Louisville Food questions from a St. Louisian

I'll be in Louisville this weekend from St. Louis and I can't entirely find what I'm looking for after scouring other posts on the site, so I'm just going to ask three questions outright.

1. I'm trying to find your best coffee shop(s) and roaster(s). By best I mean not the kind of shop that pours a 20oz Starbucks cappuccino, but one that can do a traditional competition style capp or pull a decent espresso.

2. Is Bardstown the best farmers' market in the area? What I mean is, in St. Louis we have several. One is the big touristy one, but the best is a medium sized market in a park that is comprised of only local farmers that deliver everything themselves. It's the Slow Food Market if you will.

3. It would appear Proof on Main and 610 Magnolia are the consistently mentioned restaurants in Louisville. This question is a little ambiguous so let me explain:

If you came on my forum and asked what's the "wow" restaurant in St. Louis, right now everyone would say Niche because the chef just won a Food & Wine top 10 new chefs award. His food is the most interesting in St. Louis because he's either serving things nobody else will like hog jowl or rabbit liver terrine, or creating interesting dishes like roasted quail with beets, caperberries, and brown butter hollandaise.

They consistently cook at a very high level and do what I always refer to as "pushing." That is, it doesn't always work, but they're constantly attempting to learn and move forward rather than just remaining stagnantly good. You seem to have a lot of Italian and Latin American food that all looks really good, but I'm looking for the places that "push".

I was actually born in Louisville so I'm looking forward to the visit as I was too young to remember it when we moved. I've only been once before and I think I ate at Azalea. I know I'd gone into Brasserie Dietrich (sp?) which looked interesting but they were not serving dinner at the time (and I realize they are long gone).

My picks: coffee shop, Jacksons, but it's drive thru only, so no "coffee shop" ambiance, but excellent ++ coffee, roasted on the spot.
Farmer's market, actually I work every weekend so I rarely get to go to these.
Restaurant: I'd say that 610 magnolia is what you're describing. Edward Lee definitely pushes the envelope, both in food sourcing and preparation.

Primo does some really nice things. Not sure if you would say they are constantly pushing, but I've never had a bad dish there and the flavor combinations are always exciting.

Places I would consider in no particular order.....

Corbett's
Limestone
Seviche

I can't help with a Farmer's Market...consider a day trip to Huber's as an alternative.

Concur with Jackson's in terms of coffee.

Farmers' Market... I really enjoy the one near my house which is at Beargrass Christian Church on Shelbyville Rd, Saturdays from 8 - noon.
And I have to go for Proof in terms of pushing. Of course, I'm addicted to their baked octopus.

derby city espresso - best by far (+ good beer)
and don't overlook
le relais
or
corbett's

The Farmers Market on Shelbyville Road at the Beargrass Christian Church is a fun thing to do in the Morning. All the restaurants mentioned are wonderful.

You may also try Park Place @ Slugger Field, Caffe Perusa is a great new Restaurant located on Taylorsville Rd. near Hurstbourne.

Enjoy...

[Robin Garr]

Welcome, Bill! Do you have a St. Louis foodie forum, or was that just a figure of speech?

You're getting a lot of good advice here ... Jackson's does make incredible coffee, but is a drive-through only, so what it gains in quality it loses in hang-out capability. Sunergos also makes excellent coffee and has a laid-back hippie-style environment.

Proof and 610 are both excellent, with 610 being significantly more cutting edge. I would also absolutely include Seviche (either location, with a slight preference for Bardstown Road) and Corbett's on any list, and Corbett's boasts the additional benefit of being new and hot.

Bardstown Road is the go-to produce market, but Beargrass Christian in St. Matthews has pretty much caught up with it. They're both excellent.

Honestly, no restaurant in the area "pushes" as compared to Niche. I've dined at Niche and it was "on" that evening. I do miss those days when our son attended Washinton University in St. Louis! In my opinion your best choice would be the The Oakroom at the Seelbach Hotel or Corbetts. Primo is excellent, but it is not what I consider a cutting edge restaurant in the Niche style; no deconstructed dishes, no molecular dishes, no riffs on local, comfort food, etc.

