Going South for the Winter...

Some news about my journey to “Taste the Ville”; it’s about to take a detour.  I am being given the opportunity to go work in Memphis until March at FedEx Forum home of the Memphis Grizzlies.  While this will put a little bit of a twist on my plan to blog about the amazing culinary landscape of Louisville, it is going to give me the unique opportunity to check into another city’s hot spots.  It is my hope that I will be able to continue writing about amazing food, just in a different location.  I will certainly miss my favorite Ville spots, and will no doubt be comparing everything I eat to somewhere back home.  I just wanted to get the explanation out there before Memphis eateries started popping up.  Hope you continue to enjoy the blog and have a safe and Happy Holiday Season, cheers!

Avalon

Bardstown Road plays host to a plethora of restaurants, bars and shops.  Nestled between Rosewood avenue and Cherokee parkway sits Avalon.  Side note: Avalon in history is the mythical island that King Arthur’s sword Excalibur was forged.  Now back to Louisville’s Avalon.  As a holiday/going away for a while dinner myself and 4 friends ventured to the restaurant to see what was to offer. 

Unbeknownst to us we were walking into the jackpot of specials.  Not only is Tuesday 1/2 off bottles of wine, but they were also running a “Girls Night Out Special”.  This consisted of having 2 or more girls at the table- check, and $5 salads and small plates- double check.  So we started with the Baked Goat Cheese.  We loved the creamy whipped local goat cheese with roasted garlic but wished there was a bit more of the tomato jam on it and a few more flatbread pieces for us to finish it up with.  Of course we also had a few bottles of wine, we were after all celebrating.

Since there were five at the table and we each ordered something different I think the easiest and most comprehensive way to review this is going to be a list, so here it goes:

• Wedge Salad- I always love a wedge salad, great in its simplicity, this was no exception.  The one fault we found with it (two of us ordered this) was that the croutons were super hard, like they were stale, or had been set in the refrigerator, I couldn’t decide.
• Fish and Chips- It came with two giant pieces of cod that were well breaded (almost like a corndog batter, but not in a bad way at all, in a great way actually) and flaky.  The fries were really tasty.
• Mixed Greens- I was told the best part of this was the dressing which was honey balsamic vinaigrette.
• Lobster Mac N Cheese- And I quote “yummers”.  I think that says enough.
• Southern Fried Chicken- The chicken was delicious, the mashed potatoes were too starchy, perhaps needing to be whipped more.
• Avalon Burger- Thought it was mediocre, but that the yam fries she got with them were really good.
• Onion Soup Gratin- Perfect amount of cheese to bread ratio.

Overall we really enjoyed ourselves.  The room was a little too dimly lit for my taste, but I get the vibe they are going for.  Plus with all the specials I ended up saving $34 with the wine and small plate, which in itself is worth another trip, or two.


Update:  This restaurant is now closed.

Hammerheads

Say there is a shotgun house in Germantown, not hard to imagine considering Louisville has the largest number of shotgun houses in the country, and above the door resides a giant hammerhead shark.  Now consider that within this thin building there is what I consider one of the must stop-at destinations for foodies in the city.  Hammerheads looks like it stepped right out of an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, with its small interior, long bar and packed status.  We arrived around 7 to a room that had no open tables and 3 people in front of us.  There were two seats at the window bar so we decided to sit there.

This was not by any means my first time to Hammerheads, just the first time I decided to write about it.  On this particular evening I had a ½ rack of BBQ Lamb Ribs.  They were really good, not dry at all
with that perfect BBQ flavor.  I will say that they are small (only 4 spare ribs coming with a ½ rack, but in all fairness the waiter told me that when I ordered).  J was going to order the Soft Shell Crab Sandwich, but the waiter talked her into getting it as the tacos.  She was glad he had talked her into that, she said they were great.  Something you have yet to learn about J is that she loves French Fries, probably more then any other person I know.  Normally when I am there I get a basket of fries to share, this time was no exception, and decided to get spend a little extra and get ours fried in duck fat.  The fries were on point, crispy and golden, my only issue was that every once in a while I got one I thought tasted dirty (I attribute this to the parsley).  J gives them a 9 on a 1-10 scale saying she wished there was something a little tastier to dip them in than ketchup, they were too good for that.  Hammerheads always has a nice beer selection, J having a NABC Elector Imperial Red Ale, myself having a Southern Tier 2x IPA.

