Few of us are eager to admit we’re getting older. Every now and then, though, some sudden recognition of time’s passing steps up and smacks us in the face with a solid reality check.
Take Equus, for example: A local destination restaurant that opened just a few years ago. Well, OK, OK, it opened in 1985, but who’s counting? Not me, that’s for sure. In some ways, after all, Equus never seems to change very much.
Continue reading Equus evolves, but its character stays intact
I love Chinese food, and I’ve loved it since I was a little boy, when the only places you could get it in Louisville were the old Hoe Kow — then at Bowman Field, gone for years — and the sibling eateries House of Chen in Shively and Oriental House in St. Matthews. Only the last remains, and Grandma and Grandpa would probably recognize only part of its 21st century menu.
After all, back in those days when the Beatles and the Stones and Dylan were new, so was Chinese food. Well, not to the Chinese, who’ve been eating it for millennia, but certainly to folks in Louisville who were suspicious. Continue reading Don’t expect ‘authentic,’ but the apps satisfy at PF Chang’s
My friend Anne and I wanted to catch a quick lunch close to the office the other day, so we wheeled down the way just a mile or two and cut into a gritty little strip center with a Mexican grocery and taqueria on one end and an Iranian grocery and shawarma shop on the other.
Downtown? Nope! This little center of international good eats sits on the south side of suburban Westport Road about halfway between Westport Village and Springhurst, but its culinary offerings differ mightily from the modern delights of the more traditional suburban centers. Continue reading Westport Road adds pitas and tortillas to the traditional whitebread
If you grew up eating pizza in Louisville – or for that matter just about anywhere in the U.S. outside, possibly, the urban Northeast – you may be excused for believing that pizza is all about the toppings. Sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, bacon and pineapple and even anchovies, oh, my: Pile ’em high! And don’t forget to dollop on the sweet, sweet tomato sauce and a lake of molten, stringy cheese. Continue reading Coals Brings The Heat To Make A Fine Pizza
“Sitar.” Sounds like “guitar,” a little, and sort of acts like one, too, this oversize Indian guitar-equivalent that the Beatles loved. It’s a stringed instrument that plays eerie, sinuous music that can’t be duplicated on a keyboard because it slides into the spaces between the keys.
When you think about it, Indian food is kind of like that, too. Continue reading Sitar plays Indian music to our taste buds
For the first month or so after it opened in February, if you wanted to check out what Chef Edward Lee and his crew were doing at MilkWood, it was easy: Just wait until the play started at Actors Theatre of Louisville upstairs. The restaurant would empty out, and you could enjoy your meal in almost solitary splendor.
This trick doesn’t work so well any more. Continue reading MilkWood Becomes A Prime Destination
Okay, let’s review the geography of pizza, nature’s most nearly perfect food.
Born in Naples, Italy, it came to the United States with Italian immigrants and soon became a favorite in New York City and the urban Northeast.
Like so many other things, this deliciously cheesy, tangy, salty supper on a plate went national with the Baby Boom. And as it grew, it evolved, taking on regional differences as cities made it their own.
Continue reading Stop! In the name of Loui Loui’s Motown pizza
Thomas Jefferson said it best: Government should “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.” This great American tradition, enshrined in the Constitution, would seem to protect us from governmental intrusion in such deeply personal matters as, for example, enjoying an adult beverage with brunch on Sundays.
So why did it take more than two centuries for us to be able to enjoy the simple pleasure of a bloody mary with a morning repast in Louisville?
Continue reading We brunch and booze it up at Hillbilly Tea
Sidebar, the latest about-to-be-hot spot in the Arena Zone, a hip bar and grill with a legal theme, is set to open to the public any day now. This week it’s been serving “VIP” guests in soft openings, something I generally avoid, so I invited HotBytes correspondent Antonia Lindauer to check it out. She likes the looks of the place, and offers us this quick preview:
Continue reading Our judge rules Sidebar delicious
If you think the Balkans are bad for bloody border warfare, just try to find a space in the maze of parking lots behind the busy storefronts of downtown St. Matthews. Warring posters warn of dire consequences if pilgrims bound for Mellow Mushroom, for example, or Plehn’s bakery, dare to park in St. Matthews Station’s parking lot. Or vice versa.
Continue reading Tasty new fare at Meridian Cafe, but tricky parking remains
