Happy Derby week! Enjoy your light workload, unless you’re a hospitality worker in Louisville. You’ll be pulling horses’ names (written on tiny paper slips) out of Styrofoam cups; getting off early to attend (or evade) the parade; and showing off your hat. It’s our week, people!
Continue reading Derby dining dos and don’ts
Category Archives: Commentary
Robin Garr’s musings about food and restaurant matters that don’t fit neatly into the “review” category.
Closing time: How close is too close?
It’s late, and you’re hungry. Maybe you’ve been to a movie or show, or maybe you’re just feeling deliciously lazy. You’re not in the mood for fast food, so you come up with a short list of restaurants you and your companions agree on, and everyone whips out a smartphone to research hours of business. Two or three of the places appear to be open still, but it’s only half an hour before closing time. What’s the appropriate course of action?
Continue reading Closing time: How close is too close?
Sunrise service
IIt’s still full-on dark as I use my key. Moonlight catches on stainless steel corners as I open and close the door behind me. I breathe in the pleasant ghosts of baking bread, bleached cutting boards, roasted garlic. Hello, kitchen.
Continue reading Sunrise service
Little things mean a lot
Have you ever been tempted, when dining out, to compare the price of your meal to what it would have cost to prepare at home? Let’s see … chicken, $1.19 a pound, so let’s say 60 cents. Fancy mushrooms, at most $8 a pound, but there’s only a couple ounces here, so add a dollar. A splash of wine, some herbs, a few dirt-cheap potatoes. These people are making a fortune!
Continue reading Little things mean a lot
My Louisville food industry wish for ’11: Street food!
What would I like to see happen in the local restaurant industry this year? It’s a no-brainer: We need more street food options.
Continue reading My Louisville food industry wish for ’11: Street food!
Wild Ginger fills Metro’s space with sushi, Asian fusion
If you get out to the Pacific Northwest at all, you’re probably familiar with Wild Ginger, the regional restaurant phenomenon that has captured Seattle foodies’ attention with its Southeast Asian fusion cuisine.
And if you do, your eyes may have popped wide open when the signs advertising a new spot called Wild Ginger went up on the former Café Metro’s doors in the autumn of 2010. Could it be?
Well … no. Continue reading Wild Ginger fills Metro’s space with sushi, Asian fusion
A thigh and a wing for Captain Ahab?
I’ve long been a fan of Moby Dick. The local mini-chain with the cartoon whale logo may look fast-foodish, but they’ve been frying quality cod for nearly 45 years, and they know how to do it right. But the news of a recent addition at the Moby Dick in St. Matthews (4848 Shelbyville Road, near Whole Foods) made my head snap back. Fried chicken?
Continue reading A thigh and a wing for Captain Ahab?
Verbena could make Grandpa proud
Verbena Café is one of those places that always seems to smell like home. For Mike Cortino, the smell is likely a reminder of much more.
Mike and his wife, Laurie, opened Verbena in Norton Commons this past autumn. They based Verbena’s fare on dishes served in restaurants founded by Mike’s grandfather and operated by his family back in the 1960s in Chicago. Verbena specializes in omelets, crepes, pancakes, waffles and eggs Benedict, and offers sandwiches, entrées and salads for the lunch crowd.
Continue reading Verbena could make Grandpa proud
Happy Holidays, restaurant workers
This time of year, I hear people musing about how restaurant employees must welcome the holidays, since many restaurants are closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. I try to chuckle politely rather than sarcastically, but it’s a challenge.
Continue reading Happy Holidays, restaurant workers
We celebrate Diwali and diversity at Bombay Grill
One of the biggest and best changes I’ve seen in our town over a Baby Boomer’s lifetime in Louisville has been the surprising ethnic and cultural diversity that has blossomed here over a generation. As outgoing Mayor Jerry Abramson likes to point out, more than half of our city’s population growth nowadays takes the form of new residents arriving from other countries. Youngsters in Jefferson County public schools speak more than 80 different languages at home, and Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus, among others, gather peacefully in their own places of worship.
It’s quite a change for a city that as recently as the ’60s boasted two Chinese restaurants and a “Mexican” eatery that specialized in greasy chili.
Continue reading We celebrate Diwali and diversity at Bombay Grill