The Swan Dive

For troglodytic hipsters - and vegetarians - this subterranean spot is a high point.

http://louisville.metromix.com/restaurants/restaurant_review/review-the-swan-dive/1709008/content

Seviche

The future lost? That's opportunity cost!

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910030312

Oishi Sushi

Supersized American sushi, in a friendly place with a neighborly vibe.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910100331

Mojito

The paella will blow you away, but attention must be paid to every small plate!

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910170326

Blue Lagoon

A Persian twist on the pan-Arabic mezze tradition.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009910240321

Theater Square Marketplace

An extraordinary makeover - but the cuisine needs to catch up.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009911140326

Five Points

Stick with the standards, and you'll be fine.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009911210321

Jasmine Chinese Cuisine

If you crave the true taste of Sichuan, this newly expanded restaurant delivers the best flavors in the region.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009911280329

La Bodega

Oh, those grilled sardines! Be sure to eat the whole thing - head included.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912050321

Yang Kee Noodle

This is what happens when smart restaurateurs use their noodles!

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912120319

Lilly's - A (Four Star) Kentucky Bistro

Lilly's was locavore before locavore was cool.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912190319

Pizza to the fourth power

Four commendable pizzerias!

http://louisville.metromix.com/restaurants/restaurant_review/review-local-pizza-greats/1688158/content

The Chili Pot

Years ago, I taught guitar across the street from this nifty little spot that's cooking up bowls of red (and green, and white) that are well suited to this wintry season!

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20101090331

Mojito: Reviewed June 17, 2007

Mojito: Tapas and paella are so good you'll want more - soon

By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal

Everything you need to know about Mojito can be summed up in three words: Worth. Waiting. For.

You likely will wait for a table. From the moment it opened, Mojito, the Spanish-themed restaurant operated by the same folks who run the popular Cuban-focused Havana Rumba, has drawn overflow crowds (reservations aren't accepted, but you can phone ahead and have your party added to the waiting list).

The dense, tangy goat cheese flan at Mojito in the Holiday Manor Center Photo by Michael Hayman, The Courier-Journal

You certainly will wait for the paella, which needs 30 to 45 minutes to prepare.

Never mind. Just keep repeating those three words: Worth. Waiting. For.

My advice, based on a couple of recent visits: Try arriving after 8:30 p.m., when the crowd starts to thin. Order the paella as soon as you're seated, then relax, order drinks, and begin sharing your way through the various hot and cold tapas — though one wouldn't be entirely wrong to sample some of the dishes carried over from Havana Rumba.

From the cold selections (tapas frias) order Ensalada Mediterranea, a salad destined to become a Louisville legend: greens nestle with olives, grape tomatoes, pine nuts, crisp almonds and feta under the sheerest of dressings — and then all of a sudden you come upon a fragment of fig bread, a sweet, chewy surprise.

Chunky, piquant guacamole ($4.50) arrives at the table in a white marble mortar, surrounded not by the ubiquitous corn chips, but by crisp, slender plantain chips — made daily, in-house.

From the tapas calientes, try sofrito mussels ($5.99), a dozen or so gleaming mollusks perched in an oblong bowl in chunky, garlicky tomato sauce — then gracefully draped with a plantain leaf.

A single crab cake ($3.99) is crab through and through, crisp, full of flavor, and charmingly outfitted in a pale avocado-lime sauce.

And if you're the sort of person who tracks every meatball you've ever encountered and can't really decide whether you prefer the German, Italian, Afghan or Turkish varieties, you might as well indulge in the saucy albondigas ($4.99), simmering in a brown cazuela.

It would be a terrible shame to skip the Tabla de Charcuteria ($9.99), a selection of four hard-to-find Spanish-style sausages served on a rustic wooden cutting board. The selection includes a thin coil of chewy Basque chorizo chistorra; thick, grill-charred butifarra; salchichon de vic, a garlickly, thin-sliced sausage that will remind you of the finest salami you've ever — or perhaps never — tasted; and hearty, rustic morcilla, one of the great black sausages of the world.

While your food is wending its way to the table, you'll notice the dining room's avocado-green walls, the brick comfort of the sheltered patio, the comfortable mix of booths and tables, and the burnished wood of the crowded bar.

