors in a Sullivan (although the university downtown office building as the did field small-college sports Sullivan College of Business. It still teams for a few years until giving offers a range of course work that it up a decade ago). Rather, includes business administration students strut their stuff as chefs through the MBA, as well as and servers at three professional paralegal studies, medical assistance, food-service institutions on and more. campus. Sullivan’s program covers Sullivan’s entr y into the culinary history and theory and field of the culinary ar ts was more classroom practice in the basics of of an accident than the result of technique and presentation, but any grand plan, reminisced Al like the best pre-professional Sullivan, the college’s founder, programs, it also requires students namesake and president. to learn how to work with the When the college moved to public. its present home on Bardstown The most visible of Road in 1976, it had room to spare Sullivan’s food service divisions is in the spacious red-brick quarters The Bakery, located very that had formerly housed the local conspicuously on Bardstown offices of Blue Cross-Blue Shield.

Road at the entrance ramps to Sullivan rented out part of the the Watterson, just across the street from Gardiner Lane building to Kentucky Fried Chicken, which housed its restaurant-training Shopping Center. There, where a Darryl’s restaurant once stood, operation there. KFC equipped the the university has recently spent facility with high-tech cooking Chef Dodd and his students critique a about $5 million to build new classrooms for its equipment and a full-scale model of a fast-food serving display of baking and pastry arts program, as well as a eatery where students could practice in a public hors d’oeuvres and European-style bakery where patrons can buy fine venue that campus wits inevitably nicknamed “The desserts.

Chicken Wing.” desserts, wedding cakes, artisanal breads, pastries 24 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

Meanwhile, the career military cooks down in Fort Knox were running into a problem. A new Army policy forbade promotion for any enlisted cook who didn’t have an associate degree in culinary arts or a related field. Squadrons of mess sergeants, concerned about their careers and assuming that the KFC training classes on the Louisville campus were associated with the college, approached Sullivan for help.

Since Sullivan already had a traveland-tourism class on the military post, and with the mess sergeants offering to fully equip a culinary program with Army stoves and equipment from their supplies without cost to the college, it was an easy decision to make, and Sullivan found itself in the chef-training business in 1982. “The only capital investment we needed was $8,000 for a range hood,” Sullivan recalled with a laugh. “Everything else magically appeared.”

The Fort Knox program thrived, and when KFC moved to its own headquarters a few year later, vacating “The Chicken Wing,” Sullivan expanded the culinary program from Fort Knox back to Louisville, welcoming just 30 students to the first cooking classes on the home campus in the autumn of 1987.

Sixteen years later, the student body has grown to 954, and the staff from its original two instructors to more than two dozen, including—as Sullivan and his associates proudly note—culinary Olympics gold medallists, Culinary World Cup-winning chefs, and one holder of the Order of the British Empire, master pastry chef David Dodd, who was once personal chef to Britain’s Princess Anne.

Chef Walter “Spud” Rhea, director of the National Center for Hospitality Studies, who joined the faculty in 1988, is one of just 12 certified master pastry chefs in the U.S. and a veteran of Army food service, where he led the medalwinning Army Culinary Olympics Team.

Chef John Castro, once executive chef of Louisville’s Hasenour’s and The Atrium restaurants, joined the faculty in 1989 and is now executive chef of Winston’s Restaurant at Sullivan. Under their leadership, Al Sullivan says, Sullivan has aggressively sought to position itself as one of the top culinary schools in the United States.

[ the chefs that feed the minds ]

[front row, left- right] Chef Thomas J. Hickey, Sr., (C.E.C., C.C.E., C.F.E., C.H.E.)Chair, Culinary Arts - Awarded membership to the Honorable Order of the Golden Toque. Master Chef Walter “Spud” Rhea (C.M.P.C., C.E.C.,C.C.E.) Director, NCHS - Awarded membership to the American Academy of Chefs, Honorable Order of the Golden Toque and the Epicurean World Master Chefs’ Society. Holds Master Chef Diplomas from City & Guilds of London Institute. Chef Derek C. Spendlove (C.E.P.C., C.C.E.) Chair, Baking & Pastry Arts Awarded membership to the American Academy of Chefs. Holds certification from City & Guilds of London Institute. Chef David H. Dodd (C.E.C., C.C.E.) Chair, Evening & Weekend Program - Awarded Member to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (only one other chef has ever been awarded this honor). Holds Master Chef Diplomas from City & Guilds of London Institute. [middle row] Chef Robert K. Straw (C.E.P.C., C.H.E.) Baking & Pastry Arts, Chef John Castro (C.E.C.) Culinary Arts & Executive Chef, Winston’s, Chef Rebecca Blieden (C.P.C.) Baking & Pastry Arts, Chef David Moeller (C.E.C.) Culinary Arts, Chef Allen Akmon (C.E.C., C.H.E.) Culinary Arts, Chef Anne Sandhu (C.W.P.C., C.H.S., C.H.E.) Baking & Pastry Arts [back row] Chef Katie Payne (C.S.C.) Culinary Arts, Chef Eugene Bell (C.E.C.) Culinary Arts, Chef Danielle DeMare (C.C.) Culinary Arts, Chef Robert W. Beighey (C.E.C.) Culinary Arts, Chef Gina Brown (C.P.C.) Baking & Pastry Arts, Chef Scott Turner (C.E.C., C.P.C.) Baking & Pastry Arts.

Sullivan Chef Certification Key: C.C. – Certified Culinarian; C.C.E. – Certified Culinary Educator; C.E.C. – Certified Executive Chef; C.E.P.C. – Certified Executive Pastry Chef; C.F.E. – Certified Food Executive; C.H.E. – Certified Hospitality Educator; C.H.S. – Certified Hospitality Supervisor; C.M.P.C. – Certified Master Pastry Chef; C.P.C. – Certified Pastry Culinarian; C.S.C. – Certified Sous Chef; C.W.P.C. – Certified Working Pastry Chef

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 25

How does Sullivan pursue such a lofty goal?

First, Sullivan said, it recruits top teachers. “Not flashy TV chefs, but great chefs who are great teachers, who love to share what they know. A lot of students are attracted here from far outside Louisville, just to study under them.” And, having top instructors on board, the university seeks to keep them happy, sparing little expense to provide first-rate equipment and supplies. “We have management support for quality here,” said Rhea. “When we need something to teach, we get it. We don’t have to tell the students, ‘Pretend that this is a truffle.’ ”

Then, Sullivan said, he invited some of the nation’s leading culinary lights to join the college’s national advisory board.

Prominent chefs including Chicago’s Charlie Trotter and New Orleans (and FoodTV) luminary Emeril Lagasse lent their expertise—and their names—to the Sullivan cause, adding not just their reputations but the networking opportunities that they brought along.

Finally, under the enthusiastic leadership of Rhea and Tom Hickey, the school’s first culinary instructor, Sullivan set out to compete for and win medals. Lots of medals. During his military

(top row, left to right): Tim Aldridge puts finishing touches on an entrée; Chef David Dodd gives Joshua Emmons pointers on decorative carving of garnishes; mastering knife skills, an essential for all student chefs.

Bottom: hand-made rainbow pastry candy from The Bakery.

26 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

service with the Army Olympics Cooking Team, Rhea successfully reversed the reputation of Army chefs as hash-slinging short-order cooks by winning Culinary Olympics medals. Now he would use the same strategy to build a dominating reputation for the National Center for Hospitality Studies.

“We entered national competition early on,” Sullivan said, “and I hate to use this word, but we kicked ass. People would see our kids work, win medals, beat longer established schools.” Indeed, Sullivan’s growing ranks of trophy cases now hold more than 300 medals won in national and international competition, alongside galleries of photos of smiling white-jacketed students celebrating their victories.

Another feather sprouted in the Center’s cap when Chef Castro was invited to take a group of students to James Beard House in New York City to create a Mother’s Day brunch.

These efforts worked, Sullivan said, adding, “When reporters write national stories about culinary schools, if they mention CIA or California Culinary, we can now expect to be in the same sentence.”

But there’s another cadre that more quietly but just as effectively spreads the culinar y school’s reputation, and its fame, in Louisville and around the country.

“Our graduates are out there in the marketplace, and now some of them are moving into executive chef and ownership positions,” Sullivan said. “We have 500 to 600 of our students right now, working in just about every restaurant, hotel and food-service business in town. If we called a mandatory meeting on a Friday night,” he chuckled, “every restaurant in town would have to close.”

Castro said he sees another subtle sign of Sullivan’s influence when he dines at local restaurants staffed by graduates and sees dishes and recipes that remind him of things he taught in class, ranging from an

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(continued on p. 30) www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 27

A range of dishes prepared by Winston’s executive chef, John Castro.

(This page, clockwise from below): tempura crayfish tails and haricot vert (French green beans) with remoulade and sweet chili garlic sauces; double-cut pork chop with mashed Kennebec potatoes seasoned with Roth Kase buttermilk bleu cheese and finished with Gatton Farms cinnamon bacon and apple demi-glace; pan-seared salmon with grilled cauliflower, saffron risotto and Brussels sprouts, finished with ginger miso butter.

(Opposite page): Guinness brownie with whipped cream and caramel sauce.

intense focus on careful preparation to an innovative use of ethnic “fusion” that brings together disparate ingredients and techniques in unexpected ways.

We couldn’t find anyone who’d admit to actually lifting a signature dish from Castro’s cookbook, but quite a few well-known Louisville-area chefs were free with their praise for the chef and the school.

“I wouldn’t say I have a specific ‘Sullivan style,’ ” said Amber McCool, chef and owner of The Patron, who started at Sullivan in the winter of 1994, months after graduating from high school in Dayton, Ohio, her home town. “I think my menu reflects a lot of things, and sometimes you can see things I got there. My paella, some of my desserts—ice creams and sorbets—and my pasta dishes, that’s something I obviously learned there. The paella incorporates a lot of techniques—the sauce, the grains, the preparation. It has a lot of depth to it, and those are things I learned at Sullivan.”

It’s not just Sullivan training that informs her cooking, though, said McCool, who learned about Sullivan during trips to Louisville with her high-school field hockey team. Cooking professionally since she was 14, she believes inspiration is deeply rooted in the cook’s life and memories. “Memories you carry with you, like your aunt’s pecan pie. Some of my soups are like my mom’s homemade, basic chicken noodle soup. A lot of techniques

(below): turtle cheesecake.

two dessert temptations from The Bakery

(above): chocolate orange square.

inspire me to comfort food. Even the smell of things, like banana nut bread, bring you back home, and it comes out in your cooking.”

Chef Castro says he spotted McCool early as an inspired chef who seemed likely to go far, although he jokingly added that he sometimes had a hard time getting her to his classes in international cookery. “She liked staying out late, but not getting up early,” he laughed. McCool shot back, “There’s not a whole lot of truth in that … I told him, I never missed your class. He was such a wonderful teacher and I didn’t want to miss his class—that was the joy of it.”

Most Sullivan students are essentially serious about their work and studies, faculty members said. The 21-month program (27 months in the alternative weekend-and-evening course) is rigorous, and it is not inexpensive. It will cost the typical student about $25,000 in tuition and fees to complete the two-year Certified Chef program, an associate degree; with student housing included, costs may rise to $35,000.

Sullivan officials say these costs are “highly competitive” with other major culinary schools such as Culinary Institute of America and Johnson & Wales.

A student who takes it on will generally come prepared to work—and to stick it out through rough periods.

“Every college student definitely thinks about giving up sometimes,” McCool admitted. “It was a lot of hard work. But there was a lot of energy there, people were passionate 30 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

about what they were doing, and that helped.”

John Castro said it’s not hard to spot the standout student like McCool, although the fire that makes young chefs special isn’t always reflected in tests and grades alone.

“They may not be ‘perfect students,’ he said, “in terms of grades or book learning, but you’ll see it in their attitude, their fire, their passion.”

But even students without that initial fire and passion often are inspired to push themselves beyond what they expected. Brian Logsdon, a June 2003 Sullivan graduate who has already made his mark as pastry chef at the Brown Hotel, says he got into the culinary program almost inadvertently. “The hotel and hospitality management courses I thought I wanted weren’t offered at night, so I signed up for the culinary course instead,” Logsdon recalls with a laugh. “I don’t think I had any serious thoughts about being a chef before I started, though I had always liked to cook. I had been in industrial sales, sitting in a car driving to see clients all day, so starting school again and ending up in classes where I was on my feet all day, I had to wonder what I was getting into.” But Logsdon, who was in his late twenties before he and his wife Missy (who now manages The Bakery at Sullivan) decided on a career change and enrolled at Sullivan, doesn’t regret for a minute the rigor and demands of the Sullivan program.

Neither does his classmate Andrew Garrido, a sous chef at the Brown’s English Grill, who came a long way to Sullivan: the native of Guam in the South Pacific learned about Sullivan while he was at Fort Knox in the military. He enrolled in culinar y classes and has not looked back.

“I toured the campus, saw the facilities and the labs, and it drew me in,” he said. “I liked food, loved cooking, but had no professional training before. The courses really gave me a good boost … I love what I’m doing right now.”

English Grill Chef Joe Castro, John Castro’s brother, said he counts on the Sullivan network to feed him

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good candidates for kitchen staff.

“You’ve got a built-in skilled work force that understands ingredients and has knife skills and basics,” he said.

“Of course there’s nothing wrong with learning on the job, but it seems, if somebody was willing to put down that kind of effort to go to school, their emphasis is strong. I’m a huge fan of Sullivan, and I’ve been fortunate to get some good people there.”

Among many Sullivan grads making their marks on the Louisville restaurant scene, faculty members mentioned executive chefs Nathan Carlson at Avalon and Charlie Owens at Steam Fire & Ice. “Sullivan always looks great on the resume,” said 2000 graduate Carlson. “I think it is particularly helpful here in this town because it does have such clout.” He particularly recalls Castro’s emphasis on international cookery with training that circled the world from Italy to Mexico, South America and Asia. “I had the freedom to play with things and mess around with ingredients,” he said, a process that opened him to thinking outside the traditional boundaries.

(Castro says he actively encourages students to try innovative experiments, particularly during their semesters working in the kitchen at Winston’s, although he also sometimes has to ride herd on more … inventive notions before they’re actually sent out to paying customers. He recalled with a shudder one unnamed student who experimented, less than successfully, with a lamb dish flavored with coffee … and horseradish.)

“Sullivan is flooding the restaurant scene with talent,” said 1998 graduate Charlie Owens, at Steam. “Personally, I consider the entire Sullivan process invaluable. It provides a cram-packed background, speeds up the whole process, makes it easier to attain your goals.”

As the years go by, more and more Sullivan graduates are working their way into leadership positions in restaurants and food-service institutions. 1990 graduate David Poling, for instance, who was a restaurant manager in his native Fort Wayne, Indiana, before Sullivan, later

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fashioned pastries at the Disney World Hotel in Florida, then came back to Louisville where he now manages the baking department for the Jefferson County school system’s Nutrition Service Center, central kitchen for Metro Louisville’s 141 public schools.

Graduates of the Sullivan Culinary Studies program have been increasingly sought after by both local restaurants and elsewhere, for their solid training in the basics, their innovative ideas in the kitchen, and their ability to manage the complexities of the modern food industry.

Locally, Sullivan’s hot young talent can be found at Avalon, where Nathan Carlson is Executive Chef, at the pastry kitchen at the Brown Hotel, where Cindy Morgan assists Brian Logsdon, and at the Seelbach’s Banquet department, presided over

by James Ogle.

Coming up in the ranks are several ambitious and energetic sous chefs at popular restaurants around town: Brett Elliot and Jeremiah Kingery at Bravo Cucina Italiana, Patrick Gosden at Napa River Grill, Matt Slenko at Lilly’s and Chip Lawrence at Avalon.

The corporate or private dining part of the culinary world is well represented by Sullivan graduates as well. Jennifer Burton is the Event Planner at the Kentucky Derby Museum, John Theobald is chef manager with Nor ton Audubon Hospital, Marcus Heindselman is sous chef at the Louisville Country Club, and Scott Vowels serves as corporate chef in charge of training and development with Thornton Oil Company.

Further afield, John Silvey is kitchen manager and chef of central catering at Fasig-Tipton, the premier thoroughbred auction house in Lexington, KY, and Joey Willen is chef at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, WV, still one of the top destination resorts on the East Coast.

Bob Padgett manages rooms service at the Four Seasons Hotel in Las Vegas, and Terry Campbell has broken into Hollywood as catering chef for The Jimmy Kimmel Live TV Show. F&D

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CUTTING UP AT THE TABLE TO O PH BY R H IC R

A D EN

By Bobby Valvano

In the waning days of World War II, Dr. Percy Spencer noticed that waves from a “magnetron” melted a candy bar in his pocket. The “magnetron” emitted microwaves, and while Spencer’s work was not being done with cooking in mind, now, practically every home has a microwave as a daily tool for food preparation.

While managing the Oakland A’s, Tony LaRussa saw a stray cat run on the field during a home game versus the New York Yankees and watched as the terrified creature ran to and fro, growing more frightened as the crowd noise swelled and security guards chased it around the stadium.

Despite the pressure of managing a baseball team, LaRussa rescued the animal and took it back home. He shared his concern for the poor animal with his wife, Elaine. He also discovered that there was not one single nokill shelter for animals in the entire Bay Area.

After he and his wife found a home for the cat, they were so moved by the experience, they started “ARF,” the Animal Rescue Foundation. Now, some 14 years later, they have raised millions of dollars, built a state of the art shelter in the Bay Area and have made their Foundation one with national impact. They have also placed thousands of animals in loving homes, often with the elderly or at shelters for the abused, where, studies show, the presence of a pet makes a tremendous difference in the quality of life.

One man working on a wartime project “stumbled” on a cooking secret that literally changed the world’s kitchens.

Another was managing a baseball game but got distracted enough to help a stray cat.

Now, not only has he saved thousands of other animals but helped hundreds of people make their lives better.

You just never know where you’ll find magic, do you?

And so it is with our little family ... we found it in a grocery store, and in our driveway. Don’t worry ... I’ll explain.

If you are reading this as a visitor to Louisville, you may not be familiar with “Thunder Over Louisville.” It is the annual April shindig that officially kicks off the 34 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

Kentucky Derby festival events. It comprises an all-day air show and culminates with a tremendous fireworks display, both among the biggest and the best in the world.

When my son was five, we took him to “Thunder” for the first time. He loved it.

About two months later, in late June, we were food shopping (see, there’s the hook for this publication!) when we bought one of those small assortments of fireworks that many supermarkets sell for the 4th of July. At dark on the 4th of July, after enjoying a cookout with a friend (as it happens, Food & Dining Magazine’s publisher, John White), we lit the fireworks in the driveway. With much ado, we entertained our excited young son with what we were calling, before the night was over, “Thunder Over Driveway.”

Now, to be clear, these were not “big” fireworks even by amateur standards.

It was just little sparklers and fountains and a couple of gentle “pops” and “bangs.” It didn’t matter. My son was fascinated, and his enthusiasm and excitement soon rubbed off on all of us. We had fun seeing the magic of some simple fireworks through the eyes of a mesmerised five-year-old.

The next year, remembering how much fun the previous 4th of July had been, we again bought some simple fireworks, albeit a few more than the year prior, and again had some guests and another “Thunder Over Driveway.” My son’s enthusiasm had not waned, and we seemed to be having as much fun as he.

Each year we have continued that tradition—only it has grown. Our family has grown too; my older son is now 14 and his little brother 8, and each 4th they are now joined by about 60 of our dearest friends for “Thunder Over Driveway.” It has evolved into an all-day event at our house, too.

Guests arrive in late afternoon and play bocce and croquet, or participate in my son’s contribution to the day, a “Home Run Derby” using wiffle balls and plastic bats.

That carries us into dinner, which is an embarrassment of riches. These wonderful friends insist on bringing marvelous and varied dishes, from the simple to the gourmet, and every “course,” including about 10 different desserts. All this in addition to the sausages, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, and kebobs that we provide, although we don’t prepare: our friend “Chef Bob” (not me!) is the maestro of the grill.

Then, just before dusk, we have our own air show. We provide about five dozen balsa wood and paper gliders, and everyone is encouraged to fill the sky with a

breathtaking display of aerial acrobatics, some of which take place as high as thirty or forty feet in the air!

Finally it is dark, and the spectators take their place, safely removed from the driveway pyrotechnics. We don’t exactly get by on just the “grocery store” fireworks assortment nowadays, but in all honesty I don’t think the Zambellis have much to worry about. Still it is great fun, each “pop” or flash of color greeted with admiring “oohs” and “aahs” from the very polite audience.

Around four years ago, the 60 or so “spectators” spontaneously did something that reminds me each year, when they repeat it, why there are no finer folks in this part of the world. When the “show” was over, they all pitched in and proceeded to sweep and pick up all the paper and remnants left by the fireworks. It was a wonderfully generous thing to do, and in about 15 minutes, the area was spic and span, with no evidence of the magic that had happened in that driveway!

Finally, around 10:30 my wife insists we eat a little more, partly because she is Italian and that is what we do, partly because there is an obscene amount of delicious food still left, and mostly because we want to! And so we eat and reflect on the great moments of that year’s “Thunder” and wonder how we could make next year’s even better. Last year we added a cotton candy and a snow-cone machine to the festivities. Each year we now have a spirited and competitive “paper airplane throwing” contest at the end of the “air show,” and we have started giving “prizes” to all the children and many of the childlike adults as well. Who doesn’t like prizes?

Next year is our tenth anniversary, and there are some in the group (quite seriously) who want us to organize a parade down the street, or at least on the sidewalk.

I love it! I think I will start designing a float right now.

I truly can’t tell you how much so many of us look forward to this day. I think my sons, like most people, would list Christmas as their favorite day, but not by much, and there are days I am pretty sure “Thunder” is at least tied for first.

We got the microwave by accident and saved hundreds of helpless animals because of a lost cat at a baseball game. Why shouldn’t we believe you can combine a trip to the grocery store with a driveway and a wide eyed little boy, and come out with a celebration of food and fireworks, and more importantly, of friendship and of love? F&D

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[ C O C KTAILS] W H AT ’ S N E W I S W H AT ’S O L D Photographs by Dan Dry

[ old fashioned ]

[ A man

walks into

a bar ]

and says, “Give me something hot.” So the bartender pours him a black coffee.

No, wait, wrong joke. Let’s start again...

A man walks into a bar and says, “Give me something hot and trendy ... I’m a cutting-edge kind of guy.”

Now we’re talking! If you’re bored with yesterday’s ho-hum cocktails and would rather be a trend-setter than a trend-follower in your social drinking choices, then come along with us as we talk to a few top local bartenders and national beverage-industry experts to get a sense of what’s humming on the bar scene, in our city and across the nation.

There’s a lot going on in the bar scene, says Steve Alexander, division manager at Heaven Hill and a close observer of national beverage trends. “In the last five to eight years, flavored spirits have really taken off. So have small-batch bourbons and single-malt scotches. Also, there has been a sort of conservative return to popular cocktails of the past, like martinis and Manhattans. When you mix all that together, you get trends like Manhattans mixed with single-barrel or top-shelf bourbons, margaritas mixed with super-premium tequilas and martinis made with premium and flavored vodkas.”

Flavored neutral spirits sparked the invention of appletinis, chocolatinis and umpteen other flavor variations that would likely cause Nick Charles to raise an eyebrow in disdain. Cosmopolitans are likely to remain popular as long as “Sex in the City” stays in the popular imagination.

And mojitos are coming on strong.

“Premium rums are going to be the next hot brands,” Alexander said.

“There is a vast array of products that just weren’t there twenty years ago,” Alexander continued. “If you went to a package store in the ’80’s, you would find bourbon and scotch and blended whiskeys, and gin and Absolut vodka. Now there is a whole shelf of boutique bourbons, a wide variety of single-malt scotches, and a lot of flavored vodkas.”

Louisville’s trends aren’t much different from the national scene, reports Hoke Harden, manager of wine education

By Robin Garr

and product knowledge for BrownForman, a former Louisvillian who now lives and works in Sonoma, Calif.

As he travels to bars and restaurants across the nation and around the world, Harden said, he sees consistent patterns. High end drinks from small-batch bourbons and single-malt scotches to quality rums, tequilas, brandies and eau-devie are proliferating; vodkas, especially highend brands, imports and flavored varieties, lead the pack almost everywhere. And top bars are featuring more specialty drinks as well as spirits “flights,” emulating wine tastings with small tasting glasses of three or four samples to compare and contrast.

“Customers want excitement and entertainment,” Harden said, “and operators (because they’re forced to) are emphasizing training and service excellence more than ever before. In the best and trendiest places, the bartender has to have as much training and experience as a sommelier does in wine. There’s a lot of creative thought and effort going into the beverage business right now. It’s an exciting time.”

For bartenders, it’s a challenging time. More customers are ordering drinks more complicated than scotch and soda, vodka tonic or bourbon and water.

Now bartenders in fashionable watering holes need to know the taste differences among small-batch bourbons, must be aware of a wide and changing flavor range of vodkas and have to keep their repertoire of cocktail recipes up to date.

While the fascination with fancier drink combinations has hit Louisville bars, some things remain constant. “Louisville’s still a bourbon town,” says Bim Dietrich, owner of Frankfort Avenue’s popular Red Lounge. “We carry maybe three single-malt Scotches, but it’s the small-batch bourbons that are popular. And vodka still determines the marketplace.”

Kyle Tabler, managing partner at Red Lounge, gets more specific.

“We see a lot of orders for gin or vodka martinis, appletinis and cosmopolitans,” he said. “This year more than last year we’ve seen a trend toward gin and tequila drinks driven by liquor company marketing — for instance, a cosmopolitan made with

gin or tequila, a new style of a traditional cocktail.”

As one might expect, traditions are stronger at the Seelbach bar. Bartender Russel Fhore notes that the most popular cocktail orders from his patrons are now Manhattans and old-fashioneds, a return to classics that had fallen out of fashion for a while.

In similar fashion, the relatively youthful crowd that hangs out at the edgy @mosphere restaurant and nightclub on Baxter Avenue drinks some of the same drinks their parents do. “We’re selling a lot of cosmopolitans and a lot of gin martinis,” bartender David Skyrm said. “It’s kind of a strange thing, they’re bringing back the snooty old days and the snooty retro drinks.”

And there’s nothing more retro than the old-fashioned: a double shot of premium bourbon, sweetened with simple syrup and a splash of soda, accented with a dash of bitters and garnished with an orange slice and the traditional maraschino cherry. It pleases Generation Xers just as much as it did their grandparents.

In national beverage trends, a new category of drinks is gaining increasing attention among the younger set: classic cocktails made with new mixers. Some of

[ manhattan ]

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 37

the hottest new products are the energy drink mixers like Red Bull, Pink and Vegas, made with no alcohol but loaded with caffeine. Acohol-based mixers like Heaven Hill Distillery’s Hpnotiq (“hip-NOT-ic”), a proprietary blend of cognac, premium vodka and natural tropical fruit juices, and KeKe Beach, a Dutch-made key-lime-andcream liqueur from McCormick Distilling, are said to be hot on the South Beach and metropolitan scene, particularly among young urbanites and the celebrities they follow. Here in Louisville, the Hpnotiq trend has not yet caught hold, unlike the “energy drink” mixers which have exploded onto the bar scene. @mosphere moves a surprising number of mixed drinks using the new caffeine-charged energy drinks. “Red Bull and vodka, Pink and flavored vodka, Vegas and flavored rum—they’re all popular,” Skyrm said. “With energy drinks, you combine the caffeine with alcohol, a depressant, and it hypes you up while it calms you down. You get the energy to run around all night long, and it cuts the tartness of the vodka, too. Pretty nice!”

Customers’ growing interest in fancier, fashionable mixed drinks, made with premium ingredients has inspired local bartenders to create their own specialties. Joy Perrine has been the resident mixologist at Equus, a top whitetablecloth spot in St. Matthews, for 17 years, and now presides over the bar at Jack’s Lounge, the stylish saloon attached to this toney establishment.

What’s hot at Jack’s? “Shaken or stirred, anything in a martini glass sells,” she said. “I think it’s not the martini, it’s the glass. People love to drink out of that great big glass. I don’t want to say it’s a double drink, but it’s a drink-and-a-half, and that’s a pretty good-size drink.”

Joy also sells a lot of tropical drinks in general, rum punches specifically. The signature rum punch at Jack’s is so famous that it has been written up in national publications. “With seven flavors of rum, orange juice, pineapple juice and a splash of grenadine, it’s beautiful. It looks like a tropical sunset. We usually do it in a big pint glass and drizzle in the grenadine so the red color just mists through it.”

Joy also concocts another tropical drink, the “Paradise,” a blend of banana, coconut, pineapple, orange and citrus rums with just a dash of cranberry juice to give it a pretty pink color. “We also make a key lime martini that’s getting a lot of play,” she added, neatly segueing from tropical drinks to the always-popular martini. As Derby nears, one of Jack’s most popular libations will be Joy’s invention, the Mint Julep Martini. “We sold a lot of these last Derby,” she said, not to mention the irresistibly seductive-to-chocoholics chocolate julep.

Russel Fhore at the Seelbach Hilton, also offers a punch made with bourbon, amaretto and orange juice for drinkers who ask for something trendy.

When Elmo, at Blue Martini, was tending bar, he would whip up his trendiest specialty, a “Cherry Cheesecake.” “It has no cherries,” Elmo explains, “but grenadine syrup (which is the closest thing), Bacardi vanilla and pineapple juice.”

So, if you are out for a night on the town and want to try something new, you have a lot of choices.You can go the classic, sophisticated route and sip plain gin or

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vodka martinis, whiskey sours, oldfashioneds, or Manhattans. You can tap into the flavored spirits craze with appletinis or perhaps something like the blood orange margarita, a drink popular at Red Lounge. Take a cue from the hiphop generation and sample a cocktail made with neon-blue Hpnotiq, or mixed with Vegas, Pink or Red Bull for that high-caffeine buzz.

Want to see if the bartender at your local watering hole is keeping up with the times? Ask for a mojito, and see if she can muddle sugar, mint, and rum in the right proportions—that’s still one drink that is on the exotic cutting edge of the Louisville bar scene.

We’ve been told to look for the best mojitos in Latino-accented watering holes—El Mundo, Jicama Grill and Mambo. If you find a mojito you think is as good, let us know here at Food and Dining Magazine. F&D (see cocktail recipes p. 42)

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[ mar tini ] 2 ounces gin or vodka 1/4 ounce dry vermouth 1 olive In a shaker half filled with ice, combine liquids and stir (or shake well, James Bond style). Strain into a martini glass and garnish with olive.

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3 ounces bourbon or whiskey 1 lump sugar 2 dashes bitters 1 slice orange 1 slice lemon peel 1 maraschino cherry In an old fashioned glass, press with spoon and muddle well cherry, orange slice, lemon peel, sugar, and bitters. Add bourbon and ice.

Add a splash of club soda, if you would like.

[ manhattan] 2 ounces bourbon or whiskey 1/2 ounce sweet vermouth 2 dashes bitters 1 maraschino cherry In a shaker half filled with ice, combine liquids and shake. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with cherry.

[ whiskey s o u r ] 1-1/2 ounces bourbon or whiskey 1/2 ounce sour mix 1 lemon slice 1 maraschino cherry In a shaker half filled with ice, combine liquids and shake. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with cherry and lemon slice.

42 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

[ mojito ] 2 ounces light rum 1 ounce soda water 2 teaspoons sugar 3 to 4 fresh mint sprigs 1/2 lime (cut in 3 pieces) Muddle the mint, sugar and rum together in a tall glass, squeeze the lime into the mix, drop the lime hulls into the glass, and muddle mixture again. Fill the glass with ice, top with soda water, and stir.

[ co s m o p o l i t an ] 1-1/2 ounces vodka 1/2 ounce triple sec 1 ounce cranberry juice 1/2 ounce lime juice lemon twist In a shaker half filled with ice, combine liquids and shake well.

Strain into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with lemon twist.

[ c hocolatini ] 2 ounces vodka 1 ounce Godiva chocolate liqueur Cocoa powder Strawberry Wet rim of a martini glass and dip in cocoa. In a shaker half filled with ice, combine liquids and shake well.

Strain into martini glass and garnish with strawberry. For added delight, swirl the glass with melted chocolate before adding liquids.

[ hpnotini ] 2 ounces Hpnotiq 1 ounce premium vodka blackberries In a shaker half filled with ice, combine liquids and shake well.

Strain into martini glass, and garnish with blackberries.

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 43

THE

Q

FACTOR

By Michael L. Jones Photographs by Dan Dry

ike baseball and the Fourth of July, barbecue is an essential part of summer.

Each year, millions of Americans gather around grills in their backyards or at nearby parks to socialize and cook meat. In this sense, â&#x20AC;&#x153;barbecueâ&#x20AC;? is more of an event than a food, a casual gettogether with friends you can unashamedly lick greased-covered fingers in front of.

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 45

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Food historian John Thorne well as how to spell the word). With the makes an important distinction between distressing homogenization of American barbecue the event and barbecue the taste by national fast-food chains, it is food: “Barbecue the heartening to find that ambiance can be had people still do care in any backyard; about regional food A LOT OF PEOPLE barbecue the rightly traditions, and with made meat in almost barbecue, that care can EQUATE BARBECUE none. But once you’ve rise to a passion. tasted the authentic Regional styles of WITH THE SAUCE,” article, you can’t hear barbecue—in terms of the word without your meats used, and HILTZMAN SAID. “THEY appetite craving to join sauces—arise from the them back together, indigenous foods availTHINK YOU CAN COOK which is why barbecue able in different regions book after barbecue of the country. In RIBS ANY WAY AND book keeps promising Memphis and most of recipes for the real the Deep South, THROW SAUCE ON thing.” The real thing barbecue means pork, needs to be found in because pigs were THEM. BUT BARBECUE barbecue joints, and both the meat raised Louisville has plenty of for market and the IS THE COOKING them in which to most common meat explore a wide variety source on family farms.

