Ky. Archives - Steve Coomes

Heads up: Lexington, Ky., fast becoming a terrific restaurant town, Part 2

July 13, 2013 by steve Leave a Comment

(Editor’s note: If you haven’t read Part 1 of this two-part post, know that it’s about the explosion of great food and drink options in downtown Lexington. This second part touches on restaurants just a couple of blocks away, to some several miles away, that should be added to your “must visit” list.)

Doodles: This fast-casual breakfast and lunch operation is located about two blocks from downtown and less than a block from Transylvania University. If Lynn Winter hadn’t shuttered Lynn’s Paradise Café and considered doing a fast-casual version of that restaurant, this might be what it would have looked like.

Open just four days a week, the menu changes from Thursday toSunday. You can find everything from omelets to huevos rancheros to corned beef hash to a Kentucky hot Brown quesadilla, and that’s just for starters.

Prices are modest, you fetch your own food and coffee refills, seat yourself, and leave when you’re ready. It’s that casual.

Heads up: Lexington, Ky., is fast becoming a terrific restaurant town, Part 1

July 13, 2013 by steve Leave a Comment

The last time I went to downtown Lexington for any other purpose than a rock concert at Rupp Arena was 1989. Velvet Elvis was the band and they played at the Bottom Line. (Great show, by the way.)

If we ate anywhere after that, it was likely Tolly Ho, a good greasy burger stop frequented by University of Kentucky students.

Even though I was a chef in those days, I didn’t imagine making a restaurant stop on purpose in the heart of the city. No one ever talked about dining or just hanging out there. Food in Lexington was for maintenance, not dining, something to get you filled up before you headed back to Louisville.

Now, however, people are talking. A lot.

And eating and drinking. A lot.

In about a five year span, Lexington’s city center has come alive with new bars, brewpubs and restaurants (and about a zillion great retail shops, too) that draw a broad demographic to a once largely dull business district.

Ouita Michel banking on ‘sweets’ success in Midway School Bakery

September 26, 2012 by steve Leave a Comment

MIDWAY, Ky.—Most chefs are creative, but few are true creators like Ouita Michel.

In the past few years, Michel, who is chef and co-owner of Holly Hill Inn, crafted Wallace Station Deli and Bakery (Midway) and Windy Corner Market and Restaurant in Lexington.

As of mid-June she’s got a new place, Midway School Bakerywhich, as the name implies, is located in the one-time cafeteria of Midway School, a building that surely is 80 years old.

The de rigueur wide, iron-framed rectangular windows of that day border the east and west sides of the space, allowing ample sunlight to spill into every corner of what largely is a retail production bakery. If you like watching the action, the view into the bustling kitchen is completely unobstructed.

Questionable closures: Zeppelin Café this weekend, Third Avenue Café for ‘renovations’

January 4, 2012 by steve Leave a Comment

It’s been a weird week for Louisville restaurants. On Tuesday my sister called to tell me she tried to lunch at Third Avenue Café, but learned before going there that it was closed. She called the restaurant to confirm and spoke with a man who told her the restaurant’s 12-year run was done. I called […]

Boom in beer news shows plenty of reasons to sip craft draft in Louisville

January 4, 2012 by steve Leave a Comment

Our news taps runneth over! As if craft beer fans weren’t spoiled of late by the swelling number of options available, several local pub operators are adding new taste and tech twists sure to foam up the fun meter. The trick for me, however, is trying to stay apace with them all. That’s made a […]

To get national attention, Louisville culinary scene needs corporate support, festivals and more restaurants

January 4, 2012 by steve Leave a Comment

When I hear locals say Louisville is worthy of being counted among the nation’s great food cities, I have to bite my tongue. I’ve learned the hard way that arguing that the city has a long way to go to being anywhere near comparable to New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles or Dallas, etc., gets […]

Recommended Bite: The Brown Hotel’s Hot Brown — yes, really, I’m serious

January 4, 2012 by steve Leave a Comment

I don’t like the “Man vs. Food” show. I mean, really, in a country suffering from a swelling obesity problem, must we watch an already heavy Adam Richman stuff his gob with absurd portions of fatty, cheesy, salty and spicy food? Yes, when the reason is good enough. And that excuse arrived this past summer […]

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