The reopening of Browning’s at Louisville Slugger Field has been somewhat of a local success story – after closing in March 2008 because of the recessing economy, it was reopened by partners Anoosh Shariat and Paula Barmore.

I had the pleasure of sitting down and talking with Shariat and Barmore at Browning’s and sampling a few menu offerings. The partners rushed to open the restaurant within a month of their decision to purchase the space and are still trying to get everything perfect, having already changed the menu once. However, you wouldn’t know that walking into the restaurant – from the fresh flowers surrounding the outdoor patio to the menu that seems to cater to all tastes, Browning’s seems as though Shariat and Barmore have been running it for decades.

According to Barmore, the most popular menu items have been the Browning’s Burger, Hot Brown, and Helles Battered Grouper. While some of the menu is a reflection of the offerings from the restaurant’s first life, there are some new additions such as the Fried Macaroni and Cheese and Grilled Portobello Wrap.

In addition to their regular operations, Shariat and Barmore hope to cater to the business crowd downtown by offering meeting space in both Browning’s and Park Place, the former upscale restaurant space next door.

Park Place will be the more upscale, white-tablecloth location for meetings and other special events, but Browning’s also has private dining areas for more friendly, low-key gatherings. The partners also hope to host beer-tastings and other interesting events for individuals looking for a private space for a get-together.

Everything I sampled at Browning’s was interesting and delicious, and the prices were definitely recession-friendly. Plus, the portions are huge, so two light eaters could share an entrée and appetizer for a meal costing less than $20. The beer is incredibly affordable as well – glasses of Browning’s brew run at $4 a piece, about what you would pay for a bottle of Bud down at Fourth Street.

The food at Browning’s is worth the money, and eating there goes to support two individuals who refuse to give up on the locally-owned dining scene even when times look bleak. And right now, we could use a few more success stories.

Read more from Jessica at her About Louisville blog

Celebrate Healthy Living: This Saturday, May 30, the healthy-living businesses in Westport Village are hosting Healthy You Healthy Planet, a festival featuring speakers, health screenings, chair massages, healthy food, and live music, all to promote the adoption of healthier lifestyles. This event also kicks off the start of the Westport Village Farmer’s Market.[Westport Village]

Reviews: In the LEO this week, Kevin Gibson reviewed Browning’s while Robin Garr dined at the new Zaytún Mediterranean Grill and sampled the free Barbeque Pulled Pork Slider from White Castle. [LEO] Marty Rosen reviewed Coach Lamp in the C-J.

If You Can Cook Seafood: Jefferson Community and Technical College is hosting the fourth annual Seafood Cooking Contest on June 8. To compete, chefs must submit two recipes that use Kentucky farm-raised seafood to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture by June 1. [Biz First]

Other Food from the Water News: On Saturdays from May 30 through the end of crawfish season, Selena’s at Willow Lake Tavern will be boiling Live Louisiana Crawfish, serving buckets of beer, and holding corn hole tournaments. [HotBytes]

Specials: Bistro 301 is celebrating its 3rd anniversary by offering small plates of food and a daily wine glass and cocktail feature for $3.01 each starting June 15. [HotBytes]

Choose Your Pajamas Wisely: Proof on Main is throwing its fourth annual Pajama Party on June 12. This event features a cocktails and hors d’ouevre reception benefiting the International Contemporary Art Foundation. [C-J]

Beer Is the New Water: More than 30 breweries and wineries are participating in this year’s Feast of Ale festival happening on June 6 at St. Anthony of Padua Church. I can’t help but find the location of this event deliciously ironic. [C-J]

Read more from Jessica at About Louisville.