TECHNIQUE. of approaches to this Texans barbecue beef, legendary American a reflection of their food. cowboy history. And in All over the country, people argue Western Kentucky, where sheep farming over what really constitutes barbecue (as was once a major agricultural industry,

“

”

Below: BBQ guru Vince Staten. Right: A dinner feast from Pigasus Chop Shop: hazelnut BBQ chicken, hickory-smoked St. Louis ribs with fried red chili, corn on the cob and Delta collards.

they slow cook mutton with the distinctive Owensboro-style black sauce.

Vince Staten, owner of Vince Staten’s Old Time Restaurant and coauthor of Real Barbecue, traced the origins of regional barbecue styles back to the pre-Civil War era. “The reason barbecue took off in the South more than other regions is because the South has a longer outdoor cooking season,” Staten said.

Although Louisville never developed a barbecue style of its own, as Western Kentucky and Owensboro did, most of the regional barbecue styles from around the South can be found in Louisville. “Louisville has become a sort of melting pot of barbecue styles,” Staten said. “ Louisville itself is such a melting pot—people from all over migrate to Louisville.”

Staten, a Tennessee native, serves up his ’cue the way he learned it in his home state, where, he said, when he was a kid, pork ribs were as ubiquitous as hamburgers are now. Likewise, Tommy

48 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

Hiltzman, a Texas native, started his own restaurant, Jucy’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Q, because he couldn’t find meat cooked the way they did it in the Lone Star state.

When he first moved to Louisville, Hiltzman felt as if he had entered the Tower of Babel. People would give him what they said was barbecue, but it made him wonder if they even knew what barbecue really was. “A lot of people equate barbecue with the sauce,” Hiltzman said. “They think you can cook ribs any way and throw sauce on them.

But barbecue is the cooking technique.”

Joe O’Donnell, a former President of the California Barbecue Association, agrees with Hiltzman’s assessment of the general public’s lack of knowledge about real barbecue. In a recent article in his organization’s newsletter, O’Donnell wrote, “Barbecue cannot be cooked in a pot, in the oven, by boiling or steaming, or with heat from gas or electricity.

Restaurant chains do not cook barbecue; instead, they bake or steam their meat.

Yes, their ribs are moist and tender, but

Top: Pigasus Chop Shop owners Gary and Bherati Needham, … Far Left: Bootleg BBQ’s beef brisket shows the “pink ring” characteristic of real wood-smoked meats.

they do not have the taste of woodsmoked barbecue. Much of the flavor of the meat has been blanched out. … This is really sad.”

Many cultures have traditions of slow cooking and grilling over wood-fed fires. (See sidebar) But in the Americas barbecue started out as a way for Native Americans to preserve meat. The word itself is derived from the West Indian term “barbacoa,” which denotes a method of slow-cooking meat over hot

coals, or the framework used in such a process. The first Spanish explorers who encountered the Arawak Indians in the Caribbean islands adopted the word for both the apparatus and the food produced on it, and from there it found its way into the English language.

Subsequently, barbecue has taken on another sense, as the event at which people gather to eat the meats produced by such a cooking technique. Jazz critic Amiri Baraka once contended that jazz www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 49

died when “swing” went from being a verb, something you do, to a noun, the name of genre. There are similar complaints in barbecue circles: suburban Alpha males may grill in their backyards over their Weber Kettle or high-end gas grill, but they are not really barbecuing the meat.

Gary Needham, owner of Pigasus Chop Shop, claims that his research shows that the modern American conception of barbecue is an amalgamation of three cultures: Native American, French Arcadian and African.

“Barbecue is truly an American food,” Needham said. “When people bite into it, they are biting into history. So many cultures contributed to this dish. The French Arcadians, who came down from Canada, had a method of confit that began with a dry herb marinade. That technique lead to the Texas dry rub. And the Africans added distinctive spices.

Slaves were given the worst parts of the animal to eat. They would slow cook it to make it tender and tasty.”

From this base, Needham said, each region developed its own particular style based on local taste preferences and the ingredients available. Needham, a New Albany, Indiana native, who learned his barbecue technique while working in the Deep South and Jamaica, said that, despite the number of barbecue joints, Left: Bootleg’s rib plate with sides of coleslaw and baked beans. Bottom Left: Jucy’s rustic storefront.

Like many a BBQ joint, the more shack-like in appearance, the more authentic the eats. Bottom Right:The cutting board sampler at Jucy’s: beef brisket with plenty of scrumptious “burnt edges,” pork tenderloin, a half chicken and spareribs.

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“I started my restaurant because I saw there was something missing here,” Needham said. “It’s not like the Deep South and the Caribbean. Not a lot of effort goes into it here. It’s more of a dollars and cents kind of thing with these boutique restaurants.”

Although Louisville did not develop its own barbecue style, Staten said, local tastes aren’t too far off from our neighbors in the Deep South. He explained, “Louisville is still Southern, so Louisvillians prefer a general Southern-style barbecue, which is pulled pork with a thick sweet sauce.’

But long-cooked pork pulled off the bone and slathered with such a sauce is only one approach to the very regional American food that, in several manifestations, goes by the generic name of barbecue. Here is a summary of the most popular of American barbecue styles available in Louisville. Check out the accompanying chart to locate the restaurants that specialize in the style you crave.

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(see barbecue styles p. 52) www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 51

WESTERN KENTUCKY Although Owensboro is in Western Kentucky, one needs to speak of two distinct barbecue styles and traditions.

Owensboro is renowned as the home of barbecued mutton, a meat preference rooted in Daviess County’s one-time status as a premier sheep-raising region. History records July 4, 1843 as the date of the first Ohio River mutton barbecue feast. These days early May is the time for the annual Owensboro International Bar-B-Q Festival, which often draws 70,000 visitors. To flavor their barbecued mutton, Owensboro chefs use a light-textured “black sauce” made with vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and allspice, which seems to penetrate the muscle of the mutton better than thicker sauces do. Three restaurants in Louisville serve barbecue mutton—Bootleg Barbecue Company, J.J.’s Café and Ole Hickory Pit Bar-B-Que. Barbecue eaters in Western Kentucky have more in common with those of western Tennessee, who both like pulled pork. In Paducah, Vince Staten explains, the very local style piles the meat on white sandwich bread, and toasts the sandwich in a heated sandwich press.

Western Kentucky sauce is often sweetened with a touch of molasses.

KANSAS CITY Kansas City vies with Memphis as a barbecue Mecca, each hosting an annual barbecue competition that draws rolling smokers from all over the South and Midwest, and thousands of tourist ready to weigh in their vote. New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin apotheosized Arthur Bryant as his barbecue god, extolling the crusty blackened “burnt edges” of beef brisket, the signature dishes of Bryant’s restaurant.

In general, the Kansas City style combines many regional styles for its ribs and brisket, which usually come in a thick coat of rich, red sauce. According to O’Donnell, “Traditional Kansas City red sauce contains the ingredients of almost all the other traditional sauces (excepting eggs). Thus, it includes the vinegar; salt and pepper of the basic clear sauce; the tomatoes, introduced in Carolina red sauce and enhanced with sugar for their flavor and texture in Memphis red sauce; 52 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

mustard, first used in South Carolina yellow sauce; molasses, used in Kentucky black sauce; chile peppers, introduced in Texas red sauce.”

MEMPHIS Memphis considers itself a barbecue capital and barbecue here definitely means pork—pulled pork sandwiches (which some claim made its debut in this riverboat town); spareribs, cooked “dry” with spice rub that results in a crusty, crunchy glaze, or “wet,” slathered

in sauce; and barbecued pork adapted to several indigenous dishes that define the intensity of Memphis’s love of barbecue: barbecued spaghetti and barbecued pizza.

These odd sounding offerings are, essentially, pasta and pizza topped with a tomato-based, barbecue-smoked-andspiced sauce and long-cooked pulled pork.

Some locals (like Elvis) also admit to a fondness for barbecued bologna.

Traditional Memphis red sauce relies on a combination of tomato ketchup, vinegar, spices and often a bit of molasses. It’s a rich mixture that is not thick and kind of sweet.

Ribs smokin’ away at Bootleg BBQ.

lingering heat on the palate. This sauce is used to flavor the preferred pork shoulder cut. Tarheels traditionally love hush puppies with their barbecue, and coleslaw on the side (or even directly on the pork sandwich). Eastern Carolinians use a mustard-mayo dressing on their slaw, Ray Leard reports, but in the West a ketchupbased coleslaw is preferred.

In South Carolina long-cooked pork is pulled finely into “barbecue hash,” usually spooned over rice and served with a tangy yellow mustard-based barbecue sauce.

“Traditional hashes, sometimes called ‘liver hash,’ ” John Martin Taylor explains in his book, Hoppin’ John’s Low-Country Cooking, “contain a Boston butt (the shoulder), the hog’s head, several organ meats, and tomatoes, all cooked for a long time until the meat falls apart ... Nowadays restaurant hash is likely to contain no hog’s head and certainly no organ meats.”

TEXAS

THE CAROLINAS The barbecue traditions in North and South Carolina comprise a miniregional rivalry all their own. While pork is invariably the meat preference, the cut of the pork preferred, as well as the spices and sauces used differ as one moves from the coast to the uplands, and from North Carolina to South Carolina.

According to food historian Roy Leard, slow cooking whole hogs has been imbued in the food culture of Eastern North Carolina, from the Atlantic coast

west to Raleigh. To flavor this large piece of meat during its roasting, it is mopped periodically with a thin, vinegary sauce, flavored with salt and black pepper but no tomato base. Vince Staten thinks that is because eastern Carolina developed their barbecue traditions when tomatoes were still regarded as poisonous.

By the time the Western Piedmont Highlands were settled, the edibility of tomatoes had been established, and so the vinegar-based sauce there is thickened with ketchup, molasses and Worcestershire sauce, and spiced to provide more

Texans like the concept of barbecue so much that they’ll put most anything that runs or flies or swims on the smoker. Food writer Robb Walsh tells of judging a barbecue competition in Taylor, Texas (one of a hundred or so held around the state each year), where, in addition to the standard beef, poultry and pork, the menu also included goat, lamb, wild game and seafood. In the wild game division, he sampled venison, wild boar, quail and rabbit.

But for everyday eating, Texans prefer beef, especially brisket, with a chilibased rub and cooked in the heat and smoke of various wood fires, depending on the area of the state. Hickory, apple, peach, post oak, pecan and, of course, mesquite all have their devotees in the Lone Star state.

The sauces range from a red sauce that is spiced up with jalapeno and chili peppers, to thin, hot-pepper-based sauces to dark sauces with a Mexican influence.

Hiltzman, owner of Jucy’s, said he usually cooks his meat about 16 hours, which makes the meat so tender and “juicy” that sauce isn’t really necessary.

One Texas barbecue specialty, rooted in Tejano culture, has not migrated far from its roots. If you wish to check out barbacoa, a whole cow’s head slowly cooked in a deep wood-fired pit, you will have to travel to south Texas. (continued p. 54) www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 53

BBQ JOINT NAME

Q STYLE

BBQ Style

Q PHILOSOPHY

WHAT CUSTOMERS LOVE THE MOST

BACKYARD BBQ & GRILL

Southern-style, influenced by Memphis

“You’ve got to put a lot into it to have pride in your barbecue, and we do.”

BAKE’S BARBEQUE

St. Louis style

“Beef ribs in a thick sauce is the essence of barbecue.” Ribs or pulled pork sandwich.

BOOTLEG BARBECUE COMPANY

Multiple styles; most prominent: Western Kentucky

“We slow cook our meat with a light sauce.”

Barbecued mutton.

BRANDON’S BAR-B-QUE

Tennessee

“This is a nice family restaurant with a friendly atmosphere.”

Pulled pork sandwich, burgoo, and stuffed baked potatoes.

CLARK BOY BAR-B-Q

Owensboro style

“‘Only a rooster can get a better piece of chicken’, our T-shirts say.”

Chicken, ribs, pulled pork sandwich.

CLEON’S RIB SHACK

Dry-cooked barbecue, Cleon style

“I cook the ribs ’til they’re good and done. I smoke them up just right.”

Spare ribs and rib tips, pulled pork and chicken.

DAMON’S

Wet-cooked in secret (corporate proprietary) sauce

“With four televisions, and speakers on every table, we’re a great place for fun. We have a lot more than just barbecue.”

“Without a doubt it’s the pork ribs.”

FAMOUS DAVE’S BAR-B-QUE

Multi-state chain offering an amalgam of styles

“Everything is dry-rubbed before it goes in. We smoke ribs 3-1/2 hours, and the pork stays in overnight.”

St. Louis cut spareribs. “We also sell a lot of beef brisket.”

FINLEY’S HICKORY SMOKED BAR-B-Q

Western Kentucky

“We slow cook our meats over hickory, just like the name says.”

“Pork ribs, but we’re one of the few places you can find barbecued pig’s feet.”

FIREHOUSE BAR B Q

Meat basted with apple cider akin to Eastern Carolina style

“Either you’re grillin’ or you’re smokin’. We just kiss our Baby back ribs, pulled pork, both dry and wet meat with low-heat smoke, and keep the meat moist.” marinated.

J.J.’S CAFÉ

Owensboro style

“If you love yourself, you’ll come to J.J.’s instead of settling for second best someplace else.”

Beef and mutton, chicken and whole pork spareribs.

JUCY’S SMOKEHOUSE BAR-B-Q

Texas style

“I started my own restaurant because I couldn’t find barbecue the way they made it in Texas.”

Beef ribs cooked over hickory.

MARK’S FEED STORE

Western Kentucky style

“Our motto is ‘Friendly folks serving famous barbecue.’” Honey wings and buttermilk pie.

OLE HICKORY PIT BAR-B-QUE

Western Kentucky style

“If it’s fresh meat smoked over hickory wood, it’s real barbecue.”

PEPPER SHAKER CHILI & BAR-B-Q

Memphis style

“We slow smoke our pork over hickory and fruit woods Spare ribs and rib tips, chicken and pulled pork, at 250 degrees for 5-6 hours, and chicken 2-3.” all dry or wet.

PICNICATERS BBQ AND CATERING

Marinated and barrel-smoked barbecue, Picnicater style

“If it ain’t smokin’, you’re jokin’. People smell me before they see me.”

Ribs: tips, spare ribs and country-style.

PIGASUS CHOP SHOP

Texas style with Louisiana Delta influences

“We’re putting the history back into barbecue.

We go back to the Caribbean Islands and Latin American influences on southern American food.”

Pork ribs, both baby back and St. Louis cuts, and beef brisket.

PIT STOP BAR-B-QUE

Texas style

“If it ain’t got the pink ring, you’re fibbin’. That’s the genuine mark of real smoking.”

The “Big Tex”—an open-faced hoagie and stuffed potatoes, with choice of meat and baked beans.

RUBBIE’S BAR-B-QUE AND BREW

Rotisserie-style 5-rack smoker over all hickory wood

“We specialize in smoking whole green hams, the entire “Smoked hams of course and beef brisket.” back leg of the pig, bone in and skin on.”

SCOTTY’S RIBS AND MORE

Tennessee style

SMOKEY BONES BBQ

Hickory smoked over a food fire, Smokey Bones style

TONY ROMA’S

Multi-state chain offering choice of regional sauces

“We’re a full-service restaurant world-famous for our ribs.”

Baby back ribs and St. Louis cut, beef ribs and barbecue chicken.

VINCE STATEN’S OLD TIME BARBEQUE

Tennessee style

“We’re just an old-fashioned place, smoking all the time—24 hours a day.”

Beef brisket, half-chickens and pork shoulder.

54 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

“We use a dry rub—no sauces at all. We keep a constant temperature in the pit, which is a real challenge in the winter.”

“The Zen of BBQ. Paying attention to the details of barbecuing: temperature, texture, time, equipment and the all-important wood.”

Pork ribs, half and full slab, dry, wet or self-sauced and collard greens.

Pork ribs and barbecued mutton.

The 3-1/2 pound full slab of ribs and the beans.

“Our two styles of pork ribs.”

ETHNIC

Q

By Ron Mikulak

The satirist P.J. O’Rourke, upon confronting the appalling traffic on Cairo streets, mused that since Americans think they invented traffic, they are always surprised to see so much more of it elsewhere. Perhaps the same frame of mind afflicts Americans when they think of barbecue, which they assume was invented, if not specifically to have something to do during long weekend evenings on suburban patios, then adapted to that purpose from our pioneer ancestors, who grilled wild game over campfires, and smoked jerky for sustenance when crossing empty western deserts.

But surely the roasting and smoking of meats over wood fires must have more ancient roots. When bands of Cro-Magnon hunters drove a mastodon over a cliff to its death on the rocks and spears of waiting compatriots below, they had a couple of tons of prime meat to butcher out with their napped flint blades, and then cook in the only way they knew how, over open fires, since clay stewpots—let alone Calphalon cookware sets—were several millennia in the future.

The roots of barbecue must stretch to the dawn of human history, and so it is no wonder that just about every ethnic cuisine one can think of has a tradition of grilling, roasting or smoking over wood. In the Louisville area, the recent profusion of ethnic restaurants has provided diners with the chance to see how other food traditions have adapted the concept of barbecuing to their national tastes. Almost invariably, barbecue is interpreted as grilling rather than smoking, a distinction that leads to much argument among aficionados.

Zerubabel Ashine, the chef at Kilimanjaro, points out that “Americans like their barbecue softer than a lot of other people like it.” Ashine, who goes by the nickname “Z,” arrived in Washington, D.C., from his native Ethiopia as a teen. He has cooked in a variety of restaurants, including Bahama Breeze and the former Salsa South Beach, where he learned a lot about Caribbean-style barbecue cooking. “I don’t

cook my meats so long, so they are chewier, and not so falling off the bone.

And my sauces are sweeter, not as vinegary, as many American sauces. I use guavas and other fruit as a base for the barbecue sauce.”

As soon as the weather warms up, Kilimanjaro fires up the two half-barrel grills and smokers in front of the Theater Square restaurant, and puts jerked chicken and barbecued pork back on the menu. Z points out that ethnic styles of cooking are often modified to appeal to American tastes, and his barbecue is no exception.

He usually marinates his meats, starts the cooking in the oven, and finishes on the grill. Z says Kilimanjaro has plans to expand its kitchen so it can do grilling and

“

The roots of barbecue

must stretch to the dawn of human history, and so it is no wonder that just about every ethnic cuisine one can think of has a tradition of grilling, roasting or

”

smoking over wood.

barbecuing all year long, hoping to draw some of the crowds expected at Fourth Street Live a few blocks north for some authentic Afro-Caribbean dishes.

In the Middle East, the signature grilled meat dish is the gyro, a cylinder of ground beef and lamb fitted onto a rotisserie spit and slowly grilled to crunchy succulence. This ubiquitous street-corner food found all over the Eastern end of the Mediterranean can also be found in selected eateries in Louisville, but Omar’s Gyro, in a storefront just before Baxter Avenue and Bardstown Road diverge, is dedicated to this very filling rolled sandwich.

Angelo Boone, owner of Omar’s Gyro, uses an electric rotisserie specially made to cook the special gyro meat. But he recalls, during a trip to Jordan, seeing the original version of the gyro roaster, a stone

cylinder, hollowed out into a long “U” shape, and heated with a wood fire. The stone then holds the heat, and radiates it out into the carved hollow, where the spit containing the gyro turns lazily. Omar’s offers a jerk chicken too, done with a cumin-based dry rub, as well as falafel and gyros, with a choice of molasses-based “GQ” sauce, sweet and smoky, or Rasta sauce, a vinegary tomato-based sauce with sharper spices up front.

Asian cuisines marinate meats too, and grill, rather than long-smoke. The description above fits the most well-known Asian barbecue dish, the Korean standard bulgoki. In this staple of Korean restaurants, beef, usually a steak cut, is marinated overnight in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, minced garlic and minced scallions. Often the meat is cooked tableside on portable grills.

Beef short ribs also appear on Korean menus. Because they are a cut that requires longer time over the heat to become succulent, the Korean technique is to butterfly the meat on the bone, marinated it and then cook it spread open on the grill.

Among European cuisines, the Balkan countries take most easily to the grill. Greeks cook seafood, such as octopus and squid, over coals (though that is hard to find in Louisville). Bosnian and Serbian restaurants offer their grilled regional sausages, and even, from time to time, put a whole young lamb on a spit, a special occasion project that can sometimes be found at the tiny Bosnian eatery Sarajevo, far out on Bardstown Road.

Americans have interpreted the long tradition of cooking meats over coals in one way, and other national cuisines have adapted that technique differently. For those who approach the concept of “barbecue” with a fundamentalist dogma verging on the religious, ethnic grilled dishes seem to appropriate the term wrongly. For those with eclectic palates, however, who see nothing but merit in the trading and swapping and borrowing and even appropriating one style of cooking with another, Koreans, Caribbean islanders, Middle Easterners, Eastern Europeans are all free to call their ethnic dishes barbecue, if that is what it takes to get Louisville eaters to be more adventurous and to sample the wealth of new cooking that can be found in the metro area. www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 55

PHOTO BY DAN DRY

TIMOTHY’S FAMOUS WHITE CHILI If there is any dish that is more debated than barbecue, whose authenticity is more argued about, whose ingredients are more disparate and adherents more devoted, it must be chili. Arguments—and sometimes even fisticuffs—have arisen over the question of whether beans are permissible in “real” chili, over whether authentic chili is compromised by the use of ground beef, rather than cubed beef, over whether pork can be added or whether pork is mandated, over whether lamb should be allowed anywhere near a chili pot.

Arguments for argument’s sake are entertaining, and even now and then enlightening. The concept of chili, like that of barbecue, is so basic, and so adaptable to different interpretations, to differing local food traditions, to different tastes, that it seems ungenerous to narrow one’s 56 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

perspective. “Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend,” Mao Zedong said, in a somewhat different context. Let a hundred—more!—chili recipes vie in local cook-offs, and let us sample as many as our tongue can tolerate.

But even then, many in Louisville will turn to what was once a heretical variant of the chili concept, a clever inversion of what people think of when they think of chili, but once sampled, comes to be accepted as logical, as natural, as just so good. And that dish is Timothy’s white chili.

This year marks Timothy’s fifteenth year of operation; this September will be the first anniversary of its new location in Jeffersonville, Indiana. The chicken and white bean-based chili has been on the menu since the restaurant’s opening at its former East Broadway location.

By Ron Mikulak

The inspiration of the late Louisville restaurateur and style-setter, Tim Barnes, the original Timothy’s had a front room with booth seating and a bar, and a more formal if idiosyncratically decorated back room. The menu in the front room focused on comfor t foods, such as meatloaf sandwiches, with a more upscale menu in the back. The white chili was devised by Timothy’s original chef as a trendy variation on a familiar, comforting dish. Its trendiness may have intrigued diners to try it, but its satisfying richness, with just a hint of spicy heat, has kept it popular through the years.

“We have people who come in for the first time and ask for it, because they’ve heard so much about it,” says Adam Underwood, Timothy’s manager. “A party will walk in and say, ‘There are six of us. Do you have enough white chili for us all?’”

Timothy’s Famous White Chili 1 pound large white beans 6 cups chicken broth 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 medium onions, chopped 1 tablespoon oil 2 4-ounce cans of mild green chilies, chopped 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 4 cups diced cooked chicken breast 3 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese Sour cream Salsa Combine beans, broth, garlic and half the onions in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until beans are soft, three hours or more, adding more broth if necessary.

In a skillet, sauté remaining onions in oil until tender. Add chilies and seasonings and mix thoroughly. Add to the bean mixture. Add chicken, and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally.

Serve topped with grated cheese, salsa and sour cream.

Serves 8 to 10.

There always is. Timothy’s kitchen makes between twenty and thirty gallons of it every week. It remains a perennial lunchtime favorite, a much-requested first course choice at dinner, and the most popular take-out order. “We have a fellow who comes in periodically with a crockpot and asks us to fill it up for him,” Adam says.

Several popular items have had as long a tenure on Timothy’s menu—Timothy’s oysters Rockefeller, the honeypecan chicken breasts, the seafood trio, and the crab cakes, for instance—but the white chili is the dish that captured eaters’ imaginations. It is a much-requested recipe, and has been reprinted several places in years past, including Bon Appétit. Timothy’s owners purchased the rights to the recipe from its originator and has trademarked the dish as “Timothy’s Famous White Chili.” But they happily give reprints to all who ask, including Food and Dining Magazine.

For those nights when traffic is too dense on the bridges to get to Timothy’s, try making the while chili yourself. F&D

1 2 3 4 5

gather your ingedients

combine beans, broth, garlic and half the onions in a large pot

sauté remaining onions until tender, add chilies and seasonings, add to cooked beans

add chicken and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally

top with grated cheese, salsa, and sour cream PHOTOS BY DAN DRY

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 57

dining guide 58 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

ALL RESTAURANTS LISTED ALPHABETICALLY, FOLLOWED BY THE PAGE NUMBER OF ITS REVIEW, IT’S CUISINE STYLE, AND THE CORRESPONDING MAP NUMBER(S).

Alphabetical Index

59

[ ] DENOTES UNMAPPED MULTIPLE LOCATIONS.

RESTAURANT

Cuisine Style

62

ASIAN/CHINESE ASIAN/JAPANESE ASIAN/KOREAN ASIAN/THAI ASIAN/VIETNAMESE BAR & GRILL BARBECUE BISTROS CAFÉS CAFETERIAS CAJUN/CREOLE CASUAL DINING COFFEE HOUSE DESSERTS/BAKERY ENTERTAINMENT DINING EUROPEAN/BOSNIAN EUROPEAN/ENGLISH EUROPEAN/GERMAN EUROPEAN/GREEK EUROPEAN/IRISH EUROPEAN/ITALIAN FINE DINING HOME STYLE COOKING INDIAN INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICAN/MEXICAN MICROBREWERIES MIDDLE EASTERN PIZZA SANDWICH/DELI SEAFOOD STEAKHOUSE UPSCALE CASUAL

Area Maps

79 81 82 83 83 78 77 66 64 73 79 68 89 89 88 83 83 83 83 84 84 62 72 85 86 86 88 88 74 76 66 67 63

90

PG # MAP # DIRECTION Overview 90 (Index) Downtown 92 1 (Downtown Louisville) Near East 93 2 (Highlands – Crescent Hill) East 94 3 (St. Matthews) South East 95 4 (Hikes Point – Buechel) East 96 5 (Hurstbourne N. – Lyndon) South East 97 6 (Hurstbourne S. – Jeffersontown) North East 98 7 (River Rd. – Brownsboro Rd.) North East 98 8 (Westport Rd.) Far East 99 9 (Middletown) North East 99 10 (Prospect) South East 99 11 (Fern Creek) South 100 12 (Airport – Okolona) South West 101 13 (Shively – Pleasure Ridge Park) Indiana 102 14 (New Albany – Floyds Knobs) Indiana 103 15 (Clarksville) Indiana 103 16 (Jeffersonville)

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2 Hahn’s Mongolian Grill 211 Clover Lane 610 Magnolia A La Fiesta Bar & Grill A Nice Restaurant Abruzzi Abyssinia Alley Cat Café Allo Spiedo Amazing Grace Deli Amshoff’s Fish Inn Andrew’s Restaurant Angilo’s Pizza Angio’s Restaurant Annapurna’s Veggie Place Annie Café Annie’s Pizza Ann’s by the River Another Place Anthony’s Anytimes Apple Annie’s Café Applebee’s Appleby’s Café Arirang Arni’s Pizza Aroma Café Artemisia Asian Buffet Asian Pearl Asiatique Atmosphere Atrium Café Au Bon Pain August Moon Austin’s Avalon Azalea Babby’s Steakhouse Babylon Backyard BBQ Backyard Burger Bahama Breeze Baja Fresh Mexican Grill Bake’s Barbeque The Bakery Bamboo House Bank Shot Billiards Barbara Lee’s Kitchen Baxter Station Bazos Mexican Grill Bean Street Café Bearno’s Pizza Beef O’Brady’s Beg for More Café Behar Café Bendoya Sushi Bar Benny B’s Bentley’s Binky’s of Chicago Blimpie’s Subs Blue Dog Bakery Blue Peppermill Café Bluegrass Brewing Co. Bluegrass Café Bombay Int’l. Market Bonefish Grill Bootleg Barbecue Co. Brandon’s Bar-B-Que Bravo!

Breadworks Brick Oven Bristol Bar & Grille Browning’s Brewery Buca Di Beppo Buckhead Mountain Grill Buck’s Buffalo Crossing

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79 Asian/Chinese 6 62 Fine Dining 3 62 Fine Dining 1 86 Latin Amer/Mex 15 68 Casual Dining 14 84 European/Italian 9 86 International 3 64 Cafés 9 84 European/Italian 2 76 Sandwich/Deli 2 64 Seafood 11 72 Home Style 2 74 Pizza 13 74 Pizza 4 85 Indian 6 83 Asian/Vietnamese 12 74 Pizza 1, 13 73 Cafeterias 16 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 68 Casual Dining 7 64 Cafés 4 68 Casual Dining [9] 64 Cafés 16 82 Asian/Korean 4 74 Pizza 14 69 Casual Dining 14 63 Upscale Casual 1 79 Asian/Chinese 14 79 Asian/Chinese 6 63 Upscale Casual 2 78 Bar & Grills 2 66 Bistro 5 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 79 Asian/Chinese 2 63 Upscale Casual 7 63 Upscale Casual 2 63 Upscale Casual 7 67 Steakhouse 15 88 Middle Eastern 12 77 Barbecue 14 76 Sandwich/Deli 6 86 International 3 86 Latin Amer/Mex 2 77 Barbecue 13 84 Desserts/Bakery 4 80 Asian/Chinese 12 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 72 Home Style 2 66 Bistros 2 86 Latin Amer/Mex 3 89 Coffee House 14 74 Pizza [12] 69 Casual Dining 8, 9, 12 64 Cafés 12 83 Euro/Bosnian 12 81 Asian/Japanese 1 76 Sandwich/Deli 3 69 Casual Dining 1 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 76 Sandwich/Deli 2, 4, 6 64 Cafés 2 64 Cafés 14 88 Microbreweries 1, 3 64 Cafés 4 85 Indian 2 66 Seafood 5 77 Barbecue 11, 12 77 Barbecue 8 69 Casual Dining 3 89 Desserts/Bakery 2, 7, 9 84 European/Italian 6 63 Upscale Casual 1, 2, 5 88 Microbreweries 1 84 European/Italian 6 69 Casual Dining 4, 5, 12, 16 62 Fine Dining 1 88 Ent. Dining 6

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Buffalo Wild Wings 78 Bull Frog Garden 69 Bulldog Café 64 The Butterfly Garden Café 64 C.A.P.P.P.’s Deli 76 The Café at the Antique Mall 69 Café Chardeau’s 65 Café Emilie 65 Café Fraiche 65 Café J 65 Café Kilimanjaro 86 Café Metro 62 Café Mimosa 83 Caffe Classico 89 California Pizza Kitchen 74 Captain’s Quarters 69 Cardinal Hall of Fame Café 69 Carolina Seafood 66 Carolyn’s 72 Carrabba’s Italian Grille 84 Caspian Grille 88 Central Park Café 65 Champions Grill 69 Check’s Café 72 Cheddar Box Café 65 Cheddar’s Casual Café 65 The Chef’s Table 63 Chester’s Tavern 63 Chez Seneba African 86 The Chicken House 72 Chicken King 69 Chili’s 69 China Buffet 80 China Garden 80 China Inn 80 China King Palace 80 Chinatown 80 Chinese Chef 80 Chinese Express 80 Chinese Restaurant 80 Chong Garden 80 Chopsticks 80 Chopsticks House 80 Chucks on Baxter 69 Chung King 80 Ciano’s 76 Cici’s 74 City Café 65 City Wok 80 Clark Boy Bar-B-Que 77 Clarksville Seafood 66 Cleon’s Rib Shack 78 Cleo’s Coffee 89 Clifton’s Pizza 74 Club Grotto 63 Coach Lamp 63 Coffee Beanery 89 Colonnade Cafeteria 73 Come Back Inn 84 Corner Café 63 Cottage Café 72 Cottage Inn 72 Country Kitchen 72 Cravings a la Carte 73 Cribstone Pub 69 Crystal Chinese 80 Cumberland Brews 88 Cunningham’s 69 Cutting Board Café 69 Damon’s 78 Danish Express 76 Day’s Espresso 89 De La Torre’s 60 Deke’s Marketplace Grill 69 Del Frisco’s 67 Delta Restaurant 78 Derby Café 65 Derby City Café by Dalal 65 Derby Dinner Playhouse 88 Desserts by Helen 89 De-Ville’s 72 Diefenbach Café 65 Dillon’s Steakhouse 67

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Bar & Grills 2,3, 6, 8, 9, 13 Casual Dining 11 Cafés 12 Cafés 2 Sandwich/Deli 3 Casual Dining 1 Cafés 16 Cafés 3 Cafés 7 Cafés 3 International 1 Fine Dining 2 Asian/Vietnamese 2 Coffee House 2 Pizza 5 Casual Dining 10 Casual Dining 12 Seafood 3 Home Style 13 European/Italian 5 Middle Eastern 12 Cafés 1 Casual Dining 16 Home Style 1 Cafés 3, 9 Cafés 8 Upscale Casual 1 Upscale Casual 12 International 12 Home Style 14 Casual Dining 1 Casual Dining 5 Asian/Chinese 15 Asian/Chinese 12 Asian/Chinese 1 Asian/Chinese 11 Asian/Chinese 3, 12 Asian/Chinese 1 Asian/Chinese 13 Asian/Chinese 12 Asian/Chinese 13 Asian/Chinese 1 Asian/Chinese 1 Casual Dining 2 Asian/Chinese 1 Sandwich/Deli 9 Pizza 14 Cafés 1, 2 Asian/Chinese 1 Barbecue 13 Seafood 15 Barbecue 1 Coffee House 14 Pizza 2 Upscale Casual 2 Upscale Casual 1 Coffee House 5 Cafeterias 1 European/Italian 1, 16 Upscale Casual 5 Home Style 9 Home Style 1 Home Style Cooking 13 Cafeterias 1 Casual Dining 2 Asian/Chinese 1 Microbreweries 2 Casual Dining 1 Casual Dining 8 Barbecue 6 Sandwich/Deli 3 Coffee House 1, 2 Upscale Casual 2 Casual Dining 1 Steakhouse 3 Bar & Grills 1 Cafés 12 Cafés 4 Ent. Dining 16 Desserts/Bakery 2, 10 Home Style 12 Cafés 15 Steakhouse 6

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Dino’s Down to Lunch Ditto’s Grill Dixie Cup Café Dizzy Whizz Drive-In Djuli Dmitri’s Deli D’Nalley’s Restaurant Domino’s Pizza Don Pablos Dooley’s Bagels Double Dragon Double Dragon Buffet Double Dragon II Downtown New Orleans Dragon Garden Dutch’s Tavern Dynasty Buffet Eastern House Eggroll King Eggroll Machine El Caporal El Mundo El Nopal El Nopalito El Paraiso El Rey Mexican El Rodeo Mexican El Tarasco Emperor of China Empress of China Encore at Actors Theatre The English Grill Equus Erika’s German Rest.