The one fault I will give to Hammerheads is that they brought my ribs out a while before they brought J’s tacos or the fries, I like for everything to come out at once.  Other than that it’s always a great experience, I wouldn’t have even minded had we needed to wait for a table.  The service was great, our server always just randomly popped up, he was like a “ninja server”, and the atmosphere is always fun.

The Silver Dollar

Being the new kid on the block can mean a few different things.  For one, people seem to always be talking about you, whispering to all their friends about that place that just moved in.  Also, it sometimes unfortunately means you have that awkward stumbling point where you haven’t quite got your groove, but everyone knows you will have so much to offer when you hit your stride.  That is how I see The Silver Dollar.  Having just opened in the last few weeks over on the downtown end of Frankfort sits The Silver Dollar in the old Albert A. Stoll Firehouse.  By now you all know how much I love anything local, well I happen to also be a history nerd, so if you put a locally owned restaurant in one of America’s oldest intact firehouses I am there.
Being greeted by the reclaimed wood bar as I walked in, I wandered over to my friend who was already seated in a large booth.  The sound of old country and low chatter fills the room and creates a nice background sound to an evening with good friends and house-made cocktails.  Both of my friends decided on the fried oyster sandwich.  Apparently they were good, one going as far to say it was the best oyster sandwich she has had; the other commenting that the bread wasn’t as hard as a normal po’ boy bread, which made the sandwich better.  I had the Barbecue Pork sandwich, it was delicious.  The pork was tender and the coleslaw on top of the sandwich was just right.  What we would like too highly recommend is that you cover your chips in the house-made salsas or ketchup that is brought out to you.  We all had our preference, one thinking the regular salsa was great, one claiming the smokey ketchup was where it was at and myself feeling that the salsa verde was money.  Either way we seemed to demolish all of our chips while simultaneously making the sauces disappear.
What I would like to caution is that the stumbling point with The Silver Dollar seems to be the service.  While we had one server to start with and kept putting off ordering until our third member arrived, we ended with another server.  I am not opposed to switching servers since we had only ordered drinks, but the server we ended up with was not the greatest.  She finally did take our meal order and the food arrived fairly quickly, but after that it was downhill.  We waited for what felt like forever for her to notice that we had been trying to get our checks to leave.  After we gave her our cards it took her 20 minutes to bring them back to us, she had actually forgot that she had them.  I have heard from a few different friends that their service experience was much the same.  Again I am going to contribute this to being new and still working out the kinks.  The food, drinks, and sauce alone is worth the visit, perhaps do as we did and go on an off day (Mon-Thurs) when it is a little slower so the servers have a bit more time.

Troll Pub Under the Bridge

It’s a good day when my parents come to town, and I always make sure we go somewhere new to eat when they are here.  It’s also not very often you will see 61 degree weather on a December Saturday night in Louisville.  So after taking in a play at the Kentucky Center we decided to stroll down Whiskey Row until something popped out at us.  This particular night it happened to be Troll Pub Under the Bridge.  Anything with a whimsical troll beckoning passersby to enter deserves a shot, so we obliged the troll and took a chance.

Seeing as how IPA beers are my favorite, when an IPA beer cheese is on the menu I have to order some.  Served with hot pretzel bread sticks I have to say the beer cheese was the best part of the meal.  The beer did not overpower the cheese as there was a perfect balance of flavors.  Between the three of us we split an order of mild wings and a 10” supreme pizza.  The wings were crispy and flavorsome with in-house made sauce.  The pizza was a big disappointment.  To me it tasted like something that came out of a freezer and was thrown in an oven.  The saving grace of this particular establishment is the building that it’s in.  With giant wooden doors and large gothic handles as you enter, exposed brick walls, and large industrial doors (I decided belonged in a mine somewhere) in the bathroom as art, you can’t help but enjoy the space.  It is my sincere hope that Whiskey Row continues to grow and with it the restaurant scene as well.

