Finn’s pot roast is a feast for all seasons

[Robin Garr]

Finn’s pot roast is a feast for all seasons

LEO's Eats with Robin Garr

The slow-braised pot roast at Finn's Southern Kitchen


Finn’s pot roast is a feast for all seasons

In case you hadn’t noticed, summer has clamped down on us fully now. It’s 95 outside as I write this, and the central air is struggling. The humidity? Don’t even ask. It’s as if the giant evil spaceship in Independence Day: Resurgence is dropping down over the metro, only it’s a giant sponge dripping hot water.

Yuk. Nothing seems very appetizing when the weather is like this.

Wait! How about a big bowl of good old-fashioned pot roast? Braised long and slow, surrounded with veggies roasted in the same pot, warming comfort food!

Oh? You were thinking of something lighter? A simple salad, maybe? Or some chilled sushi? Naah. Trust me on this: Go to Finn’s Southern Kitchen. Settle down in air-conditioned comfort, cool off, and then give the slow-braised pot roast ($14) a try. You won’t care whether it’s July or January once your taste buds an tummy start a happy hum of gustatory satisfaction.

More about that in just a moment, but first, let’s introduce Finn’s, if you haven’t had the pleasure of an introduction already.

Finn’s is the latest venture of Steve Clements, longtime owner at Avalon on Bardstown Road). It opened just before Derby in a beautifully re-made art deco building that originally served as offices for Louisville’s Fincastle Fabrics (hence the “Finn’s”), which made fine cotton fabrics from the output of the looming 1880s-era Louisville Cotton Mill buildings next door. That long brick structure along Goss Avenue had recently housed a huge, lovable antique mall, and is now reborn as Germantown Mill Lofts.

Finn’s interior is cool modern style, with light forest green accenting mostly white walls hung with striking black-and-white photos of antique kitchen tools. Tables, chairs and the floors are matte-finish wood. Striking spherical pendant lights hang at various levels like a galaxy over the long, well-stocked bar.

We’ve been by for both Sunday brunch and a weeknight dinner recently, and were thoroughly pleased with both. ...

Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/?p=5662

See this column also in LEO Weekly:
http://www.leoweekly.com/2016/08/finns- ... t-seasons/

Finn’s Southern Kitchen  
1318 McHenry St.
708-2984
http://finnssouthernkitchen.com
Facebook: http://bit.ly/FinnsSouthernKitchen
Robin Garr’s rating: 87 points

Our first experience with Finn's this weekend. Bizarre service - a bit too attentive, with constant interruptions to ask "how is it?" Never brought one appetizer; confused sides with dinner; salmon for one of us was "salmon sushi" according to the server (yup, it was pretty raw and my fellow diner was just quiet about it). Having said that, the food was above average and the environment is quite fun. I'll definitely give it another shot, but it does rotate toward the bottom of the list at this point. On a Saturday night it looked like they only turned the tables once, so I hope they are around long enough for me to slip back in.

[Robin Garr]

Well, that's not good, TP. I'm not seeing too many signs of the purported server shortage at the city's top spots, but maybe it's showing up more in newer places that aren't quite on the beaten path?

Robin,
FWIW I think our server was pretty good, but the GM took the heat for the blown orders and undercooked fish. The chatty part of the server's approach was a tad aggravating (we were with friends we had not seen for nearly a year) but not the end of the world.

I can't speak to the dinner crowd, but I've been to the happy hour and brunch in the past month or two, and it felt like there were a lot of people there both times. No issues with service, either FWIW.

[Robin Garr]

Robin,
FWIW I think our server was pretty good, but the GM took the heat for the blown orders and undercooked fish. The chatty part of the server's approach was a tad aggravating (we were with friends we had not seen for nearly a year) but not the end of the world.

Thanks for the details, TP. A lot of servers do the chatty thing, and it can be frustrating, but the great ones seem to be able to sense whether their nattering is interesting or not desired, and they'll tune to the table as they go. We had one extremely good server and one good-enough one in our visits to Finn's.

We went last night and really enjoyed it. Three of our four had the pot roast and it lived up to the hype -- tender, not too much seasoning, and good accompaniments of potatoes, carrots, and a biscuit. A thoroughly filling meal by itself and a bargain at $14. A mushroom bisque was also tasty and the deviled eggs were good, but on the high side. Something else should be on the plate (small bowl of slaw? homemade chips?) to add some flavor and justify the price.

I was more surprised by the decor. Reading about a person being stuck in a bathroom, and given the modest places like The Post and Four Pegs nearby, I wasn't expecting much. But it was quite stylish, bright lighting, well spaced tables, and they make great use of the nooks and crannies. It reminded me a bit of when August Moon first opened on Lexington. There is also spacious outdoor seating.

The owner stopped by our table and told us about the history of the building, how it was retrofitted from it's former incarnation, and some of the challenges they faced. When I saw him as I left, and complimented him on some of the choices and he mentioned that his daughter is a successful interior designer in San Francisco and that she essentially did the excellent work for free.

He also mentioned that it's been tough getting people to find the place. Indeed, it's less than ten minutes from my home of a few decades and I didn't know the location. It's easy to get to, about two blocks past The Post. Or, a half mile north on Goss from the Eastern Parkway/Poplar Level intersection. Please check it out. Good food, good people -- I hope they succeed.

I went with a group of 20. Venue was very nice. We were seated in a separate room and the service was very good. Food was also very good. One small glitch in service. Wrong order delivered but taken care of quickly.

Pretty far from Fern Creek, but will return when in the neighborhood. Not quite a destination place but an excellent addition to the food scene.

I know we are a bit late to the party so to speak but I had overlooked Finn's and my son offered up the suggestion for brunch today. Hubby had the Germantown breakfast, looked like standard bacon and eggs but he loved the grits that were included, Matt , my son had the Hot Brown and asked for a side of the Pineapple Habanero slaw which was on the dinner menu and our server was able to get that no problem. I had the burger and fries. We shared an order of the deviled eggs as an appetizer. We all loved the food, service was fine, our only complaint was the room we were seated in was very cold, I mean my son was shivering. Finally after asking a couple of times and I could tell the server was trying his best they got us some heat. Total for all 3 of us with 2 iced teas and a soda was 56 and change rounded up to 70 for a 13 and change tip. We will go back.