Yes. Yes, you can have that recipe. In this economic climate? Heck, you can have my apron, my toque, my chef’s jacket … Are you looking for a used car? Mine’s parked in the back of the lot. Make me an offer.
But let’s be clear about what you’re asking when you request a restaurant recipe. Continue reading Can I have that recipe?
Regular readers will recall observations I’ve written in the past about the original Clifton J. Gumbo’s retaining much of its character while some other links in the growing local chain didn’t show so well. This news release about Founder Billy Fox Jr. regaining control of the brand should read as good news for those who loved Gumbo’s, at its best, for quality and value.
During his twenty year career as a thoroughbred horse racing jockey, Billy Fox, Jr. learned a thing of two about taking it all in stride. So after his initial foray into franchising his J. Gumbo’s Down-Home Cajun Cookin’ restaurants didn’t proceed as smoothly as he had hoped, Billy didn’t panic or let failure whip him into a frenzy. Instead, he has confidently taken hold of the reins of his business again. “There’s a joke among the staff.” the Grand Coteau, La., native says, “that they’ve gotten me back in the saddle and the kitchen again.”
Continue reading Fox vows to put J. Gumbo’s back on track
Had a vegetarian lunch at Havana Rumba, just to prove it can be done. Cubano Vegetariano, fried sweet potatoes, salad, finito!
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
If you’re accustomed to grabbing a cup of coffee and knocking it back without much serious thought, you might find an occasional switch to tea a transformative experience.
Particularly if you choose to savor said cup in the contemplative environment of Zen Tea House in Clifton. Owned by longtime local restaurateur Huong “CoCo” Tran, Zen Tea House completes a neat trio of unusual Asian eateries on Frankfort Avenue, two doors down from her Zen Garden vegetarian restaurant and next door to her nephews’ Basa Modern Vietnamese.
From a rock garden in the small front yard of this Clifton bungalow to the curved, black tea bar that sweeps through the front room, Zen Tea House breathes a quiet, relaxing Asian style. The space is calming and, yes, Zen-like. Continue reading Peace and good eats at Zen Tea House
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| LEO photo by Ron Jasin |
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
In the Old West, a throwdown was an invitation to come out and fight.
In modern culinary times, resurrected by Food Network’s popular Chef Bobby Flay, a throwdown has become something decidedly more civilized, but still with plenty of posturing and inflated claims.
Cooking throwdowns are a frequent occurrence among the foodies, chefs and restaurateurs whose online personas hang around the LouisvilleHotBytes.com Restaurants Forum.
Last week, the biggest throwdown yet brought chefs from 13 area restaurants together at Captain’s Quarters for a shrimp-and-grits throwdown, a competitive cooking event that attracted a capacity crowd of 250 spectators and raised nearly $5,000 for Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT).
Continue reading Shrimp and grits throwdown!
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LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
We’ve talked before about how Louisville’s Iranian-American community started in the 1970s with a crowd of students at the University of Louisville who decided to stay around when the Ayatollah Khomeini led the Iranian revolution and things went sour back home.
Iran’s loss has been Louisville’s gain, as a surprising number of these folks went into the restaurant business. Initially many of Louisville’s Iranians worked at the late, storied Casa Grisanti. They eventually ventured out to start restaurants of their own, and in more recent years have begun introducing us to their native cuisine. (The respected restaurateur Majid Ghavami, for instance, bridges this gap, now serving as both owner of Saffron’s, the city’s first Iranian restaurant, and general manager of Volare, one of our most popular Italian eateries.)
Now comes another Italian-to-Iranian translation, as the owners of Café Glace on Frankfort Avenue, a gelato shop, have opened Caspian Grill, an excellent Persian restaurant on Bardstown Road, in the quarters formerly occupied by Sweet Surrender.
Continue reading A magic carpet ride to Caspian Grill
This week, a member of the LouisvilleHotBytes.com forum reported that she had been dining out alone early in the evening, and she’d been told at the host’s stand that certain tables were reserved, but she might be accommodated at one if she could finish before the reservation party arrived. It appeared that she was offended by this response and sought commiseration from the dining community.
Continue reading Supper and the single diner
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LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(Meridian Café, Maido, Les Relais, Dem Bones)
Louisville has always been a breakfast-loving town, it seems, and citizens of Derby City have always had our morning favorites.
From Canary Cottage back in our grandparents’ time to the Baby Boomers’ favorite, Lynn’s Paradise Café, and on to such modern attractions as the lovably urban Toast on Market and Wild Eggs (which just opened a second shop in Westport Village), we’re accustomed to queuing up and waiting, happily and patiently, for weekend breakfast or brunch.
You might find me in line at any of those spots on any given weekend. But you’re even more likely to find me at my top breakfast favorite, Meridian Café in St. Matthews. I honestly cannot understand why Meridian, which always has a cozy crowd of regulars, hasn’t developed the kind of cult following that prompts supplicants to line up outside the door.
Continue reading Let’s line up for breakfast at Meridian Café
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| Our Best Restaurant in Jeffersonville is a family-owned business that started as a single eatery in Smithfield, Ky. Photos by Robin Garr |
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(Our Best Restaurant, Perkfection Café; Z’s Fusion opening report)
It would be easy to dismiss the dining options in little ol’ Jeffersonville, especially when you look across the majestic Ohio River and see … Hooters. But there are some rich and varied dining choices over yonder, from the delicious and affordable Mai’s Thai to the old favorite Come Back Inn.
Reporter Kevin Gibson tried a couple of Jeffersonville’s choices recently – Our Best Restaurant, located just off Ind. 62, and Perkfection Café & Bar – and found good things at both.
Continue reading Don’t dismiss little ol’ Jeff
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| Bazo’s, which recently moved to new quarters off Dupont Circle, serves one of the city’s best fish tacos. Photo by Robin Garr |
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(Bazo’s, Caffe Classico, J. Gumbo’s, Stan’s)
OK, everybody listen up. I’ve told you this before, and chances are you’re going to hear it again: There’s a recession on.
Yes, a recession, and a lot of us are hurting. We’re cutting back on luxuries and hoping we won’t have to cut back on necessities.
For those of us who love food and drink and dining out, we’re whipsawed: It’s harder to justify dropping a pile of bucks on a big evening out, so fine dining may be one of the first indulgences to drop off the budget. But this decision puts a hurtin’ on Louisville’s local, independent restaurant community, the Louisville Originals and Keep Louisville Weirds that make our city an exceptional place to dine for its size.
Continue reading Recession-busting dining, cheap but fine