It is getting time to think of Mint Juleps, so my mind is wandering off to Louisville, as I think of some of the venues that we have ventured into when visiting the Greater Louisville area.  My Bride has a sister that lives down there with her family and we have made many a trip, and my Bride has gone there even more than I have.

On one of our trips out to dine, it was with the whole clan, so we went to Martini Italian Bistro, which at the time was a Cameron Mitchell Restaurant.  At one time there was Mitchell’s Seafood and Cameron for Steaks, but all of these restaurants have been sold, as he is venturing into new directions.   Knowing the type of restaurants that the chain was doing at the time, it made sense that we were going there with some children as well.  We knew the food would be very good, but not stellar, but then it was priced to be a good restaurant and one that you could take children to and still enjoy your meal.

It was quite the evening and the children were well behaved, as they are used to going out dining, which makes for a better time.  My Bride and I shared an appetizer of Shrimp Scampi, which surprisingly had an ample amount of garlic in the dish.  My Bride had a Blackened Tilapia dish that was done with a Mediterranean influence, while I had a large pork chop that had a Balsamic glace with peppers and garlic.  I cannot remember what all of the others had that evening, but most of the dishes had a zest of Italian spices or sides.   All in all, it was a very nice evening out, and the food was very good.

Our wine that evening was a delightful Montepulciano D’Abruzzo from the Illuminati Group of wines.  This was Pieluni Reserve 2000, which is an even more velvety and rich wine than my normal Montepulciano D’Abruzzo Riparosso, also from Illuminati.  The Pieluni Reserve is aged for about two years in the barrels and then aged in bottle for about fourteen months before it is ready to be sold.  As much as we enjoy the Riparosso, the Pieluni was clearly the much more respected older brother of the family, with more maturity and personality.