Ermin’s French Bakery Ernesto’s Euro Market Eve’s Sweet Revenge Expressions of You Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que Fast Break Pizza Fat Jimmy’s Federal Hill Feed Bag Deli Ferd Grisanti Fifth Quarter Figaro’s Pizzeria Finley’s BBQ Firehouse BBQ First Wok The Fish House The Fish Hut The Fishery The Fishery Station Flabby’s Schnitzelburg The Flagship Flanigans Ale House Fork in the Road Formosa Chinese Fountain Room Four King’s Café Fox Hollow Manor Frank’s Steak House Frolio’s Pizza Fuji Steakhouse Furlong’s Galaxy Bistro Garden Room Café Garrett’s Hickory Grille Gasthaus Gavi’s Restaurant Geli Cakes Genny’s Diner Germantown Café Gerstle’s Place Gilley’s Grill Golden Buddha Golden Corral Golden Wall Goose Creek Diner Gourmet Grazing Grand Buffet Granville Inn

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76 Sandwich/Deli 1 69 Casual Dining 2 65 Cafés 13 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 83 European/Bosnian 12 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 72 Home Style 1 74 Pizza [20] 86 Latin Amer/Mex 5, 15 76 Sandwich/Deli 3, 5, 7, 9, 14 80 Asian/Chinese 2 80 Asian/Chinese 5 80 Asian/Chinese 5, 8, 11 79 Cajun/Creole 1 80 Asian/Chinese 2 78 Bar & Grills 3 80 Asian/Chinese 7 80 Asian/Chinese 13 80 Asian/Chinese 13 80 Asian/Chinese 2 86 Latin Amer/Mex 4,6,12,15 86 Latin Amer/Mex 2 87 Latin Amer/Mex 8, 12 87 Latin Amer/Mex 2, 4, 11 87 Latin Amer/Mex 12 87 Latin Amer/Mex 4 87 Latin Amer/Mex 13 87 Latin Amer/Mex 3, 12 80 Asian/Chinese 7 80 Asian/Chinese 4 63 Upscale Casual 1 62 Fine Dining 1 62 Fine Dining 3 83 European/German 6 65 Cafés 1, 10 87 Latin Amer/Mex 3, 5, 12, 16 65 Cafés 8 65 Cafés 2 89 Coffee House 1 78 Barbecue 6 74 Pizza 8 74 Pizza 2, 5 65 Cafés 14 76 Sandwich/Deli 3 84 European/Italian 6 67 Steakhouse 12 74 Pizza 9 78 Barbecue 1 78 Barbecue 11 80 Asian/Chinese 13 66 Seafood 2 67 Seafood 1 67 Seafood 3 67 Seafood 11 78 Bar & Grills 1 62 Fine Dining 1 89 Microbreweries 2 72 Home Style 13 80 Asian/Chinese 14 63 Upscale Casual 1 69 Casual Dining 4 63 Upscale Casual 8 67 Steakhouse 16 74 Pizza 12 81 Asian/Japanese 8 79 Cajun/Creole 2 66 Bistros 1 65 Cafés 1 70 Casual Dining 5, 7 83 European/German 7 86 International 1 76 Sandwich/Deli 2 72 Home Style 2 65 Cafés 1 79 Bar & Grills 3 70 Casual Dining 13 80 Asian/Chinese 12 70 Casual Dining 4, 12, 15 80 Asian/Chinese 12 73 Home Style 8 65 Cafés 10 80 Asian/Chinese 13 79 Bar & Grill 1

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Grape Leaf Grapevine Pantry Great American Grill Great Wall Great Wok Greek Paradise Café Hall’s Cafeteria Happy Dragon Harper’s Restaurant Harvest Moon Hazelwood Restaurant Heavenly Ham Heine Brothers Coffee Heitzman Bakery & Deli Highland Coffee Co. Highland Wildflower Highlands Taproom Hitching Post Inn Holly’s Legal Street Hometown Buffet Hometown Pizza Hong Kong Chinese Hong Kong Fast Food Hoops Grill and Sports Bar Hooters House of Dragon Imperial Palace Indi’s Restaurant India Palace Indigo Bistro & Bar The Irish Rover Iroquois Pizza J. Alexander’s J. Graham’s Café J. Harrods J.J.’s Café Jack Fry’s Jack’s Lounge Jade Palace Jalapeño’s Jane’s Cafeteria Jarfi’s Bistro Java Brewing Co. Jay’s Cafeteria Jazz Factory Jersey Mike’s Subs Jessie’s Restaurant Jicama Grill Jillian’s Jimmy’s on the River Joe Huber Restaurant Joe Muggs Joe’s Crab Shack Joe’s O.K. Bayou Joe’s Older Than Dirt John E’s Juanita’s Burger Boy Jucy’s Smokehouse Julie’s of Jeffersonville Jumbo Buffet Kaelin’s Restaurant Kashmir Indian Kern’s Korner Kim’s Asian Grille King Buffet King Wok King’s Fried Chicken Kings Fast Food Kingfish Kobe Japanese Steak Kolache Factory Koreana II KT’s Kunz’s KY Taco L&N Wine Bar and Bistro La Bamba La Bodega La Herradura La Marimba La Peche II La Tapatia Le Relais

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88 Middle Eastern 2 65 Cafés 9 79 Bar & Grill 12 80 Asian/Chinese 2 80 Asian/Chinese 1 83 European/Greek 2 73 Cafeterias 2 80 Asian/Chinese 1 70 Casual Dining 5 80 Asian/Chinese 5 73 Home Style 13 76 Sandwich/Deli 4, 9, 14 89 Coffee House 2, 3 89 Desserts/Bakery 5 89 Coffee House 2 89 Coffee House 2 75 Pizza 2 79 Bar & Grills 11 73 Home Style 1 73 Home Style 6, 8, 13, 15 75 Pizza 7, 9, 13 80 Asian/Chinese 14 80 Asian/Chinese 12 79 Bar & Grill 8, 12 70 Casual Dining 3,12,13,15,16 80 Asian/Chinese 3 80 Asian/Chinese 11 70 Casual Dining 1, 3, 12 85 Indian 5 66 Bistros 3 84 European/Irish 2 75 Pizza 13 63 Upscale Casual 3 65 Cafés 1 68 Upscale Casual 3, 10 78 Barbecue 15 63 Upscale Casual 2 79 Bar & Grills 3 81 Asian/Chinese 7 87 Latin Amer/Mex 13 73 Cafeterias 4 64 Upscale Casual 1 89 Coffee House 1, 2,10 73 Cafeterias 1 66 Bistros 1 76 Sandwich/Deli 5, 6, 8 73 Home Style 13 87 Latin Amer/Mex 2 70 Casual Dining 2 70 Casual Dining 16 88 Ent. Dining 14 89 Coffee House 3, 8 67 Seafood 1 79 Cajun/Creole 6 70 Casual Dining 5 64 Upscale Casual 4 76 Sandwich/Deli 1 78 Barbecue 5 77 Sandwich/Deli 16 81 Asian/Chinese 6 70 Casual Dining 2 86 Indian 2 70 Casual Dining 2 82 Asian/Korean 1 81 Asian/Chinese 6 81 Asian/Chinese 3 73 Home Style Cooking 1 73 Home Style Cooking 13 66 Seafood 4, 6, 7, 13, 16 81 Asian/Japanese 16 89 Desserts/Bakery 6 82 Asian/Korean 12 64 Upscale Casual 2 62 Fine Dining 1 87 Latin Amer/Mex 11 66 Bistro 2 87 Latin Amer/Mex 2 86 International 2 87 Latin Amer/Mex 15 87 Latin Amer/Mex 11 70 Casual Dining 7 87 Latin Amer/Mex 12 62 Fine Dining 4

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RESTAURANT

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Lee’s Korean 82 Legend’s 71 Lemongrass Café 83 Lentini’s 84 The Lighthouse 71 Lilly’s 62 Limestone 64 Lindy’s 73 Little Caesar’s Pizza 75 Little Chef 77 Little Saigon 83 Logan’s Roadhouse 67 Lolitas Tacos Inc. 87 Lone Star Steakhouse 67 Longhorn Steakhouse 67 Longino’s Grill 71 Lonnie’s Taste Chicago 73 Los Aztecas 87 Los Indios Mexicano 87 Lotsa Pasta 77 Louisville Pizza Co. 75 Luchessi’s Ravioli & Pasta Co. 84 Lucky Dragon 81 Lucky House Buffet 81 Luigi’s 84 Lunch Today 77 Lynn’s Paradise Café 71 Ma Zerellas 75 Maharaja Indian Restaurant 86 Maido Essential Japanese 82 Mai’s Thai Restaurant 83 Main Eatery 77 Main Menu 71 Main Street Grind 65 Mama Rosa 87 Mambo 87 Manchu Wok 81 Mancino’s Pizza 75 Manhattan Grill 71 Manoosh’s 86 Mark’s Feed Store 78 Martini Italian Bistro 84 Masterson’s 71 Max & Erma’s 71 Mayan Gypsy 87 Mazzoni’s Oyster Café 67 McAlister’s Deli 77 Me Oh My Jumbalay 79 Melillo’s Italian Deli 84 The Melting Pot 71 Meridian Café 65 Mexico Tipico 87 Mezzaluna Tuscan Grill 84 Michael Murphy’s 79 Mike Linnig’s 67 Mitchell’s Fish Market 67 Moe’s Southwest Grill 87 Molly Malone’s 84 Morton’s of Chicago 68 Mr. Gattis 75 Mr. Lou’s 73 Mr. Z’s Kitchen 65 Muse Café 65 My Favorite Muffin 89 My Old KY Dinner Train 88 Nancy’s Bagel Grounds 65 Napa River Grill 64 Neil’s Place 73 Nermana’s Cuisine 83 Nero’s 64 New World Buffet 81 Nik’s Restaurant 84 North End Café 65 O’Charley’s 71 O’Dolly’s 73 O’Shea’s Irish Pub 84 The Oakroom 62 Obee’s 77 Old Spaghetti Factory 85 Old Walnut Chili Parlor 71 Ole Hickory Pit BBQ 78 The Olive Garden 85 Ollie’s Trolley 77 60 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

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Asian/Korean 12 Casual Dining 14 Asian/Vietnamese 2 European/Italian 2 Casual Dining 16 Fine Dining 2 Upscale Casual 5 Home Style 12 Pizza 6, 11,12 Sandwich/Deli 14 Asian/Vietnamese 8 Steakhouse 3, 13, 15 Latin Amer/Mex 12 Steakhouse 5 Steakhouse 6 Casual Dining 12 Home Style 3 Latin Amer/Mex 1, 6, 7, 10 Latin Amer/Mex 14 Sandwich/Deli 3 Pizza 6 European/Italian 7 Asian/Chinese 7 Asian/Chinese 4 European/Italian 1 Sandwich/Deli 16 Casual Dining 2 Pizza 15 Indian 2 Asian/Japanese 2 Asian/Thai 16 Sandwich/Deli 1 Casual Dining 14 Cafés 14 Latin Amer/Mex 4 Latin Amer/Mex 12 Asian/Chinese 5 Pizza 7, 8 Casual Dining 1 International 1 Barbecue 2, 9, 13, 15 European/Italian 8 Casual Dining 1 Casual Dining 6, 8, 10 Latin Amer/Mex 1 Seafood 4 Sandwich/Deli 5, 6 Cajun/Creole 2 European/Italian 1 Casual Dining 6 Cafés 3 Latin Amer/Mex 13 European/Italian 2 Bar & Grills 1 Seafood 13 Seafood 8 Latin Amer/Mex 6 European/Irish 2 Steakhouse 1 Pizza 1, 4, 5, 6, 12, 13 Home Style 13 Cafés 1 Cafés 3 Desserts/Bakery 4, 5 Ent. Dining 12 Cafés 2 Upscale Casual 3 Home Style 14 Euro/Bosnian 2 Upscale Casual 14 Asian/Chinese 8 European/Greek 6 Cafés 2 Casual Dining 3,6,8,12,13,15 Home Style 13 European/Irish 2 Fine Dining 1 Sandwich/Deli 1 European/Italian 1 Casual Dining 1 Barbecue 11 European/Italian 6 Sandwich/Deli 1

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Omar’s Gyro On the Border Onion Rest.Tea House Oriental Express Oriental House Oriental Star Osaka Sushi Bar Oscar Brown’s Southbeach Otto’s Café Outback Steakhouse Palermo Viejo The Palms at Sunset Panda Chinese Panera Bread Co. Papa Johns Pizza Papillon Grill & Bar Park Place Restaurant Pat’s Steak House The Patron Paul’s Fruit Market Peking City Penn Station Pepper Shaker Bar-B-Q Perkfection Pesto’s Italian Petrus Piccadilly Cafeteria Picnicaters BBQ Pie in the Sky Pigasus Chop Shop Pit Stop Bar-B-Que Pizza Box Pizza By The Guy Pizza Hut Pizza King Pizza Magia Plehn’s Bakery Ponderosa Steakhouse Porcini Portico Prospect Fish Market Qdoba Mexican Grill Queenie’s Pizza & Such Quick Wok Quizno’s Subs Rafferty’s of Louisville Rainbow Blossom Ramsi’s Café Ranch House Ray Parrella’s Red Horse Grille & Bar Red Lounge Rich O’s Public House Rinco Latino River Creek Inn River Grille Roadway Wings Rockwall Bistro Rocky’s Italian Grill Rollo Pollo Romano’s Macaroni Grill Rubbie’s Bar-B-Que Ruby Tuesday The Rudyard Kipling Rufad’s Kebob Rumors Raw Oyster Bar Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse Ryan’s Steakhouse Saffron’s Saint’s Sakura Blue Sala Thai Sam’s Food & Spirits Samurai Santa Fe Grill Sapporo Japanese Grill Sarajevo Schlotzsky’s Deli Scotty’s Ribs Sesame Chinese Shalimar Indian Shanghai Restaurant Shenanigan’s Irish Grille

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88 Middle Eastern 2 87 Latin Amer/Mex 8 81 Asian/Chinese 14 81 Asian/Chinese 9 81 Asian/Chinese 3 81 Asian/Chinese 12 82 Asian/Japanese 2 64 Upscale Casual 1 71 Casual Dining 1 68 Steakhouse 3, 8, 11, 12, 15 71 Casual Dining 2 71 Casual Dining 15 81 Asian/Chinese 10 77 Sandwich/Deli 3, 6 75 Pizza [30] 83 Euro/Bosnian 2 62 Fine Dining 1 68 Steakhouse 2 65 Cafés 3 77 Sandwich/Deli 3, 4, 7, 9 81 Asian/Chinese 8 77 Sandwich/Deli [11] 78 Barbecue 12 89 Coffee House 16 85 European/Italian 1 71 Casual Dining 1 73 Cafeterias 5, 6 78 Barbecue 1 75 Pizza 6 78 Barbecue 2 78 Barbecue 1 75 Pizza 8 75 Pizza 5 75 Pizza [15] 75 Pizza 14, 16 75 Pizza [13] 89 Desserts/Bakery 3 68 Steakhouse 7, 12 85 European/Italian 2 62 Fine Dining 14 67 Seafood 10 87 Latin Amer/Mex 2,3,5,8,15 75 Pizza 1 81 Asian/Chinese 1 77 Sandwich/Deli 1,6,8,14,15,16 71 Casual Dining 3, 8 89 Desserts/Bakery 8 71 Casual Dining 1, 2 71 Casual Dining 14 85 European/Italian 2 71 Casual Dining 12 66 Bistros 2 89 Microbreweries 14 88 Latin Amer/Mex 8 67 Seafood 7 71 Casual Dining 1 73 Home Style Cooking 13 64 Upscale Casual 14 85 European/Italian 16 71 Casual Dining 3 85 European/Italian 5 78 Barbecue 12 71 Casual Dining 3, 6 71 Casual Dining 1 83 Euro/Bosnian 2 67 Seafood 9 68 Steakhouse 3 68 Steakhouse 11, 12, 13, 15 88 Middle Eastern 1 79 Bar & Grill 3 82 Asian/Japanese 3 83 Asian/Thai 6 71 Casual Dining 14 82 Asian/Japanese 6 88 Latin Amer/Mex 12 82 Asian/Japanese 2, 9 83 Euro/Bosnian 11 77 Sandwich/Deli 6, 8, 9, 12 78 Barbecue 9 81 Asian/Chinese 5 86 Indian 6 81 Asian/Chinese 1 79 Bar & Grill 2

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Shogun 82 Shoney’s 72 Sichuan Garden 81 Sir Churchill’s Pub 83 Skyline Chili 72 Smokey Bones BBQ 78 Somewhere In Thyme 72 Soupy’s 77 South Side Inn 73 Spaghetti Shop 85 Sportstime Pizza 75 Stan’s Fish Sandwich 67 Star of Louisville 88 Starbucks Coffee 89 Starving Artist Café 66 Steak N Shake 72 Steam Fire & Ice 64 Steinert’s Grill & Pub 79 Stevens & Stevens 77 Stoney River 68 Strawberry Patch Deli 77 Stumler Rest. & Orchard 72 Sub Station II 77 Sue’s Touch Of Country 73 Sweet ‘N’ Savory Café 66 Sweet Surrender 89 Tacqueria La Mexicana 88 Texas Roadhouse 68 TGI Friday’s 72 Thai Café 83 Thai Kitchen 83 Thai Siam 83 Thai Smile 4 83 Thai Taste 83 The Other Place 72 Third and Main Café 66 Third Avenue Café 66 Thyme Café 66 Timothy’s 64 Tokyo Japanese 82 Toll Bridge Inn 73 Tologono 66 Tommy Lancaster 72 Tony Boombozz 75 Tony Impellizzeri’s Pizza 75 Tony Roma’s 78 Trellis Restaurant 72 Tucker’s 72 Tumbleweed 88 Twiams Chicken & Waffles 72 Twice-Told Café 66 Twig & Leaf Restaurant 72 Two Bucks 77 Two For Brew 89 Two Guys and a Grill 77 Uno Chicago Bar & Grill 75 Uptown Café 64 Vietnam Kitchen 63 The Villa Buffet 72 Vince Staten’s BBQ 78 Vincenzo’s 62 Vito’s Pizzeria 76 W.W. Cousin’s 72 Wagner’s Pharmacy 73 Wall Street Deli 77 Wang’s Wok 81 Webb’s Market 73 Whitney’s Diner 66 Wicks Pizza 76 Wild Oats Market 77 Willie’s Italian 85 Winston’s 62 Wok Express 81 Wonton Express 81 Woodford Reserve Grille 79 Yaching’s East West Cuisine 64 Yang Kee Noodle 81 Yen Ching 81 You-Carryout-A 81 Z’s Oyster Bar 62 Zen Garden 83

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Asian/Japanese 6, 8 Casual Dining 2, 6, 12 Asian/Chinese 6 European/English 6 Casual Dining 1, 2, 3, 6, 13 Barbecue 6 Casual Dining 6 Sandwich/Deli 4, 8, 13 Cafeterias 14 European/Italian 11, 14 Pizza 14 Seafood 3 Ent. Dining 16 Coffee House [11] Cafés 5 Casual Dining 4,6,8,12,13,15 Upscale Casual 2 Bar & Grills 14 Sandwich/Deli 2 Steakhouse 8 Sandwich/Deli 9 Casual Dining 14 Sandwich/Deli 12 Home Style 13 Cafés 2 Desserts/Bakery 2, 14 Latin Amer/Mex 12 Steakhouse 2, 12, 13, 15 Casual Dining 6, 7 Asian/Thai 7 Asian/Thai 13 Asian/Thai 4 Asian/Thai 6 Asian/Thai 2 Casual Dining 2 Cafés 1 Cafés 1 Cafés 1 Upscale Casual 16 Asian/Japanese 7 Home Style 14 Bistros 3 Casual Dining 14 Pizza 2, 3 Pizza 2 Barbecue 5 Casual Dining 1 Casual Dining 14 Latin Amer/Mex [19] Casual Dining 13 Cafés 7 Casual Dining 2 Sandwich/Deli 8 Coffee House 1 Sandwich/Deli 7 Pizza 11 Upscale Casual 2 Asian/Vietnamese 12 Casual Dining 14 Barbecue 10 Fine Dining 1 Pizza 12 Casual Dining 3 Home Style 12 Sandwich/Deli 1 Asian/Chinese 9 Home Style 1 Cafés 11 Pizza 2, 8, 9 Sandwich/Deli 3 European/Italian 13 Fine Dining 4 Asian/Chinese 1 Asian/Chinese 4, 12 Bar & Grill 12 Upscale Casual 1 Asian/Chinese 5 Asian/Chinese 6 Asian/Chinese 14, 15, 16 Fine Dining 5 Asian/Vietnamese 2

Louisville’s Best Catch.

Equus Restaurant has a tradition of serving the best Parmesan-Coated Sea Bass and Certified Black Angus Steaks in town.

Equus has been preparing fine continental cuisine with Kentucky accents for 19 years.

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

EQUUS RESTAURANT 1 2 2 S E A R S AV E N U E • S T. M AT T H E W S • ( 5 0 2 ) 8 9 7 - 9 7 2 1

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UNLESS NOTED OTHERWISE, ALL RESTAURANTS ARE LOCATED IN LOUISVILLE. ALL KENTUCKY PHONE NUMBERS LISTED ARE IN THE 502 AREA, INDIANA PHONE NUMBERS ARE IN THE 812 AREA CODE. RED DENOTES AN ADVERTISER.

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Average Entrée under $8 Average Entrée $9–$14 Average Entrée $15–$20 Average Entrée $21 & up Full Bar Outdoor Dining Live Music

FINE DINING 211 CLOVER LANE RESTAURANT 211 Clover Ln., 896-9570. Blessed with an atmospheric setting and a loyal crowd of fans, 211 Clover Lane has the potential to rank among the city’s top restaurants.

Creative cuisine and excellent service offer a memorable experience. $$$$ p f 610 MAGNOLIA 610 Magnolia St., 636-0783. For the first few months after its change of hands last autumn, local foodies fretted about whether Chef Edward Lee would reach the mark that longtime chef/owner Ed Garber set during his 25 year tenure at one of the region’s leading restaurants. We’re satisfied now. No mere caretaker of the Garber tradition, Lee has put his own individual stamp on 610, and we love it as much as ever. $$$$ p f BUCK’S 425 W. Ormsby Ave., 637-5284. Eclectic Victorian with tongue-slightly-in-cheek, pleasant and not overstated, this fine dining room on the ground floor of Old Louisville’s genteel old Mayflower Apartments combines a welcoming attitude with high-quality fare and atmosphere that’s frankly stunning. $$$ p e CAFÉ METRO 1700 Bardstown Rd., 458-4830. An excellent, pricey establishment that its fans and owners boast is one of the city’s best places to dine. A mainstay of Bardstown Rd. for many years, it has become a local tradition. $$$ p ENGLISH GRILL 335 W. Broadway (The Camberly Brown Hotel), 583-1234. This elegant oak-paneled dining room is the same downtown landmark that our parents and grandparents enjoyed. Chef Joe Castro continues to win raves for creative, inventive (and expensive) fare that makes the Brown a major player in the downtown-hotel dining sweepstakes. $$$$ p EQUUS 122 Sears Ave., 897-9721. “Equus” is Latin for “horse”, and it’s hard to imagine a much more appropriate name for this stylish favorite, a comfortably elegant dining room with an equestrian theme that evokes a bit of Churchill Downs and a hint of the Bluegrass. $$$$ p THE FLAGSHIP 140 N. Fourth St., 589-5200. The best thing about the Flagship is its romantic, spectacular view of the city from its revolving quarters atop the Galt House hotel. It offers fine white-tablecloth dining with service to match. $$$$ e KUNZ’S FOURTH AND MARKET 115 S. Fourth St., 585-5555. One of the oldest restaurants in Louisville, Kunz’s has moved from one downtown location to another. Its old German accent has muted a bit with time; with a new menu in place, it now offers a choice of old-fashioned, hearty steak and seafood and stylish modern fare. $$$ p LE RELAIS 2817 Taylorsville Rd., (Bowman Field), 451-9020. Why do I love Le Relais? Let me count the ways: elegant art-deco style, excellent service, and most of all, a creative spin on traditional French cuisine keep Le Relais consistently at the top of Louisville’s restaurant competition. It’s Kentucky’s best French restaurant. $$$$ p f e

62 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

LILLY’S 1147 Bardstown Rd., 451-0447. Lilly’s, a favorite since the ‘80s, has consistently ranked among Kentucky’s most creative restaurants. The menu changes often to reflect the seasons and available produce, but you can always count on a creative combination of fresh local goodies and upscale specialty items from around the nation. $$$$ p e THE OAKROOM 500 S. Fourth St., (Seelbach Hotel), 585-3200. One of Louisville’s top restaurants, the Oakroom goes after, and wins, awards for its menu, its wine list, and the fine original cuisine. A recent visit ranked among the best dinners I’ve enjoyed in Louisville or just about anywhere else.

The Oakroom’s upscale fare, suave service and imposing wine cellar make it a four-star destination. $$$$ p PARK PLACE RESTAURANT 401 E. Main St. (Slugger Field), 515-0172. The signature restaurant in Louisville Slugger Field changes its name from Wellinghurst’s to signal the arrival of popular local Chef Anoosh Shariat in spring 2004. Already a top local steakhouse, watch for Park Place to solidify its place in the city’s top tier of upscale eateries with Anoosh presiding over an expanded menu. $$$$ p f PORTICO Caesars Indiana Casino, Elizabeth, IN, 888766-2648. High-end luxury and style bring a taste

of Las Vegas to Metro Louisville in this pricey, white-tablecloth eatery located on the grounds of Caesars Indiana. You don’t have to be a high roller to enjoy its luxury fare and service. $$$$ p VINCENZO’S 150 S. Fifth St., 580-1350. Vincenzo’s effortlessly holds on to its status as the city’s finest Italian restaurant, a place where you can go with assurance that you’ll have a first-rate meal and outstanding service, in a setting that’s upscale but not stuffy. A luxurious experience at a luxurious price. $$$$ p WINSTON’S RESTAURANT 3101 Bardstown Rd., (Sullivan University Campus), 456-0980. Culinary arts students at Sullivan University staff this finedining restaurant on the campus, under supervision by experienced chefs and managers.

A fair number of the city’s top chefs got their training here. Open Fri.-Sun. Only. Reservations suggested. $$$$ p Z’S OYSTER BAR & STEAKHOUSE 101 Whittington Pkwy., 429-8000. This exciting spot brings a level of fine dining to the suburbs that’s previously been hard to find outside the city. Armed with excellent, oversize steaks, extraordinary seafood, fine service and clubby ambience, Z’s thoroughly outguns the upscale steakhouse competition. $$$$ p

UPSCALE CASUAL ARTEMISIA 620 E. Market St., 583-4177. With the proliferation of art galleries on East Market Street, Artemisia brings to life a concept that had to happen: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fine dining room that serves up quality food and drink in a stylish environment that also houses an art gallery. Named for the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemisia does feature some game entrees as well as an eclectic menu of salads, seafood dishes and proficient vegetarian offerings. $$$ p f e ASIATIQUE 1767 Bardstown Rd., 451-2749. Chef Peng Looi, who has won dinersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; raves and many culinary awards during Asiatiqueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long tenure in St. Matthews, has transplanted his innovative Asian-fusion restaurant to larger and even more striking quarters on the busy Bardstown Road corridor. Based on the early buzz, he has kicked things up still another notch. $$$ p f AUSTINâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 4950 US 42, 423-1990. Big, crowded and bistro-style, with heavy emphasis on the bar, this suburban watering hole taps the same vein as the national franchise booze â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; beef genre, and does so well, offering satisfying dining at a fair price. $$ p

CORNER CAFĂ&#x2030; 9307 New Lagrange Rd., 426-8119.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nothing fancy or overly elegant about this suburban neighborhood old favorite, but the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;eclecticâ&#x20AC;? fits it well, as we can tell from the neon signs across its front windows listing its fields of specialization: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Italian, Cajun, seafood, pizza and subs and more.â&#x20AC;? $$ p DE LA TORREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 1606 Bardstown Rd., 456-4955.

Spanish style and genuine Castilian food, a short but interesting wine list and pleasant service. The fare at De la Torreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is authentic European Spanish, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as good as Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever enjoyed outside of Spain. $$$ ENCORE RESTAURANT AT ACTORS THEATRE 316 W. Main St., 561-3344. Not so much a destination restaurant as a decent place to dine before the theater, Encore offers a short but eclectic bill of fare that will satisfy your palate and get you to your seat before the curtain rises. $$ p FOUNTAIN ROOM AT THE GALT HOUSE 140 N. Fourth St., 589-5200. This comfortable space features both buffet and menu dining. One price covers the fresh and hot buffet and salad bar. The menu often includes regional and contemporary selections and daily chef specials. $ p

FOX HOLLOW MANOR HOUSE INN 8909 Hwy 329, 241-8234. Fox Hollow is the first resort for health, rest, and fine dining. After a massage, a yoga class, or a walk around the isolated gardens and pastures, you can have a splendid meal, prepared for organic, vegetarian and vegan appetites. $$$$ J. ALEXANDERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S RESTAURANT 102 Oxmoor Court, 339-2206. This comfortably upscale venue, a Nashville-based chain, features â&#x20AC;&#x153;contemporary Americanâ&#x20AC;? fare with a broad menu that ranges from burgers and sandwiches to such upscale eats as grilled tuna or a New York strip steak. $$$ p J. HARRODâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 7507 Upper River Rd., 228-4555, 3814 Frankfort Ave., 899-7794. J. Harrodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is discreetly tasteful and pleasantly comfortable. The food is competitive in both quality and value. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an appealing, upscale blend of bistro fare and oldfashioned country cooking. $$$ p JACK FRYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S 1007 Bardstown Rd., 452-9244. For more than 20 years since it upgraded from an old, familiar neighborhood tavern, Jack Fryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s has earned a place in Louisvilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart the old-fashioned way, by consistently offering excellent fare in a comfortable setting. I rarely leave here after a meal without a happy, satisfied smile. $$$$ p e

AVALON 1314 Bardstown Rd., 454-5336. Sharp, stylish and trendy, Avalon jumped to four-star status within weeks of its opening last year. The menu is billed as â&#x20AC;&#x153;fresh American cuisine,â&#x20AC;? but it has a mighty international accent, with risotto, ragout, rosti and wasabi managing to fit into an All-American melting pot. $$$ p AZALEA 3612 Brownsboro Rd., 895-5493. Azalea has captured Louisvilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart with its creative fusion cuisine. It is one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most popular places to dine, whether you choose the brickwalled patio with its shady grove or the austerely decorated but welcoming rooms indoors. $$$ p f BRISTOL BAR & GRILLE 1321 Bardstown Rd., 4561702, 300 N. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 426-0627, 100 E. Jefferson St., 540-3214, 614 W. Main St., 582-1995, 2035 S. Third St., 634-2723. The Bristol has been a star on Louisvilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bistro scene since it helped kick off the Bardstown Road restaurant renaissance some 25 years ago. Old standards like the green-chile won tons and the Bristol Burger are always reliable, and the wine program is exceptional. $$ p f THE CHEFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TABLE 1160 S. First St., 638-0302 Local chefs and caterers Bob and Michele Brinke are moving their business, heretofore â&#x20AC;&#x153;Creative Cuisine,â&#x20AC;? to Old Louisville, where theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll open The Chefâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Table and the Old Louisville Winery in a three-building complex at the corner of First and Oak streets this spring. The restaurant will feature a â&#x20AC;&#x153;chefâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tableâ&#x20AC;? for parties of up to 10, whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be personally served by the chef. $$ e CHESTERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TAVERN 5444 New Cut Rd., 368-8848.

Chesterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, a popular South End dining destination near Iroquois Park, offers stylish yet affordable upscale American fare coupled with down-home dishes. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just a neighborhood joint but a restaurant good enough to lure East Enders right out of their comfort zone. A late night menu is served until 1 am. $$ p f e CLUB GROTTO 2116 Bardstown Rd., 459-5275. Club Grottoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classy setting resembles a funky art gallery, and its international menu picks up a little from Italy, a little from Asia, a touch from here and a taste from there. Consistently fine food and service make this one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top tables. $$$ p COACH LAMP RESTAURANT 751 Vine St., 583-9165.

This urban neighborhood tavern serves â&#x20AC;&#x153;pub grubâ&#x20AC;? for lunch, but Coach Lamp turns into a serious dining room Wednesday through Saturday evenings with well-prepared dishes that range from down-home favorites to pastas. With former Brown Hotel Chef Jerome Pope now in the kitchen, expanded evening hours and a new menu, this is a place to watch. $$

3EASONAL MENU WITH FRESH SEAFOOD

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www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 63

ROCKWALL BISTRO 3426 Paoli Pike, Floyds Knobs, IN., 948-1705. This stylish spot takes full advantage of an old rock-quarry location in scenic Floyds Knobs to offer an atmospheric eatery, with a creative menu that features a light Louisiana accent, and an interesting, affordable wine list. It’s well worth the 15-minute trip across the Ohio for one of the metro area’s most enjoyable dining experiences. $$ p f STEAM FIRE & ICE 2427 Bardstown Rd., 454-9944.

TIMOTHY’S 214 Court Ave., Jeffersonville IN, 282-2202.

In the wake of a somewhat unlikely move from funky East Broadway to suburban Jeffersonville, Timothy’s is still just as comfortable as an old shoe, and the happy crowds that are streaming across the bridges to enjoy it demonstrate that management hasn’t done anything to lose the affection of its loyal clientele. $$$ p f UPTOWN CAFÉ 1624 Bardstown Rd., 458-4212.

Across the street and a step downscale from its partner, Café Metro, the Uptown Café offers similar fare with a bit more of a bistro feel for quite a few bucks less. $$ p f YACHING’S EAST WEST CUISINE 105 S. Fourth St., 585-4005. Restaurateur Laura Tao’s stylish new downtown restaurant promises “an eclectic menu of contemporary Asian fusion cuisine.” It’s an attractive mix of East and West, sufficient to give just about everyone something to enjoy, regardless of which compass point attracts your taste buds. $$$

winston’s

restaurant

CAFES ALLEY CAT CAFÉ 11804 Shelbyville Rd., 245-6544.

This suburban Alley Cat is a cozy and bright little place, and the lunch-only menu is affordable and appealing. $

Sullivan University Campus 3101 Bardstown Road Louisville, KY 40205 Reservations are recommended

502-456-0980

JARFI’S BISTRO 501 W. Main St., 589-5060. Jeff Jarfi, formerly the personality of the Brown Hotel’s English Grill, is now the eponymous host of the renamed Kentucky Cove. He is making the right moves (including popular lunch and pre-theater buffets) to draw crowds to this stylish venue in the Kentucky Center for the Arts. $$$ p JOHN E’S 3708 Bardstown Rd., 456-1111. This old Louisville tradition earns a warm recommendation.

From its cozy setting in a historic Buechel home (once a log cabin) to its down-home service to its good American-style fare at reasonable prices, this comfortable place is a prime choice for a family get-together. $$$$ p e KT’S 2300 Lexington Rd., 458-8888. It’s hard to argue with success, and KT’s has earned its popularity by providing good American-style bar and bistro chow and a modern bar scene for a price that’s fair. $$ p f LIMESTONE 10001 Forest Green Blvd., 426-7477. To succeed in the restaurant business, keep doing what you do best. Chefs Jim Gerhardt and Michael Cunha have followed this simple formula with considerable success at Limestone, transporting the concept that brought them

64 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

Friday & Saturday Lunch 11 am - 2 pm Dinner 5:30 pm - 10 pm Sunday Brunch 9:30 am - 2 pm

APPLE ANNIE’S AT HEALTH & HARVEST 3030 Bardstown Rd., 451-6772. Explore the vast grocery section before coming to rest for coffee, tea, juice, pastries and sandwiches—all prepared with organic ingredients and many vegetarian and vegan selections. $ APPLEBY’S CAFÉ AND CATERING 201 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN, 283-3663. This café and catering business offers a variety of daily lunch specials plus gourmet coffees and a tempting array of desserts. $ f BEG FOR MORE CAFÉ 380-0085. $

international culinary kudos at the Seelbach’s Oakroom with good effect in these modern quarters in the East End. $$$ p NAPA RIVER GRILL 3938 Dupont Circle, 893-0141.

A conscious and surprisingly faithful imitation of a California wine-country eatery, Napa River Grill’s intriguing bill of fare offers California-style entrees with a hint of Pacific Rim fusion. An excellent, fairly priced wine list adds to its appeal. $$ p f NERO’S Caesars Indiana Casino, Elizabeth, IN, 888766-2648. Joining Portico as the second high-end, fine-dining restaurant at Caesar’s Indiana, Nero’s— located on the casino boat’s Fourth Deck— complements Portico’s all-American steak-andseafood theme with a broader international menu that ranges from Tuscan fettuccini to Memphis BBQ pork ribs. $$$ p OSCAR BROWN’S SOUTHBEACH STATION 252 E. Market St., 581-1222. Chef Nick Sundberg, formerly with Wellinghurst’s, features an American bistro style at his casual-upscale restaurant in the increasingly hot East Downtown neighborhood,.

His menu showcases Caribbean influences from Cuba, Jamaica and Trinidad (plus a few regional Kentucky items). $$ p e

8402 National Turnpike,

BLUE DOG BAKERY AND CAFÉ 2868 Frankfort Ave., 899-9800. This little bakery with its $50,000 Spanish wood-fired oven makes artisanal bread as good as you’ll find in the US, and competitive with the best in Europe. Its comfortable, upscale café offers a short selection of tasty dishes made to show off the fine breads. $$ f BLUE PEPPERMILL CAFÉ 1882 Blackiston Mill Rd., Clarksville, IN., 945-5830. Any city would be lucky to have this superb little bistro with a Hoosier twist. The fare ranges from down-home to upscale. The atmosphere is happy and bright; the service personal and quick. It’s a bit hidden away, but worth the search. $$ p BLUEGRASS CAFÉ 3255 Bardstown Rd., (Holiday Inn) 454-0451. This is a relaxing full service, casual family dining spot at the southern end of Bardstown Rd. Traditional favorites available here range from the Hot Brown to Fried Chicken. A colorful menu of freshly made soups, salads, appetizers and desserts serves the light diner. $ p BULLDOG CAFÉ 10619 W. Manslick Rd., 380-0600. $fe THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN CAFÉ 1325 Bardstown Rd., 456-4500. Tiny but tastefully attractive, this little cafe is hidden at the back of a Victorian house filled with gift shops that share a quaint,

welcoming ambience. Typical luncheon fare is skillfully prepared. $ f CAFÉ CHARDEAUS 359 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN, 288-1050. Co-owners Becky Hutchens and Charlotte McGinnis may have built their reputation on catering, but you don’t have to plan a party to enjoy a taste of their stylish fare. Open for lunch weekdays. $ CAFÉ EMILIE 3939 Shelbyville Rd., 719-9717. Tucked into a corner of a tasteful furniture shop, Café Emilie is worth a visit. This French-accented East End eatery is a recent and welcome addition to the neighborhood’s casual dining options. $ f CAFÉ FRAICHE 3642 Brownsboro Rd., 894-8929.

This is truly cuisine that makes the world go round. Homemade soups, breads and globetrotting entrees make this a favorite café to sample new tastes. Menu changes seasonally. $ CAFÉ J 3600 Dutchmans Ln., (Jewish Community Center) 459-0660. The city’s only authentic, totally Kosher delicatessen, with a flair for presentation and flavor. Homemade soups, salads and wide-ranging hot entrees are available. $ f CENTRAL PARK CAFÉ 316 W. Ormsby Ave., 6352066. It’s a delight to welcome another comfortable café to Louisville’s distinctive Old Louisville neighborhood. Simple bistro fare is attractive, but the atmospheric neighborhood bar is the big draw in this popular new spot. $$ p f e CHEDDAR BOX CAFÉ 12121 Shelbyville Rd., 2452622, 3909 Chenoweth Sq., 893-2324. Ladies who lunch often do so here, and more than a few gents join them, lured by an attractive selection of luncheon fare that ranges from soups and salads to tasty sandwiches ... and, it goes without saying, desserts. $ f CHEDDAR’S CASUAL CAFÉ 10403 Westport Rd., 339-5400. A distinct buzz surrounded the arrival Cheddar’s, Louisville’s first outpost of a Dallasbased chain. It’s drawing big, happy crowds with its large bar and familiar “casual to upscale American” dishes. $ p CITY CAFÉ 1907 S. Fourth St., 635-0222, 505 W. Broadway, 589-1797, 1250 Bardstown Rd., 4595600, 500 S. Preston St., 852-5739. Chef Jim Henry, a long-time star in the city’s culinary firmament, now brings his cooking skills and insistence on fresh, quality ingredients to this growing local chain of quick, simple but excellent spots for lunch. $ f DERBY CAFÉ 704 Central Ave., (Kentucky Derby Museum), 634-0858. Lunch served year-round in the dining area adjacent to the Derby Museum with such regional favorites as meaty Burgoo, and the Hot Brown. $ f DERBY CITY CAFÉ BY DALAL 3819 Bardstown Rd., 454-6160. Most of the dining crowd comes for the cream cheese and olive sandwiches, veggie pockets and Kentucky’s own Benedictine creations. $ DIEFENBACH CAFÉ 128 S. New Albany St., Sellersburg IN, 246-0686. $$ p e DIXIE CUP CAFÉ 4637 Dixie Hwy., 448-6999. Former Simpsonville, Ky., postmaster Pam Hale gave up her day job to open this welcoming new spot on Dixie near the Watterson Expressway, and we’re glad she did. Although it’s billed as a “gourmet coffee shop,” warming chili, soups and salads and alluring desserts make it a full-scale lunch destination. $ ERMIN’S FRENCH BAKERY & CAFÉ 1201 S. First St., 635-6960, 723 S. Fourth St., 587-9390, 454 S. Fourth Ave., 585-5120, 9213 U.S. 42, 228-7210.

Founded by an immigrant baker from Bosnia, these popular bakeries still attract crowds looking for an enjoyable soup and sandwich lunch highlighted by French-style breads and pastries. $ EURO MARKET 12907 Factory Ln., 243-0000. It looks like a neighborhood convenience store and bottle

shop, but when you get inside, it contains a delicious surprise: an appetizing service counter offers a variety of goodies to take out or eat in. Don’t miss the excellent fried-oyster box, as well as an intriguing selection of quality beers and fine wines. $ EVE’S SWEET REVENGE 947 Eastern Pkwy., 6360094. A small but stylish environment houses a genteel establishment where estimable sandwiches, soups, salads and similar luncheon fare are the order of the day. Eve’s also provides the bill of fare for The Jazz Factory downtown. $ FEDERAL HILL 310 Pearl St., New Albany IN, 9486646. $ f GARDEN ROOM CAFÉ 911 S. Brook St., 625-1900.

The old Male High School cafeteria never looked better than it does in its new life as the Garden Room. The old school, now a privately owned office building called The Spectrum, has turned over the cavernous cafeteria space to popular Old Louisville caterer Phyllis “Gumby” Cornwell, who turns out tasty down-home fare for lunch plus a filling Sunday brunch. $ f GERMANTOWN CAFÉ 1053 Goss Ave., 637-9412.

One of the many old-fashioned, simple and welcoming bars serving pub grub in Louisville’s old Germantown neighborhood is as good a spot as any for a hot burger and a cold beer. $ p f e GOURMET GRAZING 9550 US 42, 228-0464. This Prospect Point eatery offers a variety of pastas, crab cakes, salmon, sandwiches and desserts for carry out from its well-stocked catering cases. $ f GRAPEVINE PANTRY & GIFT SHOP 11418 Old Main St., Middletown, KY, 245-1569. Off the beaten path, the Middletown Historic District is booming with bucolic storefronts, restaurants and a laid back glimpse of the past. The Grapevine Pantry serves up homemade soups, sandwiches and salads, and a selection of cakes and pies. $

RESTAURANT & LOUNGE Casual to Upscale Dining • Fresh Seafood • Charbroiled Steaks & Chops

formerly

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214 W. Court Ave.•Jeffersonville, In (exit “0” on I-65)•282-2202

J. GRAHAM’S CAFÉ & BAR 335 W. Broadway (The Camberly Brown Hotel), 583-1234. The Brown’s casual cafe offers an alternative to the pricey and upscale English Grill. $ p MAIN ST. GRIND 155 E. Main St., New Albany, IN, 944-2326. $ MERIDIAN CAFÉ 112 Meridian Ave., 897-9703. New owners and a new attitude have engendered a dramatic improvement in this little lunch spot in a cozy old house in St. Matthews. Service is competent and polite, the place is sparkling clean, and the luncheon-style fare ranges from good to excellent. $ MR. Z’S KITCHEN 869 S. Third St., 584-8504. It’s run by a friendly immigrant family from Eastern Europe, but the food is all-American at Mr. Z’s Kitchen. It offers an appetizing option for a hearty diner-style meal. $ MUSE CAFÉ 3110 Frankfort Ave., 895-9488. A direct descendant of the old Crescent Moon deli, this small, artsy space on the eastern end of the Frankfort Avenue strip offers coffee and exceptionally fine soups and sandwiches (plus breakfast all day) in a gallery-like setting dominated by bold works of modern art. $ f e NANCY’S BAGEL GROUNDS 2101 Frankfort Ave., 895-8323. A friendly and casual neighborhood gathering spot. Offerings include soups, snacks, coffee drinks and bagels made on the premises to its own rather idiosyncratic formula. $ f NORTH END CAFÉ 1722 Frankfort Ave., 896-8770.

This atmospheric little Clifton spot in an artfully redesigned old shotgun house, is hitting its stride these days. Now with full dinner service, it offers a combination of diverse and eclectic tapas and interesting entrees, plus a bargain-seeker’s wine list.

It’s an appealing, affordable place to dine. $ f THE PATRON 3400 Frankfort Ave., 896-1661.

Viewed from the perspective of an evening meal, the Patron offers some of the best cooking in www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 65

town. Chef Amber McCool offers a dinner menu that changes frequently, based on what’s available and perhaps the chef’s whim. It’s not just adventurous but civilized. $ THE STARVING ARTIST CAFÉ & DELI 8034 New Lagrange Rd., 412-1599. $ SWEET ‘N’ SAVORY CAFÉ 1574 Bardstown Rd., 456-6566. Hearty brunch fare with a vegetarian accent makes Sweet ‘n’ Savory a popular destination for the Bardstown Road bunch. $ THIRD AND MAIN CAFÉ 220 W. Main St., 587-6171. $ f THIRD AVENUE CAFÉ 1164 South Third St., 5852233. This exceptionally pleasant neighborhood eatery is attracting loyal crowds. One of my favorite places for a casual meal, it produces excellent fare and serves it up in a cozy setting that brings you back for more. $$ p f e THYME CAFÉ 711 S. Third St., 587-0400. This spicy eclectic café serves up big taste with special tuna, ham and chicken entrees and sandwiches. Fresh basil tomato soup with the BLT on grilled sourdough is a fast-rising favorite in the neighborhood. $ TWICE TOLD PERFORMANCE CAFÉ 3507 W. Hwy. 146, LaGrange, 222-4506. An eclectic urban café in a village setting, about twenty minutes north of downtown. Menu is casual and fresh: sandwiches, fruits and veggies; daily soups and entrees from Sesame Chicken to Vegetarian Burritos. Live music every night—folk, spoken word, blues, jazz. $ e WHITNEY’S DINER 5616 Bardstown Rd., 239-0919. $f

BISTROS ATRIUM CAFÉ 9940 Corporate Campus Dr., (Embassy Suites), 426-9191. An eclectic bistro atmosphere in the spacious heart of the hotel.

Specials run from their popular crab cakes and

array of pasta dishes to a Rueben sandwich or fruit pie. $$ p BAXTER STATION BAR & GRILL 1201 Payne St., 584-1635. This cozy spot looks a lot like a neighborhood bar and grill, but the eclectic menu and unique atmosphere (a railroad theme and airy patio in season) take it a notch upscale. Take particular note of an impressive beer list to go with your meal. $$ p f GALAXY BISTRO 725 W. Main St., 589-1020. This lunchtime stop is aptly named, featuring an expanding universe of favorites that are made fresh to order. The menu features burgers, Philly steaks and chicken tenders—to name a few. Tables available for seating indoors and out. No alcohol. $ f e INDIGO BISTRO AND BAR 3930 Chenoweth Sq., 893-0106. Creating a bit of confusion for oldtimers, this is a new restaurant in a location that formerly housed a more upscale and fancy eatery with a similar name. Now it’s casual, offering American-style food and drink. $$ p f e JAZZ FACTORY 815 W. Market St., (Glassworks), 992-3242. Louisville’s restored Glassworks building makes a natural home for this edgy, stylish venue for serious, live jazz, and the Jazz Factory has quickly built a loyal following. Lita Goodrich and Reda Clayton of Eve’s Sweet Revenge show off their skills in fare to match the music. $$ p e L&N WINE BAR AND BISTRO 1765 Mellwood Ave., 897-0070. If you’re enthusiastic about good wine, you’re going to be excited about L&N Wine Bar and Bistro. The fruit of the vine takes center stage in a vast, fairly priced wine list; but comfortable exposed-brick atmosphere and excellent bistro fare add to the draw. $$ p f RED LOUNGE 2106 Frankfort Ave., 896-6116. It’s loud.

It’s smoky. It’s slick and glitzy and fun. Red Lounge is a bar first and an eatery second, but the fare, a short list of gourmet pub grub, is very good. $ p f e

TOLOGONO 3702 Lexington Rd., 899-2005. In an intriguing twist on takeout food, Tologono’s firstrate chefs will make you a gourmet-style meal to take out and enjoy in the comfort of home. I’ve found the dishes fully competitive with local bistro fare, and more than competitive in price. $$

SEAFOOD AMSHOFF’S FISH INN 8012 Bardstown Rd., 2312379. Offers one of the most affordable fish dinners in town. Service is friendly, with the kind of down-home warmth that makes you feel more like a guest than a customer. $ f BONEFISH GRILL 657 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 4124666. This new franchise concept from the Outback Steakhouse chain offers impressive seafood in a comfortable setting. Add Bonefish to your short list of suburban chain eateries that do the job right. $$$ p CAROLINA SHRIMP & SEAFOOD 3922 Westport Rd., 894-8947. In an East End neighborhood rich with seafood eateries, Carolina offers a tasty option within walking distance of downtown St. Matthews. This spartan little joint features shellfish and cod, much of it healthfully steamed, not fried, in an affordable family setting $ CLARKSVILLE SEAFOOD 916 Eastern Blvd., Clarksville, IN, 283-8588. As the only surviving descendant of Louisville’s old Cape Codder chain, Clarksville Seafood upholds a long and honorable tradition. The menu is simple—fried fish and fried seafood, served on paper trays—but it is consistently excellent and affordable. $ THE FISH HOUSE 1310 Winter Ave., 568-2993.

Louisville is as overflowing as a well-stocked lake with fish-sandwich houses, and The Fish House is right up there with the best. Crisp breading laced with black pepper is the signature of Green River

The Chef’s Table Continuing the Tradition

Celebrating 55 years as Louisville’s hometown favorite for top quality seafood and much, much more.

Great Seafood in a Casual Family Atmosphere Since 1989 HOME OF

Stan’s Famous Fish Sandwich Sandwiches and Dinners including Maryland Crabcakes, ShrimpBurger, Grilled Swordfish, Yellowfin Tuna and fresh Atlantic Salmon, Fried Oysters, Shrimp and Scallops.

Only The Freshest!

Open: Monday–Saturday 11am–8pm Fridays till 9pm • Closed Sundays 3723 Lexington Road • 896-6600 66 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

INCLUDING ICELANDIC COD, WEST AUSTRALIAN LOBSTER TAILS, GULF SHRIMP, CANADIAN SEA SCALLOPS, AND CERTIFIED ANGUS BEEF STEAKS AND BURGERS. Five convenient locations: On the River: 3021 Upper River Road ■ 895-0544 (Just east of Zorn Ave @ I-71)

601 W. Riverside ■ 284-3474 (On the Jeffersonville riverfront across from Louisville)

Around Town: 3401 Bardstown Road ■ 459-1432 1610 Kentucky Mills Dr. ■ 240-0700 (Blankenbaker @ 1-64)

7483 Dixie Highway ■ 933-3474

Old Louisville’s finest new restaurant The Chef’s Table pairs international food with fine wine - at great prices.

Enjoy the open atmosphere while you watch the chef prepare your meal from any seat in the house. Or for the pinnacle in dining experience, you can sit, dine and interact with our chef at the Chef’s Table.

Open for lunch, brunch and dinner.

Banquet room and catering services available.

587-CHEF

On the corner of 1st & Oak

fried fish from Western Kentucky, and we’re mighty glad to have it here. $ f THE FISH HUT 550 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., 585-3474.

If this trailer’s not fryin’, you’ll go away cryin’. Known for their fried catfish, the only thing missing from this little fry shanty is a pond out back. $ f THE FISHERY 3624 Lexington Rd., 895-1188. The original fried-fish eatery in a neighborhood that’s now awash with them, The Fishery remains justly popular for its quick, sizzling hot and affordable fish and seafood meals. $ f

THE DYNAMIC DUO AT THE SUMMIT!

THE FISHERY STATION 5627 Outer Loop, 968-8363.

Family owned and family style dining with a wide net of seafood dinners and appetizers. Lunch and dinner menus also include such delicacies as frog legs, shrimp and alligator. For the landlubbers there are cheeseburgers and fries. $ p JOE’S CRAB SHACK 131 River Rd., 568-1171. The fake crab shack setting is bright, noisy and fun, and the servers keep everyone entertained. But the food is the bottom line, and I’m pleased to report that we’ve found the seafood at Joe’s uniformly fresh and fine. $$ p f KINGFISH RESTAURANT 3021 Upper River Rd., 895-0544, 3401 Bardstown Rd., 459-1432, 7483 Dixie Hwy,. 933-3474, 1610 Kentucky Mills Dr., 2400700, 601 W. Riverside Dr., Jeffersonville, IN, 2843474. Fried fish in a family dining setting has made this local chain a popular favorite for many years. Two of its properties—upper River Road and Riverside Drive—boast river views. $$ p f MAZZONI’S OYSTER CAFÉ 2804 Taylorsville Rd., 451-4436. A history that dates to 1884 makes Mazzoni’s one of the city’s longest-running restaurant acts. It moved from downtown to the suburbs a generation ago, but kept its historic serving bar and its urban feeling, with pub grub, cold beer and the famous rolled oyster. $ MIKE LINNIG’S 9308 Cane Run Rd., 937-1235. Mike Linnig’s has been dishing up tasty fried fish and seafood at family prices since 1925 and remains immensely popular. There’s indoor seating and a bar, but the picnic grove with its giant shade trees makes Linnig’s a special place. $ f

The Essence of Italy

Reel.Fresh.Fish.

Craving Italian? At Martini Italian Bistro you’ll find the flavors, the freshness and the essence of Italy.

Take a culinary seafood tour from Boston to San Francisco without leaving Louisville and enjoy the freshest seafood you’ll find – anywhere.

Lunch: Monday- Saturday: 11:30 am - 4 pm Dinner: Monday- Thursday: 4 pm -10 pm Friday - Saturday: 4 pm- 11 pm • Sunday: 3 pm - 9 pm

Lunch: Monday - Saturday: 11:30 am - 4 pm Sunday Brunch: 12 pm - 3 pm Dinner: Monday - Thursday: 4 pm -10 pm Friday - Saturday: 4 pm- 11 pm • Sunday: 3 pm-9 pm

502.394.9797

502.412.1818

Sunday: 12 pm - 3 pm

MITCHELL’S FISH MARKET 4031 Summit Plaza Dr., 412-1818. The decor of this upscale, Columbusbased chain evokes the feeling of a large fish market, with an open kitchen that offers views of chefs at work. Quality seafood and service has made this new spot a popular destination, and everything we’ve tried here has been fresh and well-prepared. $$$ p f PROSPECT FISH MARKET 9521A US 42, Prospect, 228-6962. A great place to get an oyster, a seafood dinner or a fine fried-fish sandwich. And if you’re on the eastern edge of the metropolitan area, Prospect Fish Market offers good, affordable fish in a pleasant shopping-center setting. $ RIVER CREEK INN 6301 Upper River Rd., 228-3625.

And yet there’s still something mighty pleasant about sitting on the dockside patio on the banks of Harrods Creek. It’s a favorite place to catch a quick dinner of fried fish and ice-cold beer. $ p f RUMORS RESTAURANT & RAW BAR 12339 Shelbyville Rd., 245-0366. Visualize Hooter’s without the scantily-clad waitresses, and you’ve drawn a bead on Rumor’s, the original Louisville home of the bucket-of-oysters and impressive raw bar. $$ p f STAN’S FISH SANDWICH 3723 Lexington Rd., 8966600. The fish is the thing at Stan’s, where the owner (who also owns St. Matthews Seafood nearby) is a perfectionist who won’t sell any but the freshest fish, perfectly prepared. I’ve never had a better fish sandwich anywhere. $ Z’S OYSTER BAR & STEAKHOUSE (see listing under Fine Dining)

The Largest Selection of Fresh Seafood in Louisville!

KY 22 & Brownsboro Road

STEAKHOUSE BABBY’S STEAKHOUSE River Falls Mall, Clarksville, IN., 288-2411. This independent-minded steakhouse is one of the metro area’s best values for expertly prepared steaks. They come in all the usual sizes and configurations, but someone in the kitchen has definite opinions about seasoning and grilling.

The result is a distinctive approach that rewards a visit. $$ DEL FRISCO’S 4107 Oechsli Ave., 897-7077. Once ranked among the city’s top steakhouses, Del Frisco’s remains strong in its core competency.

For deeply marbled, fork-tender prime steaks, it’s still hard to beat on quality points. $$$$ p DILLON’S STEAKHOUSE 2101 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy, 499-7106. Dillon’s has a distinctly different atmosphere from more pricey steakhouses, with its ski-lodge atmosphere in a historic Louisville home. It’s probably the most affordable quality steak dinner that the city has to offer. $$ p FIFTH QUARTER STEAKHOUSE 1241 Durrett Ln., 3612363. The Fifth Quarter has that touch of class that evokes family nostalgia and romantic interludes. An

attentive staff serves the sirloin your way. Some of the city’s best ivory masters are at the piano to enhance the dining experience. $$$ p f e FRANK’S STEAK HOUSE 520 W. Seventh St., Jeffersonville IN, 283-3383. A longtime north-ofthe-river favorite, this neighborhood steak house is known for comfort and hearty meals without pomp or circumstance. $$ p LOGAN’S ROADHOUSE 5055 Shelbyville Rd., 8933884, 5229 Dixie Hwy, 448-0577, 970 Hwy 131, Clarksville, IN, 288-9789. With more than 100 properties in 17 states, this Nashville-based chain parlays peanut shells on the floor and steaks on the table into a popular formula. $$ p LONE STAR STEAKHOUSE & SALOON 340 Whittington Pkwy., 339-9495. Lone Star rises above the median for franchised chain establishments on the basis of popularity and style and very friendly service, with decent grub amid Texas-style surroundings and country music. $$ p f LONGHORN STEAKHOUSE 2535 Hurstbourne Ln., 671-5350. Order your sirloin on the flat-top or pork chops on the char; also prime rib, baby back ribs and a complete line of chicken entrees. All dinners come with salad and potato choice. $$ p www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 67

MORTON’S 626 W. Main St., 584-0421. The steaks are as good as it gets, the atmosphere is elegant without being stuffy, and the service is outstanding. This downtown outpost of a Chicago chain earns a solid three stars and ranks among the top tier of Louisville’s upscale dining choices. $$$$ p

SANDWICHES HOMEMADE DESSER TS STEAKS FRESH SEAFOOD PASTAS SALADS 12 BEERS ON TAP DAILY SPECIALS

Deke says, “Join us downtown for great food and libations!”

OUTBACK STEAK HOUSE 4621 Shelbyville Rd., 8954329, 6520 Signature Dr., 964-8383, 9498 Brownsboro Rd., 426-4329, 8101 Bardstown Rd., 231-2399, 1420 Park Place, Clarksville, IN, 2834329. The name suggests Australia, and so does the shtick at this popular national chain, but the food is pretty much familiar American, and the fare goes beyond just steak to take in chicken, seafood and pasta. $$$ p PAT’S STEAK HOUSE 2437 Brownsboro Rd., 8969234. A visit to Pat’s may not be exactly like a trip back to the ‘50s, but when I ate there last, I think I saw Ozzie and Harriet. A local favorite, its combination of quality beef and hospitality rank it among the best steak houses in town. $$$$ p PONDEROSA STEAKHOUSE 11470 S. Preston Hwy., 964-6117, 5117 Preston Hwy, 968-2170, 816 S. KY 53, La Grange, KY, 222-1226. Family-style dining with the ranch theme kept alive with the open flame from the grills. An extensive buffet with hot and cold foods, salads and desserts is available if you don’t choose an entree from the kitchen. $ RUTH’S CHRIS STEAKHOUSE 6100 Dutchman’s Ln., (Kaden Tower), 479-0026. The Robb Report magazine has declared Rolex the world’s best watch, Armani the best men’s suit, Cohiba the best cigar and Ruth’s Chris the best restaurant. It serves an excellent steak in an atmosphere of elegance that will make you feel pampered, at a price to match. $$$$ p

Corner of Third & Market 301 West Market Street • 584-8337 Dine In, Carry Out or Delivery - Outdoor Dining 11AM - 10PM Monday thru Thursday 11AM - 11PM Friday and Saturday Happy Hour 4PM - 7PM Monday thru Friday

RYAN’S FAMILY STEAKHOUSE 7405 Preston Hwy., 964-1748, 5338 Bardstown Rd., 491-1088, 4711 Dixie Hwy., 447-4781, 636 Eastern Blvd., Clarksville, IN, 282-8520. This popular North Carolina-based chain is family dining with a unique sense of variety and fresh presentation. The diverse buffet features over 150 items and the steaks, entrees and seafood are always made to order. $ STONEY RIVER LEGENDARY STEAK 3900 Summit Plaza Dr., 429-8944. Stoney River in the sprawling Springhurst shopping center is one of the chain’s first properties outside its Georgia home. It offers respectable steaks and trimmings, friendly service and a pleasant atmosphere. $$$ p

Voted #1 Steak House* Family owned and operated since 1958.

Specializing in steaks, chops, chicken, and seafood.

The perfect atmosphere for rehearsal dinners, small receptions, birthdays, anniversary parties, and business meetings.

Three private rooms and Irish pub located upstairs for private parties.

A NICE RESTAURANT 3105 Blackiston Mill Rd., New Albany IN, 945-4321. A Nice Restaurant, billed as “New Albany’s Finer Diner,” is, well, nice. This sunny corner shop in the Old Mill Shopping Center specializes in breakfast and lunch. The fare is down-home and simple, at a price you can afford. $

Come Visit Our Historic Louisville Irish Landmark

*Pat’s Steak House wants to thank their loyal customers for voting them #1 Steak House in Louisville Magazine, LEO, Kentucky Monthly, and CitySearch.com.

68 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

Z’S OYSTER BAR & STEAKHOUSE (see listing under Fine Dining)

CASUAL DINING

2437 Brownsboro Road

893-2062

TEXAS ROADHOUSE Green Tree Mall, Clarksville, IN, 280-1103, 4406 Dixie Hwy. 448-0705, 6460 Dutchman’s Pkwy., 897-5005, 3322 Outer Loop, 962-7600. The spirit of the West makes for wildly popular steak dinners served with large portions of sides. Salads, vegetables and breads round out hearty meal options. This is family-style dining, with no tray sliding—service at your table. $$ p

ANYTIMES AT THE RAMADA INN 1041 Zorn Ave., 8975101. Serving dinners only, the spacious restaurant opens at 4:00 and begins serving appetizers, salads, entrees and desserts. The chef’s special attention to the steak dinner has garnered a good word-of-mouth about town. $$ p APPLEBEE’S (9 locations) This cheery national chain features an eclectic assortment of salads,

steaks, ribs, poultry and pasta as well as full bar service. It’s as consistent as a cookie cutter, but good execution makes it a good bargain for those whose tastes run to mainstream American cuisine. $$ p AROMA CAFÉ Caesars Indiana Casino, Elizabeth, IN, 888-766-2648. Grab a bite before hitting the casino. Sandwiches, salads, sides, cold beverages and coffee will fuel you for a night of entertainment. $ BEEF O’BRADY’S 239 Blankenbaker Pkwy., 2542322, 5628 Bardstown Rd., 239-2226, 10000 Brownsboro Rd., 327-8881. If you think your basic sports pub is only suitable for guys guzzling beer, take another look: Beef O’Brady’s puts the “family” in “family sports pub,” offering a wholesome environment that will suit Mom and Pop and the kids too. $ BENTLEY’S 120 W. Broadway (Holiday Inn), 5822241. Enjoy a classic Kentucky hot brown or the allyou-can-eat prime rib buffet on Saturday nights.

