$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, QuickBytes

Cozy lunches at Old Louisville Tavern and bar Vetti warm our icy bones

Well, 2018 sure came in with a “Brrrr!” The temperature didn’t rise above freezing for a week, and relief took its sweet time coming. When the air makes my face hurt, my instinct is to keep the doors shut and hole up at home with the thermostat cranked up to high.

When hunger and cabin fever set in, though, and the urge to get out in the world becomes irresistible, I can hardly think of a better cold-weather destination than the friendly confines of a cozy bar and grill that takes its commitment to good food as seriously as its beverages. Continue reading Cozy lunches at Old Louisville Tavern and bar Vetti warm our icy bones →

Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

Sin

Happy New Year, everyone! Time for us all to purge ourselves of our bad eating and exercise habits and be healthful again for a couple of weeks. Join a gym. Buy a blender and start making smoothies with chia seeds and spinach. Swear off ranch dressing and swear off red-velvet waffles. Consume only “lite” beer. Buy the olive oil version of your favorite mayonnaise. Continue reading Sin →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Commentary, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes

All aboard on Mi Sueño Cuban Express

For a few brief, joyous moments of federal sanity last year, it seemed we were going to be friends with Cuba again. Thanks, Obama! But now the new boss has taken Cuba off the table for now. Thanks a lot, Donnie.

But if we can’t easily go to Cuba, it seems that Cuba is coming to Louisville. Cuban immigration to Louisville accelerated so fast in the past decade that the local diaspora has attracted national media attention. Continue reading All aboard on Mi Sueño Cuban Express →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Artisanal butcher, Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Vegetarian/Vegan

The Impossible Burger at Morels Cafe. Yeah, it’s impossible.

You’ve probably heard of the Impossible Burger, the heavily capitalized, much publicized meat-free burger that’s so much like the real thing that you can cook it rare and watch it bleed. It’s not animal blood, of course, but a soybean protein called leghemoglobin, “heme” for short, plant-based cousin to animal hemoglobin. Continue reading The Impossible Burger at Morels Cafe. Yeah, it’s impossible. →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Italian (and Pizza), LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy

bar Vetti lights up 800 Building

Who knew that a hot new eatery would bring Louisville rushing back to the old 800 Building? Old-timers might consider this unlikely, but the delightful bar Vetti (management prefers the lowercase “bar”) fits nicely in the renovated turquoise tower. Continue reading bar Vetti lights up 800 Building →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, Seafood & Water's Edge, Southern Indiana

Hull & High Water’s oysters inspire hymns of praise

When we headed over to the new Hull & High Water the other evening, our friend Don said he was afraid he would be a pretty tough judge. Just back home from a conference in Boston, he had taken advantage of the opportunity to sample some of Beantown’s finest oysters and fish.

A half-hour later, though, he was singing a different tune, and Mary and I and our friend Anne were joining the hymn of praise in four-part harmony. Continue reading Hull & High Water’s oysters inspire hymns of praise →

Industry Standard, Marsha Lynch

Recipe Schme-cipe

My long-suffering fiancée works in an office of seven people, including three vegetarians. The other night I was re-creating a Crockpot vegetarian green bean dish that I had made for last year’s office Thanksgiving. They were a big hit even with the meat-eaters. I had to work really hard to make them rich in flavor and mouthfeel for everyone to enjoy, and I remembered just what I had put in them before. Naturally I hadn’t written anything down. I just used instinct and memory to make them again. Continue reading Recipe Schme-cipe →

$ Budget (under $30), LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, Soul Food, South End, World Food

Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

As autumn marches toward winter and colder weather wraps the region in its frigid embrace, thoughts of the sunny Caribbean dance in our heads like visions of sugar-plums and other happy things.

Mention the Caribbean, and chances are you’ll think of white-sand beaches, cruise ships, sun-tans, strong drinks served in coconut shells, and balmy relaxation. Tourism, after all, is the No. 1 economic driver for the region, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and the people of the 700 islands that make up the Caribbean archipelago are working to recover from the damage dealt by Hurricanes Irma and Maria this summer as quickly as they can. For Puerto Rico, Barbuda and a few others, sadly, that’s going to take a very long time.

While we wait, here’s good news: Caribbean restaurants are blossoming in the metro. Continue reading Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Commentary, Farm-to-table, Indian, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, Northeast Metro, Pacific Rim, World Food

Tandoori Fusion masters the science of fusion

When I first heard about Tandoori Fusion, the new Indian restaurant way out in the East End across the way from Costco, my imagination leapt up. I know that the tandoor, the iconic Indian clay oven, can reach temperatures upward of 900ºF, a searing fire that does something magical to meats and flatbreads too.

But Tandoori Fusion? Can these people possibly have mustered nuclear fusion, the fierce energy that lights up H-bombs and the Sun itself? Crazy! That would make some remarkable tandoori food, all right, and it would be wicked fast.

Nope. Continue reading Tandoori Fusion masters the science of fusion →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, Vegetarian/Vegan, West End

V-Grits works vegan magic with meat-free seafood and fish

You’d be surprised to know how many people who give up eating tasty animals for reasons pertaining to the environment, health or animal welfare nevertheless harbor a nostalgic memory for the comfort-food pleasure of the meat that they won’t eat any more.

But there’s good news for vegetarians and vegans who want life to be more than a boring run of side dishes: There’s a variety of humane alternatives that can approximate that experience without Bossy or Porky having to die for their pleasure. Continue reading V-Grits works vegan magic with meat-free seafood and fish →

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