A Walk on the Wild (Ginger) Side

I can’t say that I’m really adventurous when it comes to cuisine, but when Claudia told me she loved sushi, I proposed that we make it a sushi night. She chose the Wild Ginger in the Highlands, open a few months now in the old Cafe Metro spot.

Now I can count my sushi experiences with my fingers — I went once to that now-closed Raw place on 4th Street, on a work outing to Asahi in St. Matthews, and maybe another adventure I can’t really remember.

It WAS Friday night, and we didn’t have a reservation when we walked in about 8. So we got a high-top table next to the front door, which was bad in terms of the breeze and presence of people waiting for their tables at my shoulder, but good for the view of sushi chefs behind the counter and the array of individuals walking in the door. Most were dressed nicely for their seats in the plusher, private part of the restaurant, with the exception of one woman with the nerve to show up and sit at the bar in pajama pants adorned with images of Grover from Sesame Street.

And while I won’t complain about the service, it was a while before we got noticed. We were happy to watch the three chefs working non-stop, dishing up plates that made us say “Oh, what’s that one?”  We ordered a couple of martinis and, being the novice, I allowed Claudia to order the sushi. I asked for something spicy. She ordered a Rainbow Roll, Kiss of Fire and the Highlander. Again, the wait was longer than expected, but the place was packed, and the sushi was well worth the wait.

The menu was long with choices, infused with some clever names, and I was left wanting to try more.  I highly recommend it, but if you want to see an actual review, here’s a link to one from LEO.

Having already taken a step outside my comfort zone, I decided to stop in at a local institution I’ve heard about for years, but never wandered in. I’d seen a Facebook post from my favorite local musician, Brigid Kaelin, who was playing with Peter Searcy at the Rudyard Kipling in Old Louisville. I wanted to see Brigid, which is always fun, and ask why she hasn’t done her first post here at LouisvilleKY.com.

Of course, we arrived too late.  Ken, at the bar, must have noticed that we seemed a bit out of place here, and asked what we had come to see. He gave us the bad news, so we ordered drinks and wandered over to the spectacle that was an act called Punk Rock Pam. A woman with a guitar, screaming “fuck” and other musical profanities to a group of two dozen fans, including someone who seemed to be her mother sitting by the stage waving a ribbon and taking photos with a cell phone. And a couple of women who knew the words, screaming them out in mid-song.

Punk Rock Pam has a website where she declares she’s awesome every day. She was last night.

Besides the unusual experience of seeing Punk Rock Pam, I learned that Fred Eaglesmith is coming to the Rud next Tuesday. Right here. So I’ll be back.