Each day features a new pasta dish, a hearty soup and salad bar, as well as steady favorites from the cutting board and grill. A separate lounge touts a well-stocked full bar and there is a Kids Eat Free menu for the dining room. $$ p e

management a couple of years ago. Spicy, crunchy and sizzling hot fried chicken remains the primary draw on a short, affordable menu. $

downtown, and happy standing-room-only crowds seem pleased with its fish sandwiches and pub grub. $ f

CHILI’S 421 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 425-6800. More than just the hip place for baby back ribs, this national chain has the coolest in hot foods like fajitas, burgers, sandwiches and veggies. $ p

CUTTING BOARD CAFÉ 2905 Goose Creek Rd., 4239950. There’s a lot of potential in this East End storefront. Management’s interest in food extends to having the cable FoodTV channel on the tube in its simple, spartan dining room. The bill of fare is mostly sandwiches, panini and wraps, but they’re creative and generally well-made. $

CHUCK’S ON BAXTER 962 Baxter Ave., 562-1900. A huge bar and big-screen television are the primary draw at Chuck’s, and it’s already a popular scene. Early visits suggest that the bar is the primary function and food secondary, but a largish menu ranges all the way from competent bar munchies to surf’n’turf. $$ p CRIBSTONE PUB 1202 Bardstown Rd., 459-3339. This tiny Bardstown Road eatery turns a neighborhood bar into a lobster and steak house, where fine seafood and beef is served without pomp or circumstance in a setting so casual that you can wear your shorts and T-shirt to dine, and pay about one-third of the toll at fancier spots. $$$ p CUNNINGHAM’S 630 S. Fourth St., 587-0526.

Cunningham’s, whose 131-year-old brick building at Fifth and Breckenridge Streets was destroyed by fire in July 2001, has come bursting back to life

DEKE’S MARKETPLACE GRILL 301 W. Market St., 584-8337. It starts as a downtown bar, a favorite hangout for lawyers and the Courthouse crowd, but Deke’s goes beyond the obvious to offer steaks, burgers, pasta dishes and more. The decoera architecture adds to the soul of each appetizer and entrée. $$$ p f DITTO’S GRILL 1114 Bardstown Rd., 581-9129. The bill of fare offers a large and eclectic selection that ranges from bar-food munchies to an appetizing mix of exotic items and down-home dishes like Mom used to make. $$ p FOUR KINGS CAFÉ 4642 Jennings Ln., 968-2930.

Steam-table service featuring spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna and chicken attract a hungry

BRAVO! 206 Bullitt Ln., (Oxmoor Center), 326-0491.

Management describes the Ohio-based Bravo! chain as “a fun, white-tablecloth casual eatery ... positioned between the fine-dining and casual chains.” A Roman-ruin setting houses abundant Italian-American style fare. We particularly enjoyed appetizers and first-rate grilled meats. $$ p f BUCKHEAD MOUNTAIN GRILL 3008 Bardstown Rd., 456-6680, 4112 Outer Loop, 966-5555, 10430 Shelbyville Rd., 245-6680, 707 W. Riverside Dr., Jeffersonville IN, 284-2919. Despite a mountain lodge theme that might make you think of the Colorado Rockies, this growing chain is based in Louisville. Upscale bar food and a sizable bar to match make these popular destinations. $$ p f BULL FROG GARDEN 5440 Del Maria Way 4990393. Another of Louisville’s hidden secrets, this family eatery in the Fern Creek area is popular with its neighbors and is earning a broader reputation for good food at reasonable prices, prepared with care and served in a friendly setting. $$ p e THE CAFÉ AT THE LOUISVILLE ANTIQUE MALL 900 Goss Ave., 637-6869. One of the city’s most attractive spots for antique and junque-shopping, this cavernous old factory building on Goss Avenue offers a similarly attractive place to catch lunch while you shop, offering a selection of luncheon fare competently made with fresh ingredients. $ CAPTAIN’S QUARTERS 5700 Captain’s Quarters Rd., 228-1651. Long one of the city’s most attractive eateries for atmosphere, Captain’s Quarters has bounced back under new management to offer credible bistro-style fare that won’t disappoint. Summer or winter, it’s a delightful place to dine. $$ p f e CARDINAL HALL OF FAME CAFÉ 2745 Crittenden Dr., 635-8686. This oversize eatery at Gate 4 of the Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center celebrates U of L sports with a “walk of fame” loaded with awards, photos, game balls and lots more Cardinal memorabilia. What? You want food too? Sure!

Casual American dining features everything from a “Cardinal Burger” to steaks and prime rib. $$ p

T A V E R N Quality Food, Service & Atmosphere AMERICAN BISTRO & SOUTHERN CUISINES OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK FOR BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER & LATE NIGHT DINING Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday 10:30 am to 10:00 pm Thursday & Friday 10:30 am to 1:00 am Saturday 8:00 am to 1:00 am Sunday 10:30 am to 9:00 pm

• WEEKDAY LUNCH BUFFET • • SATURDAY BREAKFAST • • SUNDAY BRUNCH • • TEA PARTIES by Reservation Only • • FULL SERVICE CATERING • • OUTDOOR PATIO SEATING • LIVE ENTERTAINMENT 7 NIGHTS A WEEK Monday-Sunday Dinner and Sunday Buffet – Piano Thursday Late Night – Piano – Freddie George Friday and Saturday Late Night – Country & Pop – Danny Wayne & Donnie Lee Strickland

FULL-SERVICE UPSCALE BAR HAPPY HOUR: 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm Monday-Friday (Bar Only)

Call ahead for Reservations

502-368-8848

CHAMPIONS GRILL 505 Marriott Dr., (Holiday Inn), Clarksville, IN., 283-4411. Known by locals for its Saturday night buffet of New York strip, ribeye and prime rib. Salads, sandwiches, soups and a kid-friendly menu round out the selection. $$ p e

5444 New Cut Road • Louisville, KY 40214

CHICKEN KING 639 E. Broadway, 589-5464.

Formerly a Bojangles, Chicken King has changed little but the sign since it came under independent

Limousine Transportation Available

Located 1/4 mile south of Iroquois Amphitheatre, 1 mile north off New Cut Road exit from I-265.

JUST MINUTES FROM CHURCHILL DOWNS

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 69

lunch crowd at this casual spot, and brunch specialties are just as popular. $ p GARRETT’S HICKORY GRILLE 9601 Shelbyville Rd., 327-8143, 2341 Lime Kiln Ln., 425-4500. Whether your pleasure is a steak or a slab of juicy ribs or something healthy like a plate of pasta, you’ll find it easy to satisfy at this family-style restaurant.

The Shelbyville Road location is in a historic coach house. $$ p f GILLEY’S GRILL 3977 S. Seventh St., 447-1314.

Formerly the city’s last Blue Boar cafeteria, this large space in the Southland Terrace shopping center has had a full makeover. Now its shiny quarters dispense “casual Southern cooking with a flair” with table service and an upscale feel. $$ p GOLDEN CORRAL 4032 Taylorsville Rd., 485-0004, 8013 Preston Hwy., 966-4970, 1402 Cedar St., 258-2540. Buffet style family dining—one price, all you can eat. Steaks are served beginning at 4 pm. $ HARPER’S RESTAURANT 871 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 425-2900. Harper’s draws a happy crowd of regulars with a large bar and big menu that offers a wide range of American-style fair. Gourmet pizzas and fine libations are a specialty, and the prices are right. $$ p f HOOTERS 4120 Dutchmans Ln., 895-7100; 4948 Dixie Hwy., 449-4194; 7701 Preston Hwy., 9681606; 700 W. Riverside Dr., Jeffersonville, IN, 2189485; 941 East Hwy. 131, Clarksville, IN 284-9464.

This national chain’s motto is “Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined,” and there’s not much we can add to that. The average waitress boasts a 24-inch circumference and 11 7/8 inches of bare midriff ... and they serve good food, too. $ p f e INDI’S RESTAURANT 1033 W. Broadway, 589-7985, 3820 W. Market St., 778-5154, 4901 Poplar Level Rd., 964-5749, 3353 Fern Valley Rd., 969-7993, 5009 S. Third St., 363-2535. Grown from a tiny West End takeout spot to a mini-chain, Indi’s vends a variety of affordable soul food and barbecue specialties to take out or eat in. $

Private Dining for Your Social and Business Functions Sam’s Food & Spirits offers excellent food and service in a casual atmosphere at reasonable prices. That’s why we’re a Southern Indiana favorite gathering spot for friends and family. Now you can enjoy Sam’s exclusively for your next social gathering, office meeting or civic function.

We are proud to showcase our private dining areas at both Sam’s locations, where you can reserve a dining area for up to 60 people at either location.

These rooms are handsomely decorated with the comfortable flare that people have come from miles around to enjoy. Make your next event a private affair at Sam’s.

Reserve one of our private dining rooms for: • Company training sessions • Business meetings – Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner • Company Holiday and Christmas parties • Civic functions Special menus are available for group functions.

For booking information, contact either Sam’s location listed below.

Highlander Point 724 Highlander Point Floyds Knobs, IN 47119 (812) 923-7979

New Albany 3800 Payne Koehler Road New Albany, IN 47150 (812) 945-9757

Friends. Food. Fun. 70 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

JILLIAN’S 630 Barret Ave., 589-9090. Louisville’s outpost of the Boston-based billiard-themed restaurant concept, this big and noisy bar, food and billiards scene is housed under the towering concrete columns of a former grain elevator just east of downtown. Always filled with a happy crowd, it’s the place to go for casual food and fun. $ p f e JIMMY’S ON THE RIVER 100 W. Riverside Dr., Jeffersonville IN, 282-2500. The menu at this friendly bar and eatery features affordable bar food and munchies, but the fastidious may choose from the menu’s “Lighter Side.” Hearty meals at budget prices and a striking riverside view from two great decks makes for the quintessential moonlit night on the Ohio. $ p f e JOE’S OLDER THAN DIRT 8131 New Lagrange Rd., 426-2074. Going strong after many years in this Lyndon location, Joe’s has gradually grown from a little house to a sprawling complex of indoor and outdoor tables with live music many evenings. Excellent barbecue is a specialty, and so is ice-cold beer. $ p e KAELIN’S RESTAURANT 1801 Newburg Rd., 4511801. This Highlands tradition has been around for almost 70 years, and their cheeky claim to have invented the cheeseburger actually seems to have some basis in fact. It’s a popular standard for family fare. $ KERN’S KORNER 2600 Bardstown Rd., 456-9726.

This family-owned tavern has been a prime place to watch the world go by since 1978. Whether it is happy hour, lunch or dinner time, Kern’s offers freshly made ham, chicken salad sandwiches and burgers, as well as soups, chilis and appetizers.

This makes a tasty, traditional pit stop. $ p LA PECHE II Holiday Manor Shopping Center, 3397593. If you want to enjoy much-honored Chef

Kathy Cary’s imaginative cooking without paying the prices at Lilly’s, this sibling spot is the place to go. Take-out or eat-in, offering a good variety of creative salads, sandwiches and cold pasta dishes. $$ f LEGENDS AT CAESARS Caesars Indiana Casino, Elizabeth, IN, 888-766-2648. The hot and cold short orders are served up with riverboat hospitality, but in a Las Vegas atmosphere. A well stocked bar and a live stage welcome the best of regional and visiting national acts from Wednesday through Saturday nights. $$ p e THE LIGHTHOUSE 202 Main St., Jeffersonville, IN, 283-0077. This lighthouse has been a beacon of casual, home cooking and tavern environment for years. Generous daily specials, appetizers, chicken and fish baskets, salads and desserts round out the menu. A full bar in back and dining area in front serviced by a friendly staff makes a return trip a must. $ LONGINO’S GRILL 4041 Preston Hwy., 363-2266.

Home-style cooking at this popular South End family restaurant runs the gamut from grilled steaks and chops to chicken with buttery mashed potatoes and hot vegetables. $ p LYNN’S PARADISE CAFÉ 984 Barrett Ave., 583-3447.

One of the most popular places in town for brunch (and dinner too), Lynn’s Paradise Café lures happy, hungry crowds with its hearty fare and funky decor.

Lynn’s sponsors the State Fair’s tongue-in-cheek Ugliest Lamp Contest, but there’s nothing ugly about the delicious and filling food. $$ p MAIN MENU 3306 Plaza Dr., New Albany, IN., 9486501. $$ MANHATTAN GRILL 200 S. 7th St., 561-0024. $ MASTERSON’S 1830 S. Third St., 636-2511. A fine, family Louisville tradition, this familiar Tudor structure near the U of L campus is the state’s largest full-service restaurant and the city’s largest caterer. Serving lunch buffet Mon.-Fri., 10am-2pm only. Sunday Jazz Brunch. $ e MAX & ERMA’S 6051 Timberbridge Dr., 292-2779, 2901 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 493-9662, 3921 Summit Plaza Dr., 412-5229. Max & Erma’s, a national chain that started in Columbus, Ohio’s German Village in 1972, has grown to nearly 100 properties with a steady formula of friendly service and casual-dining fare that ranges from specialty burgers, soups and salads to more weighty entrees. $$ p f MELTING POT 2045 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy. This Florida-based chain, opening soon in a Hurstbourne strip center north of Taylorsville Road, brings back pleasant memories of fondue parties of the ’70s. If you can melt it and dip things in it, the Melting Pot probably has it on the menu, from cheese fondue to beef fondue to its spectacular trademark chocolate fondue. $$$ p O’CHARLEY’S (6 locations) O’Charley’s, Inc. could serve well as the picture in the dictionary next to “American casual dining.” The Nashville-based chain operates 206 properties in 16 states in the Southeast and Midwest, serving a straightforward steak-and-seafood menu with the motto “Mainstream with an attitude.” $$ p

PALERMO VIEJO 1359 Bardstown Rd., 456-6461.

This relative newcomer to the Bardstown Road scene hit the ground running. Its fine Argentinian fare features excellent grilled beef (“parrillada”), fine seafood and excellent, affordable wines in a hearty cuisine that seems as much European as Latino in style. $$ p f THE PALMS AT SUNSET 318 W. Hwy. 131, Clarksville, IN, 945-3496. This attractive new restaurant replaces the former Sunset Grill in one of Clarksville’s most historic buildings, Montrose, the old John McCulloch House, an Italianate-style farmhouse built in 1870.

Count on American casual cuisine in a relaxing setting. $$ p f PETRUS 116 E. Main St., 583-3772. “Petrus” is also the name of one of the most expensive wines in the world, but this inviting “American casual” restaurant offers sandwiches, salads and soups with lunch for less than Chateau Petrus prices: under $10 and dinner less than $20. (There’s also a spiffy members-only nightclub upstairs.) $$ p RAFFERTY’S OF LOUISVILLE 988 Breckenridge Ln., 897-3900. 3601 Springhurst Blvd., 412-9000.

This full-service, casual dining establishment has a hearty menu. Specialties like Red Alfredo Pasta showcase the gourmet offerings along with some of the largest and most creative salad combinations in town. $$ p RAMSI’S CAFÉ ON THE WORLD 1293 Bardstown Rd., 451-0700, 215 S. Fifth St., 589-0800. Small, funky and fun, this favorite spot of the Highlands’ Generation X crowd attracts foodies of all ages with its friendly setting, reasonable prices and well-prepared international cuisine.

The downtown branch is similar. $$ RANCH HOUSE Highlander Point Shopping Center, Floyds Knobs, IN, 923-1435, 2611 Charlestown Rd., New Albany, IN, 944-9199. $ e RED HORSE GRILLE & BAR 4004 Gardiner Pt., (Holiday Inn) 753-4413. Not your ordinary hotel restaurant. Specializing in Black Angus steak dishes but a varied, well thought out menu has enough variety to suit most any party. At lunch their signature burgers feature specials such as the Wild Western, Buffalo Bonanza and the spicy Backdraft. $$ p f e RIVER GRILLE 140 N. Fourth St., (Galt House) 5895200. Gaze upon the lazy Ohio while enjoying an early bacon and eggs or enjoy a late night burger and fries. Casual and accommodating for guests on the go, the fast and friendly service awaits you on the second floor. $$$ p ROLLO POLLO 4975 Shelbyville Rd., 894-0012.

Healthy, delicious chicken dinners roasted on an open-flame rotisserie to seal all juices make a big difference in this local destination. Sides from cole slaw, lentils and mac ’n’ cheese to spiced apple desserts are also on the menu. $ RUBY TUESDAY 5001 Shelbyville Rd., 897-0200, 11701 Bluegrass Pkwy., 267-7100. If success demonstrates quality, then Ruby Tuesday’s 600 international properties and 30,000 employees can stand up with pride. They’ve been upholding the slogan “Awesome Food. Serious Salad Bar” in Louisville for a generation. $$ p

OLD WALNUT CHILI PARLOR 333 W. Oak St., 5847951. Midwestern chili con carne may be a far cry from the real Mexican thing, but if you grew up in the region, you’ll still enjoy an occasional bowl as comfort food. No one does it better, or much cheaper, than the Old Walnut Chili Parlor. $

THE RUDYARD KIPLING 422 W. Oak St., 636-1311.

The word “eclectic” fits this Old Louisville eatery in just about every dimension, from its funky decor to its diverse bill of fare, not to mention an array of entertainment that bridges the generations from Generation X’ers to aging hippies. $ p f e

OTTO’S CAFÉ 500 S. Fourth St., (Seelbach Hilton Hotel) 585-3201. Southern cooking with gourmet flair has earned Otto’s a constellation of multi-star ratings. And whether you try the Southern Breakfast Buffet, with its bourbon-bread French toast or The Executive Express Lunch Buffet, you will see why. $

SAM’S FOOD & SPIRITS 3800 Payne Kohler Rd., Clarksville, IN, 945-9757, 724 Highlander Point Dr., Floyds Knobs, IN, 923-7979. Opened by Sam over sixteen years ago, the two locations feed an army of happy diners. You’ll find seafood, steaks, pastas, salads, appetizers and desserts. The menu is extensive and child friendly. $$ p

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 71

SHONEY’S 1890 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 491-6870, 811 Eastern Pkwy., 636-1043, 6511 Signature Dr., 9698904. For nearly 50 years, Shoney’s restaurants have been one of America’s top choices for fast roadside dining, and happily they’ve kept up with the times. $ SKYLINE CHILI 1266 Bardstown Rd., 473-1234, Plainview Village Center, 429-5773, 392 Dutchman’s Ln., 895-7578, 6801 Dixie Hwy., 9374020, 426 W. Market St., 561-9999. Louisville’s outposts of a famous Cincinnati chili restaurant, these casual eateries offer the regional favorite (really it’s Greek spaghetti sauce, but keep it quiet) and other fast-food dishes. $

Red Horse Grille & Bar Offering Lunch & Dinner Daily

Not your ordinary hotel restaurant.

FEATURING

CERTIFIED BLACK ANGUS BEEF Perfect for Baby or Bridal Showers, Rehearsal Dinners, and Much More!

Renowned for our Popular Monthly Bourbon Tastings 4004 Gardiner Point Drive

753-4413

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753-4405

SOMEWHERE IN THYME TEA GARDEN 10320 Watterson Trail, 240-0671. The historic Seaton House, a pre-Civil War mansion on Jeffersontown’s old Town Square, makes a quaint and genteel setting for a luncheon list of soups, salads and light sandwiches. $ f e STEAK N SHAKE 3232 Bardstown Rd., 456-2670, 4913 Dixie Hwy., 448-4400, 4545 Outer Loop, 9663109, 2717 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 491-3397, 10721 Fischer Park Dr., 326-3625, 980 E. Hwy. 131, Clarksville, IN., 285-1154. One of the oldest fastfood chains in the U.S., Steak N Shake traces its ancestry to an Illinois roadside stand in 1934. It now boasts 400 outlets in 19 states but still sticks to the basics: quality steak burgers and hand-dipped shakes served, if you dine in, on real china. $ STUMLER RESTAURANT & ORCHARD 10924 St. John’s Rd., Starlight, IN, 923-3832. Fresh produce is available in the big shed a few steps away, and that fresh produce shows up on the tables here in mammoth portions. Combine that with honest fried chicken, big ham steaks, roast beef, and sandwiches, and you can’t go wrong. $$ f TGI FRIDAY’S 9990 Linn Station Rd., 425-8185, 2311 Lime Kiln Ln., 327-8443. The original place to loosen the tie and congregate after the whistle blows. TGIF carries on a fine tradition of a party atmosphere within the realm of American bistro dining and libations. Generous and creative servings range from baskets of appetizers on up to contemporary entrees. $$ p f THE OTHER PLACE 1600 Bardstown Rd., 458-2888. $fe TOMMY LANCASTER RESTAURANT 1629 E. Market St., New Albany, IN, 945-2389. Value and variety are the strong points of this community tradition and the fare goes from burgers to lobster tails.

Friday or Saturday evenings feature a buffet. $ p TRELLIS RESTAURANT 320 W. Jefferson St., (Hyatt Regency), 587-3434. With creative café fare in the spacious lobby, the environment is superb for people watching. You can order anything from drinks to desserts, a club sandwich to filet mignon.

Locals and regular visitors know they have one of the best Sunday brunches in town. $$ p TUCKER’S 2441 State St., New Albany, IN, 9449999. Tucker’s gives you a little bit of everything.

This chain has a down-to-earth flair for serving hungry folks burgers, ribs, steaks, a variety of appetizers, pastas and Mexican fare. $ p TWIAMS CHICKEN & WAFFLES 2517 Dixie Hwy., 775-0216. Former U of L basketball star Tony Williams now presides over Twiams, an attractive new West End eatery that impresses the visitor with cordial service and quality fare. The name of the place pretty much describes the menu, which also features other soul-food favorites. $

Southern Hospitality At Its Best!

TWIG & LEAF RESTAURANT 2122 Bardstown Rd., 451-8944. A popular Highlands hangout, the”Twig” is probably at its best for breakfast—whether you’re enjoying it while venturing out on a leisurely Sunday morning or heading home very late on a Saturday night. It’s a place to grab a quick, filling bite, and doesn’t pretend to be more. $ THE VILLA BUFFET Caesars Indiana Casino, Elizabeth, IN, 888-766-2648. The Villa Buffet

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offers an impressive choice of international dishes, with some 150 selections. A seafood buffet is featured on Fridays. $$ W.W. COUSINS RESTAURANT 900 Dupont Rd., 897-9684. This locally owned and operated eatery looks a lot like the national Fuddruckers chain, but the local boys do a better job, with huge burgers on magisterial home-baked buns and a Metropolitan Museum of toppings. $

HOME STYLE COOKING ANDREW’S RESTAURANT 2286 Bardstown Rd., 458-9421. The little brick corner diner that could.

Steam table boasts a zesty and affordable lunch buffet, with special attention to mashed potatoes and gravy. $ BARBARA LEE’S KITCHEN 2410 Brownsboro Rd., 897-3967. Barbara Lee’s has been a late-night refuge for years. It’s a reliable standby for those in search of traditional blue-plate special lunch food.

Honest grub, honestly priced, in a rootsy atmosphere. $ CAROLYN’S 3822 Cane Run Rd., 776-9519. The steam table classic, the “meat ‘n’ two” gives you the roast chicken, green beans and mashed potatoes. Or pork chops, applesauce and limas. $ CHECK’S CAFÉ 1101 E. Burnett Ave., 637-9515. You can scent a whiff of Louisville history coming off the old walls of this quintessential Germantown saloon, along with years of frying grease. The bar food here is about as good as bar food gets, and that’s not bad. The chili and the bean soup are particularly recommended. $ p f e THE CHICKEN HOUSE 7180 Hwy. 111, Sellersburg, IN., 246-9485. The parking lot of this white frame building in rural Indiana is packed on weekend nights as families from throughout the area wait on delectable fried chicken. This is the very heart of American comfort food, including green beans, dumplings, and mashed potatoes. $$ COTTAGE CAFÉ 11609 Main St., Middletown, 2449497. This nostalgic old house in the countryside offers a taste of Kentucky-style cookery in an array of lunch specials that range from homemade soups and sandwiches to the traditional Louisville Hot Brown. $ COTTAGE INN 570 Eastern Pkwy., 637-4325. Now, this is down-home dining. Tucked away under big shade trees on Eastern Parkway not far from the University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus, Cottage Inn has been happily doling out excellent food for more than 70 years. $ COUNTRY KITCHEN 1506 Berry Blvd., 367-5995.

Cafeteria style or dining room menu service: it’s up to you. This south end establishment serves up a variety of home-style food from sweet iced tea and biscuits to the country-fried steak and a fluffy mountain of real mashed potatoes and gravy. $ p f DE-VILLE’S 4900 Poplar Level Rd., 961-9102. De-Ville’s has made a science out of soul food, with collard greens, buttermilk cornbread, pork chop sandwiches and fried ribs. $ f D’NALLEY’S 970 S. Third St., 583-8015. Dirt-cheap blue-plate specials and hearty breakfasts bring droves to the counters and booths of this classic greasy spoon. Saturday morning hours are sporadic, but for a quick plate of meat loaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes, D’Nalley’s is a hard place to beat. $ FORK IN THE ROAD RESTAURANT 4951 Cane Run Rd., 448-3903. $ GENNY’S DINER 2223 Frankfort Ave., 893-0923.

What’s the difference between Genny’s Diner and a saloon? You can take the kids to Genny’s. Better still, you can get a darn good meal at Genny’s, provided that you set your expectations for hearty, filling and well-prepared diner food. $ p e

GOOSE CREEK DINER 2923 Goose Creek Rd., 3398070. Goose Creek Diner brings a welcome new option to its East End neighborhood. It offers oldfashioned comfort food, as the name “diner” suggests. But it adds a taste of gourmet-style high tone to the down-home eats. $ HAZELWOOD RESTAURANT 4106 Taylor Blvd., 3619104. Whether you like your eggs over easy, or your cheeseburgers well done, you’ll like the Hazelwood Restaurant. Standard short orders cooked with lots of character and a low price. $ HOLLY’S LEGAL STREET CAFETERIA 715 W. Jefferson St., 584-4080 A longtime favorite of the Courthouse crowd, Holly’s steam table and grill consistently please, as does its full bar. $ p HOMETOWN BUFFET 1700 Alliant Ave., 267-7044, 3710 Chamberlain Ln., 326-9777, 6641 Dixie Hwy., 995-3320, 757 Hwy. 131, Clarksville, IN., 285-1893.

This national chain serves up nostalgic dishes, casseroles, meats and desserts that allow you to set an all-American supper table with the all-youcan eat price tag. $ JESSIE’S FAMILY RESTAURANT 9609 Dixie Hwy., 937-6332. Country cooking is Jessie’s specialty, with hearty breakfast, lunch and dinner platters to fill the inner person. $

WEBB’S MARKET 944 E. Muhammad Ali Blvd., 5830318. Webb’s is deli sandwich market style dining.

Country ham sandwiches and the half-pound cheeseburger are a specialty. $

CAFETERIAS ANN’S BY THE RIVER 149 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN., 284-2667. This bustling eatery is cafeteria style dining done well. They serve up the standard steam table meat-and-three menu items as good as any. With the Ohio River a block away, it’s aptly named. $ COLONNADE CAFETERIA 455 S. Fifth St., 5846846. Sometimes cafeteria fare hits the spot, and this much-loved local landmark in the basement of the Starks Building has won a multigenerational crowd of loyal fans. $ CRAVINGS A LA CARTE 101 S. Fifth St., (National City Tower), 589-4230. Sequestered beneath the National City Tower, this thrifty and delicious deli offers a variety of sandwiches, build-your-own sandwiches, a soup-and-salad bar, and specialty bars featuring baked potatoes, Mexican pizzas, and a monthly ethnic creation. The seven-entrée hot food buffet is highlighted by nearly a dozen vegetables and four breads daily. $

HALL’S CAFETERIA 1301 Story Ave., 583-0437.

Hall’s Cafeteria is one of the first and finest of Louisville cafeterias, doing a brisk business on the steam tables since 1955. You’re just as likely to see customers stop by from Butchertown’s truck loading docks as you would from City Hall. $ JANE’S CAFETERIA 4601 Jennings Ln., 454-7286.

This 40-year-old family-owned restaurant knows how to cook for folks missing their home table.

Count on an attentive staff and fresh southern fare. $ JAY’S CAFETERIA 1812 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., 583-2534. Jay’s is without question the most successful West End eatery, with a big, wellscrubbed new building that wouldn’t be out of place on Hurstbourne Lane. Cafeteria fare is consistently fine, and hungry diners from all over town find a warm welcome here. $ PICCADILLY CAFETERIA 2131 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 493-9900, 133 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 423-1733. An east end favorite for variety—top notch choices in roast beef, fried chicken, cod, steak and shrimp dinners, a gardener’s list of vegetables and a few ethnic dishes for global measure have proven over time there’s something for everyone. $ SOUTH SIDE INN CAFETERIA 114 E. Main St., New Albany, IN., 945-9645. This venerable familyowned cafeteria is the very essence of cafeteria

KINGS FAST FOOD 2101 W. Broadway, 772-7138.

This tiny, colorful West End eatery, open for takeout only, offers a vast selection of filling, affordable urban fare that ranges from hot-andspicy chicken wings to rib tips and more. $ KING’S FRIED CHICKEN 1302 Dixie Hwy., 776-3013. $ LINDY’S 5110 Preston Hwy., 964-6428. Open 7 days a week, this establishment is a local favorite for family dining. Variety is the key to Lindy’s reputation with buffet or full service menus available. Enjoy daily specials and down home selections from franks and kraut to steak dinners. $ LONNIE’S BEST TASTE OF CHICAGO 121 St. Matthews Ave., 895-2380. This appetizing operation offers genuine Chicago hot dogs and a taste of Chicago atmosphere for a price that won’t hurt your wallet.

Make Lonnie’s the place to go when you’ve got a hankering for Windy City fare. $$ MR. LOU’S COUNTRY COTTAGE RESTAURANT 5408 Valley Station Rd., 933-0806. Biscuits and red-eye gravy, country ham and grits show off Mr. Lou’s country cooking style. Roast chicken is a dinner favorite, and so are homemade pies. $ NEIL’S PLACE 7611 IN 311, Sellersburg, IN, 246-5456.

Best known for the specially seasoned fried chicken.

Neil’s also makes excellent pastas, steaks, seafood, and salads. Homemade soups are created daily and coffee and desserts are always fresh. $$ p O’DOLLYS 7800 Third St. Rd., 375-1690. Homestyle steam-table favorites are available from breakfast through dinner, not to mention full bar service that makes O’Dollys a Southwest Louisville destination. $ p f ROADWAY WINGS 708 Cecil Ave., 774-5543. $ f SUE’S TOUCH OF COUNTRY 2605 Rockford Ln., 449-4086. This family owned restaurant is the essential home cookin’ away from home. Get your pancakes, bacon, meatloaf, liver and onions, catfish and chicken and dumplings here. $ TOLL BRIDGE INN 3300 Northwestern Pkwy,, 7765505. A rich and colorful history surrounds the century-old frame building in Portland that now houses the Toll Bridge Inn, a neighborhood favorite for simple, filling down-home fare. $ f WAGNER’S PHARMACY 3133 S. Fourth St., 375-3800.

A track-side institution that has as much history as the nearby Twin Spires of Churchill Downs. Soups, sandwiches, shakes, cherry Cokes and an early bird “trainer’s” breakfast can be enjoyed all year round. Racing history on the walls and servers that love you up and call you “hon.” $

Located in DOWNTOWN

LOUISVILLE at the corner

of FIFTH & MAIN in the NATIONAL CITY TOWER (lower level)

Menu 589-4230 • Office 589-9679

OPEN MONDAY – FRIDAY Breakfast 7:00-10:30 • Lunch 11:00-2:30

A LOT MORE THAN A CAFETERIA… but whatever you call us, call us good!

SALAD BAR – 40 items plus 2 soups daily FULL DELI STATION – extensive selection BUFFET LINE – with 7 entrées, 11 vegetables and 3 breads daily

FULL COOK-TO-ORDER GRILL – from fresh Hamburgers to Philly Steak Sandwiches – ALL MADE FRESH TO ORDER!

SPACIOUS DINING ROOM – able to feed large groups very fast

CATERING – • Continental Breakfast • Hot Buffet Breakfast • Box Lunches • Deli Trays • Hot Buffet Lunch

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dining. Roast beef, fried Alaskan whitefish, spaghetti and meat sauce, pies chock full of fruit and old-fashioned vegetables come in huge portions for low prices. You’ll be hard pressed to spend five bucks here, and you’ll get a lunch or dinner that will leave you napping. $

PIZZA ANGILO’S PIZZA 1725 Berry Blvd., 368-1032. The local favorite is the steak hoagie, dripping with pizza sauce, pickles and onions. Angilo’s also offers a wide selection of hot pizza pies and cold beer. $ ANGIO’S RESTAURANT 3731 Old Bardstown Rd., 451-5454. This small Buechel eatery attracts a friendly neighborhood crowd with hefty subs and quality pizzas, along with cold beer. $ ANNIE’S PIZZA 2520 Portland Ave., 776-6400, 4007 Cane Run Rd., 449-4444. Annie’s has made to order pizza and a variety of stacked sandwiches such as the Big Daddy Strom with beef, Italian sausage, onions and banana peppers. $ ARNI’S PIZZA 1208 State St., New Albany, IN, 9451149, 3700 Paoli Pike, Floyds Knobs, IN, 923-9805.

A favorite Hoosier pizza and sandwich stop. Insist on getting the Deluxe. $ BEARNO’S PIZZA 131 W. Main St., 584-7720, 2900 Taylorsville Rd., 458-8605, 6101 Bardstown Rd., 231-2222, 135-F Marketplace Dr., 957-5100, 10117 Taylorsville Rd., 267-2549, 1318 Bardstown Rd., 456-4556, 8019 Preston Hwy., 968-6060, 4105 Dixie Hwy., 449-4141, 9222 Westport Rd.,423-1224, 7895 Dixie Hwy., 937-1234 1923 S. Fourth St., 6345155, 3002 Charlestown Crossing, 949-7914.

