Comings & Goings_Fall23_Ed.qxp_Road Trip_Cinci.qxd 8/27/23 4:30 PM Page 6
starters | comings & goings
comings & goings
BY ROGER BAYLOR
Autumn can be elegiac, but there’s nothing melancholy about our “Comings & Goings” tally for the year to date: 131 openings versus 70 closings, which if extrapolated into major league baseball-speak is a winning percentage of .652, and a superlative 106-56 won-lost record for the season. Let’s have a closer look at a bullish past three months where we saw 41 restaurant openings to a mere 15 closings bringing the total restaurants listed in this issue’s restaurant guide to 1555. Former Louisville mayor Greg Fischer is famously (notoriously?) credited with coining the term “bourbonism” to describe the alluring alchemy of bourbon, hospitality, distillery experiences, and local food available in Louisville to tourists and residents alike. One consequence of bourbonism’s enduring appeal to visitors is an ongoing boom in the construction of hotels, many of them harboring distinctive, independently-operated eateries; examples include Rosettes at Hotel Genevieve in NuLu and Nostalgic at the Bellwether (Highlands). Even better, today’s new-school Louisville hotel bar tends to specialize in — wait for it — bourbon, bringing the whiskeyanity’s civic rationale full circle. Consequently our survey of newcomers begins with Paseo (“leisurely stroll”) at The Myriad Hotel (900 Baxter Ave.), featuring a Mediterranean- and Middle Eastern-inspired vibe that entices diners with words like “harissa,” “chorizo” and even “labneh.” Switchboard is Paseo’s day-long Myriad auxiliary, from morning coffee-with-pastries to evening cocktails, accompanied by small-bites derived from Paseo’s pantry. Derby Gaming Hotel is a Churchill Downs brand extension within hailing distance of the airport shuttle, reinventing the old Louisville Downs harness racing acreage into an entertainment complex and debuting Oliver’s Chop House & Bourbon Bar (4520 Poplar Level Rd.), with classic Sinatra-grade steaks, seafood, cocktails, and desserts. Omni Louisville’s street-level Falls City Market is home to Lexington-based Country Boy Brewing’s first Louisville taproom (400 S. Second St.), pouring regionally popular beers like Cougar Bait and Shotgun Wedding, along with pizza, subs, and wings to address inevitable “post-matrimonial” munchies. In addition to these welcomed applications of culinary hostelry, Louisville may well be experiencing peak adaptive reuse of restaurant floor plans, a perennially viable tactic, as pre-existing food serv-
COMINGS
ice-grade plumbing, electricity and ventilation reduce start-up costs. Perhaps the most prominent example of “now smoking ribs where X used to be” is the eagerly awaited Brooklyn, NY-based Pig Beach BBQ (1201 River Rd.), utilizing the long-vacant Waterfront Park funhouse formerly occupied by Tumbleweed and Doc’s Cantina, and greeting patrons with chef-driven barbecue, sides, and all the drinks. Ambitious multi-site restaurateur Jared Matthews’ Osteria Italian Seafood (1211 Herr Ln.) in Westport Village picks up where longrunning predecessor Napa left off, retaining a healthy approach while shifting the emphasis to fresh Italian-inspired seafood. MeeshMeesh Mediterranean (636 E. Market St.) replaces Wiltshire on Market in NuLu, offering Eastern Mediterranean culinary traditions synthesized by Chef Noam Bilitzer, a native of Israel. The versatile B-Side is an event venue, free-standing weekend bar and stage upstairs at Decade restaurant (1076 E. Washington St.), named after the “flip” side of pre-digital vinyl 45 rpm records. Awry Brewing occupies the former Chimera Brewing/V-Grits building at 1025 Barret Ave., pairing beer-friendly nibbles (chicken tenders, cheese curds) with a balanced line of craft beers. TurnStation Brewing Co. (10601 Worthington Ln.) refashions the short-lived Oldham County Brewing premises at Glen Oaks Golf Club, with local brewing legend Leah “Apocalypse Brew Works” Dienes on board to brew easy-drinking duffer’s beers—taproom only, but the country club has food. Tequila seemingly trails only bourbon as the greatest prompter of restaurant concepts. North Carolina-headquartered Locos (412 S. Fourth St.; formerly Whiskey Dry at Fourth Street Live!) touts the area’s “most extensive” selection of distilled blue agave juice, and Bakersfield (1064 Bardstown Rd.), from the Cincinnati-based restaurant group behind The Eagle, brings its own taste of Buck Owens Country to the Highlands where Hop Cat’s craft drafts once poured. Old Louisville scores three new venues, each occupying previously used restaurant space. Que Pasa Mexican Grill (103 W. Oak St.) promises authentic Mexican cuisine the way abuela (grandma) used Continued on page 8
6 Fall 2023 www.foodanddine.com