You'll have sipped your way through a mojito or two. Unless you have a genuine sweet tooth, stick with the traditional mojito, $6.75 for a large, sexily curved glass or $25 for a pitcher. (Ask for your mojito on the dry side; the drink is a refreshing mix of rum, sugar, freshly squeezed lime juice and spearmint, but our server noted that unless we specified "dry," the bartender might sweeten things up with a squirt of Sprite).

You may also notice that in the crush, though dishes arrive speedily, the niceties, like clearing tables, are sometimes given short shrift; eventually your table will look like a school cafeteria.

And you may notice servers are still getting the hang of the more exotic items on the menu, and aren't always prepared to answer questions.

Still, if what you care about is food, mostly what you'll notice is a wish that the tapas menu were about three times as long as it is. You can't get enough.

Besides, about now the Paella Valenciana ($15.99 per person) or the Paella de Vegetales ($14 per person) will show up. And trust me: Worth. Waiting. For.

Paella must be ordered in increments of two or four (best strategy: go with three or four people, and order the paella for two; then share tapas and let everyone have at the paella).

To be blunt: the Paella Valenciana is the best new dish to arrive in Louisville in the last year. It's served, as it should be, still sizzling in the paella pan — so the rice at the bottom of the pan can form the coveted crusty base called socarrat.

Above that base, you'll find a golden feast of saffron-infused rice packed with chorizo, grouper, shrimp, chicken, bell peppers, tomatoes, peas and a generous splash of olives.

Perhaps you've eaten paella in other places, and came away wondering, "What's all the fuss?" If so, be prepared: Just the look of it will set you reeling. And that's before you've lifted a fork.

In our order, everything from the chicken to the grouper had been cooked to its perfect moment, including a bite-sized octopus and tender rings of calamari.

Even if you wind up taking a hefty box of paella home (it will still be wonderful the next day), try either the dense, tangy goat cheese flan or the loose, warm crema de catalena, with its torched, caramelized top, for dessert (both $5.99).

Then start planning your next visit.

Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@gmail.com

Mojito

2231 Holiday Manor Center, 502-425-0949

Rating: 3.5 stars

Sakura Blue: Reviewed June 9, 2007

Sakura Blue takes pride in the details

By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal

On a recent Tuesday night, I saw something completely unexpected: a queue of waiting diners spilled out of Sakura Blue onto the Shelbyville Road Plaza sidewalk. Inside, every table was full. The sushi bar was shoulder-to-shoulder.

At one of the teppanyaki tables, a smiling group watched as a blue-capped chef presided over soaring flames, clanged his knives, and put on an impressive exhibition of slice-and-dice knife-work.

Sakura Blue's Thunder Over Louisville is crisp shrimp tempura and avocado nestled in tuna and red beads of tobiko. Photo by Arza Barnett, The Courier-Journal

Although it's located in a shopping center, Sakura Blue feels like a neighborhood restaurant. Customers and chefs greet one another by name — sometimes from across the room.

The look is traditional, with wood trim, calm colors and nary a hint of the glittering metal that these days defines "trendy." More important, the sound track is soft and civilized.

You could think of Sakura Blue as an all-purpose restaurant, a place that can satisfy both the folks who can't get enough raw sea urchin and broiled eel and the folks who want nothing more exotic than teriyaki beef. And based on a few recent visits, at both ends of the spectrum, Sakura Blue is excellent, indeed.

Looking for cooked food? A yakitori chicken appetizer ($4.50) is simple as can be, but still manages to be one of the finest skewered dishes in town: grill-charred chunks of firm meat and green onions are gracefully dressed in the lightest of tangy-sweet sauces.

Chicken yaki-soba, a stir-fried plate of chicken, zucchini, green onions, mushrooms, carrots and firm wheat noodles, makes an extraordinary lunch value at $5.95 — especially considering that it comes with a salad.

Mongolian beef ($12.95, with soup and salad), one of a dozen or more cooked entrees, is a sautéed masterpiece, far removed from the sweet Chinese restaurant staple. It arrives on a three-cornered platter bearing bite-sized slices of tender beef, long white strips of just-cooked white and green onions, and vivid orange carrots carved into parallelogram-shaped planks. Each element is gently accented by a savory brown sauce that lurks gently in the background.

