Garr Goes For 'Gastro-Pubbish' Exchange, Rosen 'All Aboard' Rails

This week Robin Garr and Marty Rosen go to opposite ends of Metro Louisville, finding good things to eat in New Albany and LaGrange. "Crossing the mighty Ohio without a passport," Garr visits The Exchange Pub + Kitchen and finds the restaurant a "standout" among "the region's top tier of gastro-pubbish eateries." Calling Chef Robert Temple's menu "relatively brief" because it "just" includes eight mains as well as "10 small plates" along with "a trio of sandwiches and a half-dozen salads" plus side dishes and desserts, Garr "settled in to feast on small plates." He enjoys polenta fritters "stacked like old-fashioned Lincoln Logs atop a rich avocado aioli," thinks his pepita tamals add a "Mexican note to the culinary music," and The Exchange's "perfect" mussels "could save New Albanians a trip over to Mussel & Burger Bar." All that, fries and beer for a price Garr says "wouldn't be easy to match in Louisville's trendy dining districts." [Voice-Tribune]

Marty Rosen travels to Oldham County and marvels at downtown LaGrange's "according to Wikipedia" status of having the only main street in Kentucky where "a locomotive might show up in the rear view mirror at any moment." Visiting Rails, Rosen finds the restaurant's vintage photos along with a "railroad crossing sign and other memorabilia" create an atmosphere allowing him to imagine he's "just waiting to board the next thing smoking." The fantasy continues through Rosen's food, as he finds his Beef Wellington ("an icon of Gilded Age cuisine") good enough to "satisf[y] a railroad baron." Rosen notes the presence of many other dishes on the menu before deeming Executive Chef Rafael Hernandez' shrimp and grits the "finest" in the area, so good it would "win plaudits even from lifelong residents of the Low Country." He also recommends the crepes. [Courier-Journal]

· Exchange Pub + Kitchen Pillar of Its Community [Voice-Tribune]
· Exchange Pub + Kitchen [Official Site]
· 'All aboard' at LaGrange's Rails [Courier-Journal]
· Rails [Facebook]
· All Eater Week In Reviews [~ELOU~]