The White Oak

[ChefAllen]

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself to the local foodies board. This is my first post here (hopefully many more to follow). Anyway, I wanted to let everyone know that a couple of partners and I have opened a new restaurant on Market St. The White Oak has opened in the space that was previously Artemisia Restaurant 620 E. Market (where I was chef from 2005-2008).

We are a Kentucky Comfort Food restaurant, serving traditional Southern cuisine. We are going to be utilizing almost 100% local ingredients in our cooked from scratch recipes. We want to support our local farmers and growers and feel that the best products come from right in our own backyard (so-to-speak). Our network of local farmers and producers is constantly growing, which means our supply of fresh local ingredients is as well!

The menu is dynamic and will change often based upon what is currently in season, but basically if it comes from Kentucky we will have it and if it doesn't then you probably won't see it on our menu. Also, the prices are very reasonable (Apps and Salads ranging from $5-$9 and entrees starting at $11 and up to $18).

The restaurant is still very much in its infancy stages and we are working out a lot of the details. Even the hours of operation are up in the air. However, we are open for dinner all next week. We would love for people to come down and check us out, but please be patient with us since we are still working out a lot of the "kinks" and this is not a traditional restaurant opening.

Anyway, I look forward to meeting you all real soon and I will keep everyone posted as to our progress (especially once we set our hours of operation). Till then, eat well and have fun.

Chef Allen Heintzman

p.s. if you know of any qualified servers/bartenders that are looking for work they can send their resumes to jobs@thewhiteoakrestaurant.com and we will set up interviews

[carla griffin]

Welcome ChefAllen. I've always loved the setting of the restaurant there with the pretty patio. Happy too to hear you are planning to keep it local. Can't wait to check out your website.

[Mark Head]

Best wishes.

[Mark R.]

Good luck in your new endeavor! We're looking forward to trying year menu very soon.

[GaryF]

Welcome to the forum, Chef, and great good luck with White Oak. I look forward to seeing you there.

[Deb Hall]

Chef Allen,

So glad to hear you are back in Louisville - and that you are now back at and owning The White Oak. We always loved your food at Artemisia and look forward to seeing your new concept and menu. I know you've always been a strong supporter of local foods, but having it be the focus of the entire menu will be amazing!

Two questions:

1) Will you stil have jazz on the patio? We loved Artemesia for Jazz and dining.
2) Are you able to accept Restaurant.com gift certificates that were issued to Artemesia? There is an assumption on another thread that you can not- thought you might want to clear that up for anyone who has one.

Greatly looking forward to tasting your new place/menu,

Deb & Brian Hall

[Brad Keeton]

Chef Allen,

Restaurant.com used to sell gift certificates for use at Artemesia. I know that at least myself and one other regular forum member have unexpired, unused Artemesia gift certificates (certificates expire one year from date of purchase). Before we go back to Restaurant.com to attempt to trade these in, would The White Oak honor these?

Here are Artemesia's restrictions: Valid with a min. purchase of $40 or 2 entrees. Valid for dinner only. Excludes alcohol, tax, tips & other offers.

That is in reference to the $25 certificates. Thanks.

[Perry Parrent]

I have a gift cert., also.

[Brad Keeton]

Sheesh. Sorry for basically repeating what Deb said--I obviously didn't read her post.

[Paul Mick]

Best of luck with your endeavor. Lately it seems like we've been hearing about another restaurant closing every week or two, and it's reassuring to know that there are still people out there starting new restaurants. I'll stop by to see you when I get the chance.

[Jeremy Lutes]

Good luck, my friend! We'll be there soon. We absolutely can't wait to see what you've got in store.

[ChefAllen]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!

Good to see some familiar "faces" and look forward to meeting you all at the restaurant.

I did some investigating into the rewards.com certificates and have found out that we cannot accept them, however, the good news is that they can be transferred to another restaurant currently participating in the program.

Also, we want to continue to have live music, but are still looking into our options. The live jazz is really nice out in our courtyard.

Thanks for everyone's interest, I will keep you posted as things progress. We are gonna have some fun special events this summer in addition to some great food at the peak of season.

Eat Well!
Chef Allen

[ChefAllen]

Well, we survived our first full week of being open and Derby week all at the same time!

It was obviously very stressfull, but we pulled it off with some success. We have gotten things to a point that I think we now have a very solid foundation upon which to build. People really seem to be digging the food, so I am happy with the general menu design at this point.

So please come and check us out. We are now open for dinner Tues-Sat 5:30 -11 at 620 E. Market. And if you do stop by, please let your server know that you are from the hotbytes forum, I would love to come out and meet you!!

Till then, eat well and have fun!
Chef Allen