Although I haven't eaten at the teppanyaki table, I can certainly attest to the showmanship of the chefs. Prices for full meals with all accompaniments range from $8.85 (vegetables) and $11.95 (chicken) to $29.95 for a combination that includes lobster, filet mignon, shrimp and scallops.

And of course, at the center of everything are the raw and cooked rolls, nigiri and sashimi, which are as fine as can be found in the city.

Sakura Blue is a place that takes pride in the little details. The chefs carve red snapper, halibut or toro (fat tuna) just so to highlight the grain of the fish. Thumb-sized nigiri portions are tucked in graceful arches over delicate pads of tangy sushi rice. Incongruous is an order of uzura (quail egg) that arrives in a plastic cup.

Nigiri portions (two pieces of fish) start at $3.50 (red snapper) and rise to $7, with most in the $3-$4 range; platters and combination plates start at $16.95 and rise to $23.95.

And when it comes to specialty rolls, Sakura Blue offers a wide assortment of zany options. There's the Sexy Girl roll ($10.95), with spicy tuna, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese inside, and fresh tuna, mango and bright flecks of tobiko (flying fish roe) on top. There's Kiss of Eel ($7.50), eel, spicy crab, avocado, and asparagus.

And there's the glorious Thunder Over Louisville ($10.95), which comes as close to putting fireworks on the plate as any dish could: crisp shrimp tempura and avocado nestle at the center, while tuna and red beads of tobiko glimmer on the outside.

Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@courier-journal.com.

Sakura Blue

4600 Shelbyville Road, Louisville, KY

502-897-3600

Rating: 3.5

Le Relais: Reviewed April 22, 2006

Le Relais is edible art

By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal

Beets and black currants. Quail and carpaccio. Champagne and candlelight.

Le Relais' veal chop is tender enough to cut with a butter knife. By Pam Spaulding, The Courier-Journal

So what if you can't spend April in Paris? The dining room at Le Relais has the same magical amber glow you find in restaurants throughout the City of Light.

And as for the kitchen. ...

Well, some folks argue that cooking can't qualify as fine art. They claim that food is ephemeral, that taste and smell are lower in the hierarchy of senses than sight and sound, and that eating is a base activity, closely related to our animal nature.

And thus they argue that even at the highest levels, cuisine can never occupy an aesthetic sphere equivalent to poetry, painting, theater, music, dance.

I say, those folks haven't visited Le Relais.

They haven't contemplated the restaurant's painterly beef carpaccio ($10.50). They haven't been transported by the exquisite layers of flavor in a salad of roasted beets, mache, sugar-cured bacon, walnuts and creme fraiche vinaigrette ($9.75).

They haven't experienced the creamy, explosive pop of salmon roe and capers in the smoked salmon crepe ($9.75). They haven't been entranced by the sight of peppery cress, black currants, quail, celery and almonds against the white backdrop of an oversized bowl ($9.75).

They haven't lucked in to Le Relais on a night when the first crop of morel mushrooms is being served up in a buttery bath ($8.50). They haven't finished a meal with a dense scoop of house-made Earl Grey ice cream.

This is edible art of the highest order.

My wife, Mary, dined on a lentil and vegetable Charlotte ($18.50) as meticulously beautiful as any still life.

Paper-thin slices of zucchini had been molded around a filling of tender lentils that spilled out an aromatic burst of garlic at the touch of a fork.

Enhanced by encrusted dabs of goat cheese and a piquant sauce of red peppers, this was one of the most memorable vegetarian dishes we've ever encountered.

Unable to choose among nine entree options that included pheasant, salmon, lamb, duck, scallops and beef, I finally let side dishes drive my decision.

It was the prospect of indulging in potatoes Anna, the gloriously buttery apogee of potato cookery, that compelled me to order a veal chop ($30).

The chop itself, nearly 2 inches thick, was tender enough to cut with a butter knife. Tilted atop those potatoes, the chop had an aeronautic grace, as if it were trying to lift off from the wedge of pommes de terre that supported it — a whimsy perfectly in tune with a restaurant that is, after all, located in an airport.

