Writing at the Courier Journal, Amanda Hancock provides the overview of a culinary union, coming in 2026 to 1758 Frankfort Ave. in Clifton.
New restaurant to open in former Ensō space in Louisville
The owners behind North of Bourbon and MeeshMeesh announced Wednesday they are teaming up to open a restaurant called Mill Iron 4 at 1758 Frankfort Ave. It’s set to open in early 2026.
Noam Bilitzer, of the highly popular MeeshMeesh, and Dustin Olsen, of Red Hog, are partnering with North of Bourbon’s owners, Stacy and Daniel Holyfield and Eric Jennings, to launch the new restaurant.
Mill Iron 4 is driven by a “passion for the crafts of whole-animal butchery, live-fire cooking, and genuine hospitality.”
It seems that Mill Iron 4 is not a golf reference, but a tribute to Olsen’s family cattle ranch, as befits the reference to “whole-animal butchery.” Let’s review recent events that have led to this announcement, with your subject term being “adaptive reuse.”
First, North of Bourbon appeared in Germantown.
North of Bourbon: Exploring the links between Louisville and New Orleans
Then North of Bourbon’s ownership group launched Ensō, where Maido Essential Japanese used to be.
Ensō is open in Clifton
Next, Ensō suffered a fire and was compelled to take time off to regroup. The restaurant reopened, only to see chef Lawrence Weeks quickly depart to “evolve” his own gig amid the smoldering ashes of Pints&union (where Cumberland Brews used to be), which previously had evacuated New Albany for Deer Park.
Pints&union to relocate from New Albany to the Highlands
And:
Lawrence Weeks, Murray’s Creole Pub will “evolve” Pints&union this fall in Deer Park
The considerable tumult was a lot for Ensō to absorb, seeing as it had been built around Weeks’ vision, and sadly it soon closed.