Bearno’s is known for its Italian entrees, generous salads, but most of all, its Chicago-style pizza with chunky toppings, rich sauce and lots of cheese. If you prefer something more substantial, Bearno’s also offers spaghetti, marinara and meatballs. $ p CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN 7900 Shelbyville Rd., (Oxmoor Center), 425-5125. California pizza became a trend when famous chefs gave this simple Italian fare a multi-ethnic spin with nontraditional Pacific Rim toppings. CPK successfully translates this trend for the mass market. $$ p f CICI’S PIZZA 470 New Albany Plaza, New Albany, IN. Serious bargain-hunters will find Cici’s culinary offer hard to beat when this Dallas-based chain opens the first of 10 planned locations in New Albany in April: day or night, all the pizza you can eat is only $3.99. $ CLIFTON’S PIZZA 2230 Frankfort Ave., 893-3730.

Clifton’s pizza appeals to me with its adult style, full of the bold flavors of herbs and spices and available with grown-up toppings like anchovies and artichoke hearts. All this and funky, fun decor makes it one of my favorite local pizzerias. $ f e DOMINO’S PIZZA (20 locations) $$ FAST BREAK PIZZA 6825 Central Ave., 243-1101. $ FAT JIMMY’S 9901C LaGrange Rd., 339-8111, 2712 Frankfort Ave., 891-4555; 2208 Bardstown Rd., 479-1040. This friendly neighborhood nook offers a cold mug of beer and a hot slice of pizza, along with sub sandwiches, pasta dishes and salads.

The Lyndon spot lures a friendly biker crowd; the Crescent Hill eatery reflects its urban setting. $ FIGARO’S PIZZERIA 16201 Eastwood Cut-Off Rd., 254-7220. So far out in the East End that it’s almost at the county line, this quaint little country storefront now houses something just a bit more urban: an excellent pizzeria featuring both thincrust and delicious thick Chicago-style pies. $ FROLIO’S PIZZA 3799 Poplar Level Rd., 456-1000.

Just around the corner from the Louisville Zoo, Frolio’s is a neighborhood pizzeria with a cozy, dim Italian-American mood and an all-you-caneat pizza-and-salad lunch special. $$ f 74 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

HIGHLANDS TAPROOM 1279 Bardstown Rd., 4592337. This cozy nook for Bardstown Road music and microbrew fans features tavern fare and munchies, a full bar and thirteen beers on tap.

Eclectic rock, folk and blues round out a popular and late night live music scene. $ p f e HOMETOWN PIZZA 11804 Shelbyville Rd., 245-4555, 8442 Dixie Hwy., 935-3555, La Grange Square Shopping Center, 222-4444. Pasta dishes, hoagies, stromboli and cold beer are available, and so are the utterly unique Bacon Cheeseburger pizza and the Hometown Special, two favorites. $$ IROQUOIS PIZZA 6614 Manslick Rd., 363-3211. $$

9010 Taylorsville Rd., 499-9804, 1108 Lyndon Ln., 339-8338, 2247 S. Preston St., 635 –6708, 4200 Outer Loop, 964-0920. This Austin-based chain with 170 properties in the Southeast was one of the first national pizzerias to reach Louisville in the 1970s, and quality ingredients—plus Gattiland playgrounds for the kids—have made its crisp, thincrust pizzas a popular draw for nearly 30 years. $$ PAPA JOHN’S PIZZA (30 locations) “Papa” John Schnatter got into the pizza game as a Southern Indiana high-school student in 1984 and has built his business into a 3,000-restaurant international chain on the basis of a simple formula: traditional pizza, made from quality ingredients in a straightforward style. $$

LITTLE CAESAR’S PIZZA 816 Kenwood Dr., 3665599, 9017 Galene Dr., 267-8600, 5622 Preston Hwy. 966-5800, 6714 Outer Loop, 966-3111. This Detroit-based pizzeria chain lost market share in the ‘90s, but business analysts say the company known for its two-for-one “pizza pizza” deal has turned things around with a renewed commitment to quality and service. $$

PIE IN THE SKY 10301 Taylorsville Rd., 240-9988.

This new pizzeria offers up pies with fresh ingredients and hand-tossed dough. The selection of beer is wide and so is the TV screen for those weekend gatherings. Pasta, salads and sandwiches—including the popular Hot Sicilian— round out the casual dining menu. $$

LOUISVILLE PIZZA CO. 3910 Ruckriegel Pkwy., 2671188. Also known as Chubby Ray’s, this local minichain of pizzerias makes good, fresh pizzas and Italian-American sandwiches. $ p f

PIZZA BOX 4111 Murphy Ln., 423-0530. Workers at the nearby Ford Kentucky Truck Plant make this bar and pizzeria a popular gathering place, but it’s more than just a blue-collar pub: the pizzas here are excellent, and an extensive brew list makes it a destination for serious beer lovers from all over. $

MA ZERELLAS 949 S. Indiana Ave., Sellersburg, IN, 246-9517. A pleasant family-run-for-family-fun establishment. Pizza, pasta, salads and subs served for lunch and dinner seven days a week. $ MANCINO’S PIZZA & GRINDERS 2420 Lime Kiln Rd., 429-5555, 12488 Lagrange Rd., 241-9902.

Oven-baked and stuffed with all your favorites, a “grinder” is a one-step hunger-slaying sandwich.

The local favorite is the Mancino’s Pride, which is topped with every veggie in the kitchen plus ham, pepperoni and sausage. $ MR. GATTI’S 5600 S. Third St., 363-2211, 8594 Dixie Hwy., 935-0100, 3319 Bardstown Rd., 451-0540,

PIZZA BY THE GUY 8109 Lagrange Rd., 426-4044.

This locally owned franchise is famous for its extra spicy, hand-tossed dough. Come and get it, literally, because there’s only a cozy table for three at the store and most folks pick up their pie or have it delivered. $

PIZZA MAGIA (13 Locations) This newcomer Louisville-based chain is making waves in the lowcost/high quality pizza biz. In addition to a variety of pizzas, it offers Stromboli, Sweetie Pie (an Italian dessert pastry crisscrossed with icing) wings and both cheese and traditional breadsticks. $$ QUEENIE’S PIZZA & SUCH 2622 S. Fourth St., 6363708. Queenie’s stuffed Chicago-style pizzas and its crispy thin crust pizzas will cover the pizza lover’s desires. On a walk through historic Old Louisville or on their way to campus, folks pick up hoagies, pastas, salads, appetizers and desserts.

And such a good deal. $ SPORTSTIME PIZZA 3312 Plaza Dr., New Albany, IN, 944-2577. Touting “the best pizza in southern Indiana” is quite a boast, but when the pizza biz is part of the New Albanian Brewing Company, the boast carries weight. The N.A.B.C. is the newest offshoot of Rich O’s, nationally noted for its huge selection of microbrews and hard-to-find imports.

Try the “Herbavore” with spinach, sliced tomatoes and roasted garlic for a sizzling start. $ TONY BOOMBOZZ 3334 Frankfort Ave., 896-9090, 1448 Bardstown Rd., 458-8889. Boombozz wins praise for exceptionally high quality pizza and other quick Italian-style fare. Tony’s pizzas include both traditional pies and gourmet-style specialties that have won awards in national competition. $$

PIZZA HUT (15 locations) $$

TONY IMPELLIZZERI’S PIZZA 2306 Bardstown Rd., 451-7177. The pizza at Impellizzeri’s is something like a special effect from a Hollywood f/x lab: massive disks, broad and thick, almost unrealistically oversize. They’re good, though. $$$

PIZZA KING 3825 Charlestown Rd., New Albany IN, 945-4405, 1066 Kehoe Ln., Jeffersonville, IN., 2828286. The pizza at Pizza King is baked in a sturdy, clay stone oven and hand-tossed with thinner crust where the ingredients go all the way to the edge. $$

UNO CHICAGO BAR & GRILL 6501 Bardstown Rd., 239-0079. This successful franchise serves up Chicago style pizza—deep dish with more toppings than crust. Steaks, pastas, sandwiches and burgers complement the full service menu. $$ p

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VITO’S PIZZERIA 3213 Preston Hwy., 634-5400.

Reasonable people can differ on the subject, but plenty would say that this is one of the best pizzas in town, a perfect, nearly blackened crust, savory sauce, and superb ingredients. A mandatory alternative to the chains for pizza lovers. $$ WICKS PIZZA PARLOR 975 Baxter Ave., 458-1828, 2927 Goose Creek Rd., 327-9425, 12717 Shelbyville Rd., 213-9425. The pizza is very fine at this immensely popular neighborhood gathering spot for the Bardstown Rd. crowd. It’s a straightforward, over-sized pie, made with mounds of toppings. “The Big Wick” is a personal favorite. $ p e

SANDWICH/DELI AMAZING GRACE WHOLE FOODS DELI 1133 Bardstown Rd., 485-1122. If you think “vegan”

means only raw carrots, bean sprouts, seeds and roots, think again. No animals were harmed in the making of the tasty alternative sandwiches and other dishes at this neat little deli attached to a spiffy local organic-foods grocery. $ ANOTHER PLACE SANDWICH SHOP 119 S. Seventh St., 589-4115. If you want to buy a car, go to a car dealer. To buy a carpet, patronize a carpet shop.

And if you’ve got a sandwich on your to-do list, it makes sense to go to a sandwich shop. Another Place, now in this west-downtown location, has been making good ones for years. $ ANTHONY’S 22 Theater Square, 584-0364. $ f AU BON PAIN BAKERY CAFÉ 101 E. Jefferson St., 585-2200. Its French name means “the good bread,” and fresh warm breads and pastries are the draw at this quick and casual eatery. You’ll also find soups, sandwiches, salads and coffee— all the basic food groups. $

BACKYARD BURGER 1800 Priority Way, 240-9945.

The open flame at this counter-service diner provides the next best thing to a family cookout.

Sandwiches, fresh salads, fruit cobblers and oldfashioned hand-dipped milkshakes enhance the nostalgic theme. $ f BANK SHOT BILLIARDS 403 E. Market St., 587-8260. $ BENNY B’S 3801 Willis Ave., 896-8383. The British Earl of Sandwich may have invented the culinary confection that bears his name, but let’s all hail Benny B’s for perfecting it. You’ll find truly excellent sandwiches here, a tasty and healthful alternative to fast food. $ f BINKY’S CHICAGO STYLE DELI 528 S. Fifth St., 568-2606. If you’re in the mood for a real Chicago-style hot dog or a delicious brothdripping Italian beef sandwich in the traditional style of the Windy City, you’ll find Binky’s a great place to grab a good, cheap lunch. $ f BLIMPIE’S SUBS & SALADS 1971 Hurstbourne Pkwy, 495-6565, 2020 Brownsboro Rd., 899-7960, 3360 Hikes Ln., 451-5480. Sublime subs—fast and fresh.

Blimpie’s is all that ...and a bag of chips. $ C.A.P.P.P.’S DELI 4010 Dupont Cir., 895-7064. $ CIANO’S 11904 Shelbyville Rd., 245-6997. $ DANISH EXPRESS PASTRIES 3713 Lexington Rd., 895-2863. Just a few tables turn this takeout nook into a sit-in breakfast and lunch spot for a handful of diners at a time. Full breakfasts and light lunches are available, but as the name implies, Danish pastries are the specialty, and they’re fine. $ DINO’S DOWN TO LUNCH CAFÉ 239 S Fifth St. (Kentucky Home Life Building) 585-2874. $ DIZZY WHIZZ DRIVE-IN 217 W. St. Catherine St., 5833828. This neighborhood eatery is an institution. It goes back more than 50 years and hasn’t changed much. It opens early and stays open late and offers good value for what you’d expect. $ f DMITRI’S DELI 521 S. Third St., 584-8060. A downtown deli favorite. Great appetite-smashing daily specials are surrounded by an impressive variety of sandwiches, soups and salads. $ f DOOLEY’S BAGELCATESSEN 12903 Shelbyville Rd., 245-3354, 216 N. Hurstbourne Ln., 394-0021, 980 Breckenridge Ln., 893-3354, 2241 State St., New Albany, IN, 981-0124, 2226 Holiday Manor Center, 426-3354. A convenient and fresh deli that’s caught on big in the area. Breakfast means fresh bagels with a cool array of cream cheese, sausage, eggs and coffee. At lunchtime lines form for sandwiches— subs, panini, wraps, hot melts and cold cuts. $ THE FEED BAG DELI 133 Breckenridge Ln., 896-1899.

The grilled salmon burger is worth the visit, as well as the Triple Crown wrap with three meats or a fresh veggie wrap. Soups, desserts top off the lunch-only schedule. $ GELI CAKES 1589 Bardstown Rd., 456-2466. It’s a delight to have this casual new eatery on Bardstown Road. The specialty is Italian gelato, and it comes pretty close to the real thing. But don’t start with dessert: the panini (Italian grilled sandwiches) are first-rate. $ f HEAVENLY HAM 11606 Shelbyville Rd., 245-1527, 3000 Bardstown Rd., 451-6110, Northgate Center, New Albany IN, 941-9426. $ JERSEY MIKE’S SUBS AND SALADS 10266 Shelbyville Rd., 244-1991, 10519 Fischer Park Dr., 425-1025, 9156 Taylorsville Rd., 499-9830. East Coast-style sub shop with local faves that includes cheese, ham, proscuittini, cappacuolo, salami, pepperoni and any of the fixings you like. $ JUANITA’S BURGER BOY 1450 S. Brook, 635-7410.

For a real slice of Louisville life, this weathered greasy spoon at the corner of Brook and Burnett is the real thing. Neighborhood denizens drink coffee and chow down on burgers and breakfast until the wee hours (the joint is open 24 hours). If

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Louisville is home to a budding Charles Bukowski, there’s a good chance he’s sitting at Juanita’s counter right now, recovering from last night’s excesses. $ JULIE’S OF JEFFERSONVILLE 326 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN, 218-0318. Located in historic downtown Jeffersonville, this popular eatery is known for its Rueben plate, tomato basil soup or any one of the delectable desserts that Julie creates each day. $ f LITTLE CHEF 147 E. Market St., New Albany, IN, 949-7567. Every city needs a postage-stampsized spot that knows how to fry potatoes and grill up a burger. In New Albany, the place is Little Chef. Biscuits and gravy, fried eggs, and burgers, in a joint that seems like a throwback to the heartland of America, circa 1940. $ f LOTSA PASTA 3717 Lexington Rd., 896-6361. As the name suggests, Lotsa Pasta originated as an Italian specialty-food store, and it has been a local favorite since it opened over 20 years ago. It now offers deli meats and cheeses and an eclectic international selection of sausages and cheese.

You can’t dine in, but an excellent deli counter fashions New Orleans-style muffulettas and other sandwiches to go. $ LUNCH TODAY 590 Missouri Ave., Jeffersonville, IN, 282-1005. This outfit prepares all the soups, salads and sandwiches the downtown workforce needs to re-energize. $ f MAIN EATERY 643 W. Main St., 589-3354. Smack dab in the middle of the Main Street historic district, this fashionable deli lures the savvy business midday crowd. $ f MCALISTER’S DELI 10041 Forest Green Blvd., 4258900, 2721 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 671-2424, 2400 Lime Kiln Ln., 339-8544. Emphasizing quality customer service, this East End delicatessen ladles up unique soups like gumbo and chicken tortilla along with their cutting board favorites.

They have a special way with a tumbler of sweet iced tea and lemon. $ f OBEE’S 641 S. Fourth St., 589-4710. $ f

sandwich—“The Original”—when it opened its first eatery in Austin, Texas, in 1971. Now this national chain vends a full selection of deli-style fare, with one significant improvement on the traditional deli: the servers are invariably polite. $ f SOUPY’S 3019 Breckenridge Ln., 451-5325, 4590 Dixie Hwy, 449-2000, 9493 Westport Rd, 425-2549, 2930 Dr. William Weathers Dr., 774-2500. In the soup kettles you will find such classics as cheesy potato, bean and ham, broccoli and cheese, chicken and dumplings and more. At the cutting board they’ll make you meat, cheese and veggie sandwiches according to your custom design, scoop up tuna and chicken salads and barbecue, or grill you a burger. $ STEVENS & STEVENS 1114 Bardstown Rd., 584-3354.

Sharing space with the popular Ditto’s, Stevens & Stevens is primarily known for catering and takeout fare. They cook just as well if you choose to stay in, though, offering appealing sandwiches and deli fare with a healthy twist. $ STRAWBERRY PATCH DELI 11616 Shelbyville Rd., 254-1440. Enjoy the quaint dining area for only a dozen or carry out a corporate lunch box for the office. This Middletown deli offers healthy food with a dash of gourmet, a sprinkle of southern.

From the same folks who brought you the Strawberry Patch Gifts and Tea Room, there is now a fresh lunch option. $ SUB STATION II 3101 Fern Valley Rd., 964-1075. The hardy No. 19, a six-meat and one cheese super sub, is what keeps the store buzzing. An array of sandwiches, salad sides and desserts also make for a great lunch. $ TWO BUCKS 4113 Murphy Ln., 429-9902. $ TWO GUYS AND A GRILL Center, 893-5118. $

4806 Brownsboro

WALL ST. DELI 225 Abraham Flexner Way at Jewish Hospital, 585-4202. New York style with Kentucky flair. This busy and dependable downtown deli will serve in-house diners, arrange carry out or take orders for deliveries. One of the few places in town that serves authentic Nathan’s Hot Dogs. $ WILD OATS NATURAL MARKETPLACE 4600 Shelbyville Rd., 721-7373. This national natural-food grocery includes a sit-down café where you can order pizzas, sandwiches, or even sushi. $ f

PANERA BREAD CO. 5000 Shelbyville Rd., 8999992, 6221 Dutchmans Ln., 895-9991, 601 S. Hurstbourne Ln., 423-7343. $ f

BACKYARD BBQ & GRILL 223 W. Fifth St., New Albany IN., 945-8310. Pigasus has moved across the river to new digs, but barbecued specialties keep right on coming under new ownership and management. Generous portions and exceptional side dishes make it worth a trip. $ f

PENN STATION (11 Locations). Billed as the East Coast Sub Headquarters, this diverse and delicious sandwich kitchen does a brisk business here in the Louisville area. $ QUIZNO’S SUBS 223 S. Fifth St., 589-5520, 332 W. Broadway, 589-4500, 2500 W. Broadway, 7755545, 4045 Summit Place Dr., 327-8469, 2112 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 493-8292, 4212 Charlestown Rd., New Albany, IN, 981-7849, 3826 D Hamburg Pike, Jeffersonville, IN, 283-7849, 402 S. Indiana Ave., Sellersburg, IN, 246-1419. Toasted breads, a sandwich selection of meats, veggies and fish are built to fight hunger. Fresh soups are available daily, from chili to chowder; so are salads and desserts. $ SCHLOTZSKY’S DELI 4259 Outer Loop, 969-0506, 10531 Fischer Park Dr., 425-844, 12915 Shelbyville Rd., 244-9069, 8602 Citadel Way, 499-8081. The original Schlotzsky’s offered just one kind of

all we do.

■ Factory-trained technicians on staff.

pe

OLLIE’S TROLLEY 978 S. Third St., 583-5214. A little piece of fast-food history remains on an urban street corner in Old Louisville. It’s one of the nation’s few surviving trolleys of the Louisvillebased chain that spread across the nation in the ‘70s. Oversize burgers with a spicy, homemade flavor are just as good as ever. $

PAUL’S FRUIT MARKET 3905 Chenoweth Sq., 8968918, 4946 Brownsboro Rd., 426-5059, 12119 Shelbyville Rd., 253-0072, 3704 Taylorsville Rd., 456-4750. One of Louisville’s best sources for produce, cheeses, deli items, and the like. Deli sandwiches (made from high end products like Boar’s Head meats) and salads are available. $

■ Mercedes-Benz is

BARBECUE

■ Over 40 years of combined Mercedes-Benz service experience.

■ Mercedes-Benz Club members (any chapter) receive 10% discount.

BAKE’S BARBEQUE 5503 Valley Station Rd., 9350999. You can eat Bake’s ribs with your fingers if you want to, but it’s messy: these succulent nuggets are smoked to such tender perfection that the meat slides gently off the bone. This is four-star barbecue, fully competitive with the region’s best. $$ BOOTLEG BARBECUE COMPANY 9704 Bardstown Rd., 239-2722, 7508 Preston Hwy., 968-5657.

Bootleg Barbecue offers a touch of rusticity and a good helping of country hospitality, as it dishes out hearty portions of well prepared and affordable smoked meats and fixin’s. It’s one of the few places in Louisville where you can get Western Kentucky-style mutton barbecue. $ f BRANDON’S BAR-B-QUE 9246 Westport Rd., 4266666. Service is cafeteria-style in this shoppingcenter establishment featuring Tennessee-style barbecue, where hickory-smoked barbecue sandwiches and filling, affordable dinners are the specialty. $

1501 Mellwood Avenue Louisville, Kentucky 40206

502-587-7827 Fax: 502-587-7273

CLARK BOY BAR-B-Q 6728 Johnsontown Rd., 9335577. If it’s a little off the beaten path, there’s nothing www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 77

FULL SERVICE BAR OUTDOOR DINING

the matter with that. Clark Boy’s reasonably priced Western Kentucky-style barbecue is well worth a special trip. Like many mom’n’pop eateries, it accepts cash only, no plastic. $ CLEON’S RIB SHACK 701 Algonquin Pkwy., 6350750. It’s a shack, for sure, and Cleon keeps some weird hours, but that’s part of the mystique, and if you can catch him when the smoke is rising, you’re in for some manly spare ribs and soulful sides. $ f DAMON’S 1876 Hurstbourne Pkwy., 495-6111. If you’ve got a hankering for oversize ribs and a sports-bar environment for noisy fun, Damon’s might be just the place for you. But then, if you’re in the mood for a quiet steak dinner in a quieter environment, Damon’s can deliver that too. Award-winning ribs and big-screen entertainment are the primary draw at the local outpost of this 140-unit chain. $$ p FAMOUS DAVE’S BAR-B-QUE 8605 Citadel Way, 493-2812. This franchise chain operation may be based in the twin cities, but it looks like a Georgia gas station with its exuberant, if tongue-in-cheek faux country decor. The important thing, though, is the food, and Dave’s excels with genuine, hickory-smoked barbecue. $$ p f

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA CUISINE 2350 Frankfort Avenue

502.896.2610 www.furlongs.com

A

MUST STOP IN THE HIGHLANDS

FINLEY’S HICKORY SMOKED BAR-B-Q 1500 W. Broadway, 581-0298. Ribs tips are the specialty but you’ll find turkey legs, ham, half-chickens, pork chops and shredded beef and pork—all for dinners or sandwiches, and barbecued pig’s feet for the BBQ purists. $ f FIREHOUSE BAR B Q 6435 Bardstown Rd., 2397800. Fire fighters, it is said, eat heartily and well.

It’s no coincidence, then, that Firehouse Bar B Q pays homage to fire departments in general and the Fern Creek Fire Department in particular. The barbecue and country fixin’s stand comparison to the best firehouse cuisine. $ f J.J.’S CAFÉ 1515 Lynch Ln., Clarksville, IN, 282-5280.

Sit down or carry out a sack of hot smoked ribs, chicken and a whole lot more. J.J. himself will be firing up the big grills early to get your lunch ready on time. To drop in for dinner, just follow your nose over the bridge. $ p f JUCY’S SMOKEHOUSE BAR-B-QUE 7626 Lagrange Rd., 241-5829. Jucy’s offers exceptionally good Texas-style barbecue from a little wooden shack that looks just like a country BBQ joint should.

Highly recommended. $$ f MARK’S FEED STORE 11422 Shelbyville Rd., 2440140, 1514 Bardstown Rd., 458-1570, 10316 Dixie Hwy., 933-7707, 513 E. IN Hwy. 131, Clarksville, IN, 285-1998. Named for its first restaurant’s location in a former feed store with that down-home country feel, Mark’s impresses with high-quality hickory-smoked pork and chicken, and rich, silken South Carolina barbecue sauce, the yellow mustard-based variety. $$ f

COLONIAL,

DELTA-STYLE BARBECUE CUISINE WITH CARIBBEAN AND EAST INDIAN INFLUENCES 2013 Longest Avenue Louisville Kentucky

479-8006 78 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

OLE HICKORY PIT BAR-B-QUE 6106 Shepherdsville Rd., 968-0585. Located in an attractive house not far from General Electric’s Appliance Park, this Louisville relative of a famous Western Kentucky barbecue pit is well worth the trip from anywhere in town. $ PEPPER SHAKER CHILI & BAR-B-Q 4912 Preston Hwy., 964-3011. Looking for the real thing in barbecue? Whoop! Here it is! This tiny spot near Standiford Field offers few amenities—it’s primarily for take-out—but a squadron of heavy black-iron smokers burn through cords of hickory to turn out some of the town’s best barbecue at a price that’s right. $ p PICNICATERS BBQ & CATERING 514 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd., 584-7427. Smokin’ all the meats that can’t be beat for a down-home style meal in any season. Located across from Louisville Gardens this place puts the hot sauce, wings and chops right in the middle of a hungry business district. $ f

PIGASUS CHOP SHOP 2013 Longest Ave., 479-8006.

Now in its third metro-area location, Pigasus has moved from Southern Indiana quarters to the Kentucky side. This little spot just off Bardstown Road (formerly La Peche Express) offers decent— if not overly smoky—barbecue, plus intriguing daily vegetarian specials with an Indian accent. $$ f e PIT STOP BAR-B-QUE 612 S. Fifth St., 584-4054.

Genuine Texas barbecue, dry and tender meat, red-rimmed and savory from hours in the smoker, is the style served here. March up to the window, place your order, bus your own plate. No muss, no fuss, and it is very good. $ f RUBBIE’S BAR-B-QUE & BREW 6905 Southside Dr., 367-0007. This South End family knows how to do BBQ. It may be off the beaten path for some folks but here you’ll find the bounty of secret BBQ recipes. $ p f e SCOTTY’S RIBS AND MORE 14049 Shelbyville Rd., 244-6868. Ribs, pork, chicken a la carte and dinners. The small East End venue moves a lot of pizzas and salads as well. $$ p SMOKEY BONES BBQ 2525 Hurstbourne Gem Ln., 491-7570. A newish “concept” of the Orlandobased Darden chain that runs Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Bahama Breeze, this hot new Hurstbourne spot offers pretty good ribs in a noisy sports-bar environment that emulates a Colorado ski lodge. $$ p TONY ROMA’S 150 N. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 327-8500.

From the classic tomato tang to a smoky Blue Ridge savor, Roma’s ribs are the best dressed in town. Burgers, chicken and steaks get four stars as well, but the racks and baby backs of melt-inyour-mouth pork and beef hang the moon. $$$ p VINCE STATEN’S OLD TIME BARBEQUE 9219 US 42, 228-7427. Author Vince Staten, who literally wrote the book on barbecue (Real Barbecue), makes his own for sale now, and the smoked goodies here rate as good as any I ever ate. $

BAR & GRILL @MOSPHERE 917 Baxter Ave., 458-5301. One of the hottest spots on the local club scene, this oversize spot on Baxter flows through 4,000 square feet on several levels, including the tasteful, clubby rooms that once housed Jupiter Grill and briefly a branch of Bazo’s. On the eatery side, it features well-crafted upscale pub grub, sandwiches and salads at affordable prices, topping out at $7.25 for the chargrilled rib eye. $ p f e BUFFALO WILD WINGS (BW-3’S) 6801 Dixie Hwy., 935-1997, 3900 Shelbyville Rd., 899-7732, 9134 Taylorsville Rd., 499-2356, 3584 Springhurst Blvd., 394-9596, 12901 Shelbyville Rd., 254-9464, 1055 Bardstown Rd., 454-3635. As much a sports bar as a restaurant, this national franchise chain offers tasty snack-type fare, including the chain’s trademark Buffalo chicken wings. $$ p f DELTA RESTAURANT 434 W. Market St., 584-0860.

It’s not quite as historic as Gideon Shryock’s Jefferson County Courthouse around the corner, but this popular bar and short-order spot seems as if it has been a hangout for lawyers and the courthouse crowd for just about as long as there’s been a Courthouse. $ p DUTCH’S TAVERN 3922 Shelbyville Rd., 895-9004.

Do you like guitars with your grub? A popular half-way-home hangout for decades in the heart of St. Matthews, this no-frills but all charm pub serves up a hardy plate lunch by day and amps up the action with music by night. $ p e FLABBY’S SCHNITZELBURG 1101 Lydia St., 637-9136.

Family-owned since 1952, Flabby’s is a quintessential Germantown saloon. It’s also one of the city’s top destinations for inexpensive downhome eats, from authentic German dishes to fantastic fried chicken on weekends. $

GERSTLE’S PLACE 3801 Frankfort Ave., 899-3609.

A popular St. Matthews neighborhood tavern since 1924. Although dining is secondary to booze and sports here, the food goes well beyond mere pub grub. $ p e GRANVILLE INN 1601 S. Third St., 635-6475. A longtime gathering place for U of L students, faculty and fans, this sturdy redbrick tavern just north of the university campus offers a good variety of bar munchies, sandwiches and simple grilled fare plus pizza. It’s perhaps best known, though, for the signature Granville Burger, widely reputed as one of the best burgers in town. $ GREAT AMERICAN GRILL 2735 Crittenden Dr., (Hilton), 637-2424. Located in the Louisville International Airport Hilton. Salads, burgers, pastas and sandwiches are available for the casual diner; main entrees include New York strip, filet of salmon and more. $ p f HITCHING POST INN 7314 Fegenbush Ln., 2394724. In addition to its full bar and beer garden, and lively conversation, the Hitching Post Inn offers an array of pub grub, including burgers, chicken tenders, and sandwiches. $ p HOOPS GRILL AND SPORTS BAR 12205 Westport Rd., 327-8002, 6733 Strawberry Ln., 375-4667.

The name says it all: sports, casual dining and good things to drink all find their natural meeting place in these friendly neighborhood spots where hot wings and hoops reign supreme. $ p f HOOTERS (see listing under Casual Dining) JACK’S LOUNGE 122 Sears Ave., 897-9026. A sophisticated, elegant bar associated with the Equus restaurant next door, Jack’s offers a short but excellent menu featuring appetizers and light bites, along with a drinks list beyond reproach. $ p THE LIGHTHOUSE (see listing under Casual Dining) MICHAEL MURPHY’S RESTAURANT 701 S. First St., 587-7916. This full service restaurant and bar has accommodated hardy thirsts and appetites for a

couple of generations. Despite the Irish appeal, the food is American and lots of it. One particular claim to fame is their hamburger menu. $ p SAINT’S 131 Breckinridge Ln., 891-8883. $$

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SHENANIGAN’S IRISH GRILL 1611 Norris Pl., 4543919. Not just a neighborhood tavern (although it’s a fine neighborhood tavern), Irish-accented Shenanigan’s goes an extra step with an estimable selection of memorable burgers. $ p f e STEINERT’S GRILL & PUB 2239 Charlestown Rd., New Albany IN, 945-8827. This is a cross between an old fashioned neighborhood tavern (with an aged and cozy ambience) and a trendy sports bar (with leanings in the direction of IU). Hearty burgers, rich soups, salads, and a full bar make this a hidden gem. $ p e WOODFORD RESERVE BAR & GRILLE Louisville International Airport, 363-2526. Named after local distiller Brown-Forman’s artisanal brand of Bourbon, this is the airport’s fine-dining facility, serving Kentucky-style dishes in a sit-down environment. $

CAJUN/CREOLE DOWNTOWN NEW ORLEANS 1157 S. Second St., 797-5644. The smallish Old Louisville storefront has been turned into a Cajun-style setting that’s worth a visit if you like the spicy goodness of Louisiana-style eats. $ f e FURLONG’S 2350 Frankfort Ave., 896-2610. This Louisiana-style restaurant in Crescent Hill boasts a horse-racing theme that unites the spirits of Kentucky’s and Louisiana’s racing industries. A comfortably cozy spot, it offers a memorable selection of Cajun fare. $$$ f p JOE’S OK BAYOU 9874 Linn Station Rd., 426-1320.

Perhaps the best Louisiana-style fare you’ll find in Louisville is served at this East End shoppingcenter eatery. A lengthy menu and fishing-shack

decor showcases authentic Cajun and Creole chow cooked by a New Orleans-born chef. $$ p ME OH MY JUMBALAY 2339 Frankfort Ave., 8955034. This truly idiosyncratic spot is tiny and cluttered, with an owner who boasts a memorable personality and a deft hand at turning out filling Southern soul food with a Cajun accent and a hint of Africa. $

ASIAN/CHINESE 2 HAHN’S MONGOLIAN GRILL Stonybrook Shopping Center, 493-0234. Thirteenth Century Mongol warriors used to turn their steel shields to use as frying pans over the campfire, using their swords as spoons. 2 Hahn’s carries their spirit forward. This all-you-can-eat buffet is fun, and the food is fine. $$ p ASIAN BUFFET 3813 Charlestown Rd., New Albany IN, 945-1888. Competent cookery and careful management that ensures buffet offerings stay fresh and hot makes this Southern Indiana buffet a good choice among the growing crowd of allyou-can-eat Asian spots. $ ASIAN PEARL 2060 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 4956800. Asian Pearl advertises its Chinese Grand Buffet as “The Largest Buffet Selection in Kentuckiana,” prompting a trip to check it out. It stands out from the crowd by offering a selection of Thai dishes in addition to the usual Chinese. $ AUGUST MOON 2269 Lexington Rd., 456-6569.