Fortunately, despite its upward thrust, it didn't fly away, and those potatoes were finer than any fantasy, at once rich and light, crisp and succulent. A dollop of luxurious onion confit and a subtle veal stock reduction added to the effect — and confirmed my impression that Le Relais is easily on a par with the better Paris bistros we visited in January (and better than several).

I might wish that, like Paris bistros, there had been some humble vins de table available by the carafe (an option the restaurant does offer during the warmer months, when outdoor dining is available), but the 12-page list includes a number of by-the-glass options, a generous assortment of half bottles and plenty of good options (including a nice selection of Rhones) in the $30 range.

As in any Paris bistro, service was expeditious and attentive.

And when we visited, chef Daniel Stage and a large portion of the restaurant's crew had just returned from New York, where Stage (and four other fine Louisville chefs) had cooked at the James Beard House.

A tangible sense of pride seemed to exude from our servers, who were all extremely well informed on all aspects of the menu and wine list.

Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him cjdining@gmail.com

Le Relais

2817 Taylorsville Road (at Bowman Field, Louisville, KY

502-451-9020

Rating: 4 stars

Le Gallo Rosso Bistro 1325: Reviewed November 4, 2006

Le Gallo Rosso Bistro 1325: Cozy bistro has big meals

By Marty Rosen
Special to the Courier-Journal

I love sitting in Le Gallo Rosso Bistro 1325 — it has by far the highest coziness quotient of any restaurant I've come across in recent years.

The dining area (formerly home to the Butterfly Garden Cafe) is deceptively tiny, because of the way the space is divvied up into nooks.

Betty's Deep Dish Lasagna is a bubbling mesa of tender noodles, melting ricotta, vigorous red sauce, and well-flavored beef, veal and pork. Photo by Michael Clevenger, The Courier-Journal

Then there are all the plates, platters, pitchers, and pictures of the red roosters after which the place is named. Even the textured walls, done up in thick swirls of charcoal and reddish caramel, evoke the colors of a Rhode Island Red.

And finally there are the mix-and-match table settings, the gold, maroon and green tablecloths, and the slightly schlocky soundtrack — how often do you get to hear "Unchained Melody" in Italian? And how often do you want to?

The atmosphere is a nearly perfect replica of a diminutive French cafe, but the cuisine is Italian-American of the best sort — simple, direct, lovingly executed. And if service is sometimes a bit uncoordinated (I once witnessed folks almost begging to pay their bill), there's no faulting the familial warmth that pervades the place.

One night, 11 of us started a birthday celebration with artful heaps of antipasto: bright, paper-thin prosciutto, capicola, salami, and pepperoni; fine textured rounds of fresh mozzarella, mellow black olives, warm bread and dishes of olive oil for dipping ($12). A platter could satisfy four people (or leave two with enough leftovers for a true Italian breakfast the next morning).

Another starter, Poor Man's Caviar ($7), made a nice addition to the growing local assortment of eggplant appetizers — this one a garlicky, fine-grained, pale green dip served with delightfully sturdy pita chips.

A couple of folks in our party made a meal by combining salads and a scallop appetizer. A gorgonzola, walnut and pear salad ($8), topped with walnuts and red onions, came with a fig vinaigrette so thick and rich that it could have been mistaken for a fig tapenade (an inspired idea, if you ask me, that ought to immediately gain widespread approval).

When the scallop fajitas ($8.95) arrived at the table, they were greeted by envious oohs, ahs and pledges: "I'll order that next time," I heard someone mutter — and it might have been me. Seared to perfection, the scallops were served sizzling hot in miniature cast-iron skillets on a bed of Spanish rice and peppers.

Even the Bistro salad ($4) that's included with pastas and entrees made a nice impression: a length-wise slice of English cucumber was suavely curled around a cluster of greens, pine nuts, grape tomatoes and feta.

As for the Italian dishes, owner Annette Saco, who grew up in Cleveland, says most of them are based on recipes she learned from her parents and grandparents — and they show all the hallmarks of fine home-cooking.

Lasagna ($13.95) rose like a vast, bubbling mesa of tender noodles, melting ricotta, vigorous red sauce and well-flavored beef, veal and pork.