Now Open: Captain Pepper Jack’s is a new restaurant on Taylorsville Road across the street from Bowman Field, offering menu items such as chicken and dumplings, lamb gyro, and babaganoush. [HotBytes Forum]

Double Vision: After more than a year away from the restaurant business, Anoosh Shariat will oversee the opening of two restaurants this week: Brownings at Louisville Slugger Field on May 12 and Bunz Burgers in the Highlands on May 14. [C-J]

Dining Events: If you like Chicken and Dumplings, you’ll want to head out to Brownsboro Road next Tuesday, May 19, for the Chicken & Dumplings Throwdown. Then, on May 22, restaurants and bars along the Highlands Bardstown Road stretch will provide live music and food samples and specials to individuals walking down Bardstown Road for the sixth annual Bardstown Road Bound festival.

Variety in Dining Deals: If you want to try the new White Castle BBQ Pulled Pork Slider, you can get a coupon for a free one on the White Castle website. Through the summer, Asiatique is hosting a Friday’s After Five happy hour featuring live music, discounted drinks, and smaller-portioned meals on Fridays from 5-7 p.m.

Ready to Grill: If you need a new grill this summer but can’t afford it, the C-J ran an article this week that explains some ways you can renew your old grill for another season or two.

Read more from Jessica at her Louisville blog.

But last night was the end of the line for Park Place on Main and Browning’s, located at Slugger Field. Park Place, in particular, had been gaining acclaim and Chef Jay Denham one of the most recognized chefs in the city.

Here’s the release from the management:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (October 11, 2008) – - Park Place Restaurant and Browning’s Restaurant and Brewery will officially close their doors this Saturday, Oct. 11 after dinner service.

“We have had many years of success,” said Susan Friedrich, general manager for both restaurants. “Although we have seen a steady increase in business, we feel the current state of our national economy will prove to prohibit the sustainability of our success. We are extremely grateful to all of our supporters and will miss them at our tables.”

Park Place Restaurant received rave reviews after opening in 2004. This fine dining restaurant established itself as one of the city’s top tables with farm fresh local ingredients and inventive dishes. Park Place has enjoyed many accolades including awards from AAA, Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast.

Browning’s Restaurant and Brewery is an upscale gastropub with a similar philosophy of using fresh local ingredients. The brewing facility, housed within the restaurant, produces several brews including She Devil IPA and Bourbon Barrel Stout.

Park Place on Main and Browning’s are located at 401 E. Main Street.

Mention baseball, and fine dining usually doesn’t come to mind. That is unless you’re talking about Louisville’s Slugger Field. In the last few years, two eateries on the premises have broken the mold when it comes to standard ball park fare. One of them offers modern American comfort food standards in a lively, less formal setting; the other allows diners in search of upscale fare with a regional twist to indulge their appetites in elegant and trendy environs.

Slugger Field – it’s not just for baseball anymore.

Browning’s – named for Pete Browning, the original Louisville Slugger – offers casual sit-down food in a warm brew pub atmosphere at manageable prices. Starters range from $5 to $8 and include items like collard greens and artichoke dip, country ham and melon, shrimp and crab bisque, and a fried green tomato and pickle plate.

Well-proportioned salads – pear and blue cheese, corn cobb, and southern fried chicken are three of the most popular choices – average $7-8, and there are more than a dozen burgers and sandwiches available. Prices start at $8 and end at $12, and some of the favorites are the half-pound bison burger, the pulled pork sandwich and the veggie wrap with fried oyster mushrooms, cucumber, roasted red peppers and tomato vinaigrette. Nine entree options, including beer battered grouper, stuffed meat loaf, grilled lamb skewers, and bourbon barrel smoked salmon, average $13 per plate.

Desserts such as strawberry shortcake and a root beer float go for about $4. In addition to daily specials, there is a happy hour (Saturday’s lasts all day!) as well, and this is a perfect time to sample one of several hand-crafted micro brews concocted by brewmeister Brian Reymiller.

Park Place on Main serves upscale and innovative dishes that justifiably earn it a spot on the roster of better Derby City restaurants. Much of its success resulted when renowned Louisville chef Anoosh Shariat stepped in several years ago to reshape and improve the menus at both restaurants. But even though Shariat has moved on since then, the kitchen has been left in capable hands. Jay Denham, Maysville native and culinary alum of prestigious Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., has designed an innovative menu that relies on simple Kentucky ingredients presented with contemporary flair at Park Place.

