Louisville Restaurant News | 'Forage' to highlight Kentucky foods and Louisville chefs

A 2013 project by Original Maker’s Club founder Josh Merideth that will culminate in a coffee table book is being launched Feb. 1. “The concept of ‘Forage’ is really to highlight what Kentucky has to offer in terms of natural food, and all the amazing local chefs and restaurants in Louisville,” says Merideth.
 
“The first step will be to go on foraging adventures,” Merideth says. He will call on “a younger crowd” to fan out across Kentucky in activities ranging from quail hunting to mushroom hunting to picking apples, with an emphasis on “things that can naturally be found in Kentucky.” Merideth, a photographer, will shoot all the foraging events with film.
 
Next they will present the natural ingredients — which could range from a butchered hog to a quail to fish or berries — to 20 of Louisville’s top chefs, each receiving a different ingredient.
 
“We’re trying to mix it up,” says Merideth of the selection, which has not yet been announced. “Some of your James Beard chefs … a mix of high-end, white-tablecloth to just really good chefs. We’ll sprinkle other people in who are a big part of Louisville food culture. We will let them really lead us with what they do with the ingredient. We will chronicle them using that food, and do recipes,” explains Merideth.
 
“Then we’ll go a further step that most cookbooks don’t go to,” with a series of communal gatherings where diners can enjoy the meals the chefs envision with the ingredients, Merideth says. Some may be held at restaurants, others “on location … lots of ways to interact with the foods of Kentucky,” Merideth says.
 
“By the end of the year we hope it will accumulate in a published book,” says Merideth. In the meantime, he says, “People can follow the foragers and photography and restaurants and producing the book.” The website, http://forageusa.com/, officially gets launched Feb 1.

Seviche to hold Industry Nights
 
Inspired by Hannah Benjamin (La Coop chef Bobby Benjamin’s wife), Anthony Lamas of Seviche, 1538 Bardstown Road, will launch a Sunday “Industry Night” in February.
 
“Hannah got me thinking about the idea … being a chef’s wife, she knows what she’s talking about,” says Lamas, “so I’m going to create an industry night where I’ll have several innovative tacos on our house-pressed tortillas, and margaritas.”
 
Though the night is geared toward letting foodservice workers socialize, Lamas says Industry Night is open to all.
 
“We have the beautiful lounge, and I think it’s a great social place to mingle with others in the business,” he says. “Being half Mexican, it comes natural to me to make awesome tacos! I feel no one in town is really doing a variety of tacos like I’ll be doing for industry night.
 
“Look for some really tasty and innovative tacos like grilled grouper with tomatillos avocado salsa, lobster with mango habanero salsa, and even some Asian and Southern, like five-spice duck with hoisin, sesame, sambak, or pork trotter with collard greens, cracklins, country ham, or Thai-style chicken with coconut, curry, cilantro. Going all over the globe with them!”
 
More information: (502) 473-8560.
 

Michel to lead diners ‘Around the World in 80 Days’
 
“In the first quarter, I love to experiment with new dishes and other cultures,” says Ouita Michel of Holly Hill Inn, 426 N. Winter St., Midway. “It’s my way of ‘traveling.’
 
“Our business partner Roger Solt is a fan of the book and movie “Around the World in 80 Days” and suggested the title as our theme this year. ‘Around the World’ does not confine the menu to any one cuisine — the theme satisfies our wanderlust.”
 
During the 2013 Dinner Club series, Holly Hill Inn will conduct guests on a culinary world tour inspired by the travels described in the Jules Verne novel.
 
The tour began in London earlier this month with a contemporary British menu and will continue each Friday and Saturday with Michel’s cuisine reflecting a stop along adventurer Phileas Fogg’s travels.
 
Today and Saturday, Michel visits Paris, then proceeds through Italy and the Middle East, crosses India, stops in Siam, visits various ports of call in China, then crosses the Pacific and arrives in San Francisco before proceeding east for steak in Omaha, then on to New York. A final stop in Dublin, Ireland, will celebrate Easter, before returning to Kentucky. For the weekend of Valentine’s Day, a quick layover in Paris will feature the annual aphrodisiac menu.
 
Specially paired wine flights and cocktail specials are featured throughout the Winter 2013 Dinner Club series. Cost is $40. Vegetarian options are available. More information: www.hollyhillinn.com. Call (859) 846-4732 for reservations.
 

News bites
 
Anthony Lamas of Seviche will be guest chef at New York culinary salon CITY GRIT, 38 Prince St., on Jan. 24. CITY GRIT is a concept created by chef Sarah Simmons to showcase culinary talent from around the country to a New York audience. Lamas’ “Southern Spice” dinner showcasing Latin and Southern flavors costs $75 and starts at 7:30 p.m. Learn more: http://citygritnyc.com/.
 
Hillbilly Tea’s (120 S. First St.) winter menu features new items such as smoked pork and cottage cheese dumpling with remedy tea broth; Big Earl’s braised lamb shank with succotash and charred broccoli; shaved celery salad with blue cheese and pickled apple dressing; cornmeal noodle dish served with red peppers, charred broccoli and oyster mushroom cream; and at lunch, a house-smoked brisket sandwich rubbed with swamp tea and served with blue cheese and pickled apples.