Cafe Lou Lou

Once in a while you have a dinner where even if the food isn’t the greatest, you can find redeeming qualities in the experience.  That would be how I classify my dinner at Café Lou Lou.  Don’t get me wrong, by no means was my meal bad, it just wasn’t the greatest I have ever had.  Let me just state that extra bonus points go to Café Lou Lou for having half price bottles of wine on Wednesdays; score! 

J and I started out with a humus appetizer that we found creamy with the perfect amount of garlic, I thought it could use a touch more lemon, but was still tasty.  For dinner I had the Gyro Roll.  While the yogurt sauce was good, I wished there was a bit more of it, or perhaps a little less lettuce.  The meat in it was flavorful, but a little crisp for my liking.  J had the Shrimp Pesto with Tri-colored Tortellini.  She thought the saltiness of the olives and the tanginess of the tomatoes were perfect with the pesto, but had wished for more shrimp in the meal.  It was, overall, a pleasurable experience and I would definitely return on a Wednesday for a half price bottle of wine, good company, and perhaps a pizza next time.

Irish Rover

In my mind I have this picture of where I am supposed to be on a chilly fall/winter night with good friends.  It involves a dimly lit bar, some sort of fireplace if possible, and the low hum of chatter as the patron’s converse amongst themselves.  Needless to say I stepped into just that recently in the Irish Rover.  While there is a dinning area we decided to sit in one of the booths in the bar section, a decision which I firmly stand by as it was less family and more our scene.  Being a descendant if Irish immigrants I pride myself in embracing my heritage and loving Irish food. 
My normal go to meal at any such establishment is corn beef and cabbage.  But since going to the Irish Rover was a whim decision I had actually eaten that the night before.  So I did what any good Irish girl did, I had a BLT.  Now before you judge me let me say that this was no normal BLT, it was a BBLT, Benedictine, bacon, lettuce, tomato.  With that being said, at least give me the credit for being Louisville in my choice since Benedictine was created right here in this fine city.  My sandwich was good, the extra B being a solid choice, but I did wish that the sourdough had been toasted to give a little contrast in textures. My friend got the lamb burger and said it was good, but not really too exciting.  The Irish chips were good, a version of steak fries.  The best part of our meal was the Sticky Toffee Pudding.  Sort of a spice cake with caramel sauce on it, just the right amount of sweet and a perfect size to split.  Overall I enjoyed the visit, the ambiance a little more than the food.

Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot

First, let me take a minute to apologize for the hiatus that I have been on.  Work has been ridiculous busy to the point where eating was almost not even an option.  With that let’s dive into Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot.  There is something oh so inviting about a smoker piping out little wisps of succulent smelling smoke on the front patio of a restaurant on a dreary rainy fall day that just makes me smile.  F.A.B.D has two locations, this day we decided to go to the one in the Highlands.  On a Monday at around 1 my friend C and I were the only people in the restaurant, which was totally ok with me.  The bartender/server was quick to get us menus, drinks and take our order.  It took no time to get our appetizers or food.

As you well know by now I will eat most anything at least once and I have no problem with vegetables.  My friend C on the other hand is a self proclaimed picky eater.  So when she ordered fried green beans for her appetizer choice it made sense to me, vegetables are only made better when they come golden brown.  Honestly I was a bit disappointed in them, they tasted like they came straight out of the bag I could have bought in the grocery; C liked them for that reason.  She loved the Texas Petal Sauce that they were served with and has decided it’s her new favorite dipping sauce.  We also had an order of Spicy Cheese Balls.  They were excellent, like a jalapeno popper without the jalapeno.  We then moved on to our lunch.  For me I chose a ½ rack of ribs with green beans and potato salad as my sides.  I always love their fall off the bone ribs and the fact that they don’t come sopping in BBQ sauce so that I can put just the right amount of F.A.B.D’s homemade sauce on it on.  Everyone has their own ideal sauce to rib ratio, F.A.B.D accounts for that.  I did however have to bring my sides home, so much food!  A fault of mine is that I am a potato salad snob; I just personally think no one’s will ever be as good as my mothers.  But both the potato salad and green beans were good.  C ordered the special of the day, white meat chicken sandwich with the potato salad as her side.  She said the bun was excellent, toasted with just the right amount of butter.  The chicken she thought was a little on the dry side but was helped by the BBQ sauce.  One thing I want to make sure to mention is that if you are going to buy a soda they only come in the can and there are no free refills, the food makes up for it though.  For the price of the meal and the portions (we both took boxes home) F.A.B.D is always a good value.


