Kentucky Food Pickin’
Kentucky may be more famed for the heady nose of its bourbon and the graceful gallop of its gee gees than its food, but if you think that the state is little more than wall-to-wall finger lickin’ chicken, well, think again and chew on this selection of some of the state’s essential filling stations.
Bourbons Bistro, Louisville
If you just can’t get enough of the state’s speciality hard liquor, then you won’t have to trek far to find bourbon sweetening and smoking up meats and seafood on the menu. One of the key proponents of this style of cooking is the Bourbon Bistro. This place is a cosily lit stop on the Urban Bourbon Trail with deliciously subtle and refined treats including crab cakes, baked oysters and the super hearty Bison Short Ribs served with mash and succotash.
Wallace Station, Midway
Surrounded by the lush, rolling greenery of Lexington, this is a classic American breakfast diner. Set yourself up for the the day with one of their fulsome and tasty Classic Sausage, Egg or Country Ham ‘Sammiches’, which come delivered in cute gingham checked baskets with a dinky pot of red grapes, perfect to offset the high carb injection which it accompanies!
Lynn’s Paradise Café, Louisville
Lynn Winter, owner of the uber-quirky Lynn’s Paradise Café in the Bardstown Road area of Louisville, has a background in art and woodworking and more recently has trained in Positive Psychology as a Happiness Coach. Unusual credentials for a restaurateur maybe, but it makes perfect sense when you step through the doors of this charming eatery From the giant, foaming coffee pot and menagerie of animal models which beckon you in from the parking lot to an interior bedecked with kitschy table ornaments, lamps fashioned from ‘ugly’, retro neck ties and even trees sprouting between tables, everything about this place spells fun, including the breezy but genuine service.
All this visual stimulus might distract you from the food, which proves to be equally memorable and outlandish. Heart stopping specialities include the Paradise Hot Brown, with turkey breast, Mornay sauce and melted cheese piled onto sourdough bread and the Bourbon Ball French Toast which turns this breakfast staple into a sugar fiend’s wet dream, lashing on whipped cream, strawberries, pecans and bourbon-laced chocolate sauce. Just make sure you clear some time in your diary to digest it!
Elsewhere in Midway the Holly Hill Inn is a true gem of a dining destination, with its elegant mansion house drawing room setting, where you may be serenaded by a bluegrass band in the lobby. Executive Chef Ouita Michel recently won the coveted James Beard culinary award and it’s not hard to see why, creating inventive dishes from strictly local produce. This is fine dining, southern stylee. Expect carefully curated delights which demonstrate her evident skill without losing a sense of fun, such as Hickory Run Free Range Squab Kentuckyaki, a sweet, rich confection with candied orange peel and beetroot salad and their awe-inspiring Angus Delmonico Steak Wow Wow. Their five course tasting menu also takes in exquisite appetisers which seem to demand higher billing, such as melt in mouth cheese biscuits and light, crumbly Spoonbread Soufflé. They mix a mean Ginger Julep, a refreshingly light alternative to the state’s traditional drink, the Mint Julep.
Moonlite Bar-B-Q, Owensboro
You can’t come to Kentucky without having yourself some barbecue and if you’re anywhere near Owensboro, this is the place to dive in to the gills. Patrick Bosley’s family-owned joint piles it high for up to 1000 covers a day, while serving a busy take-out trade and regular black tie corporate catering.
The quality of their traditional, hickory smoked cooked meats is second to none, scooping regular awards . It takes two years to rise up through the ranks and became a fully fledged ‘pit master’, a role responsible for the barbecue pit, which is set several feet in the ground and kept constantly burning at temperatures of hundreds of degrees to ensure griddled perfection.
There’s every kind of meat you can imagine at this self service buffet joint and quite a few you maybe can’t, including chicken gizzards and fried oysters. Make sure you get some dressing (a creamier version of chicken mixed in with stuffing) and sample their particular speciality burgoo – a thick, spicy soup not unlike Mulligatawny – made with locally farmed mutton and served with pride every year at the Kentucky Derby.
