Commentary

Guess who’s driving your dinner

Times are tough for us all as we live through the worst pandemic in living memory, and the restaurant business is being hit hard.

Some of our favorite local eateries are closed, and their servers, kitchen staff, chefs and owners have been scrambling for alternative sources of income.

Many more restaurants are staying open for carryout and delivery. They’re hanging on to at least part of their staff, to cook the meals we love and hustle them out to a line of hungry diners waiting in our cars at the curb.

But how about the good folks who get our hot dinner the last mile to our houses? Continue reading Guess who’s driving your dinner →

Commentary

How can you help? How can you eat? Check these lists.

Our friends in Louisville’s restaurant business are going through very tough times right now, and they need your help. Owners, managers, cooks, kitchen staff, waiters, sommeliers – everyone is facing huge challenges as Covid-19 shuts down dining-in operations for the foreseeable future.

How can you help? We thought you’d never ask! Buy some takeout! Pick up dinner at curb-side delivery! Or have dinner delivered, and thanks to Gov. Andy “Daddy” Beshear’s goodness, have an adult beverage delivered with it, too.

We decided not to reinvent the wheel, since there are already several thorough directories of take-out and such online. Use these links, help your favorite eatery, and enjoy your dinner! Continue reading How can you help? How can you eat? Check these lists. →

Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

Welcome home, Chickens

Less than two weeks ago, LEO Weekly staff writer Danielle Grady interviewed me for a piece about sick leave in the local hospitality industry. I was glad to help her because I was already writing a similar piece, but she got the assignment first, and it was an important subject. At that time, the buzz phrase going around was “if you feel sick, stay home”, and we discussed how that was really not workable for people who live paycheck to paycheck. It’s also frowned upon in kitchen culture – you come to work, no matter how shitty you feel, or leave your co-workers in a lurch.

That all seems rather quaint now. Continue reading Welcome home, Chickens →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Commentary, LEO's Eats, Pacific Rim, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, World Food

You can’t beat the pho at NamNam Café

It’s easy to overlook NamNam Café. It’s tiny, you don’t hear a lot about it, and it’s off on a St. Matthews side street.

But you really shouldn’t miss it. It’s one of my favorite Vietnamese restaurants, even among a dozen strong competitors.

[During the Covid-19 closure of dine-in restaurants, NamNam is offering carryout and curbside pickup for phone orders. Diners may also arrange delivery via Postmates or DoorDash.] Continue reading You can’t beat the pho at NamNam Café →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Bistros, LEO's Eats, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs

Agave & Rye brings a new generation of flavor

OK, Boomer, buh-bye. Yo, Millennial, come on in! That’s the sound of generational change on the north end of the Baxter Avenue strip, as the classy Bittner’s furniture and upscale fare of the defunct Ward 426 makes way for the bright street murals and fancy tacos of Agave & Rye.

Ward 426, a venture of former Jack Fry’s Chef Shawn Ward and the late Dean Corbett, held on for a good five-year run after supplanting the Brewery, a popular bar. But perhaps upscale fare and quiet class weren’t an ideal match for Baxter Avenue, while street art and what they call “chef-inspired” tacos fit right in. Continue reading Agave & Rye brings a new generation of flavor →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Italian (and Pizza), LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs, South End

Pizza, beer, and more at Union 15 in Colonial Gardens

Some say that pizza goes with wine. Some say beer. I’m firmly on both sides of this argument. Want to run a taste test? Let’s head for the South End and check out Union 15, the appealing pizzeria that opened last summer in Colonial Gardens.

Colonial Gardens, the historic beer garden on the fringe of Iroquois Park, nearly fell to the wrecker’s ball after it closed in 2003. But it’s bouncing back, clean and bright and maybe better than ever. Union 15 joins El Taco Luchador, the first eatery in the renovated facility. Continue reading Pizza, beer, and more at Union 15 in Colonial Gardens →

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

Fork & Barrel’s brunch soothes and satisfies

There is something indulgent about brunch that we don’t often experience at even a lavish dinner. It’s not necessarily a matter of gluttony: I’d rather choose from a selection of chef-created morning and midday dishes rather than dive into a gigantic buffet spread under plastic hoods known as sneeze guards. Ick.

No, the joy of brunch has something to do with comfort food – breakfast for lunch – elevated by culinary touches that we aren’t likely to replicate at home. Continue reading Fork & Barrel’s brunch soothes and satisfies →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, World Food

Around the world on a plate at Diamond Street Grub

I’m generally a bit skittish about restaurants that offer a mix of different world cuisines that extend well beyond the chef’s personal DNA. How can one chef master so many culinary arts?

So I wasn’t sure what to expect when Diamond Street Grub & Hops came to town last summer: Its international menu draws randomly from the street-food traditions of an edible United Nations. Continue reading Around the world on a plate at Diamond Street Grub →

Louisville's top spot for talk and reviews from the food and restaurant scene