Update: This location has closed, now only the original on Frankfort is open.

Garage Bar Brunch

You’ve gotta love Nulu district and the eccentricity that it thrives off of.  Once an old garage (complete with two cars “crashing” into one another in the front) Garage Bar doesn’t hold back even though it’s the relatively new kid on the block.  With hams hanging from the ceiling, stacks of flour on palates through out the dining area, and a beautiful bar Garage Bar invites you in immediately.  For me and a few friends on a gorgeous fall Saturday the only natural thing to do seemed to be brunch, and Garage Bar beckoned.

Starting with Bloody Marys and a Breakfast Shandy (PBR/OJ/Ginger) seemed to kick off the morning just right.  For the first time in my life I had a breakfast “appetizer” if you will.  We ordered the Warm Bourbon & Pecan Sticky Bun.  Delicious.  Between the entire table we ended up ordering the following:

-          Shaved Country Ham with red eye mayo and toast

-          Bacon, Egg and Cheese with proof bacon, aged cheddar and a house made bialy

-          Poached Eggs & Country ham with Weisenberger grits and red eye gravy

-          The Hangtown Fry an oyster and bacon omelet with hot pepper

-          Sausage & Potato Brick Oven Pizza with egg, spinach, cream and mozzarella

No one was going to walk away from the table hungry, and if you did well that was your own stupidity.  Garage Bar is one of those places, those places I love and are becoming so popular in the Ville, which supports local farmers.  Because of that I have to say the ham is spot on amazing.  All of the dishes were well done and more then enough for us to indulge upon.  I will definitely be returning for dinner at the Garage Bar soon, probably for a hand crafted wood-fired oven pizza!

Zanzabar

This week Zanzabar was doing some calling, so off to the bar I and three friends ventured.  I am going to start off by apologizing that I did not get any pictures; I forgot to take my camera.  There has only been one other time that I have gone to Zbar, and both times now there was a live band playing.  Always fun!

On to the food… Three of us ended up getting burgers, they were excellent.  By my first blog you know that I am in love with Nord’s Bakery.  Being that Nord’s is just down the street Zbar uses the bakery to supply all of their buns, so needless to say AMAZING.  The fourth of us got Chip’s Fish & Chipz.  It smelled excellent, came with two giant pieces of Icelandic Haddock and was goldeney perfect (yes I just made up the word goldeney).  To finish up the night we indulged in a bourbon bread pudding.  If you take Nord’s doughnuts, cover them in bourbon and serve it up in a warm skillet with ice cream you could pretty much slap me and I would still say thank you.

Zanzabar always has a great energy in it, is fun, and has great food.  When you add their beer selection and a few good friends there isn’t much to complain about.

El Rumbon

Saturday was the second annual Food Truckus Ruckus, where the food trucks all come together in one parking lot for a giant food fest.  Needless to say, you put all of the food trucks in one area where we don’t have to track them down and we are there.  I went with my roommate, both our dogs, and J, and can I just say it was a gorgeous day out.  I’m not sure what it is about food trucks that screams “hey hipsters come here” but you couldn’t look around without spotting skinny jeans, plaid shirts, beards and Ray-Bans, and I personally love that!