August Moon’s secret ingredient is the culinary oversight of Chef Peng Looi, better known as the force behind Asiatique. Newly housed in a soaring, open space with a Zen master’s style. Consistent commitment in the kitchen and from the staff makes it a top spot for Asian fare. A lovely patio at the rear affords an alfresco dining experience overlooking shady Beargrass Creek. $$$ p f

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Mon.-Fri. 3pm - 3am • Sat. 11am - 3am • Sun. 12pm - 12am 2239 Charlestown Rd. • New Albany, IN • (812) 945-8827 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 79

BAMBOO HOUSE 4036 Poplar Level Rd., 451-3113.

An old-timer among local Chinese restaurants, this Southeastern Louisville spot may not offer the trendiest Asian fare, but it’s a reliable source for the familiar Cantonese-American standards. $ CHINA BUFFET 706 E. Hwy 131, Clarksville, IN, 2888989. Chinese buffets are ubiquitous, but this one is squarely in the upper range. Regularly refreshed steam tables, attentively fried rice, and properly spicy General Tso’s Chicken raise it above the runof-the-mill places typical of the genre. $ CHINA GARDEN 7309 Preston Hwy., 968-4672. A busy restaurant with the double pleasure of Chinese and American menu items. $ CHINA INN 1925 S. Fourth St., 636-2020. It’s not the posh, private Faculty Club, but this little Asian spot may be one of the most popular eateries around the University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus. It’s generally packed with students, professors, and a squadron of campus police so large that one wonders who’s watching the campus. $ CHINA KING Highlander Point Dr., Floyds Knobs, IN., 923-1288. $ CHINA KING PALACE 6203 Old Shepherdsville Rd., 969-9696. On the edge of the county line, there’s a bustling kitchen that prepares sweet, sour and

spicy Asian and Chinese entrees and a la carte items to go. Carry out service only. $ CHINATOWN 4000 Dutchmans Ln., 896-9888, 4214 Outer Loop, 968-2688. If you’re hungry, you can get more to eat here for less than just about anyplace else in town, and the weekend seafood buffet in particular is a deal that’s hard to beat. $ CHINESE CHEF 2619 S. Fourth St., 634-0979. $ CHINESE EXPRESS 3228 Crums Ln., 448-1360. $ CHINESE RESTAURANT 8605 Preston Hwy., 9687450. $ CHONG GARDEN 10341 Dixie Hwy., 935-1628. $ CHOPSTICKS 416 E. Broadway, 589-9145. $ CHOPSTICKS HOUSE 2112 W. Broadway, 772-3231. $

DOUBLE DRAGON II 12480 LaGrange Rd., 241-7766, 9901 LaGrange Rd., 326-0099, 6832 Bardstown Rd., 231-3973. $ DOUBLE DRAGON BUFFET 233 Whittington Pkwy., 339-8897. A sizable buffet in a chic East End shopping strip, offers a good range of Chinese treats on its all-you-can-eat buffet. The fare generally seems prepared with attention and care. $ DRAGON GARDEN 2120 Bardstown Rd., 459-3311. $ DYNASTY BUFFET 2400 Lime Kiln Ln., 339-8868.

The continuing proliferation of all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets never fails to amaze me. Most of them look pretty much alike, and the food tends to be similar too. But I’m happy to report that Dynasty Buffet ranks well above the median. $$

CHUNG KING CHINESE AMERICAN RESTAURANT 110 E. Market St., 584-8880. $

EASTERN HOUSE 5372 Dixie Hwy., 568-2688.

Serving Chinese and American food from the menu or the buffet. $

CITY WOK 526 W. Main St., 583-7238. $

EGGROLL KING 4819 Dixie Hwy, 449-3614. $

CRYSTAL CHINESE 3901 W. Market St., 776-9702. $

EGGROLL MACHINE 1216 Bardstown Rd., 459-1259.

A Highlands staple for good reason. This portion of the Mimosa Café does a brisk business. The Sesame Chicken is one of our publishers’ favorites. $$ p

DOUBLE DRAGON 1255 Goss Ave., 635-5656. A standout among fast-food shopping-center Chinese eateries, Double Dragon hits on all cylinders, turning out consistently well-prepared and flavorful fare. $

EMPEROR OF CHINA 2210 Holiday Manor Shopping Center, 426-1717. One of Louisville’s fanciest and most noteworthy Chinese restaurants, the Emperor’s quarters are stylishly strewn across multiple levels of a former suburban movie theater. Outstanding. $$ p EMPRESS OF CHINA 2249 Hikes Ln., 451-2500. Older sister to The Emperor of China, the Empress was one of Louisville’s first serious, authentic upscale Cantonese restaurants, and its fare still stands up to fancy spots in New York’s Chinatown. $$ p FIRST WOK 3967 Seventh St. Rd., 448-0588. $ FORMOSA CHINESE RESTAURANT 2116 State St., New Albany, IN, 948-2540. One of the leading Southern Indiana entries in the Chinese-restaurant sweepstakes, Formosa offers a hearty buffet and, Chinese friends report, “a Taiwanese taste.” $ GOLDEN BUDDHA 8000 Preston Hwy., 968-7700. $ GOLDEN WALL 3111 Fern Valley Rd., 968-9717. $ GRAND BUFFET 5362 Dixie Hwy., 447-8833. $ GREAT WALL 2206 Brownsboro Rd., 891-8881. This Clifton restaurant ranks high up in the fast-food Chinese pack. Offering steaming-hot, competently prepared and flavorful dishes. $ GREAT WOK 2502 Preston Hwy., 634-1918. Just about every shopping center in town has a fastfood Chinese spot, but this one stands out, generating a buzz of word-of-mouth publicity about its well-crafted Chinese dishes at a bargainbasement price. $ HAPPY DRAGON 2600 W. Broadway, 778-2573.

Catering to office and residential customers, this Chinese restaurant has served the West Broadway community for many years. $ f HARVEST MOON 10476 Shelbyville Rd., 245-2100.

Modern and efficient in its East End shopping center location, Harvest Moon is a cut above fastfood Chinese; better yet, it adds a few Vietnamese dishes to the bill of fare. $ HONG KONG CHINESE RESTAURANT 345 New Albany Plaza, New Albany, IN., 945-1818. $ HONG KONG FAST FOOD 5312 S. Third St., 3678828. Another new international entry at Iroquois Manor, this fast-food Chinese spot offers the Cantonese standards, hot and fast and inexpensively. Check the daily specials for an occasional intriguing item. $ HOUSE OF DRAGON 126 Breckenridge Ln., 8937994. Not just fast food, this longtime St. Matthews favorite offers an extensive menu of Chinese regional dishes in an attractive sit-down setting. $$ IMPERIAL PALACE 5316 Bardstown Rd., 491-8228. $

80 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

JADE PALACE 1109 Herr Ln., 425-9878. When I’ve got a hankering for brunch, I choose Chinese.

Jade Palace is a decent place for Chinese food at any time, but don’t miss it at midday Friday through Monday, when it offers the metro area’s only dim sum (Chinese brunch) menu. $$ p JUMBO BUFFET 2731 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 4950028, 701 E. Hwy 131,Clarksville, IN, 283-6868.

Housed in a good-looking dining room, high on Chinatown-style glitz and glitter, Jumbo offers a standard all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, with a larger-than-average selection of American dishes for those who want something less exotic. $$

SHANGHAI RESTAURANT 526 S. Fifth St. 568-8833. $ SICHUAN GARDEN 9850 Linn Station Rd., 4266767. One of my favorite Chinese restaurants in Louisville and another that has stood the test of time, Sichuan Garden offers high-end Chinatown style and well-made dishes, plus a few Thai specialties to spice up the bill of fare. $ WANG’S WOK 11517 Shelbyville Rd., 244-9898. This bright and attractive spot in Middletown is a step above your usual Chinese fast food. Dishes are served on attractive gold-rimmed white china, and there’s table service with a friendly, fluent hostess. Worth a special trip. $

dishes from all over Asia with fast-food efficiency and prices happily matched by sit-down restaurant quality and style. $ f YEN CHING 1818 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 491-3581. $ YOU-CARRYOUT-A 1551 E. Tenth St., Jeffersonville, IN, 288-8313, 827 Eastern Blvd., Clarksville, IN, 282-8881, 3308 Plaza Dr., 944-9866. $

ASIAN/JAPANESE BENDOYA SUSHI BAR 217 S. Fifth St., 581-0700.

Here’s a nice new development in a downtown neighborhood where the lunch options have generally been limited. Bendoya Sushi Bar is a genuine, serious sushi bar in a storefront just across the street from the Courthouse. $

KING BUFFET 1801 Priority Way, 266-8886. Another in the growing niche of glitzy Chinese chromeand-plastic buffets, King Buffet offers a standard selection of all-you-can-eat dishes, with a few sushi items. $

WOK EXPRESS 234 W. Broadway, 583-8988. This corner spot has housed a variety of restaurants over the years. The latest tenant isn’t the fanciest, but it might be one of the most affordable. $

KING WOK 291 N. Hubbards Ln., 899-7188. Another of the city’s many tiny shopping-center fast-food Chinese eateries, King Wok offers all the familiar standards plus a small lunch buffet. $

WONTON EXPRESS 3000 Hikes Ln., 452-2646; 5800 Preston Hwy., 961-9018. Traditional Chinese fare. Family-owned-and-operated, this popular neighborhood establishment has enjoyed a steady patronage for seventeen years. $

FUJI JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE 3576 Springhurst Blvd., 339-1978. Part of the fun of sitting at the sushi bar is that you get to watch the chef at work. Put in your order, then sit back, sip your tea while the artist creates edible delights. This suburban sushi bar does the job well. $$ p

YANG KEE NOODLE 7900 Shelbyville Rd., (Oxmoor Center), 426-0800. This brand-new Oxmoor spot is colorful and stylish. It offers an intriguing array of appealing noodle and rice

KOBE STEAK HOUSE 301 S. Indiana Ave., Jeffersonville IN, 280-8500. Southern Indiana’s first serious Japanese restaurant is drawing crowds with its exceptional sushi bar, with skilled

LUCKY DRAGON 809 S. KY Hwy 53, Lagrange, KY, 222-1568. The pastoral setting of Oldham County surrounding the Day’s Inn Motel isn’t where you’d expect to find elegant Mandarin style dining but prepare to be surprised. Guests in the mid-south are treated to Far East hospitality and a consistently creative menu. $ LUCKY HOUSE BUFFET 4030 Taylorsville Rd., 4591188. A fresh idea on Asian dining, this generous and creative buffet serves all the menu classics from China as well as some Japanese and American entrees. $$ MANCHU WOK 7900 Shelbyville Rd., (Oxmoor Shopping Center), 429-8207. $ NEW WORLD BUFFET 9228 Westport Rd., 4231788. I rate this one of the city’s best (if not quite the biggest) all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, not only because it offers a good selection of Chinese dishes but, more important, because it shows a consistent commitment to quality. $ ONION RESTAURANT TEA HOUSE 4211 Charlestown Rd., New Albany, IN, 981-0188. Masterful Chinese and Japanese cuisine (including magnificent hotpots, donburi dishes, and wooden-bucket steamed rice) set this airy restaurant apart from the dozens of other Asian spots in the Louisville area.

Beer and wine are available. $$ ORIENTAL EXPRESS 12567 Shelbyville Rd., 2449838. This new spot in Middletown stands a cut above its shopping-center status in its atmosphere, and maybe two cuts above the median in its food, a smorgasbord of both Chinese and Japanese fare that is good enough to justify a special trip. $ ORIENTAL HOUSE 4302 Shelbyville Rd., 897-1017.

One of the oldest continuously operated Chinese restaurants in Louisville, this St. Matthews landmark still does a fine job with the old Cantonese-American standards that we, our parents and our grandparents enjoyed. $ p

Come savor Chef Looi’s wildly successful exotic Pacific Rim fusion.

ORIENTAL STAR 4212 Bishop Ln., 452-9898. A longtime area favorite in this heavy traffic lunch area.

This establishment is quite good with Lo Mein Noodles, and Sweet and Sour Chicken. $ PANDA CHINESE RESTAURANT 9543 US 42., 2286400. $ PEKING CITY 3571 Springhurst Blvd., 425-0188. The regular menu features Chinese-restaurant standards and does them very well. But if you’re a foodie with a yen for the exotic, ask about the authentic Taiwanese menu—an intriguing regional cuisine new to Louisville. $ QUICK WOK 801 W. Broadway, 584-6519. $ SESAME CHINESE RESTAURANT 9409 Shelbyville Rd., 339-7000. Not just another shopping-center Chinese restaurant, this East End eatery has provided some of the best fine-dining Chinese meals I’ve enjoyed in Louisville. $$ p

New Location Featuring LOUNGE A and Late Night Menu 1767 Bardstown Rd.

502.451.2749 SUN. - WED. 5:30 - 10:30 P.M. THU. - SAT. 5:30 P.M. - 2:00 A.M. www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 81

and friendly chefs who can be relied on to fashion fresh and tasty bites that are just about certain to please. $$$ p

Vietnam Kitchen

1 6 0 5 S T O R Y AV E N U E

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•

595-7222

N G O CIN DS! N A D KEN WEE

MAIDO ESSENTIAL JAPANESE 1758 Frankfort Ave., 894-8775. Not just another sushi bar, Maido is Louisville’s first and only “izayaka”-style restaurant in the style of Kansai, the region surrounding Japan’s second city, Osaka. It’s also a sake bar, pouring a good variety of artisanal rice wine. New in Clifton, it’s cool and stylish, already a favorite. $$ f OSAKA SUSHI BAR 2039 Frankfort Ave., 894-9501.

This bright and cheery new Japanese restaurant and sushi bar is named after Japan’s second largest city and the home of one of its most historic samurai castles. Sushi Chef James Lae presides, and that’s a good thing: a first-rate sushi chef, his welcoming presence and excellent English makes diners feel at home. $$ SAKURA BLUE 4600 Shelbyville Rd., 897-3600.

Located in elegant, upscale quarters in a St. Matthews shopping center, Sakura Blue—the new incarnation of the popular, now closed Bonsai— ranks among the city’s top sushi bars. $$ SAMURAI JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE 1510 Lake Shore Ct., 412-3339. Benihana has moved on after some 20 years in this Plainview lakeside landmark with its blue tile roof. But its successor, Samurai, appears to provide a very similar dining experience, featuring slice-and-dice chefs at grill tables, JapaneseAmerican standards and sushi. $$$ p

5339 Mitscher Ave. • Louisville, KY I-264 at Exit #10 • Block 5300 S. 3rd St. Iroquois Manor Shopping Center

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D I N E I N O R TA K E O U T Monday - Thursday 11am - 10pm Friday - Saturday 11am - 11pm Sunday - Closed

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Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Closed Wednesday

JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE • SEAFOOD • SUSHI • HIBACHI

SAPPORO JAPANESE GRILL & SUSHI 12905 Shelbyville Rd., 253-0036, 1706 Bardstown Rd., 479-5550. Trendy, even glitzy, with hard-edged industrial decor—and most important, excellent food—Sapporo ranks in my ratings as the city’s No. 1 spot for sushi and Japanese fare. $$$ p SHOGUN JAPANESE STEAK HOUSE 9026 Taylorsville Rd., 499-5700, 4110 Hampton Lake Way, 394-0123. Shogun’s decor is attractive, and quality food and service make it a pleasant dining destination. It’s unthreatening enough to appeal to those who find exotic cuisine “challenging,” but good enough to satisfy just about anyone who craves a Japanese dinner or a bite of sushi. $$$ p TOKYO JAPANESE RESTAURANT 2415C Lime Kiln Ln., 339-7171. It’s appealing, pleasant in atmosphere and friendly in service, and most important, this East End sushi bar serves excellent Japanese treats, prepared with care and flair from high-quality, impeccably fresh ingredients. $$

ASIAN/KOREAN LUNCH:

ARIRANG 4160 Bardstown Rd., 495-1004. The sign out front indicates (in English) that it’s both a Japanese sushi bar and a Korean BBQ, and a couple of lines of Korean lettering presumably say the same. More elegant than the industrial-style exterior suggests, this is a worthy stop for a fine Asian meal. $$

Mon - Fri 11 am - 2 pm

S. Indiana Ave.

DINNER:

131 Downtown Jeffersonville

31 Exit 0

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65 River Rd. Main St. Downtown Louisville

ver o Ri O hi 301 S. Indiana Ave. Jeffersonville, IN

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Mon - Sat 5 pm - 10 pm Sunday 1 pm - 9 pm 301 S. INDIANA AVE. JEFFERSONVILLE, IN (I-65 North to Exit 0) ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

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KIM’S ASIAN GRILLE 813 E. Market St., 595-7025.

This lovable little Korean and Pan-Asian eatery is back where it started on a gritty urban block east of downtown. Despite its downscale look, you won’t want to miss its extensive selection of Korean and Japanese favorites. $$ f KOREANA II 5009 Preston Hwy., 968-9686. One of the city’s few restaurants devoted entirely to authentic Korean fare, Koreana is worth a special trip for this ethnic cuisine that offers a hearty, spicy alternative to the more familiar Chinese. $$ LEE’S KOREAN RESTAURANT 1941 Bishop Ln., 4569714. This little spot has been a secret since the ‘70s, and it just keeps on going. Walk into what looks like a diner in an office building, but push past the counter to the back room, where you’ll find generous heaps of really authentic Korean food for next to nothing. $$

ASIAN/THAI MAI’S THAI RESTAURANT 1411 E. Tenth St., Jeffersonville, IN, 282-0198. $ SALA THAI 9114 Taylorsville Rd., (Stony Brook Shopping Center), 493-3944. Fine and fancy, Sala Thai offers Louisville an upscale Thai alternative, presenting ethnic fare in a stylish setting that places it among the best of the city’s growing cadre of Thai eateries. $$ p THAI CAFÉ 2226 Holiday Manor, 425-4815. You’ll find this small café tucked into a corner of the “Holiday Manor Walk.” Owner Chavantee Snow and her family offer a small but well-prepared selection of authentic Thai dishes at very reasonable prices. $ THAI KITCHEN 5203 Dixie Highway, 448-4710. The historic House of Chen, one of the city’s first and longest-lived Chinese restaurants, is no more, but you can still get its famous egg rolls and other Chinese specialties—and Thai goodies too—under new management that has brought the Dixie corridor its first local taste of Thai. $ THAI-SIAM 3002 Bardstown Rd., 458-6871. Thai food—a fiery-aromatic cuisine that perches somewhere between China and India on the world culinary spectrum—is worth getting to know. This Highlands spot is Louisville’s first and oldest Thai eatery. $$ THAI SMILE 4 1983 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 495-2022.

We now have more Thai restaurants in the metropolitan area than French, German and Greek put together, and that’s good news. Food quality, selection and service in an attractive atmosphere place Thai Smile 4 near the top of the Thai batting order. $ THAI TASTE 1977 Brownsboro Rd., 897-7682. The owner-host of this friendly, casual spot in Crescent Hill had a restaurant in Bangkok before moving to Louisville, and his experience shows.

The warmth of his welcome—and the quality of the food—make Thai Taste special. $

ASIAN/VIETNAMESE ANNIE CAFÉ 308 W. Woodlawn, 363-4847. Annie Café ranks not just as one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants, but one the city’s best of any variety, particularly when value and price are taken into account. Authentic Vietnamese food is made with care and served with pride. $ CAFÉ MIMOSA 1216 Bardstown Rd., 458-2233.

Dating back to the ‘80s as the city’s first serious restaurant in the French-Vietnamese tradition, its current management still offers a short selection of good Vietnamese food plus Chinese-American fare, as well as one of the city’s more interesting sushi bars. $ p LEMONGRASS CAFÉ 1019 Bardstown Rd., 238-3981.

It’s a pleasure to welcome a new Southeast Asian restaurant to Bardstown Road’s Restaurant Row. Lemongrass Café offers an appealing blend of Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese fare in a simple setting that transcends an obvious low budget with style and grace. $ LITTLE SAIGON 3598 Springhurst Blvd., 425-4351.

Louisville’s Vietnamese restaurant community, no longer limited to the ethnic South End, now boasts a modern, stylish outpost in the Eastern suburbs. Quality, authentic Vietnamese dishes at moderate prices burnish its allure. $ VIETNAM KITCHEN 5339 Mitscher Ave., 363-5154.

This little South End storefront is well worth seeking out. The chef goes beyond the ordinary, preparing authentic Vietnamese dishes of unusual subtlety and flavor. I have yet to be disappointed with the quality of the food or service. $ ZEN GARDEN 2240 Frankfort Ave., 895-9114. A vegetarian restaurant must pass one simple test:

at the end of the meal, I must not miss meat. Zen Garden passes this test with flying wok and chopsticks. $ f

EUROPEAN/BOSNIAN BEHAR CAFÉ 5600 National Turnpike, 368-5658.

This shopping-center storefront has become a popular after-work gathering spot for the city’s growing community of immigrants from Bosnia, for whom it’s a comfortable place to get a drink, a sausage, and feel at home. $ DJULI 5312 S. Third St., 368-5199. Bosnian fare is the specialty in this tiny new spot in the increasingly international culinary smorgasbord at Iroquois Manor shopping center. Bosnian immigrants appear to be the primary clientele, but everyone’s welcome to discover this hearty Yugoslavian cuisine. $ NERMANA’S CUISINE 2250 Frankfort Ave., 721-8998.

One of the city’s more recent Bosnian arrivals has gained wide popularity for its fine fare and excellent service. This family operation in a small, cozy and inviting old frame house in Crescent Hill offers a recently expanded menu that provides a good sampling of hearty and warming Bosnian cuisine. $ f e PAPILLON GRILL & BAR 1616 Grinstead Dr., 562-0058.

This friendly little Eastern European spot is run by Bosnian immigrants who offer tasty fare and casual elegance in a serious effort to become the city’s first white-tablecloth example of fine Balkan cuisine. $$ p RUFAD’S KEBOB 1613 Bardstown Rd., 479-9796.

Arslan Redsepovic—a refugee and restaurateur from the former Yugoslavian countries BosniaHerzegovina and Montenegro—introduces us to the delights of Bosnia’s cuisine at a fair price. $ f SARAJEVO CAFÉ & RESTAURANT 325 Old Bardstown Rd., 456-1919. In the running for tiniest restaurant in town, this four-table spot is more

beer bar than eatery, but the meat-based ethnicBosnian goodies like bureks (turnovers) and cevapi (beef sausages) are excellent. If you can get in when they’re grilling a whole baby lamb over coals, it’s an experience not to miss. $

EUROPEAN/ENGLISH SIR CHURCHILL’S ENGLISH PUB & EATERY 10317 Watterson Trail, 297-8600. This welcoming spot in Jeffersontown offers a thoroughly British feeling enhanced by “pub grub” and a tasty selection of beers and ales from the British Isles. It’s a mighty pleasant place to quaff a cool pint and enjoy a plate of fish and chips. $$ p f e

EUROPEAN/GERMAN ERIKA’S GERMAN RESTUARANT 9301 N. Hurstbourne Pkwy. 499-8822. For a city with a strong German heritage, Louisville is woefully short on authentic German restaurants, so we’re glad to see this little spot move from Simpsonville to Hurstbourne this spring. Take care not to miss its former fast-food quarters just off the “Local Access” ramp from I-64. $$ GASTHAUS 4812 Brownsboro Center, 899-7177. The Greipel family comes straight from Bavaria to Eastern Louisville with Gasthaus, a destination for local lovers of Germanic fare. The setting has as authentic a feeling as the hearty and delicious German dishes here. $$$

EUROPEAN/GREEK GREEK PARADISE CAFÉ 1605 Story Ave., 595-7222.

The Greek Paradise, a Greek restaurant good enough to lure hungry diners from Louisville out to its former location near Fort Knox, is now established in Butchertown. Come to dine? Stay to party! Weekends have a zest for the wild side

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www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 83

with belly dancing, guests dancing on the bar, even the ritual of plate-breaking. $ p e NIK’S RESTAURANT 1915 Blankenbaker Pkwy., 2611450. Nik’s is a very welcome new addition to the Far East End. The menu is “Continental dining with a Mediterranean flair” and offers both standard American fare and Mediterranean specialties with a distinct Greek-American accent that reflects the owners’ heritage. $$ e

EUROPEAN/IRISH IRISH ROVER 2319 Frankfort Ave., 899-3544. A warm and welcoming pub with an authentic Irish accent, this is a delightful place for a tall glass of Guinness, a snack and a bit of Irish music. I recommend the fish and chips. $ p f MOLLY MALONE’S 933 Baxter Ave., 473-1222. A carefully constructed replica of a modern urban Irish pub, Molly Malone’s is worthy addition to the city’s eating and drinking scene, as authentically Irish as the Wearin’ o’ the Green. $$ p f e O’SHEA’S TRADITIONAL IRISH PUB 956 Baxter Ave., 589-7373. A steady schedule of music, and an assortment of beers may be traditionally Irish, but the food here is mainstream American pub grub, from the cheesy fries to the Rueben sandwich.

Wait, the menu also includes fish and chips—but what about that Portabello mushroom sandwich?

Is that Celtic? Who cares? It’s a fine, comfortable pub with quick, friendly service. $$ p f e

EUROPEAN/ITALIAN ABRUZZI 1500 Evergreen Rd., 245-7121. Judged on atmosphere alone, Abruzzi may be one of the most pleasant dining venues in the metropolitan area. Its large plate-glass windows virtually bring its parklike setting in Anchorage indoors. You’ll enjoy excellent service and Italian-American fare. $$$ p f e

ALLO SPIEDO 2309 Frankfort Ave., 895-4878. This little rosticceria and pizzeria features Italian delistyle cuisine, with spit-roasted goodies, woodoven pizzas and lusty country sandwiches on foccacia or ciabatta bread. It’s an Italian landmark on busy Frankfort Avenue. $$ f BRICK OVEN ITALIAN EATERY 9910 Linn Station Rd., 425-4310. There’s nothing that tastes and smells as good as Northern Italian cuisine as it comes out of a brick oven. The cutting board is a blur with sandwiches, salads and appetizers and the wine is red and dry. $ BUCA DI BEPPO 2051 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 4932426. Buca di Beppo’s recipe has all the necessary ingredients: huge portions of excellent food served with flair and the Buca scene is fun, a conscious parody of the exuberant decor of family ItalianAmerican restaurants of the 1950s. $$ p CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL 617 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 412-2218. Carrabba’s isn’t your ordinary suburban shopping-center franchise eatery. This place dramatically exceeds expectations. From warmed bread dishes with quality olive oil to first-rate ItalianAmerican fare at reasonable prices. $$ p f COME BACK INN 909 Swan St., 627-1777, 415 Spring St., Jeffersonville IN, 285-1777. With both its branches located in urban neighborhoods, Come Back Inn looks pretty much like any other neighborhood saloon. But unlike most Louisville neighborhood saloons, this one houses a family Italian spot that wouldn’t be out of place in Chicago or Brooklyn. $ p FERD GRISANTI 10212 Taylorsville Rd., 267-0050. An East End landmark for 30 years, Ferd Grisanti’s is as comfortable as a close friend’s home. Friendly and unpretentious hospitality, the quiet but not staid atmosphere, and the fine Italian food prompts the comment, “They do everything so well, and they make it look so easy.” $$$ p

LENTINI’S 1543 Bardstown Rd., 459-3020. The more things change, the more they stay the same, and happily for hungry Louisvillians, this old saying holds true at Lentini’s. Gone is the odd shotgun marriage of Italian and Vietnamese dishes offered briefly here. Once again Lentini’s is all-Italian, all of the time, with old family recipes, authentically prepared and served with style in a classic Italianeatery setting, plus a first-rate Italian wine list with many selections available by the glass. $$ p LUCHESSI’S RAVIOLI & PASTA CO. 2225 Holiday Manor, 719-0060. This new Holiday Manor storefront was open for deli service at press time, with a small dining room poised to open shortly. The first expansion here of a popular Nashville chain, it features ready-to-microwave Italian-style fare. $ LUIGI’S 702 W. Main St., 589-0005, 568 S. Fourth St., 561-8088. If you think one pizza is pretty much like another, you may not have sampled New York City-style pizza, a treat that you’ll find on just about every street corner there, but only Luigi’s offers in its authentic form in the Derby City. $ f MARTINI ITALIAN BISTRO 4021 Summit Plaza Dr., 3949797. The American-accented Italian fare at this Ohio-based chain might be a little closer to Bayonne, New Jersey than Florence, but it’s good, featuring a short but diverse selection of hearty pastas, pizzas and Italian-style entrees. Martini’s quality has quickly built a loyal crowd of regulars. $$ p f MELILLO’S 829 E. Market St., 540-9975. Sharing space with the brand-new Felice Vineyards, the new Melillo’s—recently moved from its tiny original quarters on Brownsboro Road to this more impressive facility—continues to offer hearty and delicious home-style Italian-American fare ... and now you can enjoy it with a glass of vino. $ p f MEZZALUNA TUSCAN GRILL 1381 Bardstown Rd., 459-6300. Replacing the popular Alameda Southwestern Grill under the same management but with a new look, Mezzaluna makes a

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geographical and culinary shift from the California scene to trendy Tuscany. It still boasts a comfortable, welcoming, upscale-neighborhoodeatery atmosphere. $$ p f OLD SPAGHETTI FACTORY 235 W. Market St., 5811070. One of the original ventures of a national firm that places its properties in renovated urban buildings, this favorite lights up the historic Levy Brothers’ department store. Bright and noisy, it offers well-made if basic Italian family fare and dishes it out for surprisingly low prices. $$ p THE OLIVE GARDEN 1320 Hurstbourne Pkwy., 3397190. Olive Garden is best known for hearty pastas of all shapes and sauces for all tastes.

Combo platters, and tempting appetizers with extra garlic, and good service keep Olive Garden’s clientele growing. $$ p PESTO’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT 566 S. Fifth St., 584-0567. Offices for blocks around empty into this bustling Italian eatery during the week for bubbling platters of lasagna, zesty salads, red wine and iced tea. On Saturdays, the kitchen magically changes and a very special Persian menu is offered. $ PORCINI 2730 Frankfort Ave., 894-8686. There is a lot to like about this cozy Italian spot in Crescent Hill. The menu ranges from Northern Italy to Sicily and Naples and maybe Chicago; it’s more upscale than your red-sauce spaghetti houses, and at its best it’s outstanding. $$$ p RAY PARRELLA’S ITALIAN CUISINE 2311 Frankfort Ave., 899-5575. Old-fashioned Italian-American family fare is served up with a warm and casual welcome at Ray Parella’s, the latest venture of a family that’s been pleasing locals for a generation. $ f ROCKY’S ITALIAN GRILL 715 W. Riverside Dr., Je ffersonville IN, 282-3844. This longtime Southern Indiana favorite earns its popularity with fine pizzas, excellent bottled beer list and limited

R E S T A U R A N T

selection of Italian-American entrees. Its new riverside location adds a great view. $ p f ROMANO’S MACARONI GRILL 401 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 423-9220. Antipasti to Pollame, Insalata to Pesce—the folks at this delightful and spacious restaurant, grill and deli take their Italian cuisine seriously. Menu includes authentic appetizers, salads, pastas, veal and desserts. Charismatic chefs entertain while creating wood-fried pizzas in the California style kitchen. $$ p SPAGHETTI SHOP 4657 Outer Loop, 969-5545, 2669 Charlestown Rd., New Albany, IN, 9445400. Baked pasta dishes, subs, salads and appetizers—prepared fresh and fast with all the spice, sauce and cheeses you desire. $ WILLIE’S ITALIAN 8533 Terry Rd., 933-1080. $

INDIAN ANNAPURNA’S VEGGIE PLACE 9904 Linn Station Rd., 412-5579. I love the elusive, aromatic flavors that infuse the many cuisines of India. As diverse as all of European cookery and even more complex, Indian food is well worth discovering— and the all-vegetarian selection at Annapurna’s Veggie Place is a great place to begin. $ BOMBAY INTERNATIONAL MARKET 1591 Bardstown Rd., 473-2077. The familiar landmark building that used to house the Bonnycastle Pharmacy has turned into an ethnic convenience store. Its allyou-can-eat Indian buffet may be the cheapest lunch you’ll find in the neighborhood. $ f e

Experience Vincenzo’s Elegant & Affordable

INDIA PALACE 9424 Shelbyville Rd., 394-0490. This longtime local Indian restaurant has moved from Bardstown Road to this exotic-looking East End building that has housed a string of well-known eateries, from the Near Eastern Xanadu to the once-famous New Orleans House to, most recently, a branch of the local El Nopal chain. $$ f

Maharaja

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1820 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy.

2901 Brownsboro Rd.

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493-8899

721-7200

Former Shariat’s

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www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 85

KASHMIR INDIAN RESTAURANT 1285 Bardstown Rd., 473-8765. One of the city’s most popular Indian restaurants, Kashmir is casual, neither posh nor expensive, and it produces an extensive menu of seemingly authentic Indian fare. $$ f

cuisine, offering well-prepared treats from Africa, the Caribbean and Black America ranging from fiery Ethiopian wots (meat barbecue) to spicy Jamaican jerk cuisine to the comforting soul food of the American South. $ p f

MAHARAJA INDIAN RESTAURANT 2901 Brownsboro Rd., 721-7200. Back in the late 1980s, an upscale Indian restaurant featuring the cuisine of the Moghuls, India’s royalty, led a short life in this rather exotic looking building. It was soon replaced

by Shariat’s, which enjoyed a long run but, sadly, closed recently. Now the building is going back to its original roots, with upscale Indian fare to be served again, this time managed by the folks who run Shalimar. $$ p

CHEZ SENEBA AFRICAN RESTAURANT 1215 Gilmore Ln., 968-8659. Add yet another interesting ethnic cuisine to Louisville’s increasingly international dining scene. Friendly folks serve generous portions of filling, spicy Senegalese cuisine from West Africa in this tiny (three-table) free-standing building at Gilmore and Preston Highway. $

SHALIMAR INDIAN RESTAURANT 1820 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 493-8899. Modern and sleek in appearance, modest in price, this Indian restaurant has become the patriarch of local Indian restaurants. With a substantial lunch buffet and a full range of Indian dinner items, it has built a loyal clientele. $ p

INTERNATIONAL ABYSSINIA 3220 Frankfort Ave., 897-1706. Abyssinia is Louisville’s first and only Ethiopian restaurant, staffed by friendly Ethiopian servers and chefs and serving up a reasonably authentic version of this spicy East African cuisine. Eat with your fingers as the Ethiopians do, and enjoy! $$ p f e BAHAMA BREEZE 104 Oxmoor Court, 423-9040. It’s a long way from Oxmoor Center to the Florida Keys, but this chain-operated eatery does a good job of bridging the gap, offering a happy beachjoint experience without the ocean view. Bahama Breeze is stylish and upscale, with a good selection of island fare and a great bar. $$ p f e CAFÉ KILIMANJARO 649 S. Fourth St., 583-4332.

