MCI Grad to Helm Edward Lee’s New Restaurant + My Visit to 610 Magnolia

News broke recently in a story I’ve been keeping my eye on, and I couldn’t be happier. Chef Edward Lee’s new restaurant at Actors Theater of Louisville is slated to open in mid-February. And Cincinnatian Kevin Ashworth will head it up!

An alum of Midwest Culinary Institute at Cincinnati State, Kevin also has a degree in business from the University of Cincinnati and helped with the start-up of area Dewey’s Pizzas before heading to Louisville. He landed a spot in Chef Lee’s kitchen at Louisville’s 610 Magnolia after the two worked together at the annual MCI fundraising extravaganza known as “1 Night, 12 Kitchens,” which attracts a heady group of local and regional chefs and, I hear, tests the mettle of the MCI students who assist them. (Tickets for this year's “1 Night, 12 Kitchens,” April 21, available here.)

Lee’s second restaurant will be called Milkwood (after Dylan Thomas’s "Under Milkwood," the first play produced at ACL by its acclaimed former artistic director, Jon Jory). Milkwood is being described as a  “speakeasy-restaurant” with “comfort food with an Asian pantry.” (You can read more from Eater Louisville here.)

Thanks to the help of my friend Stephanie Boertlein, who knows Kevin from their days together at MCI and writes the Cincinnati-based food blog Small Girl Adventures, I had the good fortune to meet both Kevin and Chef Lee when I ate at 610 Magnolia last year. It was one of the most outstanding dinners I experienced in 2012, and I’m going to take this opportunity to share it, with thanks to Chef Kevin and Chef Lee, who were both cooking that busy night.

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610 Magnolia was on my Louisville “list” long before Chef Edward Lee appeared on Season 9 of Top Chef. Even before he bested Iron Chef Jose Garces in Battle Tongue and Cheek in 2010. Named for its address in Old Louisville, 610 Magnolia deservedly garners reviews for being one of the best restaurants in Louisville and has earned Chef Lee not just television appearances but acclaim as a James Beard Finalist for Best Chef Southeast.

When Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert were scheduled to appear in Louisville last winter for their “Good vs. Evil” road show, my friend Joyce Pinson, from Pikeville, KY, and I both had the same idea: To learn more about Chef Lee during our road trips to the 'Ville that weekend. Joyce scored an interview with Lee (which she wrote about in her column for the Appalachian News-Express here and on her blog here and here). I, however, got to taste his food!

The menu at this reservations-required venue changes weekly, and what you’ll find on 610 Magnolia’s web page is merely a suggestion of what will be on offer any given Thursday through Saturday (the only nights it serves). Although the dishes change, 610 Magnolia’s menu structure and price options remain straightforwardly the same. Diners choose among three to five options each for three courses at $55/person (wine pairings an additional $45) or four courses at $65 (wine pairings, +$55). An 18% gratuity is added to all checks, so you’re spared the need to do restaurant math.

When I heard 610 Magnolia’s food described as Asian-Southern fusion, I had trouble wrapping my brain around what that might be, other than thinking of the soy sauce products aged in reclaimed bourbon barrels from Bourbon Barrel Foods (a favorite of Chef Lee’s, by the way). But I was all in for exploring what Chef Lee and his team had in store.

Whether you opt for three courses or four, you’ll also receive the evening’s amuse-bouche. The amuse trio that night included beef rillette with mango, game sausage with Dijon, and the signature 610 BLT, with applewood smoked bacon, gouda, tomato, and the best part: foie gras.

For my first course, I couldn't resist these briny Kumomoto oysters, with American sturgeon caviar, watercress, leek, and champagne sabayon.

The second-course offerings included one of the few dishes that evening whose menu description spoke with a pronounced Asian-meets-Southern drawl, the pork belly with collard greens, kimchi, and black-eyed peas with a honey-cinnamon gastrique and braised mustard seeds. But this dish, with some of my favorite ingredients, captured my attention instead. The thinly sliced beef tongue accompanied by three kinds of heirloom baby beets drizzled with 50-year olive oil, a fabulous mustard ice cream, and caperberries was one of my favorites of the evening.