Anyways, we were going to each get food from a different truck, but we quickly realized that would mean standing in our own lines and not being able to catch up and chat.  After making a loop to scope out each of the menus, judge the line/wait ratio, and take in the smells we decided on El Rumbon.  El Rumbon is Louisville’s Cuban food truck, and it sounded like a fabulous idea.  So in line we jumped, after about 5 minutes of standing in line we decided it would move much faster with beer in hand. So J ran over to the beer truck and grabbed us a 2x IPA, a personal favorite of mine (we were right; it made the wait better).  After standing in line chatting for about half an hour we made it to the front.  By the time we got to order they were out of sides and desserts, but luckily I had a back up decision already made for just such an occasion. 

I ended up getting the beef quesadilla.  It was stuffed full of cheese with a tasty tortilla, but it was almost too full of cheese.  My beef seemed to be scattered through out and the vegetables were sparse.  A fork may have made it a little easier to eat, but it didn’t have bad flavor.  My roommate got the breakfast burrito, with scrambled eggs, vegetables and meat. She enjoyed the cheese, the burrito was flavorful and very fulfilling; she had to keep the second half for later.  She warns that you “prepare to be a little messy” or eat it with a fork and knife because it’s a little juicy.  J got the Mexican Torta Sandwich, she said it was good.  As a general consensus we decided it wasn’t bad, that if the truck was somewhere near us we would go again, but none of us were making a special trip to go to it.

Bluegrass Burgers

With last weeks meal being a little more on the expensive side, about $40, it was decided this week would be something a little more affordable.  So off to Bluegrass Burgers we went.  Again I’m going to state how much I am a sucker for places that use local ingredients, and BB does just that.  The beef and bison are all KY Grass-fed.  And while I can’t say that I necessarily believe all grass fed is the way to go, I can say that local for sure will always hold a place in my heart.

Bluegrass Burgers is located on the corner of Cannons Ln and Frankfort Ave in the Crescent Hill area of town.  While there isn’t a ton of seating there are tables inside as well as a seating area with 4 tables outside on the patio.  I wish I had brought my dog with me; they leave a water bowl outside for patrons who bring man's best friend.

I decided on the KY Grass-fed Cheese Steak, fries and a beer ($12 total).  My Cheese Steak came with onions and peppers on it and while it was a little dry I really enjoyed the bread, the meat itself didn’t have bad flavor.  The fries were quite tasty.  Hand cut, thin with just the right amount of salt. My friend, J, got the KY Grass-Fed Beef Burger with Gouda (“Gouda was a solid choice”).  The special sauce she put on it was zesty and the burger was perfectly cooked to medium, which was how she had ordered it.  There is a toppings bar which we appreciated, but wish that there had been labels on the toppings.  Overall not a bad experience.

Harvest

There are two things that I can say without a doubt I will always support when given the chance: local and agriculture.  So when a place’s mantra is “a locally grown restaurant” and has its roots with a local farmer serving up omelets at a farmers market I was in.

On East Market between Clay and Hancock Streets, Harvest is located in the growing NULU/ East Market district of the city.  The restaurant itself has a quiet charm about it.  The farmers who support the restaurant and are in turn supported by the restaurant look down upon guests from pictures that adorn the wall along with a map that shows exactly where the food you are eating has come from.  We decided to sit at the bar since my dining partner knew the bartender and I quickly fell in love with the lamps above my head made of Mason jars (I will soon be attempting this). 

When the bartender described to us the special appetizer of the night we knew we were going to get it without even discussing.  Who is going to say no to seared pork belly with grits and a corn salsa?  It was delicious, tender with just the right amount of sear on it.  Even the corn was a bright spot in the meal, and I am not a huge fan of corn.  Our appetizer was paired with a handcrafted cocktail (the menu for this is printed on an envelope, very cool).  For me a Lolita (tasted like tea with a little kick) while my friend sipped an Old Fashioned with a seasonal pear in it.