Stuffed meatballs (with spaghetti) weren't so successful — the ground meat was too coarse by at least one pass through the grinder, and the stuffing of fresh mozzarella was dry and rubbery. But the sauce had the tangy aromas of wine and balsamic vinegar.

Other dinner options include fettuccini dressed in a deft alfredo ($12.95) or with wild mushrooms and gorgonzola ($13.25); cappelini in a sauce of tomatoes, garlic and basil ($11.95) or chicken marsala ($15.95) or a rib-eye ($17).

From the Sunday breakfast menu, I urge you to consider Luigi's Favorite — scrambled eggs with Italian sausage, peppers, onions, very fine home fries and toast ($4.95).

For reasons that I cannot fathom, that Italian sausage doesn't show up on the dinner menu. It should.

And the homemade desserts will reward your indulgence: I haven't yet tried the cannoli, but it's said that the name of mascarpone cheese derives from a phrase that means "better than good." Trust me: The tiramisu cake, which uses mascarpone, is better than good. It's spectacular.

Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@gmail.com

Le Gallo Rosso

1325 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY

502-473-0015

Rating: 3 stars

Bistro New Albany: Reviewed July 1, 2006

Bistro New Albany: Bold Bistro - most dishes click at New Albany's new spot


By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal

As I stepped out the door of my Old Louisville home, I checked the Weather Channel: 82 degrees. And humid.

A dozen minutes later, after a trip across the Sherman Minton Bridge, I stepped into the brick courtyard at Bistro New Albany, where a cool breeze — lured by some architectural quirk — created a cool oasis.

A Black Angus rib-eye from Kentucky's Creekstone Farms is one entree option at Bistro New Albany, which opened two months ago. By Sam Upshaw Jr., The Courier-Journal

That courtyard easily ranks among the most attractive al fresco settings in the region. A fountain gurgles at its center. Plants and lanterns hang at the perimeter. The pavers are dotted with streaks of moss. And it doesn't hurt that Miles Davis is likely to be playing quietly on the sound system.

The indoor dining spaces are just as charming, sporting white tablecloths, glistening old chandeliers and vividly colored paintings by local artists.

And two months after opening, Bistro New Albany is turning out some fine dishes. After a few visits, I found I didn't always agree with the chefs' choices, but every meal has been full of bold flavors.

Narrow spears of asparagus are charred on the grill, dressed with red peppers, fresh Capriole goat cheese and a light sherry vinaigrette for a pretty appetizer ($6.95).

A couple of dozen juicy mussels ($8.25) swimming in garlic, wine, shallots and olive oil come with house-made focaccia for sopping up the extra sauce.

Capellini with smoked chicken in a deft sauce is sublime — a light, rich dish that harmonizes cream and smoke with basil, peppers and garlic ($14.95).

A walleye special ($16.95), though, seemed to go too far. The blackened fish was perfectly prepared. So was the bright corn relish that adorned it. So was the saffron rice on which it perched. But I found the juxtaposition of Cajun spices and saffron jarring and discordant.

A Cobb salad ($7.25) also struck me as overdone — less an exercise in judicious balance than a nervous flurry of ingredients, including vast quantities of blue cheese, that bordered on unpleasant.

Still, I plan to return for roasted chicken with polenta ($14.95) or a grilled pork chop served with apple ginger relish and roasted garlic mashed potatoes ($14.95).

The fried grouper sandwich, breaded in a batter based on Elector Ale (from the New Albanian Brewing Co.), makes for a delightfully crunchy lunch or dinner ($7.25/$7.95) with lattice fries and coleslaw flavored with brown porter, an intriguing combination that tasted fine.

Other options include burgers of beef or bison (under $8), rib-eyes and sirloins from Kentucky's Creekstone Farms ($19.95/$17.95), bacon-wrapped Atlantic salmon ($15.50), and vegetarian offerings: a platter of grilled vegetables ($8.95) and penne pomodoro ($11.95).

A dozen or so reasonably priced wines ($5-$7; $20-$36) are sold by glass or bottle (for a sparkling treat, try New Mexico's Gruet Blanc de Noirs, $35).

