The lure of Louisville: besides the Kentucky Derby, there's a lot to do in this cosmopolitan city - Going Places

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), Sept, 2002 by Sheila Rothenberg, Robert S. Rothenberg

Just a short stroll from The Brown is Louisville's other grande dame of a hotel, the Seelbach Hilton, and its famed Oak Room restaurant. The elegant wood-paneled dining room manages the usually difficult combination of stateliness and comfort, and we gladly turned ourselves over to the attentive servers and the restaurant's conception of "A Taste of Kentucky Fine Dining." The premise was to work dishes around an all-encompassing selection of local ingredients, and we were fascinated and amused to see such listings on the menu as Colonel Newsome's aged gourmet ham, Misty Meadows Farmstead's black truffles, Limestone bibb lettuce, Bluegrass free-range chicken and ostrich, and, of course, bourbon, the pride of Kentucky distillers, used imaginately in sauces and dressings. For instance, the ham was an unusual, albeit tasty, component in Oak Room ravioli, joining Portobello mushrooms, unpasteurized Gouda, and bourbon barrel-grilled red pepper coulis, while the eggs and truffles were scrambled with pan-seared fois gras and "jump-fried dry land fish." We never got a clear explanation of the latter, but sufficient to say it was delicious. The ostrich was roasted with a black truffle jus and served with pommes frites, which somehow taste so much better than their translation--french fries! A final salute to local meat was the grilled half-rack of Kentucky lamb in a lemon rosemary sauce with a mint infusion, definitely living up to the adjective that accompanied it on the menu--succulent. After such an overwhelming outpouring of regional cuisine, we turned down the offer of a dessert souffle, but let ourselves be talked into a selection of local, domestic artisan, and imported cheeses, a fitting conclusion to the meal.

It's rare that we will comment on breakfast and lunch, because they generally are catch-on-the-fly kinds of meals. However, in true southern style, we learned to enjoy leisurely taking our time over them instead of rushing mealtimes, thus savoring a blend of atmosphere along with good food. Two lunchtime experiences stood out in particular.

Everyone we spoke to about eating insisted we had to try Jack Fry's for lunch, and we obediently went along with their suggestions, we're glad to say. This old-fashioned bar and dining room, opened in the 1920s by the bootlegger/gambler it is named after, boasts tall (for privacy) wooden booths; a pressed-tin ceiling; walls filled with photos of past Derby winner, sports stars, local characters, and cityscapes; and an enormous, well-worn wooden bar with the traditional ornate mirror behind it. Unlike most bar menus, which lean towards burgers and other simple fare (although everyone swears by Jack's Burger & Fries signature sandwich), we found unexpected imaginary touches, as witnessed by our selections of a chutney chicken salad made with mangoes, coconut, peanuts, Madras curry, and Dijon creme fraiche, and a shepherd's pie that held its own against any we've partaken of throughout the British Isles.

Artemisia is somewhat off the beaten track in an area filled with antiques shops, but well-deserved word of mouth seems to keep it busy. The ambience is stunning, from the brick-walled garden dining terrace enclosed by a wrought-iron gate and a glass roof to the bubbling water fountain, walls full of contemporary art, and gas torches. The eclecticism of the restaurant is matched by the exotic menu, with dishes ranging from Mexican and Thai to imaginative sandwiches, such as a turkey, brie, and pear concoction on sun-dried tomato bread or grilled spring vegetables and goat cheese on foccacia. Our choices of fish tostada pan-fried with cod, onions, peppers, garlic, and sweet chili sauce on a crispy tortilla with Asiago cheese and guacamole, and a Black Angus burger with grilled onions on an egg-dough bun couldn't have been more diverse, but both were equally well-prepared and tasty.