Rick Bayless Louisville Appearance

I know that they are different, Brian. I researched both restaurants and thought Spiaggia was a little too stuffy for our group and a little more than we wanted to pay. Cafe Spiaggia considers itself a "sister" restaurant in every respect. Go look at their web site. It is different, but still presents itself to be a first rate restaurant. It was not. 2 of the entrees were plain old not good. Waiting 30 min for appetizers is plain old not good.

I have a question -- did the pork dish have mushrooms in it and if so, where they ok? We supplied the shiitake and oyster mushrooms.

I must admit, I am not familiar with the chef other than what I have read on his website. For someone that believes in cooking seasonally and using locally available products, I don't understand the choice for the Mango Guacamole - neither mangos nor avocados are locally available produce for Louisville ANY TIME of year.

I will say, though, that I was rather impressed with the Frontera Farmer Foundation and the fact that a chef/restaurant believes in local produce so much that they provide loans for local producers.

from the website: "The Frontera Farmer Foundation was established in 2003 to attract support for small Midwestern farms. Rick and Deann Bayless, founders of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo, along with the restaurants’ staff, created the Foundation out of their concern for struggling farmers and the importance of local produce to the vitality of Chicago’s culinary culture. Small local farms promote biodiversity by planting a wide range of produce, are more likely to operate using organic practices, and add immeasurably to the fabric of their communities. By their artisanal approach to agriculture, these farmers insure the highest quality of food."

Rebecca, I just wanted to clarify a couple of things. Chef Bayless did forget to add mushrooms during his demo and he was very up front and open about doing so. He also spent a few minutes gushing over the quality of your product and clarifying the differences between the varied types you provided. He did fail to mention the name of your operation and instead praised the mushrooms as being from a wonderful local producer.

My sample of the pork dish did have a singular mushroom included. I had no complaints with the mushroom or the potatoes for that matter. It was just the pork which I found to be lackluster.