But really — this is New Albany, home of the idiosyncratic New Albanian Brewing Co., so why drink anything else when you can drink locally made porter, red, IPA or the mellow, full-bodied Community Dark ($3.50).

And whatever you do, don't miss the house-made desserts (under $5). A warm apple compote, redolent of plums and cognac, on a raft of crisp phyllo dough, was perfect. And lemon sorbet exploded on the tongue.

Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@courier-journal.com.

Bistro New Albany

148 E. Market Street, New Albany, Indiana

812-949-5227

Rating: 3 stars

Avalon: Reviewed October 28, 2006

Avalon: Richness abounds - Avalon's sauces dampen excellent meals

By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal

They will butter you up at Avalon, and at times that can be a very good thing.

Avalon has a winning dish with its horseradish-encrusted Atlantic salmon. By Pam Spaulding, The Courier-Journal

A case in point is the complimentary basket of warm ciabatta served at the beginning of a meal. It's earthy and sublime: A drizzle of brown butter and balsamic vinegar forms a sweet, tangy, crunchy glaze that might make you think you've come across a grown-up variation on cinnamon toast — and in a way, you have.

On the other hand, sometimes that butter just gets in the way. When I ordered a roasted boneless half chicken ($19.60), I hoped for crisp, crunchy, golden brown skin and a firm, juicy texture.

Instead, what I found on the plate was soft, spongy chicken drowned under a surfeit of buttery sauce. The sauce was a fine affair, and if the kitchen takes pride in its saucy creations, no one should begrudge them that — but too much pride is an unseemly thing.

The setting has an attractively modern bistro feel: Black tables in a split-level dining area are surrounded by walls the color of creamy coffee; brushed-metal rails connect the levels; windows look out over bustling Bardstown Road. In season, there's a wildly popular outdoor dining area, and throughout the year the bar offers a cozy refuge.

Every detail, from the stylish flatware to the meticulous service, seems well-considered.

But where the furnishings are modern and the sourcing focuses on fresh and local ingredients, the techniques reach into an old-fashioned epicurean playbook that focuses on richness above all else — a playbook that too often obscures the essential qualities of the materials.

Richness informs the wine list, as well, which, though the markups seem fair, offers hardly any viable options below $30. We were happy with an aromatic glass of Belle Vallee Pinot Noir ($10/$39) and a surprisingly mild M. Chapoutier Belleruches Cotes du Rhone, 2002 ($10/$38).

A wonderfully balanced Caesar dressing ($7.50; $4 in a smaller version when ordered with an entree) expresses all the multilayered flavors that made this dressing a global classic before chefs started tampering with it.

Judiciously applied, this dressing would have been a perfect accent for the gleaming Romaine on the plate; instead, the greens were swamped.

Likewise, a chopped salad ($7.90/$4) is colorful and surgically precise; but here again purple cabbage, orange carrots, slivered red and yellow bell peppers were swamped — though the green goddess dressing was fine in its own right.

A wedge of iceberg lettuce ($7.50/$4) was better. The leaves were whimsically deconstructed to form a jade bowl decorated with grape tomatoes, thin wafers of pungent cheddar, smoky bacon and, this once, a light dose of ranch dressing.

An appetizer of fried risotto balls ($7.50) was perfect in its parts, but never quite added up. Break into the delicately crunchy sphere and you find a rich core of rice bound together with melted Kenny's Farmhouse Gouda. The accompanying smoked tomato vinaigrette, streaked with crème fraîche, is alluring enough to eat with a spoon.

Alas, the two elements never form a compelling connection — but what fun it might be if those risotto spheres were infused with basil, saffron or a vibrant foil fit for that proud sauce!

Other appetizers include coconut-encrusted shrimp, fried green tomatoes, crab cakes and a truffled lobster macaroni and cheese that's become a legendary indulgence in some circles.

As for fit foils, my wife, Mary, dined on horseradish-encrusted Atlantic salmon ($21.90), and a better combination would be hard to find.

True, once again the kitchen was overly enthusiastic with a drizzle of crème fraîche, but horseradish pairs superbly with salmon, and the fish was cooked to silky perfection. Likewise, a short rib that fell apart tenderly under my fork.