Raised on a beef cattle and tobacco farm, Denham enjoyed a childhood with parents who used fresh, wholesome ingredients to prepare family dinners. Much of the choicest produce came from his doctor grandfather’s bountiful five-acre garden, and it was there, relegated to afternoons of hoeing and weeding, that Denham gained valuable insight into the farmer’s life. Down on his knees between rows of tomatoes and onions, he experienced firsthand the dedication and hard work required to put food on another person’s table. Years later this would shape his career in the kitchen. Impressive stints at restaurants like the Oakroom at Louisville’s Seelbach Hilton and Viand Bar & Kitchen in downtown Chicago only reinforced the notion that eating local is best.

Since arriving at Park Place in October of 2005, he says “we pride ourselves on using quality sustainable ingredients brought to us by growers from the region. Showcasing local products raises the consciousness of the public to the variety and quality of local foodstuffs.” Given the recent trend toward more informed consumers in the food industry and their desire to minimize carbon footprints, it seems that Denham’s commitment to sustainable agriculture fosters a mutually beneficial relationship between him, producers and diners.

This liaison manifests itself in the eye-catching dishes Denham assembles at Park Place, where he classifies the cuisine as “global American with an emphasis on fresh seafood and beef with seasonal ingredients.” Local products shine in “small plate” favorites such as the smoked trout with pepper cress greens, pickled beets and lemon hazelnut vinaigrette ($8) and the Bibb lettuce with English peas and buttermilk dressing ($7), but they also leave their mark on the bourbon skirt steak ($10) with sorghum and Kentucky blue cheese and the asparagus and mushroom risotto ($7).

In the entrées (large plates), roasted garlic, baby bok choy and sweet potato puree accompany the rack of lamb ($32), and oyster mushrooms, fingerling potatoes and frisee sit on the plate with the Kentucky-raised strip steak ($35). The salmon ($23), encrusted with horseradish, comes with spinach and walnut puree and balsamic-port reduction, and the roasted chicken ($28) has a grit cake with sun dried tomato and goat cheese. Other locally inspired ingredients found on the plates at Park Place include pickled beets, aged country ham, green beans and lion’s mane mushrooms.

And, since Park Place patrons are at Slugger Field, after all, Denham has made sure to offer a selection of ball park-inspired noshes to keep it real. Two of the quirkier items – at $8 each – are the duck corn dog with Jezebel sauce and the pop corn calamari with remoulade.

Much of the fresh produce Denham incorporates in his creations comes from local growers such as Field Day Farm, operated by Ivor Chodkowski in Jefferson County. A local leader in the effort to bring farms and restaurants together, he was honored at a fall dinner at Park Place when Denham featured freshly harvested beets, tomatoes, corn, okra, garlic, melons, beans and squash on the menu.

“I wanted this event to be the first of many in which people who eat the food get to know the people who provided it,” says Denham.

Other honorees included Dan Moreland, an aquaculturist who promotes the raising of freshwater prawns, tilapia and striped bass on Kentucky farms, and James Durr of the Kentucky Bison Co., an entity dedicated to increasing the awareness of alternatives to feed-lot beef.

This closeness to the land is reflected in a recent makeover of the restaurant that replaced the dark, rich hues with lighter, less somber earth tones reminiscent of green apple and sage that play off the warm shades of chocolate and butterscotch. A team from Rowland’s Design used the vibrant palette and a variety of textures and patterns in the fabrics on seats, pillows and benches in the dining room and bar to create a comfortable yet sophisticated ambiance that matches Denham’s fresh style. Apart from a revamped food list and updated décor, the top-to-bottom alteration included adjusted menu prices designed to lower the average check price while maintaining the upscale quality of the fare and making the restaurant more approachable.

Whichever restaurant you choose, chances are you’ll hit a home run next time you’re at Slugger Field. For more information, call (502) 515-0172.