The Bardstown Road and the St. Matthews farmer markets are great. If that medium market in a park in St. Louis is the Tower Grove market, you will find these Louisville markets of similar size.

I think our local coffee houses compete well with the best in the US. We are a split family; a son swears by Highland Coffee and I swear by Heine Brothers. I think you will be pleased with any local operation.

Thanks everyone for the help.

Robin, I do have a blog and forum at http://www.stlbites.com and I also write a couple monthly columns for our local food mag Sauce Magazine (only one is on their online site though...The Real Deal).

Honestly, no restaurant in the area "pushes" as compared to Niche. I've dined at Niche and it was "on" that evening. I do miss those days when our son attended Washinton University in St. Louis! In my opinion your best choice would be the The Oakroom at the Seelbach Hotel or Corbetts. Primo is excellent, but it is not what I consider a cutting edge restaurant in the Niche style; no deconstructed dishes, no molecular dishes, no riffs on local, comfort food, etc.

The Bardstown Road and the St. Matthews farmer markets are great. If that medium market in a park in St. Louis is the Tower Grove market, you will find these Louisville markets of similar size.

I think our local coffee houses compete well with the best in the US. We are a split family; a son swears by Highland Coffee and I swear by Heine Brothers. I think you will be pleased with any local operation.

That's good to hear. The coffee scene in St. Louis is pretty bad considering the size of our greater metropolitan area....and it was Tower Grove.

I love Pat's Steakhouse for a good ole Louisville steak and manhattan spot and also like dinning at Bucks, Jack Fry and Veitnam Kitchen-Bambi Burger on Bardstown Road is great and Checks in Germantown are fun spots with great grubbing...have a fun and food-filled visit! Oh-when looking for breakfast Wild Eggs on Dutchman's Lane is fabulous!!!

Two that haven't been mentioned yet, but that do "push" the envelope:

1. Lilly's: Cathy Cary has more standard ingredients, but can have very unusual preparations, which usually make it but on occasion don't. I would say she tends to push the envelope pretty hard, but the food may not be as "outrageous" as Proof.

2. The Seelbach Oakroom: Here you have a chef who has been on Iron Chef, who has striking dishes, who utilizes the entire range you are seeking! He only serves milti-course tasting menus, but I'd bet that if you wanted to combine a dish from one with a dish from another, you'd have no trouble, and I think he pushes things significantly more than anyone else in town (just a personal opinion)

From the times I've been to Proof and 610, I'd view them as top flight "in" restaurants with different ingredients and unique preparations, but nobody "pushes" like the Seelbach!

For Coffee - I am with Shawn Vest, Derby City Espresso - Very unique

Cutting Edge Cuisine - Corbett's, Seviche and Asiatique

Farmer's markets - I would go with Robin's suggestions

I'm not big into the coffee scene so I can't comment on that but as far as restaurants go there are several that I feel are worthy of mention.

The first is Corbett's, it's the hot new restaurant in Louisville and is constantly pushing into new cuisines. The building is lovely and the kitchen staff pays attention to every detail. They even have their own herb garden for fresh herbs.

The second would be the Oakroom at the Seelbach, it's truly the most elegant dining in Louisville and they do a wonderful job with menu selections. They have several fixed price menus but will allow some flexibility swapping items. They also have a wonderful bar for drinks before or after dinner.

Seviche and Mojito are also worth considering. They are certainly not a formal as the previous two but it can hold their own on the food side. They also have some very innovative menu items that are both owned by up and coming chefs in the area.

If you're looking for a place for breakfast or lunch trying North End Cafe or Wild Eggs or for a true Louisville eclectic classic go to Lynn's Paradise Cafe.

The farmers market on Bardstown road is one of the best, not commercialized, just great fresh produce.

Be sure to let us know where you go and what your opinion of the restaurants is. We all like to hear feedback from visitors to our city!