For my entrée, I went with this duo of beef, featuring short rib and rib-eye, with broccoli puree and florets, Okinawa potato, and horseradish cream, a refined riff on Asian stir-fry, pointed out with its soy sauce "froth." (I had to laugh when my server lapsed momentarily and said, "Froth, foam, air? What are we calling it tonight?")

Dessert was one of the highlights of the evening, not just because it was delicious, but because it was served to me by Kevin Ashworth himself! He barely had time to introduce himself and the dish: "Meyer lemon panna cotta with orange sherbet fluid gel, olive oil pound cake, vanilla-tonka bean powder, and whipped sassafras," before he had to return to the kitchen. But this smart young man with a gleam in his eye impressed me more in those two minutes than I would have thought possible.

As I sipped the last of my port and nibbled on the green tea and cranberry truffles served as mignardises, my kind server let me know she was aware I'd hoped to meet Chef Lee. She said he would try to make it, but he'd been running back and forth to the restaurant's Wine Studio, which was hosting a private event that evening. (It wasn't until I read Joyce's blog that I realized Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert were likely right across the street.) Just before my cab arrived, Chef Lee appeared out of nowhere and I had a couple of starstruck moments to introduce myself and blather my thanks to him for an amazing meal and all he does for food here in the middle of the country.

The next evening when I met Joyce and her friend Rhoda for dinner before the Bourdain-Ripert show at Harvest (another excellent Louisville restaurant), we were both still on a high from meeting Chef Lee. In typical Joyce fashion, she kept her cards close to the vest until she could write up her interview. When she asked me how I would describe Chef Lee's food, the one word that came to mind was "thoughtful." Not a very articulate or "foodie" description, but that's what stood out to me about my dinner at 610 Magnolia. Every component on every dish seemed to be there for a reason. And I'd guess as much thought by Chef Lee and his team went into what to leave off as to what to include. This was no forced mash-up of Asian and Southern flavors. It was just really, really delicious food, without contrivance. Joyce's newspaper column would include this quote from Chef Lee: “I don’t define my style; I think that if you are an expressive cook you cook whatever you are; whatever you have become; you are the sum of all experiences. You evolve. I am a New York native, born of Korean immigrants that now lives in Kentucky and embraces the South. However that translates is how I am.”

When Milkwood opens at Actors Theater of Louisville next month, I anticipate it will be more casual and less exclusive than 610 Magnolia, but in a similar vein. Another step in the culinary evolution of both Edward Lee and Kevin Ashworth, with food that, whatever it is, first and foremost tastes really good. And I can't wait to taste it for myself!

Mourning Moscow, and a Sweet Spot: Ghyslain in Louisville

I was looking forward to a quiet weekend at home to catch up on blogging about my recent travels and tastings. Then came Friday’s tornadoes, which tore through nearby parts of Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, including the riverside village of Moscow, OH, which my best friend since 8th grade and frequent Culinary Smackdown compadre Cindie has called home for nearly 30 years. I was immensely relieved to hear her voice Friday night and know she, her family, and her dog are safe. But a good friend of theirs was not so lucky – she was killed when her house a couple blocks away collapsed on her. The storm took off the back half of Cindie’s roof, blew out a sliding glass door, and apparently sucked out some contents. A tree did some damage to one of their cars, and she said there is glass everywhere. That was just the preliminary report. Her house has now been “red tagged,” meaning deemed not safe to enter. Moscow is a gutsy little town that 15 years ago endured a major Ohio River flood. But this is even more devastating. Click here for a Cincinnati Enquirer article and video. You’ll find a few of my photos from happier days in Moscow at the bottom of this post. I will remember the lush green,  towering hundred-year-old trees, and care-free days in Moscow fondly. They’re pretty much all gone, at least for now.

While I wait to hear from Cindie with today’s update, I’m trying to distract myself with happier thoughts and bringing you a few photos of the goodies from Ghyslain, one of my recent stops in Louisville.

Located on East Market Street in the vibrant NULU District of Louisville, Ghyslain is a bustling French bistro (menu here) that also offers sweets that will make you swoon. The pastries and chocolates are true works of art.

If I hadn't been full from lunch across the street at Taco Punk, I would have tried Ghyslain's gelato. But I settled for bringing home a few candies and a pastry, which were every bit as delectable on the tongue as to the eye.

