The Cafe Earns Courier-Journal's Second Highest Rating

The Cafe earned the second highest rating possible—3.5 stars out of 4, "excellent"—from the Louisville Courier-Journal's Marty Rosen:

This time it was the sweet potato cinnamon roll. It seems that every time I visit The Cafe (yes, simply The Cafe, because it's pretty much the definition of what a cafe ought to be), some heretofore unnoticed menu item catches my attention.

Of cinnamon rolls there is no shortage in this world, and I pretty much like them all. But this sweet potato cinnamon roll ($2.95) has the dark, rich colors you'd expect from something made from sweet potatoes. Served warm, its texture is lush, more like creamy than bready.

It has a punchy cinnamon aroma, a thin, translucent glaze and a complicated sweetness that spreads slowly across the tongue. Comparing it to, say, your favorite coffeehouse cinnamon roll, you might think this one comes from another world. And you'd be right.[Louisville Courier-Journal]

Remember how Robin Garr's LEO Weekly reviews used to rate restaurants on a scale of 1 to 100, but then his editors junked the system and he came around to their way of thinking, but then after a few weeks he started surreptitiously slipping scores into the reviews he copies and pastes onto his Louisville Hot Bytes site? Well, this week he's apparently reverted to seeing the merits of no score, as his message board post included no rating. So you'll need to read Garr's review of the Village Anchor Pub & Roost in its entirety to discern his thoughts.

I'm happy to report that my first return trip to the Pub & Roost after my initial visits in the summer of '10 found the place thriving, with plenty of local citizens relaxed, casual and apparently having a good time. The kitchen staff has remained stable, a good thing, with Executive Chef Geoff Heyde and Executive Sous Chef Oscar Maldonado still on board, joined by Sous Chef Patrick Gosden.

The outfit's Facebook page defines it now as "a lively Parisian Bistro greets the more traditional English Pub," which sounds interesting, although I don't see a whole lot of Paris here. Not that there's anything wrong with that, since I do see plenty of the kind of old-fashioned Kentucky cookery that some call "Southern," leavened, as it should be, with international touches from all over the world. Including, well, french fries.[LEO Weekly]

·All Week in Reviews [~ELOU~]

[Photo: Courtesy Facebook/The Cafe]