COUNT ON KENTUCKY
Feast BBQ, with its hearty Southern comfort food, is one of five places to hit up in Louisville,
A new spirit infuses a once-neglected Louisville, Ky., neighbourhood about eight kilometres from Churchill Downs, home to the annual Kentucky Derby, this year on May 5.
The New Louisville district (NuLu for short) is a five-block stretch of East Market St., just past the Interstate 65 overpass.
Lined with eclectic Victorianera buildings, the upbeat district is buzzing lately with cool eateries, shops and thriving local businesses.
Two new additions are bolstering NuLu’s renaissance, just in time for Derby season.
With its launch on Saturday, Rabbit Hole Distilling, the latest in Louisville’s urban distillery revival, joins dozens of establishments along the city’s Urban Bourbon Trail bar and restaurant circuit, and the 152room AC Hotel by Marriott opened May 2. ZeroBuses — free, all-electric public transit buses — and LouVelo shareable bikes connect the lively zone to Louisville’s downtown core less than three kilometres away.
Feast BBQ
On weekdays, this former truck repair shop serves as a meeting place for local entrepreneurs and construction workers who gather around picnic tables to nosh on hearty Southern comfort food elevated by locally sourced ingredients. Offerings at the three-year-old hot spot include juicy pulled-pork cakes, creamy hand-cut slaw, tater tots and spicy collard greens drizzled with sweet Kentucky sorghum.
On weekends, the quick service joint draws a long line of fans from across the city, thirsty for a Country Boy Brewing Cougar Bait ale, one of many local brews on tap, or a bourbon slushy. 909 E. Market St.; feastbbq.com
Six Sisters Boutique
The vibe is Southern belle with sass at this lifestyle and clothing shop that opened last August in a former hardware store. More than 100 hats are in stock for Derby weekend alongside billowy fashions, temporary tattoos (the most popular features Louisville’s beloved symbol, the fleur-de-lis) and cheeky gifts, such as a mug that reads “I Hate People and Bras.” 804 E. Market St.; facebook.com/ SixSistersNulu
Blofish clothing
Logan Manford, a former construction worker, opened this two-year-old shop on a shoestring with the purpose of designing and selling the kind of understated, gender-neutral comfort clothing his Louisville friends craved but couldn’t find. Ten per cent of sales go to charities. Sales took off in November 2016, when singer Demi Lovato wore one of the shop’s soft Tshirts in her Snapchat story. Other made-in-the-U.S. items include hoodies, tanks, crop tops and sweatpants. 714 E. Market St.; blofish.com
Galaxie
This groovy fusion food spot is on the ground floor of the Green Building, a LEED-certified, repurposed 19th-century dry goods store whose tenants include architects, an art gallery and a hot chicken joint. It’s a fine stop for a sweet potato and egg “wakataka” taco or tahini sambal and cucumber labna dip on house-made flatbread, washed down with a spicy margarita featuring grapefruit simple syrup and freshly sliced jalapenos. The local DJ Sam Sneed and others spin hip-hop and electronica sets Thursday to Saturday nights. 732 E. Market St.; galaxiebar.com
Muth’s Candies
Since1921, loyal customers have sated their sweet tooth at this family-owned candy store. Fa- vourites are bourbon balls, hand-dipped chocolate confections infused with 100 proof Barton’s bourbon, and marshmallow modjeskas, caramel and chocolate-covered sweets named after a popular Polish actress of the Victorian age, Madame Helena Modjeska.
The confections are made from original recipes and served by cashiers in hairnets who often address customers by name. 630 E. Market St.; muthscandy.com