Ghyslain also has two locations in Richmond, Indiana, should you find yourself traveling in that direction, and you can mail order some of their chocolates – including a family of their turtle-shaped chocolate-caramel-nut turtles – via their website. The Louisville location has some patio seating, a great place to rendezvous with old friends – or meet new ones, as I was lucky to do when I happened to run into Joyce Pinson of Friends Drift Inn and her friend Rhoda, who I was scheduled to have dinner with at nearby Harvest. You can read Joyce's hilarious recap of our criss-crossing journeys and meet-up here.

Warm, sunny, food-filled days with friends are always a pleasure. And I have decades of memories of them at Cindie and Odie's. That's not apt to happen again in that particularly lovely spot on the Ohio River anytime soon.

Great memories of teaming up with Cindie and Odie at their house for our first effort at the Culinary Smackdown, Battle Lobsta.

We were tickled with our win for Battle Picnic Basket.

Cindie and I joined forces to bring the Culinary Smackdown back last summer. And had a blast taste-testing for Battle Bacon in her kitchen. Just 11 months ago we were hanging out on the deck after Easter dinner.

I am grateful to all my friends who have checked in on me and asked after Cindie this weekend. Also glad that, as far as I know, my KY blogger and farmer friends are OK. Please keep the folks impacted by these storms in your thoughts and prayers. There is a long road ahead.

Amuse-Bouche from Louisville

A few photos from our weekend getaway.

We rendezvoused with the red penguins.

I was in hog (and bison) heaven.

We ate well, we slept well, we changed our plans numerous times :) It was gorgeous spring weather for a road trip.

So how was your weekend?
xoxo, eggy

Road Trip!

We're actually going! There are red penguins, Kentucky Crafted and Weisenberger grits in my future!

Cindie would be happy if you root for her beloved UK Wildcats in the basketball thingamagiggy going on this weekend. I, as you can tell, am sports-impaired. I do, however, know that the University of Kentucky is in Lexington, not Louisville. Just another thing to juggle into our plans.

