Comments (0) |

Stella's Kentucky Deli: Made to entice

It's hard to choose -- or to go wrong -- with Stella's menu

By Jacalyn Carfagno JCARFAGNO@HERALD-LEADER.COM

The hard part about eating lunch at Stella's Kentucky Deli is deciding what to order.

You'll face an interesting and diverse, but not too large, menu, and it's likely you'll also have rattling around in your mind enthusiastic recommendations from friends who have eaten there. And then there are the specials.

That's one reason the Saturday brunch is easier if not better. It's a buffet, so the agonizing choice comes down to how much you can justify eating, not what to order.

A friend had told me that the soups are a must-order at Stella's, and the three I tasted in my two visits confirmed that.

First, it's important to note that the restaurant's middle name, Kentucky, is not taken lightly. Stella's emphasizes the use of "fresh, local ingredients," the menu says. The soups ($2.50 cup, $3.75 bowl) testify to that. A tomato bisque had the vibrant taste of fresh, flavorful tomatoes; the dill and cucumbers were front and center in the cucumber cream soup; and the garden of vegetables that mixed in with the sausage and garbanzo beans in a third soup had the taste and texture of recently harvested produce.

It's not all ingredients, though. The soups were rich and the flavors were well-blended while preserving the distinction of the individual ingredients. Not every restaurant manages that consistently; few do in my experience.

A companion at lunch ordered a chicken salad sandwich, a special that day. She was a little put off by the purple onion in the salad, but I thought it added an it appealing and memorable piquancy. I was a little less impressed by The Big D ($5.95), a sandwich that features a local, organic bratwurst with spicy mustard and sauerkraut. Each part, including the rye bread, was good, but the balance was a little off. The mustard seemed to overwhelm the mild sausage, and the bread sagged under the kraut. Maybe a rye roll or a thicker slice of bread would stand up better. Also, I didn't order the optional Swiss cheese (75 cents extra), which might have helped smooth things out.

But that won't discourage me on future visits. The menu offers other enticing sandwich options, including the house-made pimento cheese, a fried green tomato BLT (only in season, thank goodness), a grilled PB&J ($3) and a grilled vegetable and cheese ($4.50), and a selection of burgers made with ground lamb or beef (like most of the meat-based sandwiches, $5.95 to $6.95).

The brunch is a bargain at $9, a feast of breakfast dishes done well. Striking to me was the sliced ham, an item that too often in brunch buffets is the bland mass-produced variety that you suspect came out of a can. Not at Stella's. It was real ham and tasted real good. One warning about the brunch (in addition to the overeating problem): It favors tall people. By the time you add the height of the warming devices and serving dishes laid out on the historic bar, it can be a reach to see what's offered, not to mention serving yourself.

I tried one dessert, a slice of pecan pie ($3.50). It was good, no surprise, but I especially appreciated that it was small. Stella's seems willing to overwhelm with flavor and quality not quantity, and for that it deserves praise.

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Stella's Kentucky Deli

Address: 143 Jefferson St.

Phone: (859) 255-3354.

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.

Other: Handicapped accessible, vegetarian options.