Talk about the local eats scene since 1990 ...

To me, when Jim Henry put wine bottles under tap at the Winery and the Parisian Pantry ordered special ovens and ingredients mentioned in the CJ article, and Sandy Pike came back from Alice Waters' classes in CA to re-open Jack Fry's, and Kathy Cary and Susan Seiller started gourmet to go with Le Peche and Eddie Garber travelled to Asia then created 610, and 24 Carrot Catering decided to base their work on food through art, and when Martha Stewart ( yes M.) started to deliver slide presentations based on her books/work on her farm at the Speed and when she decided to make a screech about garnishes not reflecting the ingredients that's when I think food took a giant leap forward in Lou.

Bim bought Myra's then Burger's decided to expand which created Deitrich's. Susan bought Jack Fry's from Sandy. Sandy created Cafe Society on Main St. and the Queen of Tarts on Frankfort. The Wiltshire Pantry was going well with it's original owners ( the Waterman sisters) in St. Matthews. If I remember correctly the closing of Grisanti's made possible the opening of Vincenzo's, Jack's, Ditto's and the seafood place that was in Dupont. Grisanti's closing also elevated the level of service in town as those captains and waitstaff that didn't stay with their chefs moved to places like Jack Fry's.

MikeG,

I grew up off of Upper Hunters and remember Chico's and Chen's well. Chico's had a huge plateful of authentic mexican food for a small price. Chen's had an incredible shrimp w/lobster sauce.

On a side note, Pesto's has been around for some time and is a Persian/Italian restaurant. Majid and Manoosh both worked there. I'm thinking Esse started it in the 80s.

[Robin Garr]

If I remember correctly the closing of Grisanti's made possible the opening of Vincenzo's

GREAT summary, Catherine! I wish I had seen it before my deadline for next week's article on this topic.

One touch-up: If memory serves me right, Vincenzo opened his eponymous eatery before Casa Grisanti closed, pushing the limits of no-compete but managing to stay just over the line by scrupulously billing it as a "continental" restaurant rather than "Italian" for the first several years.

You're absolutely right, though, about Casa being the incubator for a sizable share of the city's chefs and front-of-the-house people to this day.

Now that I think about it, I remember Vincenzo brought his family to Deitrich's on Sundays. And Bim and Joanne made a point of grabbing a bunch of people once a month and going to Lilly's, Le Relais, Jack Fry's or to Metro. Metro had a huge reputation in the eighties.

Someone mentioned Rubino's earlier, which reminded me of when we first moved to into our current home. We used to go to Rubino's on a regular basis. Fresh oysters,,,,mmm...back in the late eighties, that was a real treat. Also, we have friends who lived in New Orleans while attending Tulane, they would get a bucket of crawfish and split it. First time I had ever seen crawfish (I was young and terribly unseasoned).

This also reminded me of our favorite local neighborhood joint, Gib's Ribs down on Dundee. They had the absolute best Cajun Seafood Pasta... Once Gib sold the place, it was never the same. Sure do miss that pasta......

I have very fond memories of Hoe Kow-- both at Bowman Field & Middletown. Our family ate there almost every sunday.
I can't tell you how many people tell Anoosh they miss Remington's. This post has been a fun trip down memory lane, thanks!

I have very fond memories of Hoe Kow-

I was quite bummed when I moved back here and found that they had closed.
Man do I sure miss that War Su Gai. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there that misses that great dish either.
I've tried to replicate it but have never come close.

[Robin Garr]

Man do I sure miss that War Su Gai. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one out there that misses that great dish either.
I've tried to replicate it but have never come close.

For a while there, the Double Dragon on Goss had a fairly decent approximation. Those little Chinese places change fast, though, so I can't testify to the current situation.

I saw Ward's comment about beer selection, which causes me to reflect that Sierra Nevada did not enter Indiana until 1993, and Kentucky after that. In 1990, not only was there no locally brewed beer (just yet), but pretty much the only choice for "better" beer was imported. Craft beer was pre-natal hereabouts. Talk about a sea change since then ...

Does anybody else miss Bibby's barbeque on the old Bardstown Rd in Buechel.? we used to go there all the time and I cannot mention burgoo without my husband getting a tear in his eye and going....Bibby's

Does anybody else miss Bibby's barbeque on the old Bardstown Rd in Buechel.? we used to go there all the time and I cannot mention burgoo without my husband getting a tear in his eye and going....Bibby's

They had ribs in a bucket. Hadn't thought of that place in years. Really good as I recall.

Does anybody else miss Bibby's barbeque on the old Bardstown Rd in Buechel.? we used to go there all the time and I cannot mention burgoo without my husband getting a tear in his eye and going....Bibby's

They had ribs in a bucket. Hadn't thought of that place in years. Really good as I recall.

I come from a family of four kids, so we dined out very rarely. Bibby's was a regular stop for our irregular dining out. I can still taste the BBQ chicken. Nothing earth-shattering, but darn good. I think they put enough butter on the toast to stop some hearts.