Thursday, November 18, 2010

Eiderdown

http://leoweekly.com/dining/double-down-germantown-eiderdown-and-danny-mac%E2%80%99s

(no website, so here's a link to the LEO's review article, which includes a description of several of the entrees.)

Go there... now!!! I don't care if you don't like or have never had or never thought you'd like the smell of chopped ham and sauerkraut. That's not what it's all about.

Eiderdown is the restaurant offspring (literally) of NachBar, located in Germantown. The food combines local cuisine (recipes such as country ham sandwich and foods such as local veggies) and continental cuisine (think spaetzle und sauerbrauten und der list could beginnetagainundagain). Three friends and I dined a two-course meal with beers quite enjoyably for around fifty dollars.

We enjoyed the potato soup - well didn't really eat too much of that, my friend got it and I don't think she liked it, the cornbread - better than the red star tavern's cornbread as proclaimed by us, the cornbread officianados of the universe due to its widespread use of heavy butter, chocolate stout and gouda dip - say what? but even the cheese dip hater among us enjoyed this delicacy that had a consistency of mustard and a taste that is undescribable. For our entrees we had a country ham sandwich, which was accompanied by a warm potato salad and some wonderful calming sauces on the sandwich itself which made it less salty. The bread on the sandwich was a pugliese roll cut open from blue dog bakery. The size was massive: enough to feed a small army of 22-year old men.

The chicken soldier sampler, or whatever that ess-alliterationed dish was called, was excellent - and made perfect by its accompanying grits. Oh my god. They melted in my mouth. They were full of a light, juicy meaty flavor that made them the transcendent grits I have waited all my life to eat (yum, yum, yum!). Anyway the chicken and the veggies were good too, although the veggies were seasoned a little too strong with vinegar and the chicken was a little underdone. However, I should mention that the chicken was full of flavor and not too juicy, fatty, salty, shifty, cookie, spooky, or chinese. It was just downright smart!

The atmosphere of the place is what will have us coming back... I think it is unmatched in louisville. A dark, unlit room with only table candlelit to guide your path. The ambience is similar to the whistle stop in glendale, kentucky except a lot more open and closer to home. The restaurant was packed with people, yet we could all hear one another and felt as if we were in our own little enclosed box. The restaurant has all kinds of people - mostly looking older and upper-middle class - and the waitstaff is uber-friendly (stimmt!) and surprisingly attentive.

I cannot wait to take more family and friends to eiderdown to eat some good germanish grub! Yum! I have yet to also try the newfound Louisville German staple of Erica's on Hurstborne Lane. Maybe I should stop by there for a comparison!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Aglamesis Brother's Ice Cream and Candy

http://www.aglamesis.com/
Walking around Oakley square looking for a sandwich shop, I recently pasted the window of an old time soda fountain. Mourning the loss of a treasured existence I never came to know, I secretly wanted to venture inside, knowing that I'd never get the chance to go in if I didn't now. Upon a suggestion floating in the air, I backtracked my steps and entered. Into full spoonlight of creamy existence.

Butterscotch and cookies and cream were the picks of the day and boy were they fabulous! The ice cream here is just sooo creamy it's heavenly. The amount, though, of chunks of cookies in the cookies and cream and the richness of them made that flavor in particular out-of-this world. It left me craving it for months (and months and months - two months, to be exact).

It just so happened that the Food Network was going to stop by tomorrow and do a televised show on the ice cream shop and its Cincinnati rival, and well-known midwest favorite, Graeter's Ice Cream. I've had both and have eaten ice cream from shore-to-shore as well as in sinful Europe and therefore feel qualified to say that Aglamesis wins hands-down as some of the best ice cream in the United States. Check out Food Feuds on December 2nd to see if I'm correct in my assessment of Aglamesis!

Aglamesis sports two locations: the original Norwood location on Montgomery Road and now an old-looking Oakley Square location on Madison Ave.