Wishing you all a great weekend!
eggy

LOUISVILLE ROAD TRIP - Part III - LILLY'S

It's always nice to have a cab driver who knows his or her way to your desired destination. The gentleman and his wife who drove us to dinner at Lilly's knew much more than that. A former limo driver, Bob had driven to - and dined at - many of Louisville's best restaurants. He pronounced Lilly's one of the city's "top tables," and offered a number of additional recommendations I'll keep in mind for future trips. "Top Table." Is a reputation like that a blessing or a curse? Does it unduly raise a new customer's expectations? I had heard great things about Lilly's seasonal and French-inspired Southern farm-to-table food for years. With foodie friend Cindie as my dining companion, this was finally my opportunity to try it. I had initially suggested Lilly's for lunch - the 3-course $15 prix fixe sounded like a grand bargain. But after weighing timing and traffic issues to attend Kentucky Crafted and haggling over other dinner options, we settled on Lilly's for our Saturday night dining indulgence. To Cindie's dismay, we were shown to a small two-top where one of us (it ended up being me), was seated in the narrow path from the hostess station past the tiny bar to the majority of the restaurant's tables. When Cindie requested another unoccupied table, the hostess informed us that "her" seating that evening was "compromised" due to a number of special occasion reservations. We dutifully took our assigned seats, and I tried to ignore being jostled as customers were led to their tables. While Cindie and I negotiated over wine possibilities, we both had one of the restaurant's featured drinks, a white grape Cosmo. Lovely to look at (bad blogger - I failed to take a photo), the pinkish Finlandia vodka cocktail was garnished with frozen grapes. I think Cindie enjoyed it more than I did (ok, but not what I'd call a memorable craft cocktail). However, props to our server for bringing us tastes of two different wines so I could persuade Cindie to go with a red. And for comping Cindie's second Cosmo, which came only after she finally caught his attention and had to remind him she had ordered it. Cindie is all about the grits. So for her starter, she ordered the oysters and Weisenberger grits over sauteed spinach with chipotle butter. The perfectly fried oysters and cheesy grits made this one of our top two dishes of the evening. I, of course, couldn't resist the foie - in this preparation served over light miniature corn pancakes with a pear compote and something crunchy on top. The corn cakes were my favorite part of the dish, which didn't quite sing to me as a whole, or fulfill my foie expectations. Smelling the thick fries cooked in duck fat and served in a humble coffee mug at the next table, I might have been guilty of bad ordering. For our mains, Cindie chose the sea scallops over pancetta-flecked pumpkin risotto. They arrived cold in the middle. Our server apologetically whisked them away and returned with them warm, but they were more moist and mushy than she expected from a seared scallop. Cindie also wasn't a fan of the sweet pumpkin risotto, probably made sweeter by apple cider and brown butter, and said she would have been happier to have had a couple more plates of the grits and oysters she'd had for her first course. I have a tendency to gravitate to lamb, so when it popped up on the evening's menu (it wasn't on the online menu I'd been drooling over), I leapt for it. It wasn't until we were well into our red wine sampling and negotiations that I fully registered that this would be a braised lamb shank, not a cut I could order rare. And it would be huge. Still, it came with Weisenberger grits and was topped with the same thin white and green straws of fried onion-y goodness that had garnished Cindie's oyster starter, which we learned from our server were leeks. (Note to self: must try to make fried leek slivers at home.) I knew I would have to stop mid-way through my Flinstonian hunk o' lamb if I was to have any hope of trying dessert. A good thing I did. This chocolate lava cake with house-made pistachio ice cream, a drizzle of caramel sauce, and a small fresh thyme garnish there in the upper left-hand corner turned out to be our other top two dish of the night. Fortunately, it's offered in this "mini" size, which we split. Props again to our server, who comped dessert after our "mixed" experience. Still, service overall felt a little awkward. I didn't expect stuffy service from Lilly's, but what we got seemed more amateur than what I would have hoped for. It's nice to have a hefty bill reduced if the restaurant gives you a freebie or two, but mark-downs can't elevate a middling experience to a memorable one. So . . . did we hit Lilly's on a bad night? Did we just order badly? Was our experience deflated by inflated expectations? Were we given short shrift as two women dining alone, or neglected in favor of regular patrons commanding more attention? And, darn, why are my photos so crappy? Simple inexperience? Or amplified by nervousness trying to photograph unobtrusively in a high-end restaurant? Relieved to change into our sweat pants back at the hotel after a far more circuitous return cab ride (at least the cab driver was playing the WFPL Saturday night blues show on the radio), we compared answers to these quandries. But the real question was: Would we be up for an all-you-can-eat brunch the next morning?

LOUISVILLE ROAD TRIP - Part II

Our next stop was The World's Second Most Awesome Art Market where, with no tats to show (well, Cindie's single small, tasteful one was covered by her turtleneck), we definitely felt old. But the facility where it was held, Louisville Glassworks, was a real find. It's home to three glass studios, including one for architectural glass (plus they have a mobile studio - how cool is that?). It sponsors a variety of workshops, including an upcoming BYO - Blow Your Own . . . Beer Mug workshop. The gift shop was sorely tempting (they also have an online store). A jazz club serves tapas on the lower level, upper floors apparently house condos and a boutique hotel, and our server at the Carolina Shrimp Co. told us they sometimes host rooftop parties. The afternoon was still young, so next we decided to check out 21c, the "museum-hotel" whose owners are supposed to be bringing the same concept to downtown Cincinnati (adjacent to the Contemporary Arts Center and across from the Aronoff in the old Metropole Hotel). I thumbed through Velocity (the free weekly Louisville entertainment tabloid we'd picked up at lunch), for an address for Cindie's GPS. But as we neared the place, I saw something that made me take notice. On the corner we spotted Proof on Main, the hotel's much touted bar/restaurant, and knew we must be in the right place. Housed in converted tobacco and bourbon warehouses, the hotel is part of a thriving new art gallery row on West Main Street that I will definitely make a point of exploring further on another visit to Louisville. Upon walking through these doors at the 21c, you pass a check-in counter, but are essentially in the first of several gallery spaces. The museum is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting 21st century art (hence its name), some of it interactive and media-driven. Even the bathrooms (which came in second in the 2008 Top 10 Best Restrooms in America list - yes, there is such a thing), are unique, as we learned from a patron as we walked the hall. The men's urinal is just on the other side of that hall; there is one-way glass so the men can see out but the women can't see in - although they don't necessarily know that. So what about those red penguins? We just had to ask. And we learned the owners were at an art show in Italy when they were captivated by the red penguins shown by the Cracked Art group. They bought 40 or 45 afterward, most of which are perched on top of the building or above the entrance. "But we have about a dozen we play with," the concierge told us. Repeat clients who they know have a sense of humor might discover a red penguin in their shower. Or a couple getting married might be greeted by a pair dressed in wedding dress and tux. He said the owners plan to commission more penguins for their Cincinnati hotel, although they will be in a different color. For more photos of the penguins, a video of the hotel's annual birthday pajama party, and more, check out their facebook page. With a little more time to kill before we could check into our more affordable suburban hotel, I suggested a drink at either the Seelbach or the Brown. Cindie opted for the Brown. Built in 1923 and recently renovated, the Brown Hotel is the essence of old Southern opulence in Louisville. We made our way to the lobby, where the bar prominently displayed an array of bourbons. I'm not much of a Bourbon drinker. But when you're in Louisville, at a place like the Brown, that is simply what one does. Unless you're one of the young men who sat down next to us. "I've driven all the way from New Jersey to have a real mint julep," said one. They said they were on their way to Utah, tasting their way across the country to Utah. Since their last stop before Louisville was the Woodford Reserve distillery, we weren't sure whether the tasting focus of their extended road trip was food or drinks. But they did order a Hot Brown, which was invented at the Brown hotel. I was tickled to read in the wikipedia entry that Bobby Flay failed to prevail when he challenged the hotel's chefs to a Throw Down. Sometimes it's best not to mess with tradition. Next stop: Lilly's.

