Category Archives: Commentary

Robin Garr’s musings about food and restaurant matters that don’t fit neatly into the “review” category.

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, Taquerias

Tacos surpass pizza as Taco City and Taco Choza arrive

Some time during recent months, pushed by the arrival of the excellent taquerias Taco City in the Highlands and Taco Choza in St. Matthews, the metro area quietly, without any publicity, achieved full taco.

What’s that, you ask? Simple. The numbers are a little vague, but by my best count, hungry Louisvillians now have at least 65 locally owned, independent places to buy tacos, surpassing the roughly 60-plus local pizzerias.

Given all the cranky jokes about this being a city with a pizzeria on every corner, this is no small achievement. Continue reading Tacos surpass pizza as Taco City and Taco Choza arrive →

$$$$ Luxury ($80 and up), Bistros, Commentary, LEO's Eats, Northeast Metro, Outer East End

Meet the new Pine Room, something like the old Pine Room

Spring was in the air on the morning of March 10, 1977, when the Harrods Creek Volunteer Fire Department rolled out to an alarm at the old Pine Room restaurant on Upper River Road. A fire that began in the beloved restaurant’s kitchen quickly involved the rest of the building.

Before fire fighters could contain it, the building was gutted by fire, smoke and water. The restaurant, a local landmark since the 1940s, closed forever. In its heyday it had been a popular destination, known for its friendly saloon atmosphere, comfort food, and lounge pianist named Mable who kept a candle burning atop her grand piano.

Now, 40-some years later, the Pine Room is back, or something a lot like it, anyway. Continue reading Meet the new Pine Room, something like the old Pine Room →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Commentary, LEO's Eats, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs

Free-range chicken adds value at The Eagle

The Eagle landed in Louisville two years ago this month, fourth shop in a Cincinnati-based mini-chain. I have to confess that I didn’t pay much attention at first. But then I found out that The Eagle isn’t just another Highlands bar. Its fried chicken is also a big thing. It’s not your industrially fried chicken, either. It is, according to the firm’s website, “cage free, free roaming, all natural chicken.”

This is a big deal to me. I’d much rather enjoy cage-free birds if I can. Continue reading Free-range chicken adds value at The Eagle →

Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

Order Like a Pro

I know – you’re wondering if I’m really getting ready to school you on how to order food at a restaurant. This is a task nearly everyone does dozens (if not hundreds) of times a year. There’s no one special trick that will vault you over other diners to an extra level of respect from a restaurant’s staff, but I can offer a few pointers that might get you a higher standard of service when you’re dining out. Continue reading Order Like a Pro →

Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

Talk Like a Line Cook Day

September 19 was “Talk Like a Pirate Day” – one of those internet-created faux holidays everyone loves to talk about on social media and at the water cooler. (Do people in offices really gather around a water cooler anymore? I picture them alone at their desks hunched over their $5 pumpkin-spiced Life Water, scrolling through Instagram on their phones.)

Having worked in restaurants for many years, I can usually spot a line cook in the wild at 40 paces or less, even if they’ve eschewed their every day uniform for civvies. Continue reading Talk Like a Line Cook Day →

Commentary

Good beer, good food boost Pints & Union’s cozy pub vibe

Every now and then a new local place to eat and drink makes me exceptionally happy. Sure, I’m always glad to see any new eatery come to town. But now and then a fresh arrival delivers such pleasure in its food, drink, and mood that it makes me jump up and down in delight.

Consider, if you will, Pints & Union in downtown New Albany, the utterly lovable restaurant … er, no, beer bar? … um, no, not that, nor a brewpub either. It’s a public house, a European-style pub, then, built into the beautifully renovated shell of an 1880s-era general store that later served as a neighborhood saloon. Continue reading Good beer, good food boost Pints & Union’s cozy pub vibe →

$$$$ Luxury ($80 and up), Commentary, French, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, LEO's Eats

Brasserie Provence takes us to France, très bon!

Say what you will about the French, they are a carnivorous people. French cuisine is full of beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fish, toutes les viandes! All the meats!

But I’m pretty sure Julia Child’s recipe box never contained a recipe for tofu. When I walk into a French restaurant, I expect a bill of fare centered on meat, poultry, and fish, because that’s how the French roll. Or cook. Continue reading Brasserie Provence takes us to France, très bon! →

Commentary, Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

Is it Safe?

I am, in modern parlance, “an old,” so I remember the unsettling scene from 1976’s “The Marathon Man” in which a Nazi war criminal, played by Laurence Olivier, repeatedly asks Dustin Hoffman “Is it safe?” while laying out dental instruments with which to torture him with. Hoffman – terrified, sweating, strapped to a chair – replies “Yes, it’s safe, it’s very safe, it’s so safe you wouldn’t believe it.”  Whenever I see the blue polo shirt of a Metro Health Department inspector slip into my place of employment, my brain coughs up this scene.   Continue reading Is it Safe? →