This gourmet bakery and cafe has garnered terrific reviews and buzz for its homemade breads baked in a wood-burning oven. They're delicious alone or incorporated into wonderful sandwiches. You can also opt for sublime pastries, omelets, and a good selection of lunch specialties, including prix fixe options. In addition, you can score a great cappuccino. Run by a husband-and-wife team.

Open since 1977, this comfortable establishment has a local feel and is a terrific destination for anytime dining. The menu offers a range of steaks, seafood, pastas, burgers, and sandwiches. Among the dishes you'll want to sample are green-chili wontons, a California club salad, and pork dijonnaise. Great atmosphere.

JEFFERSONVILLE. Star Cruises offers one-of-a-kind dining amid nautical charm aboard a 130-foot boat. Enjoy a 12-mile trip on the Ohio River for lunch cruises and a 25-mile trip for dinner cruises. Sunday brunch and Saturday night cruises are also available. There are 15 regularly scheduled cruises each week. Indoor dining facilities and outdoor observation decks allow you to dine in comfort before repairing to the deck to check out spectacular views. Reservations strongly suggested.

Set in a former saloon and watched over by its amiable Irish owner, The Irish Rover has an eminently engaging atmosphere and is a center of local sociability. That's a plus, but the menu is also a boon, plying folks with a host of authentic fare. Start with Scotch eggs or cheese-and-chive fritters, and then consider smoked salmon and potato gratin, Guinness beef stew, leek and mushroom quiche, fish and chips, cottage pie, or bangers and mash. Guinness and Smithwick's come from the source, and Saturday brunch includes a traditional Irish breakfast that ably satisfies purists and ex-pats.

When the occasion calls for fine dining, The Oakroom guarantees an outstanding menu, exceptional service, and romantic atmosphere. The restaurant is known for its use of Kentucky-grown products and bourbons, adding in punches of European and Asian influence. Notable are dishes like Kentucky beef Wellington and Bluegrass free-range chicken with country ham pesto stuffing. Naturally, there's an exceptional wine list to complement the creative fare. Reservations recommended.