Bristol Bar & Grille

During my youth upon entering a catered event and seeing a shining steel tray of the Bristol’s green chili wontons, I think I probably had a miniature foodgasm in my mouth. The Bristol is just that good. In high school there was one local hangout – which JS always makes fun of our friends for – that I would always gladly gravitate towards with friends and family. For Christmas brunches, for late-night friend get-togethers, with friends named Sarah Jessica-Parker and with just my parents I always gladly dined at the Bristol Bar and Grille. The location on Bardstown Road near Longest Ave. is my original favorite, but today I like dining at the chic downtown locale or the peaceful Hurstborne Lane location. I have even stolen a bite at the Jewish Hospital hotel location!
A true meal for me always starts off with the green chili wontons, filled with mozzarella and green chilies. The recipe for these guys, according to the courier journal’s website, packs one pound of mozzarella per batch, which is a lot, and a ton of oil. Nonetheless, this is fried goodness, a half order of which is not worth passing up. I should note that the wontons come with a side of guacamole, which isn’t really guacamole so much as it is green-colored zesty mayonnaise with some fresh parsley sprinkled on top. It’s good and worth saving (or ordering more of) to eat with the free French bread mini-loaves that come before your meal.
All meals come with a house salad with an excellent homemade blue cheese, mix dressing and bread. The salads are always fresh and include specs of cottage cheese, which I don’t even like but lovvvvve mixed with this salad dressing.
For the main course as a kiddo I always went for the freddi’s noodles (alfredo pasta). Let’s hope I never ate the free crayons! As I grew older the Caesar salad beckoned, as well as pork dijonaise with homemade skillet fries (unlike anything you’ve ever eaten), Bristol burger, pharoah’s revenge (i.e., the middle eastern grilled cheese made of havarti, spinach, and onions in a phyllo dough shell), and, of recent, Theresa’s sweet linguine. This last dish has taken my tastebuds by storm continuously for the past five years! It’s in a sweet cream sauce, that has a mysterious Cajun, beet flavor (that I love even though I don’t like beets) that makes the dish simply irrestiable. It features chicken, parmesan, and shredded beets on the top. If only I could figure out who Theresa was!
Their wine selection is great – last time there I had a sensational merlot – and the desserts are very good too and decently priced. The raspberry chocolate moose is fabulous! If you’re wanting an intimate setting, reasonable prices, a lot to eat, and dependabley good food, dine at the Bristol. For a lunch, sandwich shop version of the Bristol that infuses creative-genius into the menu, try Meridian CafĂ©.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Cafe Lou-Lou


So this is surprising. A good, local Italian restaurant that opened up in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and is N'Orleans themed... that I don't frequent. Hmmm. Goat cheese pizza, good desserts, why don't I go there more?

There is something about stuffing food that keeps me away. Indian I do. Italian's just downright addicting. When I eat Italian, for some reason, pizza does not appeal to me unless if it's extremely thin crust and has italian sausage with big fennel stuck in it. I wholeheartedly love pasta. Enough busywork trying to make sense of why I haven't been to Cafe Lou-Lou in a year!

The place is good! They use fresh, local ingredients and their prices aren't exhorbitant. They offer a warm environment with a bar section (where you're likely to bop into folks you played sports with in high school) and a loud, bright atmosphere in the family-style seating section. As far as the fare goes, I’ve only ever had the pizzas and calzones there (and maybe a salad once). I’ve eaten there twice since it’s moved (i.e., not much). It’s not a spot I think of. But after eating there last time, I completely fell in love with it.

I’ve had the pizza with goat cheese (always good) and that used to be my go-to. But last time I went with a health-conscious, ex-personal trainer friend of my parents. He got feta cheese, chicken pizza perhaps with tomatoes or spinach on top. It was either no sauce or low sauce, but the point is that it was exquisite! The feta and the chicken there on pizza is unbeatable. Something about the chicken – I think it is local and low-fat – made the chicken taste out of this world, and I’m not even a chicken person (except I find myself saying that a lot these days). Anyway, I would recommend anything there.

However, if you're looking to not be stuffed, steer clear of the calzones!! If you care to dine on simply wonderful Italian fare that comes from a - shutter - chain restaurant that I actually really enjoy (though have only been to twice), dine at California Pizza Kitchen!