Cafe Emilie to become "60 West"

[Robin Garr]

Cafe Emilie will become 60 West Bistro & Martini Bar at the end of this month. General Manager Les Pollitt reports that the popular St. Matthews eatery at 3939 Shelbyville R will close as Cafe Emilie on Sept. 30 and reopen with the new name on Oct. 2 with new lunch and dinner menus created by Executive Chef Timothy Smith and Executive Sous Chef Chris VanHoozer (formally of North End Cafe). "Chef Tim has focused his new menus to feature as many Kentucky Proud products as we can, and many of our new desserts will be made at The Bakery at Sullivan," Pollitt said.

Lunch hours will remain unchanged (Mon-Sat 11-3), but dinner hours have been extended(Mon-Thu 5-10, Fri-Sat 5-11). 60 West will continue to offer the Sunday Brunch buffet featuring Bottomless Mimosas from 10-2:30 on Sundays; the restaurant will be closed Sunday evenings. Finally, the bar & lounge will remain open until 1 am Mon-Thu & 2 am Fri-Sat. The Late Night Lounge will feature nightly drink specials in the bar from 9 pm until close every night. Half-price martini nights will continue on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and half-price wine bottle nights on Friday and Saturday evenings.

"60 West will feature a martini menu of 60 martinis." Pollitt says. "To help celebrate the grand opening, we will have a weekly contest to help us name 20 of our 60 martinis. Starting with our first week, we will take names at lunch and dinner and hold a weekly drawing for two people to name any martini on the menu they like. This will go on for the first two months we are open. As long as they keep it clean, the winners can name their drink whatever they wish, and the final menus will be printed once the weekly drawings are completed. Temporary menus will be printed weekly.

How does one get 60 variations on the martini?

I can only think of a few: dry, dirty, up, on the rocks, vodka instead of gin.

What else is there that you can do with a martini?

How does one get 60 variations on the martini?

I can only think of a few: dry, dirty, up, on the rocks, vodka instead of gin.

What else is there that you can do with a martini?

add all sorts of foo-foo flavors to it...

I think we had this discussion on here previously, but I do enjoy the Chocolate Martini at Cafe Emilie. Also the Oatmeal Cookie Martini.

Obviously I'm not a purist.

But those aren'r martinis. A martini is a specific drink: gin and vermouth chilled.

That's why a manhattan is called a manhattan, a gibson is called a gibson, and cosmopolitan is called a cosmopolitan. None of them are martinis. I never understood that.

Why not call a place a "margarita bar" and serve whiskey sours and sangria?

I think a bar that is going to focus on a lot of different kinds of cocktails that are shaken and served up, would be more accurately called a cocktail lounge.

Amen, brother, amen!

60?! Wow - that just seems overwhelming to me. Just to clarify, did the "10-2:30" refer to the mimosas, the brunch or both? Can we get mimosas earlier now? Because that would be so sweet if we could!

But those aren'r martinis. A martini is a specific drink: gin and vermouth chilled.

I'd like people to stop saying "ATM machine" too, but it ain't happening.

But those aren'r martinis. A martini is a specific drink: gin and vermouth chilled.

I'd like people to stop saying "ATM machine" too, but it ain't happening.

Or VET test.

Brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.

[Robin Garr]

60?! Wow - that just seems overwhelming to me. Just to clarify, did the "10-2:30" refer to the mimosas, the brunch or both? Can we get mimosas earlier now? Because that would be so sweet if we could!

I can't speak for Cafe, er 60 West, but I'm reasonably certain that the Bottomless Mimosas can only be served after 1 p.m. on Sundays, no matter what time brunch starts.

I would really like to see someone (or, ideally, a large number of eateries) challenge the Sunday liquor laws as a prima facie violation of the separation of church and state, but I doubt that it's going to happen here.

But those aren'r martinis. A martini is a specific drink: gin and vermouth chilled.

I'd like people to stop saying "ATM machine" too, but it ain't happening.

Or VET test.

Brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department.

what about "irregardless"

Regardless of the martini controversy, I think it is a clever name playing off the road signs that line Shelbyville Road, which is U.S. Highway 60 West. I always thought it would be a great name for a band (time for a house band on the weekends!)

It is a good name. But a drink that includes pear flavor is NOT A MARTINI!!!!!!!

60?! Wow - that just seems overwhelming to me. Just to clarify, did the "10-2:30" refer to the mimosas, the brunch or both? Can we get mimosas earlier now? Because that would be so sweet if we could!

I can't speak for Cafe, er 60 West, but I'm reasonably certain that the Bottomless Mimosas can only be served after 1 p.m. on Sundays, no matter what time brunch starts.

I would really like to see someone (or, ideally, a large number of eateries) challenge the Sunday liquor laws as a prima facie violation of the separation of church and state, but I doubt that it's going to happen here.

You are right. It probably won't happen. I'm no lawyer, but it seems like it would be easily winnable because it is obviously religion driven. Drinks can be sold at 6 am every other day of the week. Obviously religious bias.

Hasn't been that long ago that booze couldn't be sold on Sunday, so restaurants closed on Sunday. When the courts declared that this was religious driven, most places, especially chains opened on Sunday. Nobody has been serious about the 1:00 pm selling time is that only the places who have buffets would gain much by contesting the law. Most don't open that early so they don't care.

Even a lot of liquor stores (including the one I owned) did not mind not opening on Sunday. Just a day off and you didn't gain a lot by selling on Sunday. Just spread the sales over seven days instead of six. Virtually every liquor store that was open on Sunday to legally sell beer, also sold whiskey, but only to people they knew. For most of us it wasn't worth the trouble. Now, of course, you buy package liquor on Sunday. Liquor laws tend to be nuts.

Little history. In Kentucky forty+ years ago women were not allowed to sit at bars. Some places had signs on the windows "tables for ladies". This meant that women could sit at tables, but someone had to bring them drinks. They could not walk up to the bar and pick up anything and take to the table. The rationale was that it kept a certain "element" from being in bars.

Miss Dixie of Dixie's Elbow Room on 5th street around Chestnut got cited often enough that she was going to have to close her rather lucrative place. She went to court and beat the regulation because of the gender. Of course Miss Dixie's "ladies" were exactly the ones that the regulation was aimed at. Great place, by the way.

But those aren'r martinis. A martini is a specific drink: gin and vermouth chilled.

That's why a manhattan is called a manhattan, a gibson is called a gibson, and cosmopolitan is called a cosmopolitan. None of them are martinis. I never understood that.

Why not call a place a "margarita bar" and serve whiskey sours and sangria?

I think a bar that is going to focus on a lot of different kinds of cocktails that are shaken and served up, would be more accurately called a cocktail lounge.

I love you.