Epicurious Finds Good Food and Art in Louisville

I'm not a fan of the hipster hotel: tiny rooms, tinier bathrooms, lots of attitude at the front desk and ear-splitting house music in the lobby. Well, at least that's been my experience all too often. The 21C in Louisville (that's Luhville to you Yankees) was far better than I feared. The music was okay, the attitude was minimal, I could actually walk around my bed and the lobby was filled with art. Not wanna-be art but actual, real, cool, contemporary, intelligent art. Some edgy Louise Bourgeois (she's more fun when she's not predictable); a riotous mixed media piece from the Cuban duo Guerra de la Paz; inflatable sculpture from Max Streicher; some Jock Sturges photos; and a Bill Viola video that's more installation than video. For me, Viola's 2002 Guggenheim installation called "Going Forth by Day" was one of the greatest video works I've ever seen.

Downstairs there are some Andres Serrano photos and many more cool pieces. How about a room full of Kara Walker? Yeah, that's in Louisville, you snots.

The bartender suggests baked octopus for a bar snack. Baked octopus? Really? In Luhville? "It's our top seller," he explains. Really? I order it and I understand why. It's good, earthy, tomato-y, tangy, barely spicy. It's real tasty with my Tanq and tonic.