If you only try one new Louisville restaurant in 2024, our columnist says it should be this spot in NuLu

Love at first bite is a real thing. It’s when you know, deep down, that this is going to be something very special. If you’re lucky, it happens a few times in your life.

A few come to mind for me. The first bite of fried chicken from a Thai food truck in Detroit launched a love affair with Takoi that has spanned nearly a decade now and will prompt us to make the five-hour drive just for dinner. The first taste of anchovy on toast in a random bar in San Sebastian in the Basque region of Spain rocketed that coastal city to my favorite in the world for dining.

And now? One taste of the first thing to land in front of us at MeeshMeesh Mediterranean, 636 E. Market St. ― a whipped labneh with mint, olive oil, za’atar, and garlic confit, all delivered on a warm, pillowy cloud of pita ― and I knew I’d found what I’ve been looking for ever since I lost my favorite restaurant in Louisville several years ago.

Show me a chef who understands balance at an intrinsic level and I’ll show you a world-class chef.

That one bite promised the parade of joy waiting to unfurl before us at the bar where my husband and I managed to find a seat at 5:15 p.m. on a recent Friday. The creamy labneh contrasted with the scattered, slight crunch of the sesame seeds and the toasted crackle of the pita. The freshness of the mint breaks the savory, deep funk of the garlic. The soul-satisfying pool of bright olive oil laced with the earthy, zesty za’atar, with the spice playing a starring role, rather than hiding in the background like we too often see spices.

That one bite, that my husband and I took at about the same time before looking at each other with a look we both know — and have only seen a handful of times — that one bite was everything we needed to know about Noam Bilitzer’s new restaurant where he is sharing the foods of his native Israel and the Fertile Crescent and beyond.

Before that bite, with the end of the year upon us, I thought I’d do your typical round-up, an easily digestible list of the best new restaurants in Louisville. And we have some pretty incredible ones.

Paseo, I’m looking at you and your beautifully grilled lamb burger in the coolest new hotel in town. Edward Lee’s Nami Korean Steakhouse landed on Esquire's "The 50 Best New Restaurants in America" list for excellent reason. Decade has drawn rave reviews for an equally good cause, and I’ve been smitten with its veggie-forward dishes like the beets and eggplant.

But that single bite at MeeshMeesh prompted an after-hours text to my editor. I have to scratch the round-up, I said. Instead? I wanted to share the news that — in my book anyway — if you only go to one new restaurant in Louisville in the new year, MeeshMeesh is the one.

Honestly, I shouldn’t have needed to even eat there to know this. The fact that Susan Hershberg essentially hand-picked Bilitzer to take over her beloved Wiltshire on Market location earlier this year should have been all it took. That, and the resounding and unanimous glowing reviews I’ve heard from any friends who've managed to snag a reservation ought to have told me this was the place. (Oh, and the fact that the intimate space is almost always fully booked days or more in advance!)

But after missing the opening while I was traveling, and further travel keeping me away for far too long, I finally thought far enough ahead to book and was happy even to get those early seats (Spanish lunch, we joke, ever since finishing lunch in San Sebastian one day at 5 p.m.!).

And by the second dish, a deliriously delicious plate of embered beets — a smoky, sultry, caramelized pile of ruby red veggies heaped on a swirl of whipped goat cheese and studded with pine nuts, sweet dates, and bright flecks of mint — my husband and I agreed we need to make a standing reservation so we can experience this bliss frequently. (Also, honestly, it’s a little dangerous to have access to a place this good; in a dream world where money was no object I’d probably eat there several times a week so we need to set ourselves a limit!)

We wildly over-ordered (because how do you choose just one or two things?) but dug into every new plate with renewed and roaring appetite. The crispy cauliflower dancing along with crunchy sunflower seeds, sweet currants, and showers of herbs, on a bed of whipped garlic sauce called toum, punched up with lemon … I’m afraid I rather annoyed the diners next to us with my exclamations. Every bite layered flavors and textures in a way so perfectly balanced as to make it quite literally impossible to stop eating.

Plus the lamb, and the house specialty platter of dips and condiments with a tower of pita, and ... and ... and!

Even painfully full, we couldn’t leave without trying a forkful (or three) of dessert, and the brown butter knafeh — a crunchy, savory-sweet nest of spun pastry soaked in goodness and crowned with sweet cheese, orange blossom, and pistachio gelato was so fantastical that I refused to eat or drink anything else the rest of the night (including at a party!) lest I lose the haunting trace of flavor it left in its wake.

There are still several dishes remaining I must try that are creating a Pavlovian response right now as I’m looking at the menu, and I can not wait to work through them in the new year. Now then, that’s just me off to make some reservations before you all beat me to it.

Tell Dana! Send your restaurant “Dish” to Dana McMahan at thecjdish@gmail.com and follow @elleferafera on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Why MeeshMeesh Mediterranean is a must-try restaurant in Louisville