Prohibition-style bar and restaurant to open Friday on Main Street

A new bar and restaurant is coming to Main Street: Bourbon on Rye, 115 West Main Street, opens its doors at 6 p.m. Friday for a grand opening party. The cocktail menu includes house-made bitters, syrups and unique drink techniques by Chris Evans. Using a centrifuge, the restaurant and bar can clarify juices and remove pulp to bring out the best flavors in its beverages. The bar will serve 12 beers on a rotating tap, along with a growing bourbon selection.

Chef Ed Hirsh will serve small-plate food, freshly made from scratch with local products, including pork roll sliders with house-made bourbon beer cheese, burgoo, clams casino, and prime rib sliders with bread from Sunrise Bakery. The restaurant is set in the historic Ballroom Building at 115 West Main Street next door to the Seltzer Club, featuring 14-foot stamped tin ceilings, original tile mosaic floors and a one-of-a kind 1800s mahogany back bar.

For the grand opening, Bourbon on Rye will have $5 pretzels and bourbon beer cheese, $6 pork rolls with beer cheese slider plates, $5 pink mimosas and $5 Java wine spritzers.

“The historic location of Bourbon on Rye inspired a storied theme for our Prohibition-era design,” Hirsh said in a statement. Bourbon on Rye will be open 4 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Thursday through Saturday

▪  Riding a wave of buzz from fans of the Adult Swim show “Rick and Morty”, McDonald’s is bringing back its Szechuan sauce for one day only: Saturday. Limited quantities will be available at select restaurants, including the one at 357 South Limestone, next to the University of Kentucky. The sauce will be available dine-in only, on a first-come, first-served basis with the purchase of McDonald’s Buttermilk Crispy Tenders, beginning at 2 p.m. while supplies last. McDonald’s also is giving away limited-edition posters celebrating all 10 sauces, including Szechuan, at the restaurants on Tates Creek and Harrodsburg roads, and in Berea, Morehead, Richmond and Georgetown. A joke about McDonald’s Szechuan sauce was included in the season-three premiere of “Rick and Morty” last spring, and since then, fans have lobbied the fast-food chain to bring it back. It was first offered in 1998 as a tie-in with the Disney movie “Mulan.”

▪  Honeywood, 110 Summit at Fritz Farm, has added comfort foods and a nightly vegan entree to the menu. “I’m ready for fall produce, and our guests are, too,” chef Josh Smouse said. “We’ve been making gallons of bisque made from locally grown butternut squash.” For the fall menu, he has added a pot roast of Kentucky beef, slow-cooked overnight in red wine and mirepoix, served with potato gratin and honey-glaze carrots; and for vegetarians, a Kenny’s deluxe grilled cheese made with Kenny’s Smoked Gouda and Reed Valley Orchard apple mostarda, between slices of Midway Bakery rye, griddle seared and served with herb-salted french fries.

Honeywood also is offering a rotating vegan dinner option nightly. “The culinary mission of Honeywood has always been to have offerings that appeal to a wide range of diners,” Smouse said. “Our vegan patrons have been vocal about their desire for a hot entree. So we will serve a rotating hot vegan entree, seven days a week.” The vegan entree will be on the chef’s specials card daily. Call 859-469-8234 for information; reservations aren’t required.

▪  I’ll be on the Food, News and Chews radio show on WVLK, 590 AM, at 1 p.m. Saturday. I’ll be talking local restaurants and dining trends with Sylvia Lovely, Jeremy Ashby and Twitch.

▪  For October, Greentree Tea Room, 521 West Short Street, has roasted red pepper soup; mandarin orange scones with orange marmalade and Fayette cream; broccoli and smoked-gouda frittata; egg salad, cucumber and olive nut tea sandwiches; and pumpkin cookies, bourbon chocolate pots de crème, and carrot cake for dessert, with autumn blend tea. Luncheon tea is at noon Wednesday and Saturday or by appointment. Reservations are required; call 859-455-9660.

▪  Bluegrass Distillers, 501 West Sixth Street, is hosting its second Bluegrass Bash, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 7, for Keeneland’s opening weekend. The distillery will have live bluegrass music, free food, and a new signature cocktail made with its bourbon. For more information, go to Bluegrassdistillers.com

▪  Good Foods Co-op, 455 Southland Drive, will hold a Sampling Saturday, featuring local products, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 7. There will be samples from City Roastery, Jūn Bug Probiotic Honey Soda, Sassa Bella, Bev’s Best Brittle, Nate’s Coffee on National, Baqua - Ancient Grain Tisanes and more. Good Foods also has lots of local goodies available for tailgaters, including Marksbury Farm pork sausage, available as chorizo, bratwurst, sweet Italian and zesty Italian flavors. There also will be house-made cupcakes, pimiento cheese and spinach-artichoke dip. On Friday and Saturday, the store will have $2 off local six-packs from Country Boy, including Cougar Bait, Shotgun Wedding, Cliff Jumper and its new hard cider.

▪  LexVegFest, a celebration of plant-based eating and lifestyle, is 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington, 3564 Clays Mill Road. There will be a cooking demo at 1 p.m., food and beer for sale, and free samples.

▪  Jessamine Growers Farmers Market, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday behind City Hall at Main and Rice streets in Wilmore, will have locally grown tomatoes, squash, pumpkins and gourds, potatoes and other seasonal vegetables, herbs, local honey and eggs, cut flowers, and perennials.

▪  Bluegrass Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday at Liquor Barn, 1837 Plaudit Place in Hamburg, and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday at Azur, 3070 Lakecrest Circle, will have beans, tomatoes, potatoes, eggs, honey, jams, beef and pork.

▪  Nicholasville Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at 717 North Main Street, will have tomatoes, watermelons, lettuces, squash, green beans, cucumbers, carrots, beets, greens, candy onions, flowers, jams and jellies, baked breads, black Angus beef, specialty roasted coffees and items from Kentucky artisans.

▪  Lexington Farmers Market, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Cheapside Park and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Southland Drive, will have okra, tomatoes, watermelon, beans, peppers, eggplant, greens, cut flowers, lettuces and tomatillos.

▪  Chevy Chase Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at 316 Ashland Avenue, will have fresh seasonal local produce, and pastured meat and eggs.

▪  Got an item for LexGo Eat? Email food and dining news to LexGoEat@herald-leader.com. Deadline for Friday’s is noon Tuesday; deadline for Wednesday’s column is noon Friday.

This story was originally published October 4, 2017 at 5:18 PM with the headline "Prohibition-style bar and restaurant to open Friday on Main Street."