Category: Food and Dining

Food and Dining

Soft and creamy: This master’s description of a special bourbon hitting stores next month sounds like classic food porn

“It starts off as soft butterscotch with candied orange peel. It transitions into a creamy vanilla in the middle and finishes with subtle anise and moderate spice. It’s like eating black jelly beans in the middle of an orange grove.”

— Jackie Zykan, Old Forester master bourbon specialist, describing the 2016 Birthday Bourbon commemorating Brown-Forman founder George Garvin Brown‘s birth going on sale next month.

Here are his additional notes: color, deep reddish umber; nose, complex and cinnamon, wood-spiced with nutty chocolate, dark caramel and rich oak notes all brightened with a dash of crisp citrus fruit; taste, mulled spice sweetness and fruity with bright citrus peel highlights; finish, long and warm with mulled fruit character lingering on.

(Ironically in a Sam Malone of “Cheers” way, Boulevard Publisher Jim Hopkins doesn’t drink alcohol.)

Food and Dining

Monnik Beer Co. logoBoulevard swung by Monnik Beer Co. in Schnizelberg after today’s CycLOUvia in Three Points. We had excellent food: Monnik beer cheese, $6; two Dutch burgers (coriander rub, pickled cabbage, blue cheese on Heitzman rye bun), $10; and espresso, $3.

Where: 1036 East Burnett Ave. When: Tuesday to Thursday, noon to midnight; Friday and Saturday, noon to 1 a.m.; Sunday, noon to 10 p.m.; closed Monday. How: 502-742-6564. They’re on Twitter and Yelp, too.

Food and Dining

At Butchertown Grocery, an amazing dinner (especially fried chicken and waffles)
Butchertown Grocery.png
In the early-to-mid 1900s, the building housed Gunkel’s grocery store.

This was Boulevard’s first visit to Butchertown Grocery. Here’s what our party of four had, pulling information from the restaurant’s online menu, which doesn’t include prices.

Starters
  • basil-fed escargot: herb butter, gruyere cheese, and a sliced baguette
  • sweet corn ravioli: bacon, leeks, and parmesan
  • gnocchi: mushroom, parmesan, fines herbs
  • roasted baby beets: asian mix, spicy yogurt crema, pepitas, and a chardonnay vinaigrette
Entrees
  • miso-glazed salmon: baby bok choy, marcona almonds, and tea broth
  • pei mussels: garlic, herbsaint, herbs, and butter
  • diver scallops: parsnips, fried leeks, crispy quinoa, and orange butter
  • chicken and waffles: chiles, fried rosemary & leeks, mint, and syrup
Dessert
  • beingets
  • coffee in a French press
  • something chocolate we can’t find on the website menu 😦

Where: 1076 East Washington St. When: Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. How: 502-742-8315. Reservations.

Related: Butchertown Grocery gets 4½ stars on both Open Table and Yelp.

Food and Dining

Review: At Texas Roadhouse in Florida, ‘the atmosphere is intended to be festive, but this was over the top’

An occasional look at reviews given to restaurants owned by Papa John’s, Texas Roadhouse, and Yum.

The location: 7973 W. Irio Bronson Memorial Drive in Kissimmee, Fla. The headline: “Loud, cramped, and overcooked steak.” Number of stars: two out of five. The customer: TripAdvisor user Nmmickeymom of Santa Fe yesterday.

Anton Ego
Critic Anton Ego.

The review: This dinner was one of the loudest meals I have experienced in a long time. I understand the atmosphere is intended to be festive, but this was over the top. The music for their little dance routine was blasting so loudly, everyone simply stopped talking. We were seven seated at a booth for six with a chair on the end — which is simply not enough room for an adult to eat comfortably. This appears to be their regular practice, as there were multiple tables seated this way. Our server tried her best, but it is very difficult to place food and fill drinks when you cannot reach half of your guests. Probably the most disappointing was the number of our meals that were not cooked properly. One would hope that a steakhouse would understand how to prepare a proper steak.

Food and Dining

Steel City Pops fans can now vote for the best of 12 t-shirt designs submitted by customers, with the winner getting a rarely seen stainless steel “Steel Card” entitling them to free pops every day for the rest of the year. Deadline to vote: June 24. Here’s the top vote-getter so far:

Steel City t-shirt leader

The chain based in Birmingham, Ala., opened its first Kentucky location in March at 1021 Bardstown Road, where business has been booming and winning rave reviews on Yelp.

Food and Dining

Review: Texas Roadhouse in Florida ‘was hitting on all cylinders!’

An occasional look at reviews given to restaurants owned by Papa John’s, Texas Roadhouse, and Yum.

The location: 7973 W. Irio Bronson Memorial Drive in Kissimmee, Fla. The headline: “Just Awesome.” Number of stars: five out of five. The customer: TripAdvisor user Mike P.

Anton Ego
Critic Anton Ego.

The review: We arrived at the 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night and were lucky enough to get seated immediately (six of us)! Our waiter, Max, was prompt, quick and accurate. We never had to ask for a drink refill, he left us alone to enjoy our meal but made sure we were alright several times. Chefs were spot on. Everything was cooked perfectly. Manager must have been doing an excellent job as well, keeping everything running smooth on such a busy night. This place was hitting on all cylinders! My whole family made comments on how everything flowed well and tasted great. This should be a great place to train new employees on how the restaurant should be run. Great job to everyone there. I complimented the manager and I will call corporate to let them know how well everything went.