Category Archives: BY PRICE FOR TWO

$ Budget (under $30), LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, Soul Food, South End, World Food

Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

As autumn marches toward winter and colder weather wraps the region in its frigid embrace, thoughts of the sunny Caribbean dance in our heads like visions of sugar-plums and other happy things.

Mention the Caribbean, and chances are you’ll think of white-sand beaches, cruise ships, sun-tans, strong drinks served in coconut shells, and balmy relaxation. Tourism, after all, is the No. 1 economic driver for the region, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and the people of the 700 islands that make up the Caribbean archipelago are working to recover from the damage dealt by Hurricanes Irma and Maria this summer as quickly as they can. For Puerto Rico, Barbuda and a few others, sadly, that’s going to take a very long time.

While we wait, here’s good news: Caribbean restaurants are blossoming in the metro. Continue reading Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Commentary, Farm-to-table, Indian, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, Northeast Metro, Pacific Rim, World Food

Tandoori Fusion masters the science of fusion

When I first heard about Tandoori Fusion, the new Indian restaurant way out in the East End across the way from Costco, my imagination leapt up. I know that the tandoor, the iconic Indian clay oven, can reach temperatures upward of 900ºF, a searing fire that does something magical to meats and flatbreads too.

But Tandoori Fusion? Can these people possibly have mustered nuclear fusion, the fierce energy that lights up H-bombs and the Sun itself? Crazy! That would make some remarkable tandoori food, all right, and it would be wicked fast.

Nope. Continue reading Tandoori Fusion masters the science of fusion →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, Vegetarian/Vegan, West End

V-Grits works vegan magic with meat-free seafood and fish

You’d be surprised to know how many people who give up eating tasty animals for reasons pertaining to the environment, health or animal welfare nevertheless harbor a nostalgic memory for the comfort-food pleasure of the meat that they won’t eat any more.

But there’s good news for vegetarians and vegans who want life to be more than a boring run of side dishes: There’s a variety of humane alternatives that can approximate that experience without Bossy or Porky having to die for their pleasure. Continue reading V-Grits works vegan magic with meat-free seafood and fish →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, Italian (and Pizza), LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy

Lupo’s pizza and pasta sing a fine Italian song

Whatever might prompt two members of an indie rock band with a 17-year record and three songs on the Billboard 200 to leap from the world of music to the hard work of opening Lupo, an Italian restaurant that features pizza and pasta?

That’s just what vocalist and guitar player Adam Turla and cellist-keyboardist Sarah Balliet of the band Murder by Death have done, though. In August they joined Sarah’s brother Max Balliet, owner of the popular Holy Molé taco truck, to open Lupo, a fine, casual eatery in a nicely restored 19th century red-brick house on the far inner end of Frankfort Avenue where Clifton meets Butchertown. Continue reading Lupo’s pizza and pasta sing a fine Italian song →

$$$$ Luxury ($80 and up), Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, Italian (and Pizza), LEO's Eats

Volare brings its top game to Italian delights

I hate to be a whiner, so before I get to my one complaint, let me tell you all the things that I love about freshly renovated Volare.

• It looks classier than ever, thanks to a light but effective makeover.
• Chef Joshua Moore’s menu is better than ever.
• Its impressive selection of pasta dishes has been kicked up by a fancy new Italian-made pasta machine.
• The bar’s comfortable vibe is not diminished by sophisticated live music Wednesdays through Saturdays. Volare scores as both a neighborhood hangout and a city-wide destination.

But first we had to get our table. Let’s talk about that. Continue reading Volare brings its top game to Italian delights →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, South End, World Food

Delicious food and an idea for world peace at Jerusalem Kitchen

I don’t know anybody who thinks that the world is in great shape nowadays, and all the saber-rattling going on over Iran and North Korea is just the beginning. Things haven’t changed much since the 1960s, when the Kingston Trio famously sang in The Merry Minuet, “The whole world is festering with unhappy souls. The French hate the Germans. The Germans hate the Poles. Italians hate Yugoslavs. South Africans hate the Dutch … and I don’t like anybody very much!”

And that’s before we even start talking about the tensions that tear at Southwest Asia, that region of seemingly never-ending wars: Iraq and Syria and Lebanon and Israel and Palestine, oh my!

Will the world ever know peace in our time? I’ve got my doubts. But, my imagination fired with a delicious, filling meal at Jerusalem Kitchen, I’ve got an idea: What if we all tried just a little harder to get to know our neighbors through food? Continue reading Delicious food and an idea for world peace at Jerusalem Kitchen →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Bistros, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs

Fine drinks meet fun plates at Red Herring

After many years standing vacant at the top of the hill in Clifton, prompting strollers on the Avenue to muse, “Boy, that would make a great restaurant,” the historic white-brick Hilltop Theater has taken its place on the city’s dining scene as Red Herring Cocktail Lounge & Kitchen. Continue reading Fine drinks meet fun plates at Red Herring →

$ Budget (under $30), Hikes Point, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes

Bodega mi Sueño — worlds of delicious I

Well, here we are again, another week that finds me torn between two new spots that feature cheap, delicious world cuisine: Bodega mi Sueño in West Buechel dishes out mouth-watering Cuban fare in oversize portions in the casual setting of a traditional bodega. Ngon Appétit in Clifton Heights offers a short but tasty list of Vietnamese fare with a hint of the French accent that a colonial empire left behind.

Let’s go to both! Continue reading Bodega mi Sueño — worlds of delicious I →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, LEO's Eats, Pacific Rim, QuickBytes

Ngon Appétit — worlds of delicious II

I’m afraid LEO Weekly’s Taste Bud writer, Kevin Gibson, who wrote fondly of Sam’s Hot Dog stand on Lower Brownsboro in 2015, is going to be sorry to learn that Sam’s has gone away. I expect his regret will be tempered, though, as it is for us all, by the recent arrival of Ngon Appétit, successor to the late and lamented Four Sisters, serving up Vietnamese-French crêpes, banh mi, and a worthy pho. Continue reading Ngon Appétit — worlds of delicious II →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Breakfast and lunch spots, sandwich spots, Germantown, LEO's Eats, Vegetarian/Vegan, World Food

Lydia House reflects its changing neighborhood

If you held a magical mystery mirror up to Louisville’s historic Germantown-Schnitzelburg neighborhood in hope of perceiving what’s going on in this changing community, the chances are the image that first appeared would be Lydia House. Continue reading Lydia House reflects its changing neighborhood →