A
rtesano is a Spanish-themed tapas
restaurant that
opened at the old location
of AP Crafters in Westport
Village in September, after
much fanfare and anticipation. The place it occupies has been very tastefully reconfigured
and renovated. It includes an inviting open-air
covered patio with a firepit table for the waiting
clients. Fernando Martinez is a Cuban-American who is the brain behind this fabulous new
eatery in Louisville. In addition, he and his
partners, Yaniel Martinez and his wife manage
several other restaurants including Guacamole,
Taco Luchador - a casual eatery with several
branches to open in the near future - and Mussel
and Burger Bar, to name a few. The trio created
and successfully operated Mojitos and Havana
Rumba which are still very busy and popular
restaurants (the Martinez family has sold them).
RESTAURANT
REVIEW
ARTESANO
1321 Herr Ln #130,
Louisville, KY 40222
502-384-4834
artesano-restaurant.com
Reviewed by
M. Saleem Seyal, MD,
FACC, FACP
20
LOUISVILLE MEDICINE
On a crisp autumn evening, Sally and I recently went to Artesano. The firepit patio was
quite inviting and toasty but we were ushered
in to be seated at our table quite promptly with
no wait. The establishment does not accept reservations or call-ahead provisions. Our waitress, Christine, was very friendly and knowledgeable. I liked the red plates on the table.
The floor and walls are partially adorned with
Arabesque-Spanish ceramic tiles. Pictures of
matadors and graceful flamenco dancers are
ubiquitous, and fierce-looking bull statues sit
conspicuously throughout the restaurant. The
servers are in a quasi-matador uniform. The
restaurant has a refined but relaxed vibe and a
nice bar area for those who want to watch the
TVs and share a meal with friends.
Browsing through the menu, we needed
translation of quite a few Spanish terms. Tito
Martinez, Fernando’s son, is the very friendly
manager and stopped by many times at our table
to chat, inquire how everything was going and
offer suggestions about what to order.
At the very beginning, the menu lists Quesos
Y Embutidos (cheeses and sausages) under the
collective term Charcuteria (cured, salted and
smoked meats) with interesting sounding stuff
including Tetilla, La Peral, Palcio Chorizo, three
varieties of Woodland pork products, Salchichon de Vic and Duck Serrano. We decided to
skip this part of the menu for this visit. We did
order grilled Blue Dog bread to soak up the
garlic olive oil left over after we finished with
the shrimp tapas (Gambas al Ajillo). The next
section on the menu lists Ensaladas and Verduras (salads & vegetables) and we will sample
those on our next visit.
From the next section, Pinchos & Cocas
(kebobs/skewers & Mediterranean flat bread),
we selected Pincho de Cordero-ground lamb
kebob, smothered with yogurt sauce (reminiscent of Tatziki sauce), and sun-dried tomato
chimichurri, paired with Blue Dog bread. The
ground lamb was a tad undercooked for our
liking although quite savory and the toasted
bread was somewhat chewy (we’ll order well
done meat and non-grilled bread next time).
Coco de Castilla, our second tapas plate, had
tender, deliciously-spiced short rib pieces with
crumbled La Peral blue cheese, arugula and caramelized onions on flat bread. Gambas al Ajillo
is listed under Tapas Calientes and has been
our favorite at the Mojito’s and Havana Rumba
restaurants. Gambas consists of sautéed shrimp
in sizzling olive oil, chopped garlic, lemon juice,
parsley and bread to be dunked in the garlicky
hot olive oil and garlic aioli for dipping. Tapas
are small plates which can be shared, and three
were enough for us. We enjoyed our dessert,
ManchegoTorta which had Manchego cheese
(from La Mancha region in Spain, made from
sheep’s milk), pistachio ice cream, manchego
cake, figs and blueberries. Tito insisted that
we try his favorite dessert, Torrejas, as well.
It is somewhat similar to bread pudding – a
large piece of brioche soaked in Spanish sherry
custard and served with Marcona almond ice
cream, salted caramel and candied almonds. It
was delicious.
We plan to go back and order different menu
items, including one of the three paella dishes
that are baked quickly in the brick oven in the
open kitchen. Para Compartir are large portions
of entrees that can be shared and include Chuleton de Buey—a 22oz bone-in ribeye, a whole
oven roasted Branzino fish and a braised pork
shank dish. It may take several visits to sample
all of the delicious items listed on the menu at
Artesano.
M. Saleem Seyal, MD, practices Cardiovascular Diseases with Floyd Memorial Medical
Group-River Cities Cardiology.