LOUISVILLE ROAD TRIP - Part I

I'll get to the red penguins. But to recap my fine - and full - weekend of art and dining, it's probably best to start at the beginning. My best-friend-since-the-8th-grade Cindie always did a lot of traveling with her mom. Beach trips. Colorado & New Mexico trips. Trips to historical sites. Sometimes just mid-day lunch getaways without their husbands. Attending the annual art and craft show in Louisville, Kentucky Crafted, was an early March favorite. Cindie's been soldiering on since her mother passed away in August. When she asked me to go with her this year, of course I said yes. Kentucky Crafted included an impressive array of visual art and artisan crafts - photography, jewelry, woodworking, glass, some exquisite baskets. So what did I buy? I have a great fondness for wooden spoons. These are made of reclaimed wood, well-shaped and well-seasoned - unlike those dry white machine-made things I find most places. I've always admired similar ones when cooking in Cindie's kitchen, and I know they work well. That oval-looking walnut item at top left is a bowl-scraper. Turns out there was also a food aisle at the art show, with many free samples to be had. Barbecue and hot sauces in abundance, preserves and pickled items of many stripes, several booths offering up chocolates and other sweets - many featuring bourbon, a signature Kentucky ingredient. So what did I succomb to? Cheese, of course. I had to wait in line to sample Kenny's artisanal cheese. But one small cube of the smoked blue gouda convinced me buy a hunk. Cindie recommended the aged cheddar, and I decided to go for it too. Then she tasted the Tomme de Nena, a cheese neither of us had heard of before (or knew how to pronounce), motioned to me to try it, and I added it to my basket. At this point, I was short by just one cheese for the "buy 4 - get the 5th free" deal, so I selected the St. Jerome and got the bonus chive-onion Jack. Cindie is a strategic traveler. She had scoped out the info that U of L would be playing a 2:00 basketball game at the same venue as KY Crafted - the ridiculously enormous KY Expo Center - which also that day had a home & garden show, a houseboat show, and some event involving cows going on. Thank goodness the Six Flags season hadn't started yet. We were glad we'd arrived early for KY Crafted. When we finished around noon, we were ready to eat. So we headed to Carolina Shrimp Co., an unpretentious place Cindie & her mom had stumbled on once. An order-at-the-counter and they-bring-it-to-you-when-it's-ready place. A place with a roll of paper towel on every table in place of napkins. We split this bowl of rich lobster bisque. And an order of hush puppies. Cindie loved her fried oyster po' boy. I chose steamed shrimp - simple and perfectly cooked, with diced green pepper and onion, and a nice bit of kick from the shrimp boil seasoning. The sky was blue, the sun was shining. The temperature was nearing 50, and we had just tasted the beach. I shed my winter coat, and we were ready to explore more of Louisville . . .