Almost All In: You might want to check out the 16th Annual Taste of Frankfort Avenue on June 22. $40 will get you into the event at the Clifton Center, where more than 20 area restaurants will be showcasing their goods. Here’s the list:

60 West Bistro
Basa
Bourbons Bistro
Brendan’s
Caffee Classico
Clifton’s Pizza
Consumers Choice Coffee
Crave Cafe’ & Catering
Fat Jimmy’s
Gerstle’s Place
Grape Leaf
Havana Beverages
Heine Brothers’ Coffee
Irish Rover
Java Brewing Company
Kentucky Bar-B-Que Company
L & N Wine Bar and Bistro
North End Cafe’
Porcini
Ray Parrella’s Italian Restaurant
Sweet Surrender Dessert Cafe’
The Sweet Tooth
Tony Boombozz Pizzeria
Varanese
Volare
Zen Garden

Oh El Mundo, where are you?

Gala on TV: Sullivan University is hosting the Kitchen Theater Gala. The third annaul edition is going down June 19. Tickets are $125. All proceeds benefit GuardiaCare Services, an organization which helps seniors.

Gala goers will have the chance to watch a taping of “Secrets of Louisville Chefs Live,” where Chef Joe Castro will prepare the food to be served following the show. Brown-Forman will provide wine pairings.

Call (502) 585-9949 for more information. But hurry. The 6 p.m. seating is sold out.

Beer + Dinner = Wild Fun: No two words in the English language go together better than Beer and Dinner. With that in mind, we’ll be heading down to Browning’s June 28 to catch the annual Summer Beer Dinner. Chef Jay Denham and brewmaster Brian Reymiller will be rolling out a four-course meal, each paired with a handcrafted Browning’s brew. At $40 a head, this seems pretty hard to pass up. Here’s the menu:

First Course
Cured Meats and Cheese
Pickled Vegetables, Mustard, Crackers
Helles

Second Course
Spicy Greens
Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese, Pistachio, Orange Vinaigrette
Extra Special Bitter

Entrée
Spicy Seared Bison Skirt Steak with Sorghum
Grit Cake, Garlic Greens
Maibock

Dessert
Caramel Oatmeal Streusel
Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Creams
Oatmeal Stout

Call (502) 515-0174 for more information.

Cocktails + Art = Refined Fun: Ever wanted to walk through the Speed Museum whilst sipping a black raspberry martini? Our friends at Brown-Forman are making that possible, hosting AfterHours at the Speed on June 13. For $10 (free to museum members) you can sip on Chambord Black Raspberry cocktails, sample some WonTons from the Bristol, and tour the Musuem. Don’t spill that girly drink on the Rembrandt. Call (502) 634-2700 for more information.

Drink Fast: Looking for something to do on Wednesday night? Head over to Wick’s Pizza on Goose Creek Road for what is without a doubt the best special in town. For $10 from 9-11, Wick’s offers all you can eat pizza AND all you can drink draft beer. There are few places in this world where one can get extremely full and pleasantly drunk for only ten bucks. It doesn’t get much better than that.

• Appetizers: deviled eggs; fried oysters with rémoulade and cocktail sauce; baked Green Hill Cheese in puff pastry with spiced nuts, dried cherries and honey; and four cheese mac and cheese.
• Sandwiches: pulled pork shoulder sandwich with pickles, tobacco onions and Porter barbeque sauce; and a fried grouper sandwich with crab salad and rémoulade.
• Entrees: BBQ pork shank with potato salad and coleslaw; bison tri-tip served with crispy potatoes, vegetables and a green tomato sauce; braised lamb served with vegetables, cheese grits and rosemary sauce; and a six-ounce filet mignon served with mashed potatoes, vegetables and Henry Bain sauce.

Call 515-0174 for more info.

Bob buys the farm: Observant eyes of Ville Voice Eats readers report that the Bob Evans Restaurant on Gardiner Lane is closed. A quick call instructs interested parties to phone the company’s HQ for updates. Shame to see it go since it’s been there for probably 30 years.

