people and places profiles
breaking the chain
L by j. christian walsh
| photographs by dan dry
Now locally-owned, Martini Italian Bistro shakes its corporate, out-of-state ownership
Louisville means business when it comes to buying local. An increasing number of consumers insist on frequenting independent shops, as organizations around the city continue to develop the hometown brand. A dining service called “Louisville Originals,” an annual “Buy Local First Fair” and those omnipresent “Keep Louisville Weird” bumper stickers regularly remind us to support our neighbor’s businesses over massive, publicly traded ones. Doing so keeps about three times as much revenue within this community that, because of its indigenous restaurants, craft breweries and cafes, doesn’t look like just another exit on the interstate.
Martini’s new owner Jim Davis
House-made three cheese ravioli.
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www.foodanddine.com
| spring 2012
Last November, a solid, mid-range, Italian restaurant joined the ranks of the proudly local. But the twist in the breadstick that is Martini Italian Bistro is that, until recently, the eatery was just one rib in a sizeable, corporate umbrella. The Ohio-based Cameron Mitchell Restaurants once spanned nine states and consisted of 33 outlets, including steakhouses, Asian cuisine and seafood markets. After a merger with an even larger company in 2008, and following a three-year tap dance with the constricting credit markets that followed the sub-prime mortgage collapse, Jim Davis, a Louisvillian and long time General Manager at Martini’s, finally wrested ownership of the bistro from its parent company. www.facebook.com/foodanddine.com
| spring 2012
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