Byrdie’s is currently open Tuesday–Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m. | Photo by LOUtoday
A new restaurant is taking flight in NuLu.
Located in Hotel Genevieve’s former Rosettes space, Byrdie’s opens Thursday, Dec. 12. It features French cuisine with Southern influences, and comes from the husband-and-wife team Jenner Tomaska + Katrina Bravo, of Chicago’s fine dining establishment Esmé — a Michelin star restaurant.
The semi-upscale menu features items like Scallops St. Jacques, Hokkaido scallops in a vermouth + mussel broth, and Tournedos Rossini, a French steak dish featuring American Wagyu tenderloin, foie gras, and black truffle.
There are also menu items “pour deaux” — that’s “for two” in french — as well as salad, dessert, wine, and cocktails. Prices range from $10 appetizers to upwards of $100 for some entrees.
Jenner Tomaska is a three-time James Beard Award nominee, including as a finalist for Best Chef in the Great Lakes this year, with quite the Instagram presence — 116,000 followers and counting.
The English Beat | 8 p.m. | Mercury Ballroom | $29.50+ | This ska, punk, and new wave group has been around since the 1970s, pumping out hits like 1982’s “Save It For Later.”
Saturday, Dec. 14
Bluebird Box Build | 10-11:30 a.m. | The Parklands of Floyds Fork | $10+ | Build a home for a bluebird as the chill of winter arrives in Derby City.
Cookies with Captain Santa | 12-1:30 p.m. | Belle of Louisville | $24.99+ | Santa will swap the sleigh for a steam boat, where you’ll be able to sample cookies + hot cocoa during a cruise of the Ohio.
West Louisville Holiday Festival | 12-4 p.m. | Kentucky Center for the Arts | $40 | Shop holiday vendors, meet Santa, and enter giveaways for turkeys, hams, gift cards, and bikes.
Sunday, Dec. 15
Full “Cold” Moon Hike | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Clermont | $15+ | It’s the last full moon of 2024, celebrate with a nighttime hike around Lake Nevin accompanied by a cup of cocoa to keep you warm along the way.
Trouble Bar is closing. The owners of the Shelby Park whiskey bar are planning to open another business in the same location next year, but they’re not spilling details yet. Several events are scheduled ahead of the New Year’s Eve closure, including the last Midnight Margs on Friday, Dec. 13.
Eat
Louisville’s Lucretia’s Kitchen is one of Southern Living’s “Best Places for Fried Chicken in the South.” The magazine selected the Limerick neighborhood spot on the recommendation of North of Bourbon’s Lawrence Weeks, who described the chicken as, “crispy and... golden brown,” while Lucretia, “welcomes you in like family.”
Holiday
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? The 3rd Annual OneWest Winter Wonderland in Shawnee Park is this weekend. The drive-through holiday display features 200,000 LED lights, 6-10 p.m. nightly, Friday, Dec. 13 through Sunday, Dec. 15. There will also be live musical performances and a laser light show.
Drink
How do you invite Santa to a party? You request his presents. Dress up like jolly old Saint Nick for SantaCon on Saturday, Dec. 14, beginning at Taj in NuLu at 2 p.m. The event raises funds for Blessings in a Backpack. Tickets are $21.
Fun Fact
Recently, zookeepers in Colorado released into the wild a group of two-dozen black footed ferrets that were raised at the Louisville Zoo. The ferrets lived in Derby City from the time they were kits — that’s what a ferret baby is called — until they were ready to be released. Just look at those lil’ faces.
Sports
Out in the West Texas town of El Paso... Louisville football is headed to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas to face Washington on Tuesday, Dec. 31. Get game coverage, analysis, insights, interviews, and more from local experts of the Cards with Locked On’s daily podcasts.
Feel Good
Do you love LOUtoday? We’re calling on you to help support our mission to create free, unbiased local media. Donate now — your generosity will help support us, your LOUtoday team.
Shop
Looking for a gift the kiddos will actually use? Enter: Dribbleup’s Smart Basketball. It features guided coaching sessions so they can train anytime, anywhere. Psst — it’s 60% for the holidays.*
Category
History
Towering over the competition
Seen here in ~1920, the Columbia Building stood at a height of 10 stories, towering over its neighbors. | Photo courtesy ASC, UofL
And as landmarks go, you can’t do much better than the tallest building in town. That’s why this lost Louisville landmark is worth a look back — and up.
Built in 1890, the Columbia Building was Louisville’s first skyscraper, standing as the tallest structure in Derby City for a decade.
Located at the northwest corner of the intersection of 4th + Main Streets, the building was constructed at a cost of $1 million — that’s ~$35 million in today’s money. It was built just five years after the world’s first skyscraper, the Chicago Home Insurance Building.
Designed by Cornelius Curtin — who also designed City Hall’s annex in 1909 — its red sandstone Richardsonian Romanesque facade towered over everything around it.
I don’t know about you, LOU, but I wouldn’t be able to get through my day without a cup of coffee. You could even say this newsletter was fueled by it.
Full Stop in Germantown is one of my favorite places for a cup of joe, and tomorrow, Dec. 13 is its annual Employee Profit Sharing Day. Stop in to support a local business, and the people that work there.
}})