No shame in getting green: That headline has a bit of a double meaning when it comes to Stevens & Stevens Deli. In his most recent e-newsletter, co-owner Mark Stevens apologized for having to raise prices on his new menu, but he said costs increases justified it. He’s right, and restaurateurs will continue to bump up prices for the foreseeable future. Yes, things are tough all over, but these guys need to make a profit, too. So good for Mark to just say it up front rather than sneak it in and look like a gouger.

The flipside of that headline ties to Stevens & Stevens choice to reduce its “carbon footprint” by adding biodegradable packaging to its carryout and dine-in package lineup. He’s also asking customers to join in the eco-friendly cause by bringing paper shopping bags for reuse at his restaurant. The folks at El Mundo sell logoed cloth bags for cheap, and then give a discount to customers who use them.

Where’s Anoosh? Since Chef Anoosh Shariat left Park Place on Main and Browning’s Restaurant and Brewery in the capable hands of Chef Jay Denham, local foodies have wondered whether the beloved vegetarian would open a new restaurant. The guessing game is turning into a facsimile of Where’s Waldo?Gossip of all types and from wide-ranging sources—some informed, others speciously speculative—have him opening up a new restaurant somewhere between soon and never. The answer to that one is … somewhere in between. According to a close associate of his, a new restaurant is in the works, though nothing firm is in place, but “he’s working on it.”

One participant on the forum at Louisville Hot Bytes claims the new restaurant will be located in the former Bittner’s space on Hwy 22, across from Mojito. I, for one, would love that. And what a neat nucleus of great dining the center is becoming.

Back to Anoosh: Currently he’s hovering over the stoves at Z’s Oyster Bar until he can get a deal finalized. That would tell me he’s not even close, given the full-time devotion necessary to launching a new project. Either way, Anoosh, we await your newest project with forks and knives at the ready.

The event, called Dining for Dan, will be held March 9 at Corbett’s: An American Place. A cocktail hour begins at 6 p.m. and is followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Tickets are $150 per person and are all-inclusive. For reservations, call 502-327-5058.

“Dan really loved Louisville’s culinary community on every level,” said John White, publisher of Food & Dining Magazine. “I truly believe a night with amazing food is the most appropriate way to celebrate his life.”

The silent auction will feature fine food, great wine, travel packages, restaurant gift certificates and more.

Chefs collaborating on the feast include:

• John Castro: Winston’s
• Dean Corbett: Corbett’s “An American place”
• Michael Crouch: Bourbon’s Bistro
• Jay Denham: Park Place on Main & Browning’s
• Chris Howerton: Corbett’s: An American Place
• Anthony Lamas: Seviche: a Latin Restaurant/Bistro
• Fernando Martinez: Havana Rumba & Mojitos Tapas Restaurant
• Todd Richards: The Oakroom
• Allan Rosenberg: Seviche: a Latin Restaurant/Bistro
• Anoosh Shariat: Shariat’s Bistro (to open soon)

For those who can’t attend but would like to offer support, contact any Stock Yards Bank branch to contribute to the Daniel F. Boyle Memorial Fund. For more information, e-mail John White at publisher@foodanddine.com.

Given that few humans have the necessary combination of ample resources, compliant spouses, time, liver and brain cells to invest in visiting—much less frequenting—every local happy hour, we want readers to be our surrogate eyes, ears and palates in this quest by letting us know what they find, like and dislike. So expect from us lots of mentions of happenin’ happy hours such as the one below. And if we miss something, please e-mail all info to Steve.

Mid-week brews: Browning’s hopes to give locals a “hump day” push toward the weekend with its Wednesday happy hour. Every Wednesday after 3 p.m., customers can order any appetizer and get another one of equal or lesser value free.If you can’t wait that long, show up on Tuesdays when the apps are free when you buy Browning’s handcrafted beers.

Saturday happy hour is back at Browning’s as well, where the pints be flowin’ all day for $3.25.