After that we moved on to our main courses.  Because the appetizer was so good I called a last minute audible on my selection and went with the pork confit, grits, and glazed carrots.  I am going to be honest, I was a little disappointed.  While the grits were excellent (I think they got better between the appetizer and meal) my pork confit was fairly dry.  It had good flavor, but seemed like it had been cooked a little too long.  The glass of Gruner Veltliner from Austria I had did assist me in washing it down and for that I was grateful.  My friend ended up pairing her Merlot with goat cheese and pesto lasagnette. It looked amazing and it turns out it pretty much was.  If you like goat cheese it comes highly recommended. 

Overall it was a great experience, even with the confit let down.  The staff was great, the restaurant has a great atmosphere, and with an ever changing menu based off of what is fresh and local I am sure I will be back. Support local, support farmers, and continue to support Louisville restaurateurs! 

Nord's Bakery

Bakery, not the word that first pops into ones mind when you say restaurant, but why not?  As I said in my first post I am open to suggestions.  And Nord’s was the first suggestion I was thrown.  Well actually it was “start with the bacon doughnut” but I knew exactly what she meant. 

I have had Nord’s a handful of times, one of the ladies at work has brought them in on separate occasions, and when I heard they had bacon doughnuts I was all over it.  It has also been my pleasure to chat with the owners of this bakery.  They are some of the kindest people I have met; they are even trying to recreate my favorite doughnut from back home.  But never had I been to Nord’s bakery itself.

Located off Preston Street just past Eastern parkway in the St. Joseph’s part of town sits Nord’s.  An unassuming black awning on a corner lot marks the place that holds the bacon doughnut (yes I will be saying this multiple times, love it or leave it).

Nord’s is a small place with three glass cases filled with baked goods.  One devoted solely to the doughnuts I was there for, one for adorably designed cookies and one that holds other types of pastries.  With only 4 small tables it is more of a place to grab your dozen, $6.95, and be on your way, but we sat and chatted for a bit surrounded by homey décor.

Of course I was here for the bacon doughnut, but I also wanted to try something I had not had before.  Mike Nord, the owner, picked out my other one and when the owner says try this, you don’t argue.  So I ended up with my glorious bacon doughnut and one that was a cinnamon bun with nuts covered in a maple frosting (I didn’t get the name, very sweet).  The bacon doughnut tastes like pancakes with maple syrup and a side of bacon, only it’s in the shape of a doughnut.  Honestly it doesn’t get much better then that.  I fully recommend trying Nord’s next time you decide you need a dozen doughnuts in the morning.  The doughnuts are great and the people there make you feel like family.

The plan, or the ingredients if you wish...

I am sure that growing up my parents would never have said "One day my daughter is going to be a foodie." On the contrary, I was very much a chicken nuggets kind of kid; I didn't even really like hamburgers when I got my Happy Meals. I stuck to what I knew; tenders and tacos (since I was born in Arizona). But I suppose just as our lives change so do our palates, they grow and mature along with us.
 
It is not very often you move somewhere and feel completely at peace with yourself. For me that place is Louisville. Yes by many standards I am a "northerner", growing up in Indiana, but my soul is southern. Blame it on my mother if you must fault someone, but I don't see it as a fault in the least. So when I moved to this great city I instantly felt my aura begin to change. To be honest I was almost expecting it, I have had a flirtation with the Ville since I was about 13. What I wasn't expecting was the amazing amount of locally owned restaurants.

Now with all of the chain's and big name places to eat I think there is no better way to get to know somewhere than eating something you can only get in that city. I suppose you could call me a "localvore" a title I will gladly embrace.  It is my goal, task, plan, grand scheme, whatever you wish to call it, to take a giant bite out of this city.  With very few limitations on what I will try at least once I plan on eating at a different local restaurant every week and sharing my thoughts, experiences, and choices with you.

There are a few things I can promise you.  Never on my plate will you see Turkey, I don’t eat it.  And anything with oranges, orange juice, and orange zest can be counted out, I am allergic.  Besides that I am going to try and chose a special if possible, I think it gives you the full view of what the chef is really capable of.  I promise to take pictures of where ever I am and whatever I am eating.  I would love suggestions, comments, or input from anyone.  With that, let me leave you with a quote from a great chef, and let’s grab a plate!

“Life itself is the proper binge.” ~Julia Child