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Great restaurants in Lexington and elsewhere in Kentucky

By Sharon Thompson | swthompson@herald-leader.com

• Basics: A guide to finding necessities in Lexington
• Plan a one-day, three-day or five-day trip
• Great restaurants and Kentucky's signature foods
• The best bars in Central Kentucky
• Scenic drives
• Fun activities for families with children
• Places to hike and enjoy nature
• Sports and fitness
• Distinctive places to shop
• Top historic sites
• Museums and art galleries
• Day trip: Berea, a place of learning and artisans' skill
• Day trip: Louisville
• Day trip: Cincinnati and Newport Aquarium
• Day trip: Mammoth Cave
• Day trip: State parks

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Kentucky cuisine

Kentucky celebrates the same food traditions as other Southern states, but three things truly belong to us: beer cheese, hot Brown and Derby Pie. Sharon Thompson, the longtime food writer for the Herald-Leader, tells you about those and more:

Beer cheese is a spicy appetizer that was first served at taverns and restaurants along the Kentucky River. The best we can figure, beer cheese was introduced at Johnny Allman's restaurant at Boonesboro in the 1940s. Allman's cousin Joe, a chef in Phoenix, was said to have created it.

The closest to Allman's original is the beer cheese served at Hall's on the River (1225 Athens-Boonesboro Road, Winchester; (859) 527-6620). Beer cheese is served with saltine crackers, celery sticks and radishes. More than a dozen brands are available at supermarkets or specialty stores labeled "snappy cheese" or "beer cheese spread."

The hot Brown was created by a chef at Louisville's Brown Hotel in the 1920s. The hot Brown is toasted white bread, topped with slices of freshly roasted turkey breast and country ham, covered with a béchamel cream sauce and garnished with tomato and bacon. The best place to eat a hot Brown is at the Brown Hotel (335 West Broadway, Louisville; (502) 583-1234).

Derby Pie is a registered trademark of Kern's Kitchen Inc. of Louisville. The original Derby Pie was created in 1954 as the specialty pastry of the Melrose Inn in Prospect, by the Kern family. The specific recipe for the chocolate-nut pie is a secret, but Derby Pie contains granulated sugar, margarine, walnuts, eggs, semisweet chocolate, flour, butter and vanilla. Whole pies are available at specialty stores and supermarkets. Similar pies appear on menus as Run for the Roses, Triple Crown, First Saturday in May, or Race Day pie.

Kentucky fried chicken is known the world over, but real fried chicken is what grandma cooks in an old iron skillet. The only place newcomers can get that is to wangle a dinner invitation to a local's grandma's house.

-- By Sharon Thompson | sthompson@herald-leader.com

Foods that are distinctly Kentucky are beer cheese, hot Browns, fried banana peppers, burgoo and spoon bread. But honestly, whatever our parents or grandparents cooked when we were growing up is what many of us consider authentic Kentucky foods.

This past summer, the Kentucky Department of Travel named seven “signature restaurants” as notable places for serving great Kentucky cuisine in a historic setting. There are plenty of other places that aren’t quite as famous, but offer home cookin’ — what many people consider true Kentucky food. Here are some of them:

Kathy’s Country Kitchen in Clay City (20 Black Creek Road; (606) 663-4179) has a “daily special” menu that offers pork chops, meatloaf, country-fried steak, fried chicken and a dozen or more sides (macaroni and cheese, summer slaw, green beans, tomatoes and macaroni) that closely resemble mom’s.

In Winchester, the Breaking Bread Cafe (19 Wainscott Street; (859) 771-6108) serves fried corn bread as soon as guests are seated. Fried chicken, jazzy greens, and red beans and rice are prepared by a grandpa in the kitchen.

It’s Western Kentucky that’s known for barbecue, but Central Kentucky has a couple of places that rival Owensboro hot spots.

Fat Boys BBQ in Georgetown (2176 Cincinnati Road; (502) 867-1031) serves pulled pork and smoked brisket, and country-fried steak and meatloaf. “Just about every Thursday,” the special is an open-faced roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy sandwich. Desserts, listed on the menu board, include corn bread cake. There’s no corn meal in the recipe, but the cook says it “just turns out looking like corn bread.”

Neal’s Smoke Box B-B-Q, in the Polo Club Chevron station in Lexington (6400 Polo Club Lane; (859) 285-1270), is where Neal Harris smokes great pork, ribs and brisket, and makes his rub and sauce. He also fries chicken and makes peach cobbler.

Famous places that the Kentucky tourism folks list as great spots for authentic Kentucky food include:

• Boone Tavern in Berea (100 Main Street; 1-800-366-9358) is best known for its chicken flakes in a bird’s nest and spoon bread.
• Louisville’s English Grill at The Brown Hotel (335 West Broadway, ((502) 583-1234) is where the famous hot Brown sandwich originated.
• Also in Louisville is The Oakroom at the historic Seelbach Hilton ­Hotel (500 Fourth Street; (502) 585-3200), Kentucky’s only AAA Five Diamond restaurant.
• The Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum in Corbin (688 U.S. 25 West; (606) 528-2163) is where Col. Harland ­Sanders perfected his world-famous fried chicken.
• The Old Stone Inn in Simpsonville (6905 Shelbyville Road; (502) 722-8200). was built in the early 1800s as a stagecoach stop and tavern.
• The Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown (107 West Stephen Foster Avenue; (502) 348-3494; ) is said to be the oldest western stagecoach stop in America.
• The Doe Run Inn in Brandenburg (500 Doe Run Hotel Road; (270) 422-2982). was built around 1780 as a mill near Doe Run Creek. Thomas Lincoln, father of our 16th president, is recorded as a stonemason for the structure.