Comings & Goings_Spring20_Ed-final.qxp_Road Trip_Cinci.qxd 3/1/20 10:38 PM Page 8
starters | comings & goings
comings & goings
BY RON MIKULAK
I confess that I spent the hiatus between last year’s Winter issue and this Spring 2020 issue feeling certain that my job here would be easier this first issue of the new year. The dreary, rainy, grey winter, with temperatures wildly swinging between eerily unseasonal balminess to face-stinging cold windy days, would, I was sure, put the damper on restaurateurs’ ambitions, leaving me with a shorter list of new businesses to have to narrate here. But it seems that the seasonal blahs that left me mopey and listless served only to rev up the ambitions and hopes of the restaurant business community. This issue F&D is listing 38 brand new dining spots, of which 13 are additional locations for established restaurants. On the negative side of the ledger, 21 restaurants have given up the ghost. Three of that number are multi-location restaurants that have closed one outlet but continue serving at others. And a relatively high seven business have either moved to new locations, or are changing the design of their businesses enough to warrant mention. The totals then are 38 new dining choices opened against 21 that have closed — another positive quarter for the still-robust Louisville dining scene.
NEW TABLES
Three new high-style dining spots are on the verge of entering the scene. Barn8 (10500 W. Hwy. 42 in Goshen) is the newest project from the 21C Museum hotel chain founders Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson. The renovation of one of the outbuildings on their 600acre Hermitage Farm into a rustic-classy dining and events space will likely become a significant culinary destination. Executive Chef Alison Settle will make sure their appetites, as well as their curiosity, will be sated. Their scheduled opening is March 18. On April 24, the revolving floor atop the Galt House’s West Tower (140 N. Fourth St.) will continue to spin for the restaurant space’s latest incarnation, Swizzle, where the menu will focus on prime steaks, chops and sustainable seafood. Churchill Downs (700 Central Ave.) is continuing with substantial renovations and additions, including adding the Matt Winn Steakhouse just in time for Derby. Executive Chef David Danielson plans a classic premium steakhouse menu on Millionaire’s Row, which will be open not just during the racing meets, but all year long. Some familiar dining locations have assumed new identities.The former Ward 426 building (426 Baxter Ave.) is now home to Agave & Rye Epic Tacos. The Covington-based business offers tacos with an eclectic flare — kangaroo meat, lobster, Jamaican jerk mahi-mahi and several vegetarian options. The space at 129 W. Main St. that has recently seen a succession of Mexican restaurants, has been taken over by the neighboring Doc Crow’s for Doc’s Bourbon Room. There you will find a thousand Bourbons (in case you’re counting), as well as other distilled spirit choices, and an upscale bar food menu with munchies and shared plates. In case that’s not what the doctor ordered for you, you’ll also find a coffee shop with perfect hours: it opens early and closes late. On St. Patrick’s Day, The Ainsworth will open in the St. Matthews 8 Spring 2020 www.foodanddine.com
building (3929 Shelbyville Rd.) formerly home to the original BBC location and more recently Sullivan’s Tap House. The Ainsworth is an upscale pub, with dishes like a mac & cheese burger and wings finished with a sprinkling of edible gold leaf. Three new eating spots are opening (or have opened) in Jeffersonville. Famed Southern Indiana bartender Tony Revak finally has a place to call his own in Harry’s (130 W. Riverside Dr.). This familyfriendly sports bar with a southern and Creole influenced menu plans to open in time for March Madness at the former Flat 12 Bierwerks space. Set for an April 15 opening, That’s My Dog (125 W. Chestnut St.) will give hot dog eaters a choice of 30 toppings as they go through the serving line, and invites pet owners to bring their own dogs, hot or not, to the pet-friendly patio. And Parnelli’s Chicago Eatery has opened at 3548 E. Tenth St. St. Matthews has a new burger place, BurgerIM (3733 Lexington Rd.). In addition to several kinds of beef patty, BurgerIM also puts falafel, chicken, lamb and salmon between buns. In late March, Hometown Brewing Co. (4041 Preston Hwy.) will be producing ales and the like next to Hometown Pizza. The beers made there will be served at all the Hometown Pizza restaurants around the state. Two new concepts from Fernando Martinez and his Olé Restaurant Group will begin serving at the end of March: La Bodeguita de Mima (725 E. Market St.) will be channeling a pre-Castro Cuban nightlife ambiance and offering upscale Cuban-influenced cuisine, including a lobster enchilada; Señora Arepa (721 E. Market St.), behind La Bodeguita, will focus on Venezuelan street foods, such as the namesake stuffed masa patty. Other new Latin-oriented restaurants are Dos Gringos (149 Spring St., Jeffersonville), El Frijol (1999 Brownsboro Rd.) and I Love Tacos (9909 Taylorsville Rd.). Continued on page 10