Cliftons Pizza

Clifton's Pizza

2230 Frankfort Ave.

http://www.cliftonspizza.com/



The mention of Clifton's Pizza takes me all the way back to my early high school years - showing up for pizza and drinks on any given night to watch the Juggernaut Jug Band, or if memory serves me right, the Java Men put on quite a few great shows here!  Clifton's, for my crew, was one of our mainstays - you could never go wrong with the food, the music, or the atmosphere.  Though I hadn't been in some time it was obvious that the tradition has been maintained!

Every once in a while we throw the rest of the office a bone and mention our draw for the day - they can do one of two things:  (a) Join us on our epic culinary quest, or (b) suck it.  The majority of the time they choose (b) - but on this rainy day, it being very close to the day of that wild lush Patrick, a few decided to ride along, devour some grub, and celebrate the March Madness that had recently ensued. 

Almost everyone had been to Clifton's before and knew how spectacular their Calzones are - as a result - we all had one....This ain't no overgrown hotpocket...

If you dont like food that is larger than your head - don't get a Calzone at Clifton's.  These things are massive AND delicious! Most of the time when you get something of such great size, the flavors are bland or lacking -  This Calzone slaps that notion (pimp hand strong) right in the mouth.  Lets quickly go through the basics of Calzonium - Make medium pizza -  Take said pizza and fold in half - Bake - Serve to one unsuspecting party. 

I had mine with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and bannana peppers, but Clifton's will let you pick up to SIX toppings to stuff into your beautiful pocket of love. 

Clifton's..... It's me.....   Sorry it's been so long.  I've meant to stop by, but you know how it goes....life just gets in the way...hope your not too mad at me.  I just wanted to write and tell you that I still love you and I would like to start a sordid affair  - Please don't tell my wife...

Indisputably Yours,

Man 2

Even the fro'd leprechaun attended and grabbed a pizza to take home to the little lepers.

  Bet you didn't know something this delicous would be at the end of the rainbow!

Proof on Main

Proof on Main

702 W. Main St.

http://www.proofonmain.com/

I was super excited to draw Proof on Main from our trusty lunch box.  While I had been to Proof on numerous occasions for late night drinks, I had yet to actually try the food.  For those of you who are not familiar with Proof, it is the nationally acclaimed restaurant & bar inside the trendy boutique hotel 21C on West Main Street (the building with the red penguins).  In my opinion it is one of coolest spots in this fine city and one of the few places in Louisville that can lure me outside the boundaries my beloved Germantown.

The lunch menu, although small, offers a wide variety of items.  Even the pickiest of eaters could find something to eat here from soup and salad to bison and seafood.  Man 1 and I both decided fairly quickly that we would have the bison burger, while Man 2 went out on a limb with the bison Reuben.    

While we waiting for our food our server noticed us checking out the six large canvases hanging in the restaurant each depicting a woman or women in six very different situations.  He immediately came to discuss the art with us.  He explained that the artist, Monica Mahoney, created this series called “Women Walking” using images she had seen in obscure independent and foreign films.  He then encouraged us to create stories about the women in the pictures.  Of course we filled the time until our food arrived concocting various twisted and bizarre stories about these women in the paintings.  It was definitely a creative way for us to entertain our selves at lunch.

Anyway, enough about art, back to the food… 

The bison burger was so good that I I didn’t even need to add any condiments and coming from a gal who loves her sauces that is saying something.  The burger was served with a side of a heavenly sauce that I used to dip my fries in.  I recall the server telling us something about apricot jelly being a main ingredient in the Jezebel sauce, but I am fairly certain that the secret ingredient must have been angel tears. 

The real surprise of the lunch was the bison Reuben.  Now, by no means am I a Reuben connoisseur so I cannot attest to the comparison of this bison version to an actual Reuben, but I can say this sandwich was amazing.  Layers of thin sliced bison meat topped with a faux sour kraut made of squash and a traditional sauce, sandwiched between two slices of hearty toasted rye bread.  I traded Man 2 half of my burger for half of his sandwich and had no post lunch regrets about that.  I feel like the Reuben was so rich and savory that it would have been a challenge for anyone to finish the entire enteree, including Man2!

*LPG lunch Tip* Find a lunch buddy to share lunches with.  Man 2 and I usually trade sandwich halves this way we can try a variety of things. I probably would not have been drawn to the Reuben, but now it is what I will order when I return

It seems that whenever I draw a restaurant I make it my mission to get dessert at lunch.  I was really excited to draw Proof because I have been longing for their gelato ever since I first heard about their summer gelato cart. I chose the caramel and sea salt gelato and I must say it was well worth the wait.  In three words it was DEE LISH OUS!  If you go to Proof DO NOT leave without trying one of their gelati you will not regret it.

Overall, this is kind of an expensive lunch but for the price it is great food and a great atmosphere.

WW. Cousins: Celebrity Hangout?

WW Cousins

Breckenridge Ln.

Ilovecousins.com

502-897-9684

WILD CARD! I drew a wild card out of the pail this week, but with the wild card comes a lot of pressure. I have to choose, on my own, where the gang goes for lunch and Man 2 and Chickadoo have no say. They don’t even know ahead of time where we are going. Luckily, I had the weekend to think it over. So why did I choose WW. Cousins you might ask? One word…Toppings.

WW. Cousins is best known for their topping bar supplied with over 40 different toppings. They have all the usual condiments plus the not so usual (i.e. chipotle ranch sauce).  Now, WW. Cousins claims that they have over a trillion different combinations of toppings which is true but that’s only if you are willing to pile 40 different toppings on your buns. So let’s be more realistic and say the average person puts six on their hamburger. Take Man 2 for example. He had cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, ketchup, and jalapenos.  Man 2 would have to come back over 4 billion times to try every combination (Yeah I was a math major in college. When I say I was a math major I found a calculator on internet that computed the equation for me). I normally wouldn’t put any food challenge past Man 2, but this one has even him beat. So you catch my drift, right? Cousins has something to suit any hamburger’s liking. And it’s all fresh. And it’s all goooooood.

I’ve been to Cousins before so I knew what to expect. I knew to expect their signature buns that are baked in house daily. I knew to expect their homemade pies and cookies. What I didn’t expect was to dine with some of Louisville’s most famous for lunch. Mohammed Ali, Diane Sawyer and Patrick Hallahan were all topping their burgers at Cousins that day. Ok, Ok Ali and Diane were not there, but Patrick Hallahan was. “Who’s he???” He is the drummer for My Morning Jacket (look them up if you’ve never heard of them). Chickadoo noticed him in line for the topping bar and struck up a conversation. I think he took a liking to her and her well constructed tower of toppings. I mean who wouldn’t be intrigued by a woman who puts mustard, mayo, relish, sweet & sour sauce, two different types of lettuce, two different types of onions and green peppers on their burger. Anyway, he sat and talked with us as we ate. He was cool enough to answer our questions and tell us stories about life touring with the band…Sorry I get carried away sometimes. We didn’t talk to him. He sat a few tables down from us and we spent half the time arguing who was going to ask him for an autograph. Disappointing, I know. We did get a picture of him as we were leaving though (see below).  It is neat to think that this famous rock star could go anywhere in the world he wants and eat a cheeseburger, but he chose WW. Cousins.  I wonder what combination he had.

(see...told you he was there!)