Café Kilimanjaro showcases Black-heritage

GAVI’S RESTAURANT 222 S. Seventh St., 583-8183.

Family-owned-and-operated, this dining institution of 21 years serves us Russian/American cuisine with loving care. Daily lunch specials include seven to ten fresh vegetable selections, along with homemade borsht and potato soups, beef stroganoff, baked fish and desserts. $ LA BODEGA Recently opened as a next-door adjunct to the excellent De La Torre’s Spanish restaurant, La Bodega offers diners the city’s most authentic Spanish-style tapas bar, featuring the small bites originally invented in the outdoor cafés of Jerez to provide an edible lid for your glass of Sherry. $$ p f MANOOSH’S 558 S. Fifth St., 584-0004. At lunch time, Manoosh’s is an above average downtown eatery, featuring sandwiches and casual American-style deli fare. Come back for dinner, though, and you’ll find owner-chef Manoosh Khosrowshahi turning out an exotic mix of Italian, Greek, Mexican and American dishes, plus Iranian goodies from his native Azerbaijan. $ f

LATIN AMERICAN/MEXICAN A LA FIESTA BAR & GRILL 914 Eastern Blvd.

Clarksville, IN. 284-2300. If you enjoy exploring the world’s cuisines and discovering new food

experiences as much as I do, you’ll want to head for A la Fiesta, where you can enjoy dishes from just about every Latin culture from Acapulco to Tierra del Fuego. $ p f e BAJA FRESH MEXICAN GRILL 1255 Bardstown Rd., 657-6000. A “concept” of the Wendy’s corporation, franchised in Louisville by former U of L hoops star Junior Bridgeman, Baja Fresh is creating a real buzz since its glittery new fastfood operation opened on Bardstown. I give it high-fives for variety, including Baja-style tacos, and “lifestyle” choices including low-fat items and several “high protein” selections for Atkins dieters. $ f BAZO’S FRESH MEXICAN GRILL 323 Wallace Ave., 899-9600. Bazo’s Fresh Mexican Grill (formerly Baja Grill) has moved into the former quarters of Thatsa Wrapp, but the good news stays the same: this inexpensive, casual spot offers the best fish tacos this side of San Diego as the highlight of its simple fast-food Mexican fare. $ f DON PABLOS MEXICAN KITCHEN 615 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 425-8780, 940 E. IN 131, Clarksville, IN, 284-1071. Authentic Mexican entrees and appetizers, and a full bar with blenders buzzing. Sizzling fajitas with portabello mushroom, beef or chicken, and crisp salads tossed in a fajita shell create a unique garden on the table. Whatever you’re hungry for, they’ve got the whole enchilada. $$ p EL CAPORAL 7319 Preston Hwy., 969-9693, 2209 Meadow Dr., 473-7840, 1901 Blankenbaker Pkwy., 515 E. Highway 131, Clarksville, IN, 282-7174.

Louisville’s growing Mexican-American community has fostered a happy trend: excellent, authentic Mexican food. El Caporal bridges the gap between the Latino and Anglo communities. $ p EL MUNDO 2345 Frankfort Ave., 899-9930. This crowded, noisy little Crescent Hill storefront offers creative renditions of Mexican regional specialties

India Palace Fine Indian Cuisine You’ll feel as if you have stepped into the exotic Far East.

E T H N I C R E S TA U R A N T

Enjoy Tandoori (Bar-B-Q) Chicken, Lamb, Seafood...Curries, Rice, Freshly Baked Breads and more.

All you can eat Daily Luncheon Buffet Extensive A’la Cart Dinner Menu Cater for Parties Lunch: Mon. – Sat. 11:00a–2:30p Sunday 12:00p–3:00p Dinner: Mon. – Thur. 5:00p–10:00p Fri. and Sat. 5:00p–10:30p Sunday 5:00p–9:00p

Enjoy the fine taste and delicate flavor of cuisine from Azerbaijan, and from around the world.

Wines from Australia, Greece, Turkey, Italy, and many more.

Specials of the House include: Kabob Ghafgazi & Kabob Soltani (Azeri Cuisine)

Manoosh’s Favorite (Vegetarian)

Chicken Cordon Bleu Wrap (Mexican Cuisine) 9424 Shelbyville Road Louisville, KY 40222 (502) 394-0490 www.indiapalaceky.com 86 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

Gyro (Greek Cuisine) Grilled Salmon (International Cuisine)

Manoosh Khosrowshahi, Owner Lunch Served: Monday – Friday, 10:30am – 3pm Dinner Served: Thursday, 5pm – 9pm Friday & Saturday, 5pm – 10:30pm 558 W. Fifth Street • Louisville, KY (502) 584-0004

that make most diners want to yell “Olé!” The setting may lack the trendy flair of Rick Bayless’s Frontera Grill in Chicago, but the fare mines a similar vein and does so nearly as well. $ p f EL NOPAL 9473 Westport Rd., 327-6551, 11336 Preston Hwy., 961-9851. Associated with the same family that runs the smaller El Nopalito, (or “the little cactus”), El Nopal (“the cactus”) offers similar delicious, authentic and inexpensive Mexican fare in somewhat larger and more comfortable surroundings. $ p f EL NOPALITO 4028 Taylorsville Rd., 458-7278, 6300 Bardstown Rd., 231-4249, 2319 Brownsboro Rd., 893-9880. This modest little eatery used to be a Taco Bell, but you’ll never find comidas like this at the Bell! Run by a family from Mexico, it’s truly authentic and delicious. $ p f EL PARAISO 6201 Preston Hwy., 968-4873. On weekend nights, it’s one of the hottest Latino spots in town, attracting Louisville’s Hispanic community (and Anglos, too) for music and dancing. It’s less frenzied by day, but if you like excellent Mexican food and don’t mind a bargain, it’s well worth making the trip. $ p EL REY MEXICAN RESTAURANT 2918 Hikes Ln., 454-6520. Although it’s more Mexican-American than hard-core ethnic Mexican, El Rey earns my recommendation for tasty fare, cordial service in a pleasant fast-Mexican-food environment, and affordable prices. $ f EL RODEO MEXICAN RESTAURANT 9070 Dixie Hwy., 995-8722. At El Rodeo, you’ll find a blend of Tex-Mex and other Latin American classics from salty margaritas to sweet sopapillas. $$ EL TARASCO 5425 New Cut Rd., 368-5628, 110 Fairfax Ave., 895-8010. Add El Tarasco to the happy new genre of restaurants run by Latinos and offering authentic Mexican food and atmosphere, but that reach out to Anglos and make it easy to enjoy a South-of-the-Border culinary adventure without compromise. $ p e ERNESTO’S 10602 Shelbyville Rd., 244-8889, 6201 Dutchmans Ln., 893-9297, 7707 Preston Hwy., 962-5380, 700 Riverside Dr., Clarksville, IN, 2800032. One of the first of the more authentic locally-owned Mexican restaurant groups, Ernesto’s remains consistently reliable. From the crispy home-fried chips to filling Mexican main courses and tasty desserts, it’s a worthy destination for good Mexican food and excellent value in an enjoyable atmosphere. $ p f e JALAPEÑO’S 4430 Dixie Hwy., 448-5678.

Jalapeño’s (Louisville’s first outpost of a Lexington-based mini-chain) is owned and operated by folks of Mexican heritage, but its fare and its flair make it comfortable for wary “gringos” in search of a mellow Margarita and mild, familiar Mexican food. $$ p e JICAMA GRILL 1538 Bardstown Rd., 454-4383.

Popular, youngish chef Anthony Lamas shares the culinary fruits of his Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage with delighted diners in this perennially trendy Nuevo Latino spot, specializing in South American goodies but ranging northward to a taste of Cuba and a hint of Mexico. $$$ p f KY TACO 6911 Shepherdsville Rd., 962-8526.

Traditional Mexican fare from the Ramirez family. $ LA BAMBA 1237 Bardstown Rd., 451-1418. La Bamba boasts of its “burritos as big as your head.” It may be Louisville’s most startling case of an eatery that is more than it appears to be, and that goes for both quality and quantity. Franchised and fastfoodish, it pleasantly suprises with genuine Mexican fare and Latino flair. $ LA HERRADURA 615 Eastern Blvd., Clarksville, IN., 280-8650. Is it possible to enjoy truly authentic tacqueria cuisine when the management speaks mostly Spanish and you speak only English? These

friendly folks make it simple: a handy bi-lingual menu and a smiling staff make you feel at home.$ LA MARIMBA 5412 Del Maria Way, 493-0201. $ LA TAPATIA RESTAURANT 8106 Preston Hwy., 9619153. One of the most authentic ethnic Mexican restaurants in Louisville, this little storefront offers memorable tacos and burritos and more. You might run into a slight language barrier, but don’t be shy—Anglos are welcome here, and the staff is used to working through language differences. $ p LOLITA’S TACOS 4222 Poplar Level Rd., 459-4356.

This tiny place may look like a fast-food joint, but the food is about as authentic Mexican as you’ll find. Crisp or soft tacos and burritos the size of paper-towel rolls turn a meal here into a real bargain. $ f LOS AZTECAS 530 W. Main St., 561-8535, 1107 Herr Ln., 426-3994, 9606 Taylorsville Rd., 297-8003, 9207 U.S. Hwy 42, 228-2450. Authentic Mexican cuisine has become a viable option in Louisville, thanks to a growing immigrant community. With fresh bar and blender offerings, creative appetizers and comfortable seating, Los Aztecas is one of the best, with tasty Mexican dishes good enough to lure us back again and again. $ p LOS INDIOS RESTAURANTE MEXICANO 2743 Charlestown Rd., New Albany, IN, 941-9770, 730 Highlander Point Dr., Floyds Knobs, IN, 923-2929.

“Why have Tex-Mex when you can have MexMex?” is asked in fun on the servers’ T-shirts. This eatery is well worth the trip to Southern Indiana for high-quality Mexican dishes. $ p MAMA ROSA 4157 Bardstown Rd., 671-7025, 3061 Breckenridge Ln., 485-1811. Located in a shoppingcenter building that formerly housed another fastfood restaurant, Mama Rosa offers Mexican standards and a few more exotic Peruvian dishes. $ p f

“The Best Mexican Food & Margaritas in Louisville” Monday-Thursday 11am-10pm Friday 11am-11pm Saturday Noon-11pm Sunday Noon-9pm

CLUB SALSA Friday & Saturday 10:30pm-4am 530 W. Main St. – 2nd Floor Los Aztecas Mexican Restaurant 502.561.8535

MAMBO CUBAN CUISINE 5309 Mitscher Ave., 3631160. Authentic island fare and very friendly service (plus live music many evenings) make this goodsize, stylish South End room the city’s place to go when you’re in the mood for Cuban cuisine. $$ p e MAYAN GYPSY 624 E. Market St., 583-3300. It may have evolved from a mobile taco van, but Bruce Ucán’s high-style Yucatan and tropical Mexican cooking shows his creative genius in the kitchen: subtle and complex, sometimes spicy but never fiery, it is fully competitive in quality with the city’s best restaurants. $$$ f MEXICO TIPICO RESTAURANT 6517 Dixie Hwy., 933-9523. It’s a bit of a trip out to Pleasure Ridge Park for those who don’t live nearby, but this little neighborhood restaurant, one of the city’s longerestablished Mexican spots, offers good and authentic dishes. $ p e MOE’S SOUTHWEST GRILL 2001 S. Hurstbourne Pkwy., 491-1800. “Welcome to Moe’s!” rings the merry shout of staff whenever anyone walks in the door. The food may be more fast-food Mexican-American than authentic South-of-theBorder fare, but it is freshly made from quality ingredients and comes in oversize portions, and that’s not a bad thing. $ ON THE BORDER 10601 Fischer Park Dr., 412-2461.

From the folks who brought you Chili’s and the Macaroni Grill, this contemporary spin on traditional favorites is the spice of life, from the Ultimate Fajita to their popular margaritas. Old Mexico décor with a flash of neon compliments the spacious dining area. $$ p f QDOBA MEXICAN GRILL 1500 Bardstown Rd., 4543380, 970 Breckinridge Ln., 721-8100, 4059 Summit Plaza Drive, 429-5151, 100 Daventry Ln., 412-6202, 4302 Charlestown Rd., New Albany IN, 941-9654. This chain operation boasts five local outlets plus more in Lexington and Frankfort. Fastfoodish in style, Qdoba edges out its competitors on the basis of variety and interesting salsas, plus sizable portions at a price you can afford. $ f

LOS AZTECAS M E X I C A N R ESTAU R A N T www.losaztecasinc.com 4 LOUISVILLE LOCATIONS:

530 W. Main St.

502.561.8535

9207 U.S. Hwy. 42

502.228.2450

9606 Taylorsville Rd.

502.297.8003

1107 Herr Ln.

502.426.3994

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 87

RINCON LATINO 2840 Goose Creek Rd., 425-4548.

Truly authentic and ridiculously inexpensive fare attracts a largely Spanish-speaking clientele. This little spot offers one of the East End’s most appetizing Mexican options. $

Louisville, a surprising number for a city our size.

A good variety of affordable dishes offers a tasty sampling of Persian delicacies, including a variety of skewered kabob dishes and the rich Persian stew called Khoresht. $ f

SANTA FE GRILL 3000 S. Third St., 634-3722. This tiny eatery in a century-old red-brick South End storefront near Churchill Downs never fails to satisfy with genuine Mexican tacos and other simple fare at prices that will leave you plenty of change for an exacta bet at the races. $

GRAPE LEAF 2217 Frankfort Ave., 897-1774. Yet another Middle Eastern eatery, yet another good inexpensive source of food on Frankfort Avenue. $ f

TACQUERIA LA MEXICANA 6201 Preston Hwy., 969-4449. The tacos are fine at this tiny storefront, next door to a Latino grocery store.

This is seriously ethnic stuff, but Anglos are thoroughly welcome, the staff is bilingual, and they will happily provide a menu with all the English translations written in. $ TUMBLEWEED SOUTHWEST GRILL (19 locations).

What can you say about “The Weed”? A Louisville chain that grew from humble origins in New Albany a generation ago, it remains a local favorite.

Cheap and hearty Tex-Mex fare is the primary draw, along with a casual, friendly setting and service, but Tumbleweed now boasts an extensive menu that with an emphasis on steaks. $ p

MIDDLE EASTERN BABYLON 6700 Strawberry Ln., 368-1207, 1971 Brownsboro Rd., 899-9100. With excellent if simple authentic Iraqi fare at rock-bottom prices and an attitude that says “Welcome, we’re glad you’re here!”, Babylon offers a powerful reason to head straight for the South End and a meal at this charming little place. $ f CASPIAN GRILLE 4218 Bishop Ln., 479-6222. The recent opening of Caspian Grill brings to three the number of Persian (Iranian) restaurants in

OMAR’S GYRO 969 Baxter Ave., 454-4888. No matter whether you pronounce it “Ghee-ro” or “Gyro,” you won’t be disappointed with the classic Greek sandwich served at Omar’s Gyro, a tiny Highlands shop with a simple, short and inexpensive bill of fare that seldom fails to please. $ f SAFFRON’S 131 W. Market St., 584-7800. Louisville is blessed with this quality restaurant featuring authentic food of Persia, the ancient country that we now know as Iran. A real hidden jewel, this well-kept secret is one of the best restaurants in town. $$$ p

ENTERTAINMENT DINING BUFFALO CROSSING 1140 Bagdad Rd., Shelbyville, KY, (502) 647-0377. If you’d like to combine a day trip with a culinary adventure, consider a drive to Buffalo Crossing in Shelby County. This agricultural amusement park features a 500-head buffalo herd and an oversize dining room where you can give this healthy red meat a try. The food here is country-style and so are the friendly servers. $$ f DERBY DINNER PLAYHOUSE 525 Marriott Dr., Clarksville, IN, 288-8281. The play’s the thing at Derby Dinner Playhouse, Louisville’s long-running entry in the dinner-theater sweepstakes ... but the expansive buffet dinner adds value to the mix. $$$$ e JOE HUBER FAMILY FARM & RESTAURANT 2421 Scottsville Rd., Starlight IN, 923-5255. A pleasant 20-

Daily Fiesta SUNDAY FREE Nacho Appetizer with purchase of Two Entrees MONDAY MADNESS Steak & Cheese Dip Burrito TUESDAY Kids Eat FREE! (10 and under, Kids Menu) WEDNESDAY Special Fajita Night THURSDAY 2 for 1 Margarita Day

88 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

minute drive from downtown Louisville, Huber’s has built a solid reputation for simple farm fare that’s well-made, fresh and good. Some of the produce is grown on the premises in season. $$ p f e MY OLD KENTUCKY DINNER TRAIN 602 N. Third St., Bardstown, KY, (502) 348-7300. Talk about a nostalgia trip: My Old Kentucky Dinner Train offers a four-course meal during a two-hour voyage along scenic Kentucky railroad tracks near Bardstown in vintage 1940s-era dining cars.

Reservations are strongly recommended. All aboard! $$$$ p STAR OF LOUISVILLE 151 W. Riverside Rd., Jeffersonville, IN, 589-7827. The Ohio River cruise is the best thing about this Love Boat-style yacht that makes nightly all-you-can-eat cruises up the river. $$$$ p f e

MICROBREWERIES BLUEGRASS BREWING COMPANY 3929 Shelbyville Rd., 899-7070, 636 E. Main St., 584-2739. A muststop destination for beer lovers on the national artisanal-brew trail, but it’s more than just a brewpub. BBC’s management gives equally serious attention to both liquid and solid fare, making this a great place to stop in for both dinner and a beer. $ p f e BROWNING’S BREWERY 401 E. Main St., (Slugger Field), 515-0174. Making beautiful use of the historic red-brick building that houses Slugger Field, Browning’s offers first-rate brewpub beers and tasty, informal fare that ranges from pub grub to pastas, to pizza. $$ p f e CUMBERLAND BREWS 1576 Bardstown Rd., 4588727. Giving new meaning to the term “microbrewery,” Cumberland Brews may be one of the smallest eateries in town. It’s usually packed, earning its crowds the old-fashioned way

HOURS: Sunday–Thursday 11am - 10pm Friday & Saturday 11am - 10:30pm

4430 Dixie Highway

448-5678

by providing very good food, friendly service, and high-quality hand-crafted artisan beers. $ f e FLANAGAN’S ALE HOUSE 934 Baxter Ave., 5853700. Gourmet pizzas, hoagies, and an enormous beer selection draw Highlands folks to this cozy neighborhood pub. For a late night pizza (the kitchen’s open until 2 a.m.), it’s one of the best options in the city. $$ p RICH O’S PUBLIC HOUSE 3312 Plaza Dr., New Albany IN, 949-2804. Decent barbecue and pub grub make Rich O’s a popular hangout, and his remarkable beer list of more than 100 selections from around the world—and now locally brewed craft beers—attracts beer lovers from all over. $ e

COFFEE HOUSE BEAN STREET CAFÉ 2736 Charlestown Rd., New Albany, IN, 944-6262. New Albany’s first gourmet coffee shop, Bean Street, introduced the Sunny Side to the joys of serious espresso. Like all good coffee shops, it’s not just an eatery, but a cultural hangout with an IUS flavor. $ f CAFFE CLASSICO 2144 Frankfort Ave., 894-9689.

Not just another funky neighborhood coffee shop, Caffe Classico is sleek, modern and very European in style. It may serve espresso drinks, teas and pastries, but it differs dramatically in mood and personality from many of its competitors. $ f CLEO’S COFFEE AND MORE Caesars Indiana Casino, Elizabeth, IN, 888-766-2648. Open 24 hours a day, the Pavillion area coffeeshop serves up hot and fresh java, breakfast orders, cutting board sandwiches, pastries and a popular hamburger that’s big enough to break the bank. $ COFFEE BEANERY 7900 Shelbyville Rd., (Oxmoor Center), 339-0738. $ DAY’S ESPRESSO AND COFFEE BAR 1420 Bardstown Rd., 456-1170, 720 W. Main St., 5844932. Dark and cozy, with an old-fashioned feeling, Day’s Bardstown branch has everything you would expect in a college-neighborhood coffee shop except a college near by. You’re welcome to bring in pastries from Sweet Surrender next door. $ f EXPRESSIONS OF YOU 1800A W. Muhammad Ali, 584-6886. $ f e HEINE BROTHERS COFFEE 2714 Frankfort Ave., 8995551, 1295 Longest Ave., 456-5108, 2200 Bardstown Rd., 515-0380, 118 Chenoweth Ln., 893-5103.

Spartan, friendly and affordable, with good coffee roasted on the premises and a short list of pastries, desserts and panini sandwiches, Heine Bros. has earned its outstanding local reputation. $ f e HIGHLAND COFFEE CO. 1140 Bardstown Rd., 4514545. Offering two ways to get wired, this cozy neighborhood coffee shop also functions as one of Louisville’s top Internet cafes, where you can enjoy a hot cappuccino while you surf the ‘net in a WiFi hot spot. Funky Seattle-style ambience is a plus. $ f HIGHLAND WILDFLOWER & JAVA 1559 Bardstown Rd., 451-0553. In the heart of the Highlands, this new storefront café already has a good buzz in the community. And well they should with one of the most incredible roasting machines in the region, serving the deep, rich shot of java that only a Sego Fredo machine offers. $ JAVA BREWING COMPANY 2910 Frankfort Ave., 893-6996, 9561B US Hwy 42, 292-2710, 516 W. Main St., 568-6339. Another of Louisville’s many atmospheric coffee houses, this casual neighborhood spot boasts the comfortable ambience of a friendly old-fashioned book shop, with comfortable seating, a good selection of pastries, and quality coffee from Seattle. $

PERKFECTION 359 Spring St., Jeffersonville, IN, 2180611. $ e STARBUCKS COFFEE (11 locations) $ f TWO FOR BREW 234 E. Gray St., (Medical Towers South), 584-5282. Say good morning with a breakfast tortilla and a cup of dark roast java.

Lunchtime crowds in this busy deli enjoy curry chicken salad for lunch, grilled panini sandwiches and a selection of chilled beverages. $ f

DESSERTS/BAKERY THE BAKERY 3100 Bardstown Rd., 452-1210. Not just a fine bakery but a place where bakers learn their business, this excellent establishment—like the nearby Winston’s—is part of the culinary program at Sullivan College. A recent renovation adds a touch of European style, and the deli option is no more, but you can’t beat the quality breads and pastries offered here to eat in or carry out. $ BREADWORKS 3628 Brownsboro Rd., 893-3200, 2420 Lime Kiln Ln., 326-0300, 2204 Dundee Rd., 452-1510, 11800 Shelbyville Rd., 254-2885, 102 Cannons Ln., 899-3994. $ DESSERTS BY HELEN 2210 Bardstown Rd., 451-7151, 9209 US Hwy. 42, 228-8959. Helen has enjoyed a local clientele in Prospect for years. Since her sweet addition to the Highlands community, the most elegant cakes, tempting pies and tortes and a kaleidoscope of designer cookies can be found at both ends of the county. $ HEITZMAN TRADITIONAL BAKERY & DELI 9426 Shelbyville Rd., 426-7736, 428 W. Market St., 5842437. The Heitzman family has been baking in the Louisville area since your great-aunt was a girl ordering dinner rolls. Made fresh daily, the pies, cakes, cookies and specialty pastries provide tasty nostalgia for all who visit. $ KOLACHE FACTORY 2915 S. Hurstbourne Parkway, 491-1161. What in the heck is a kolache? Pronounced “Koh-lah-chee” and originally brought to the state of Nebraska by immigrants from Czechoslovakia, it’s a tasty pastry pocket of slightly sweet yeast dough stuffed with just about any sweet or savory filling you can imagine (from fruit to eggs to meat), then baked golden brown. $ MY FAVORITE MUFFIN 3934 Taylorsville Rd., 4850518, 9800 Shelbyville Rd., 426-9645. All the muffins are made right in the store. Big hits are the Cinnamon Crumb and the Turtle Muffin, a double chocolate with caramel and pecans. $ PLEHN’S BAKERY 3940 Shelbyville Rd., 896-4438.

A neighborhood institution, this bakery is as busy as it is nostalgic. Enjoy the hometown soda fountain with ice cream while you wait for your hand-decorated birthday cake, breakfast rolls or colorful cookies to be boxed. $ RAINBOW BLOSSOM BAKERY 311 Wallace Ave., 8973648. Organic and vegan pastries, rolls, breads and cookies, all in the tradition of freshness, and healthiness. $ SWEET SURRENDER 1416 Bardstown Rd., 458-6363, 211 E. Main St., New Albany, IN, 944-2550.

Amazingly good desserts and pastries are available at these pastry shops. Debbie RichterKeller, featured in Southern Living magazine among other local and regional publications, has a way with Belgian chocolate that every sweet tooth should experience. $

World Famous Desserts as Featured in Southern Living Magazine

Daily Lunch Specials Vegetarian Specialities

TWO LOCATIONS:

1416 Bardstown Road Located in the Historic Highlands Shopping Area

458-6363 Tue. & Wed. 9am-6pm Thur. 9am-7pm Fri. & Sat. 9am-11pm

211 East Main Street Located in Historic Downtown New Albany

944-1550 Mon.-Fri. 8:30am-3:30pm Sat. 10am-2pm

JOE MUGGS 994 Breckenridge Ln., (Books-a-Million), 894-8606, 4300 Towne Center Dr., 426-2252. $ f

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 89

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The Houston Group has over 20 years of experience meeting the needs of clients in the restaurant industry.

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Houston D. Jones Jr. 502.419.7799 w w w. t h e h o u s t o n g r o u p . n e t www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 91

MAP INDEX

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S. H urstbourne

264

Rd. ters Wat rail T

St. Matthews

Hi

Sh

Shelbyville

MAP • 1 DOWNTOWN > DOWNTOWN 92 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

MAP • 2 NEAR EAST > HIGHLANDS/CRESCENT HILL www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 93

MAP • 3 EAST > ST. MATTHEWS 94 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

MAP • 4 SOUTH EAST > HIKES POINT/BUECHEL www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 95

MAP • 5 EAST > HURSTBOURNE N./LYNDON 96 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 97

SOUTH EAST > HURSTBOURNE S./JEFFERSONTOWN

MAP • 6

98 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

MAP

7 > NORTH EAST > RIVER RD./BROWNSBORO RD. MAP

8 > NORTH EAST > WESTPORT ROAD

MAPS • 7 • 8

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 99

MAP MAP

19 > FAR EAST > MIDDLETOWN 10 > NORTH EAST > PROSPECT

MAP

11 > SOUTH EAST > FERN CREEK

MAPS • 9 • 10 • 11

MAP • 12 SOUTH > AIRPORT/OKALONA 100 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 101

SOUTH WEST > SHIVELY/PLEASURE RIDGE PARK

MAP • 13

MAP • 14 INDIANA > NEW ALBANY/FLOYDS KNOBS 102 Spring 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

MAPS • 15 • 16 Thursday Night Salsa Classes 9:30 PM - 3 AM Friday - Saturday Dancing 9:30 PM - 3 AM

www.AlaFiesta.us #

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16 > INDIANA > JEFFERSONVILLE

MAP

Visa ' MC ' AE ' Discover

MAP

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15 > INDIANA > CLARKSVILLE

Dinner Thursday-Friday-Saturday 4 PM - 9 PM

www.foodanddiningmagazine.com Spring 2004 103

PATIO DINING AVAILABLE FULL-SERVICE BAR LIVE MUSIC Wednesday – Saturday

CATERING AVAILABLE PARTY ROOM AVAILABLE at our Dutchmans Lane location only Call 261-8232 for information.

mexican buffet

DAILY LUNCH ESPECIALS

at our Preston Hwy. and E-town locations only MONDAY - SUNDAY 11:00am - 2:00pm

DINE IN ONLY

Look for our discount coupons in Valpak . ®

FOUR LOUISVILLE AREA LOCATIONS:

7707 Preston Hwy. MONDAY - SUNDAY

11:00am - 10:30pm

962-5380 10602 Shelbyville Rd. MONDAY - SUNDAY

11:00am - 10:30pm

244-8889 6201 Dutchmans Ln. MONDAY - SUNDAY

11:00am - 10:30pm

893-9297 700 W. Riverside Dr. Ste. B (Jeffersonville, IN) MONDAY - SUNDAY

11:00am - 10:30pm

280-0032 1007 N. Mulberry St. (Elizabethtown, KY) MONDAY - THURSDAY 11:00am - 10:00pm FRIDAY - SATURDAY 11:00am - 10:30pm SUNDAY 11:00am - 9:30pm

766-1201 Winter 2004 www.foodanddiningmagazine.com

MONDAY Speedy Gonzalez. . . . . . . . . . 3.99 Beef enchilada, beef taco, with mexican rice or refried beans.

Chicken Taquitos . . . . . . . . . 4.75 Laredo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.85 Bean burrito covered with cheese dip sauce, served with mexican rice and beans.

Nachos Supremos. . . . . . . . . 5.25

TUESDAY Numero Dos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.99 Beef burrito, mexican rice and refried beans.

Order of Tacos . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.15 Chicken or Beef (Three) Matamoros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.15 Giant flour tortilla taco shell stuffed with seasoned chicken, lettuce, anejo cheese and sour cream, served with mexican rice and refried beans.

Juarez. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.85 Crispy corn tortilla, refried beans, chicken, lettuce, anejo cheese and mexican cream. Served with rice.

WEDNESDAY Numero Tres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.99 Cheese enchilada, bean burrito, and mexican rice.

Tijuana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.99 Two beef enchiladas served with rice or beans.

El Paso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.65 Two giant chicken flautas topped with lettuce, cheese and mexican cream.

Served with rice.

Piedras Negras. . . . . . . . . . . . 4.85 Mashed potato burrito covered with cheese and delicious onion/tomato sauce, served with rice and beans.

THURSDAY Numero Uno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.99 Taco, chile relleno, guacamole salad and beans.

Eagle Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.29 One beef burrito and One beef taco.

Calexico. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.05 Chicken mini chimichanga topped with cheese dip sauce, served with lettuce, sour cream and mexican rice.

Myquesadilla. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.75 Large flour tortilla quesadilla-style stuffed with cheese and chicken served with lettuce, sour cream, cheese and pico de gall.

FRIDAY Crazy Taco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.25 Burrito Supremo. . . . . . . . . . 4.50 Beef burrito enchilada style with sour cream, lettuce, cheese and tomato.

Rio Grande . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.10 Chile poblano relleno with chihuahua cheese served with mexican rice and refried beans.

Reynosa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.99 Two chicken enchiladas served with lettuce, sour cream, cheese, and mexican rice.

Fine Dining with Relaxed Atmosphere Unique Natural Surroundings Rock Wall Patio Open All Year Round Seasonal Waterfall

Unique Menu • Fresh Seafood

Z’s steaks are selected from Prime mid-western aged beef, hand-cut to order and cooked the way you like it.

“Scenic Floyds Knobs, IN”

Z’s seafood is purchased directly from “day boat fisherman,” prepared simply

JUST OFF THE BEATEN PATH!

and cooked to perfection. Don’t call prior to 4:00 p.m. about seafood specials for the evening… Chef is still at the airport… we just don’t know, yet!

HOURS:

Z’s oyster lovers can select from both

Lunch Tue.-Sat. 11am-3pm

East and West Coast oysters!

Lunch

Monday – Friday

11:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Dinner

Monday – Thursday Friday – Saturday Sunday

5:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Louisville’s ★The Courier-Journal ★★★&◆◆◆◆ Restaurant Opened in October 2000, Z’s Oyster Bar & Steakhouse is independently owned and operated.

101 Whittington Parkway Louisville, KY 40222 Telephone (502) 429-8000 Facsimile (502) 339-0335 www.zsoysterbar.com

Dinner Tue.-Sat. Open at 5pm Sunday 2pm-9pm

Full Bar Complete Wine List

3426 PAOLI PIKE • 812.948.1705 • 812.948.1706

AI LS

SU D BS ET

*

LISTINGS AND MAPS MagniFiQue 7

TO

900 RESTAURANTS PLUS

OVER

700 RESTAURANT REVIEWS INSIDE!

page 6

Profiles of seven rising young chefs making their mark on the Louisville dining scene

CoCktails

SPRING 2004

the Q FaCtor

page 44

There are many regional approaches to barbecue. We help sort it all out and point you in the direction of some flat-out good Q

page 36

What’s Old is What’s New Again We take a look at what’s hot in today’s cocktail choices.

en Fuego

page 22

Sullivan University’s prestigious culinary arts program has become one of the tops in the nation

$4.99 U.S. 4 1>

0

74470 58360

8

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