Southern Cooking and Charm

Southern Living, Dec 2004 by McKinney, Wanda

Follow your nose to Limestone Restaurant in Louisville, and you'll have a delightful dining experience.

Would you like to start off with the bacon and eggs?" asked the server as I studied the menu at Louisville's Limestone Restaurant.

"Um, isn't this the dinner menu?" I asked, confused as usual.

"Yes," he said with a smile. "But the bacon-and-eggs appetizer is one of our most popular dishes."

So I decided to try it. Then 1 noticed the "dinner" menu is actually called "supper." It just sounded friendlier somehow and matched the dining room atmosphere. Bright aquariums filled with blue-andorange freshwater fish dotted the room. A big copper pot held bottles of wine.

Jim Gerhardt, who for many years presided over the seelbach Hilton's Oakroom in downtown Louisville, and executive chef Mike Cunha (who had been Jim's chef de cuisine at The Oakroom) started this eatery in the northeastern section of town about a year ago. The restaurant's motto is "New Southern Cooking, Old Southern Charm," and this became evident in the first melt-in-the-mouth bite of Sour Mash Bourbon Bread that came hot from the kitchen. Soon the bacon and eggs ($6.95) made their appearance, but they didn't last long. The bacon flavored the truffle-sprinkled scrambled eggs perfectly.

The delicious entrée was a winner too. Braised beef short ribs ($16) featured smoky white beans, collard greens, and hotwater cornbread-a magnificent blending.

I ended the meal with a decadent slice of Chocolate Chess Pie ($6), adorned with a chocolate sauce that I was tempted to sop up with more sour mash bread.

This was one of the finest meals I've ever had. The combination of local flavors, ambience, and service make Limestone Restaurant a fabulous new addition to the Louisville scene. WANDA MCKINNEY

Limestone Restaurant: 10001 Forest Green Blvd., Louisville, KY 40223; (502) 426-7477 or www.limestonerestaurant.com.