<table border="0" align="left" width="310"><tr><td><img src="http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/ln_lamb.jpg" border="1" align="left"></td></tr><tr><td>L&N Wine Bar and Bistro's "lamb pops," four bite-sized lamb chops over large Israeli couscous. It's an appetizer that's substantial enough to serve as a light main course. Photos by Robin Garr.</td></tr></table>LEO's Eat 'n' Blog with Louisville HotBytes
I've been predisposed to like L&N Wine Bar and Bistro ever since it opened. I'm a wine geek, and the owners are wine geeks. With its majestic wall of wine, a 54-bottle Cruvinet wine-storage facility and dispenser that's the largest made, it boasts a wine program that's second to none.
More than 100 wines are available for tasting, from as little as $2.50 for 2-ounce "taste" of several value-priced items to $60 for a bottle of more upscale wine. Connoisseurs may also choose from a short daily list of higher-end wines on the Cruvinet, or peruse the book-length cellar list.
But you don't have to be a wine geek to enjoy this place: Full bar service offers a broad selection of liquors and a dozen well-chosen microbrewery beers. As the name implies, it's both a wine bar and a Bistro, and it performs as well on food and service as it does with adult beverages.
Proprietors Len Stevens (the "L" of L&N) and his wife Nancy Richards (The "N") bring nearly four decades of wine and restaurant experience to L&N, not least their shared tenure at the late, still-lamented Zephyr Cove. The Cove lives on at L&N, at least in spirit, in the tall glass tubes of vodka-and-fruit infusions and the heavy, comfortable dining chairs used in its cozy bar and two dining rooms, each equipped with a working fireplace.
It was time for a return visit, since Chef Rick Adams had moved on last year, and Chef Matthew Purzycki came down from the Motor City to take over the kitchen.
Full reports in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.