Louisville Mojo: Nightlife Notes #1

The advice you'll find here isn't for everyone. I spend a lot of time wandering around our fair city, consuming and observing. It's my biological niche; it's what I do. And then I report back to Mojo HQ with the data I've gleaned out there in the peculiar Southern gothic haunted burg that is L-ville. This is the first in a neverending series of such alcohol-soaked volleys.

Evening revelry takes on a certain degree of quantum uncertainty, especially after the sun goes down and the bartender lines up the shots like stormtroopers. So the chronological order of proceedings often gets muddled.

Anyway, as Cheech & Chong once said, "I'm not really into Time, man." Thus, in no particular order, disassociated fragments from the darkness:

Showed up super-early to my favorite restaurant Havana Rumba (4115 Oechsli Avenue) the other evening, like 4:30-ish. It was the only time I've ever been there and been the only person in the place. It was disquieting, like an episode of Twilight Zone. By the time the rest of my party showed up, though, the place was swingin' as usual. Some people complain about the crowds and the noise here but me, I dig the hustle and bustle of it all. Especially when they have live music.

I had my usual pitcher of mojito and was pleased to see that the pitchers haven't subtly shrunk as they have at my other favorite restaurant, Mojito Tapas (2231 Holiday Manor Center.) And as usual, the waitress did a double-take when she realized that the pitcher was solely for me, not for the entire table.

Havana Rumba's menu has so many good dishes but time and time again, I keep coming back to their Steak Chimichurri, which has to be tasted here to believe. It's simply the best there is. Never had it? It's super-thinly sliced cuts of prime skirt steak, meant to be dipped in the red (garlic-based) Chimichurri and the green (cilantro-based) chimichurri. The red's great, but I lay awake at night raptly dreaming about the green.

Then, it was off to an undisclosed location to fire up Avo Maduro Piramides cigars. The smoke's pretty when filtered through the private geometry of the demon rum.

Another night this week, I had an organizational meeting at Ernesto's (10430 Shelbyville Road) for an oceanographic research group I'm co-founding (more about that in weeks to come.) Fortunately, happy hour was extended, and I enjoyed margaritas while my friend Alana chose to cut out the middleman and toss back shot after shot of Herradura.

Did we eat? I don't remember.

Just down the street, El Toro (10602 Shelbyville Road) offers a great two-for-one deal on their margaritas at happy hour and has a more dimly lit ambience - which I prefer - but Ernesto's margarita glasses are slightly bigger. And I am greedy.

Somewhere along the way, we recently stopped in at Rí Rá, the newest Irish pub at Fourth Street Live. This is my new home. Seriously. They'll need to be putting in a reserved seat at the bar for me with a gold plate bearing my name, mark my words. Rí Rá is a chain, but it's a small chain and a great chain, with a dark wooden setting that pleases me. And the Thursday night live celtic music is top-notch - can't remember the name of the band but I hope to catch them there again. Simple man that I am, I had the fish and chips and a couple bottles of Duvel and was the most contented cow on the farm for a good long while.

Tonight I got stuck in traffic amongst the Christmas crowd near the malls, which wore me out before I even got to Quills (930 Baxter Avenue), the marvelous coffee shop which moved awhile back to a new location in the Highlands. Although I miss the subdued feel of their old place, there's a great energy in the new place that can't be denied. It's a great spot to sip a cup, savor Erika Chavez-Graziano's mind-blowing Cellar Door Chocolates, and cabbage the wi-fi (almost every person in the house was clackity-clacking at a laptop.) On this night, however, they were playing some kinda post-Malkmus music at a slightly uncomfortable level, so I split.

And what's up with this Red Stag stuff? Everyone's pushing it everywhere I go. It's four-year-old Jim Beam infused with black cherry flavoring. I don't get it. Last week they were really hyping it at the good ol' Bambi Bar (2701 Bardstown Road) and the bartender lady (forgive me, I can't think of her name right now) was even wearing a Red Stag t-shirt.

So what's all the fuss about?

Wink at Seidenfaden's (1134 East Breckinridge Street) poured me a shot of Red Stag and well, it wasn't bad, I suppose. But it still reminded me of cough medicine, and if I wanted that I might as well turn to the mighty and holy Jagermeister instead. (Interesting that they're using a similar Stag motif for this similarly syrupy stuff.)

I just can't wrap my head around the logic of cherry flavored bourbon. I suppose they'd be handy for making a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned, but when you add the cherry flavoring yourself, you can get the measurements just right to your own satisfaction. When you buy a bottle of this junk, though, you're stuck with what you're given. No good. I can't get behind it.

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chuck sun dec 13 2009 at 7:33 am ·


	I have a problem at Havana Rumba. I can't NOT order the Sea Bass. It's so good, the first time I had it, it curled my toes. Ha!

J.S. Holland sun dec 13 2009 at 11:30 am ·


	Someday I'll try their Sea Bass, if I can ever break the chain of chimichurri-addiction. The Chilean Sea Bass is what I always get when I go to Mitchell's Fish Market at Summit Plaza.

chuck sun dec 13 2009 at 12:29 pm ·


	Sounds like a similar problem to the Chimichurri-itis. I'll have to try it out.

metricsister mon dec 14 2009 at 5:59 am ·


	I dont like anything in my bourbon but bourbon

metricsister mon dec 14 2009 at 6:10 am ·


	I take that back, I do like a mint julep at derby time

J.S. Holland mon dec 14 2009 at 7:01 am ·


	I always liked Henry Watterson's recipe for the perfect Mint Julep: "Throw ingredients away and drink whiskey straight."

metricsister mon dec 14 2009 at 11:59 am ·


	lolololol. fair enough. Blantons is too expensive to waste anyway

Sherry Deatrick mon dec 14 2009 at 10:02 pm ·


	Mojito Tapas has a nice variety of great dishes. I like those fish tacos. Of course the guacamole, the shrimp...the goat cheese flan...Have you tried these?

J.S. Holland mon dec 14 2009 at 10:14 pm ·


	Yeppers, had the flan many times, and their guac is best in town. Haven't had the shrimp; I get in a steak rut again and again here too. I also like the chicken ropa vieja and the queso fundido.

Sherry Deatrick mon dec 14 2009 at 10:19 pm ·


	Chicken ropa vieja? I've never had that. Always with beef. Did you know ropa vieja means something like "old clothes" or old rags? I used to eat ropa vieja in the Cuban Chinese restaurants of NYC. Yes, Cuban Chinese. You heard me.

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