LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Red Robin, Chicago Gyros, Order’s Up! and Ned’s Excellent Adventure at Norma Jean’s Trackside)

OK, let’s get this clear up front: I’m suspicious of corporate restaurant chains, and I don’t have high expectations for much of anything in the suburbs.

So why did I rush out in such a big hurry to check out Red Robin Gourmet Burgers & Spirits in Brownsboro Crossing, an East End commercial development so new that the restaurant’s street address shows up as “Not Found” on my Blackberry?

It’s the buzz, man! The arrival of this outfit, a 350-unit Boulder-based enterprise, seems to have created more of a stir than any corporate arrival since the dynamic duo of P.F. Chang’s and Cheesecake Factory came to town. Big crowds were reportedly slamming the place, and I couldn’t see any way around heading for the ‘burbs to check it out.
Continue reading Cynical critic checks out chain burgers →

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Sari Sari, Queen of Sheba, and Kim’s Curry Tour)

In addition to the customary greetings that all languages share for “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” “Good evening” and “Good night,” folks in the Philippines greet other at midday with a happy “Magandang tanghali.” Loosely translated, the term means “Happy lunch-time!” This cultural note suggests an affection for the midday meal that’s borne out in the warmly comforting nature of home-cooked Filipino cuisine.

Louisville hasn’t had a lot of exposure to the food of this 7,000-island Southeast Asian nation, but the Sari Sari restaurant in Crescent Hill may soon change that with its tasty and affordable Filipino delights. (“Sari Sari,” by the way, means something like “various” or “sundry” in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines. A sari-sari store is a cross between an unchained 7-11 and a community center, where you can get just about anything you really need, and the latest neighborhood gossip, too.)
Continue reading Happy lunch-time at Sari Sari →

Photo by Kelly Mackey: John McCulloch is the executive chef at Stratto’s, cooking in the 19th century mansion – now restored – where his great-great-grandmother once toiled.

(CHEF CHANGE: Chef Tony Efstratiadis, formerly with Napa River Grill and 316 Ormsby in Louisville, took over as chef at Stratto’s in September 2006, and has made some changes in the menu.)

As far back as most of us could remember, folks in Southern Indiana who wanted to enjoy a fine-dining experience were pretty much obliged to hit the bridges to Kentucky if they wanted anything more sophisticated than diner fare or a fast-food chain.

It might seem rude for a Kentuckian to say such a thing, but let the record reflect that it’s deeply rooted Hoosier John McCulloch saying this, pledging to make Stratto’s – the fine new Italian eatery where he’s executive chef – a dining destination that will raise the bar for gourmet-style dining on the Sunny Side.
Continue reading Stratto’s boosts fine-dining on the Sunny Side →

Illustration by Gina Moeller

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes

It’s a good thing to have at least one really authentic, Spanish-speaking eatery in the East End – it’s a long ride out Preston to the Metro’s more concentrated Latino-eats zone when you’ve got a hankering for something more real than Taco Bell or even the gently Anglicized Mexicano of the more bilingual Mexican eateries, as fine as they can be.

Setting aside the urbanite’s prejudice that there’s nothing of interest east of the Watterson, we recently ventured out to tract mansion country to try the new La Perla del Pacifico (“The Pearl of the Pacific”), and were so impressed by its simpatico combination of fine food, friendly service and fair prices that we’ve gone back again and again.
Continue reading We hablamos a little Spanglish at La Perla del Pacifico →

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Herman’s Deli, Stevens & Stevens and an Omega My Oh quest for salmon)

Illustration by Gina Moeller

Here’s something I’ve never quite understood: The word delicatessen, from the German delikatessen, which the Teutons borrowed in turn from the Italian and French words delicatezza and delicatesse, means, well, delicacies or maybe delicate eats.

Delicate? What in the heck is delicate about fatty meats like pastrami, corned beef, tongue and chopped chicken liver, piled high on thick rye bread with mustard and onions and dill pickles? Or, depending on your ethnic preference, an antipasto on a bun, salami and capicola and sopressata and mortadella and maybe a little prosciut’ and some peperoncini peppers on a crusty hero loaf?

Let’s face it: Deli fare is European po’ folks’ comfort food, filling and fatty, designed to fill and fuel the inner person for a hard day’s work.
Continue reading Finding a deal of a deli in Louisville →

Illustration by Gina Moeller

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Scotty’s BBQ, Heady’z, Gelato Gilberto, Westport General Store)

Yes, we’re talking barbecue again, all right? Get used to it. Properly smoked meat is one of nature’s most perfect foods. Get yourself outside of a rack of juicy, smoky ribs, and you really don’t need much of anything else.

Way out on the far east end of town, a gent who calls himself Big Bubba has been dispensing excellent ribs, with no extra charge for homespun commentary, since back in the day when there wasn’t much else around this tract-mansion-riddled region but corn and potato fields. Eat ‘N’ Blog correspondent DAN FARLEY says it just doesn’t get much better than this:

Let me say this right off the top: If you like barbecued ribs better than I do, you’re one sick puppy. I love them; I can’t do without them; I believe I can tell you where to get the best ribs in the Louisville area: Scotty’s, located at the end of a little strip mall on Shelbyville Road across from Copperfield, is the place.
Continue reading Big Bubba’s smokin’ →