NEWS: Jarfi's out of Lentini's for creative diner downtown

[Robin Garr]

Very interesting report here! The following is a combination of an Email discussion and a phone conversation with Jeff Jarfi, who says he's excited about this new venture, having been involved with the opening of Atlanta's Buckhead Diner. He's regretful about leaving Bardstown Road, but says the combination of a slow economy and $10,000-a-month lease payments for the old Lentini's building made it a no-brainer to move quickly on the diner program, which has been on the drawing board for a while.

Here's the announcement:

Jarfi's Bistro is excited to announce they will return to downtown! The new restaurant will be on the first floor of the beautiful Zirmed Tower conveniently located at the corner of 9th Street and Market Street. We will also have a private event space on the 10th floor that features a spectacular and unique view of Louisville.

The new concept is Jarfi's Diner and it will be modeled after "The Fog City Diner" in San Franciso and "Buckhead Diner" in Atlanta. The menu will be wide ranging and will include everything from omelettes at $7 to a veal chop at $29. We hope to open the Jarfi's Diner by mid-September.

With this new adventure we will say a fond farewell to Bardstown Road. Our final day open to the public is June 27th and the Bistro will officially close by July 5th. Chef Jarfi is very generous to the community and donates over $11,000 in gift certificates annually. Everyone is encouraged to use their gift certificates at the Bistro or to visit us at the new location in September. Some gift certificates will be eligible for an expiration extension.

During the time we are closed Jarfi's will be completely focused on catering. The catering portion of our business comprises nearly 70% of our work and will remain the focus.

We are sad to leave our Bardstown Road location but are extremely excited about our new possibilities and to return to downtown where Jarfi's first started.

I strongly suggest that the next resident to inhabit the old Lentini location give the place a much needed external facelift and get rid of the old sign--it looks too dated.

$10K a month rent in this economy? Yikes! I'd be movin' too! While we never made it over to Jarfi's on Bardstown (yes, shamefully we were part of the problem, but I can't get the wife out of Havana Rumba), we are definitely excited to see what comes of the downtown venture and look forward to finding ourselves down there when they open.

I've been to both the Fog City and Buckhead diners (the latter several times) and can tell you that if the new operation is anything close to those it will be wonderful! They both have marvelous food choices as well as great atmospheres! This restaurant certainly have the potential to be one of Louisville's best and a major drawing card for downtown Louisville.

I can't wait for it to open!

Maybe the next occupant needs to get a voodoo Priestess to get rid of the bad mojo. And I am not talking sauces here. That place is too sp ooky

You can still enjoy Jarfi's at Glenmary, in the clubhouse of the country
club. I'm doing a photo shoot there today - they want to get the word out
they are open to the public for lunch and dinner at this location.

Past the Gene Snyder, not too far from Sake Blue.....