Road trip to the River City? Here are five not to miss dining hot spots

As good as the Lexington restaurant scene has become in the past few years, I still get the urge to hop in the car and head to Louisville for a few days of culinary overindulgence.

Especially since the River City has carved out a position as one of the pre-eminent restaurant towns between New York and Chicago.

My only problem on these junkets is deciding whether to try a new place or go back to an old favorite.

This time I opted for a combination of new (to me at least) and old.

Grassa Gramma’s décor delights

Let’s start with the new. I had never been to Grassa Gramma, although I am a fan of its sister eateries Lee Moo and the Village Anchor. If I had been dazzled by the extravagant décor at Le Moo (the Louis Vuitton booth, anyone?) I was positively bowled over by that at Grassa Gramma.

Walking into this unassuming building tucked into the Holiday Manor Shopping Center doesn’t prepare you for the spectacle you’ll find inside. It’s cavernous interior might be likened to the great room of a medieval Italian castle, but the secluded nooks and crannies on two levels might make you feel as if you were dining in a box at the opera, with the dramatic production unfolding all around you. I’d like to rhapsodize about the décor, but you would have to see it for yourself. So, let’s just get to the food.

Grassa Gramma is described on its website as a love letter to the food heritage of Italy – both northern and southern, and chef Robert Rice is faithful to that heritage.

Start your meal with an appetizer of Gnudi, pillowy ricotta dumplings braised in brown butter with sage, pine nuts and aged fontina cheese. I promise you – they melt in your mouth.

You can opt for one of the wood-fired pizzas or pastas made in-house daily, but I chose the Chicken Balsamico, half a chicken served with creamy polenta and heirloom carrots topped with a black garlic-fig glaze. If you still have room for dessert, go for the Limoncella Torta, perhaps accompanied by a grappa tasting.

Grassa Gramma

Where: 2210 Holiday Manor Center

More information: (502) 333-9595; grassagramma.com

Google reviews: 4.4 stars (out of 5)

Mexican BBQ delights at Noche

Another restaurant with atmosphere to spare is Noche in the Highlands area. Described as a Mexican BBQ restaurant, it’s located in what was once the Calvary Lutheran Church. If you can think of a more incongruous combination, please let me know. Regardless, it works – both in the setting and in the food.

As for the setting, the large stained glass windows remain from the church, with the surrounding walls painted a vivid blue. The enormous pipe organ still sits on the balcony, but an equally massive mural depicts La Catrina, the Aztec goddess of death who is a symbol for Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead.

Owner Aaron Diaz is a native of Midland, Texas, so he has the barbecue cred needed for a place identifying itself as Mexican BBQ. Brisket – dear to the heart of all Texans – is a staple, but there’s also chicken, ribs and beef in addition to a full menu of all the south of the border favorites from burritos to fajitas.

If you’ve never had a sopapilla, a delicious Mexican pastry, order one for dessert. The ones at Noche are a bit different from the ones my grandmother made. Instead of a larger piece of dough fried to maximum puffiness and then filled with honey, these are smaller pieces of dough similar to pitas and drizzled with honey and brown sugar. They are almost as delicious as my grandmother’s.

Don’t leave without trying one of the epic cocktails. Maybe the Mi Mejor Amigo with Old Forester Rye, fresh blackberries, fresh mint, orange and mole bitters and agave.

Finally, a warning. By all means, try the spicy salsa but just know, it’s hot, perhaps more suited to Texas palates than those in Kentucky. Just keep a pitcher of ice water handy.

Noche

Where: 1838 Bardstown Road, #100

More information: (502)467-8015; nochemexicanbbq.com

Google reviews: 4.4 stars (out of 5)

Brunch at the Café

If you’re looking for a brunch spot with brio, you can do no better than the Café (it also serves breakfast and lunch). In the past, this would be described as the kind of place where blue-haired ladies congregated for a leisurely lunch. However, the current Café crowd includes not only ladies of a certain age, but young mothers, college coeds, professional women and egads, men!

It could have something to do with the Southern-style dishes served in a casual atmosphere in a section of town known as Paristown. Here, no one cares if the china is mismatched and the colors sometimes clash. In fact, this is part of its down-home appeal.

The rest of the appeal lies in its food – nothing fancy but always filling. Soups, salads and sandwiches as well as delectable desserts are the hallmark of the Café.

Sandwiches are categorized as Specialties (try the “Pimita,” a gourmet pizza made with housemade pimento cheese, diced tomatoes, bacon and red onions with oversized pita bread as the crust) or Classics (the French Provincial is thinly sliced turkey breast, roast beef and Swiss cheese on a French baguette, topped with lettuce, tomato, banana pepper and drizzled with Italian dressing.)

the Café

Where: 712 Brent Street

More information: (502) 589-9191; thecafetogo.com

Google reviews: 4.7 stars (out of 5)

Breakfast, Porch style

For a bountiful breakfast, you can do no better than Porch, located in the newly refurbished Louisville Marriott Downtown Hotel. If you’re the virtuous type, try the Lean Green (kale, apple, spinach, cucumber and lemon) from the Smoothie menu. If you’re more into vice, opt for the Everything Cake Donut with powdered sugar and hot fudge from the bakery.

If you’re somewhere in the middle between salvation and sin, there’s an extensive breakfast menu which covers all the favorites from scrambled egg tacos and smoked salmon toast to the traditional American breakfast (two eggs your way, bacon or sausage, choice of toast and hash browns.)

I chose the lemon buttermilk pancakes with fresh blueberries and lemon syrup and left feeling quite nourished.

Porch

Where: 280 W. Jefferson Street in the Marriott Hotel

More information: (502) 671-4246; porchlouisville.com

Google reviews: 4.4 stars (out of 5)

French cuisine at Bistro Le Relais

Finally, I paid a return visit – my fourth – to what may be my favorite restaurant in Kentucky, Bistro Le Relais. First of all, I adore the setting – the 1920s Art Deco airport terminal at Bowman Field, where during the summer months, you can dine on the outdoor deck and watch the planes taxi down the runway.

Alas, it isn’t summer, but don’t fret. The intimate interior, with its beveled mirrors, potted plants and quiet nooks, along with the discreet white-coated wait staff, has always made me think of Rick’s Café in the classic film Casablanca.

It’s the French-inspired cuisine, however, that always draws me back. Dishes such as mussels in a broth of white wine, cream and shallots with leeks and pommes frites; Mushroom Vol au Vent (mushrooms in a thin puff pastry with Madeira cream sauce); Coquille St. Jacques (seared sea scallops with sautéed spinach and a grapefruit and shallot compote) and the Assiette de Fromage, a trio of assorted French cheeses, fig preserves and Marcona almonds.

To this all-star lineup, I’ll add my most recent menu selection – the salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts and a delectable mushroom risotto with a maple bourbon glaze and walnuts.

And no one makes a martini – shaken or stirred – like the bar staff at Bistro Le Relais.

Bistro Le Relais

Where: 2817 Taylorsville Road at Bowman Field

More information: (502) 451-9020; lerelaisrestaurant.com

Google reviews: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 6:00 AM.