There is no neglecting the side dishes, which recently have included tender cubes of butternut squash, carefully tended baby yellow squash and crisp-tender haricots verts.

Ask an Avalon server about dessert, and you'll discover that they're as commendably partisan in their preferences as they are knowledgeable about the menu.

Acting on excellent advice, we opted for blackberry cobbler ($7), a steaming purple under a white cap of ice cream and a little garden of edible flowers.

Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@courier-journal.com

Avalon

1314 Bardstown Road, Louisvile, KY

502-454-5336

Rating: 3 stars

Austin's and KT's Restaurants: Reviewed November 11, 2006

Austin's and KT's Restaurants: Serving a heaping plate of family values

By Marty Rosen
Special to The Courier-Journal

In the American culture wars, uttering the phrase "family values" is just the thing to ignite a fiery debate over everything from hip-hop to Borat.

In dining, though, "family values" translates into ideas everyone loves: moderate prices, big portions, a menu so inclusive that everyone from toddlers to great-grandparents can find something to enjoy, efficient service and a calm, open atmosphere that encourages a family to sprawl.

KT's Restaurant and Bar's Hot Brown includes a diced tomato garnish, crunchy bacon and flavorful turkey. By Michael Hayman, The Courier-Journal

That's exactly what you'll find at two locally owned restaurants that have quietly become institutions over the last two decades: KT's Restaurant & Bar and Austin's.

They call themselves "sister" restaurants, but it might be more precise to think of them as fraternal twins. KT's, on Lexington Road, offers a bright, multilevel dining area situated among attractive brick arches. Austin's, on U.S. 42, is just as bright and spacious, but the brick arches are replaced by spans of blond wood.

Both menus are a mix of classic Southern comfort food and easy-going modern riffs.

Whether you crave a chicken potpie, grilled tuna or salmon, baked brie or potato skins, prime rib, a vegetarian pasta dish, a full bar or an inexpensive wine list, you'll find all those things at both places, at prices reasonable enough that even a large family gathering won't destroy your budget.

And if the food isn't at the cutting edge of culinary trends, so what? Sometimes a fellow just wants a competent Hot Brown ($8.99 at either restaurant).

One night, at KT's, my friend Dona had a fine variation on this Louisville classic. It arrived on a platter bigger than Shaquille O'Neal's sneakers.

And if it looked massive, it was topped by a nicely crafted mornay sauce — light, voluptuous and brightly flavored. A diced tomato garnish and crunchy bacon added color, zip and smoke, and underneath that sauce was some very flavorful turkey.

Dona's husband, Had, dined on shrimp scampi ($12.49, Austin's only). If the shrimp had been cooked just past their best state, they were garlicky enough; a bed of rice was flecked with green herbs, and accompanying steamed broccoli (chosen from a list of sides) was green perfection.

Spinach queso (KT's, $5.99; Austin's $6.49) is mild to a fault, but a big bowl of pale melted cheese with warm chips is easily enough to keep four peckish folks happy as they wait for their salads.

Salads, some designed as complete meals, others served alongside platters of catfish (Austin's, $7.99) or grilled salmon (KT's, $14.99) are crisp, fresh and accompanied by house-made dressings.

A grilled tuna sandwich (KT's, $8.99) was sadly overcooked, drier than a tavern on election day, but a 10-ounce prime sirloin (both restaurants, $15) sported dramatic grill marks, a pleasant hint of bourbon marinade, and could have served as a dictionary illustration of how "medium-rare" should look.

On a fairly busy night at KT's, we were served by a platoon of folks who seemed utterly engaged and quick to anticipate our needs.

On a slow night at Austin's, we sometimes felt abandoned — not until we were ready to leave did our server offer to refill our water glasses. But the scent of oregano hovered over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs ($8.99).

And at KT's, "Byron's Favorite" ($4.99), a chocolate-nut pie topped with ice cream was more than enough to satisfy four sweet-seeking diners.

Freelance restaurant critic Marty Rosen's review appears on Saturdays. You can e-mail him at cjdining@gmail.com

Austin's Restaurant

4950 U.S. Highway 42, Louisville, KY

502-423-1990

KT's Restaurant

2300 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY

502-458-8888

Rating: 2.5