New Lexington restaurant backed by UK coach launches on Main Street
A downtown Lexington restaurant space that was once a haunt for one University of Kentucky basketball coach might become one for another.
UK women’s coach Matthew Mitchell and his wife, Jenna, are partners in the newly opened East End Tap and Table at 333 East Main Street.
Which is where UK men’s coach John Calipari hung out when it was a Dunkin’ Donuts until 2014.
But the new East End gastropub bears little resemblance to the former coffee and doughnut shop.
Co-owner Matt Borland, who is also Jenna Mitchell’s brother, and his wife, Betsy Borland, have opened up the space and carved out a bar along the wall where the doughnuts used to sit in racks.
The restaurant, which was designed by Rebecca Hall Burnworth, is chic and modern with decor dominated by art, including a painting by local artist Lennon Michalski on the kitchen wall and another by artist/bartender Alec Ganesha over the bar.
“We looked forever. We looked for space for two years. We looked at everything,” Betsy Borland said. She and Matt, who had worked in the Miller’s Ale House chain in Florida, moved from Miami to Lexington three years ago to be near the Mitchells.
The Borlands also thought Lexington would be a great place to raise their three children.
While they hunted for restaurant space, Betsy Borland, who is half Thai, began cooking for Matthew Mitchell and, on occasion, his team. In fact, the mac and cheese on East End’s menu may taste familiar to his players.
Matt Borland worked at Keeneland and The Red Mile.
But once they settled on the Main Street space, the Borlands began working on a menu, drawing from Betsy’s Thai background as well as their years in Miami.
With chef Aaron Sheets, they created a menu that Betsy Borland said is best defined as “international” and isn’t afraid to play up the spice. There are Thai spring rolls as well as empanadas, with a Peruvian Green Sauce that pairs particularly well with the phenomenal cheese fries. There is a traditional burger as well as the lamb and beef Kofta Burger, a Lemongrass Chicken Bahn Mi and a “Siam-wich” as well as higher-end entrees.
Vegan and vegetarian options include a “pastrami” beet Reuben, and several dishes can be made meat-free by substituting tofu satay for chicken, she said.
The bar, which also has about a dozen beers on tap, has a craft cocktail menu that includes a Bourbon Flip made with egg and fresh nutmeg and a Spiced Carrot Margarita made with jalapeno tequila.
Betsy Borland said that she was a little nervous about the menu, but so far, customers have been excited.
“Everybody has been so adventurous,” Borland said.
Borland said the area is about to boom. “This end of town is going to get a lot of stuff,” she said.
And she feels confident those who venture over will find something to like.
“There’s definitely a market for what we’re trying to do,” Borland said.
Right now the menu is streamlined, but she hopes to add more items, including her mother’s Thai dumplings and kuaytiaw ruea or boat noodle soup, a Thai dish similar to Vietnamese pho.
“I’d like to do a Thai Tuesday,” she said.
The restaurant officially opened on Nov. 26. It is open for lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. It is closed on Monday.
The menu does have one thing for Dunkin fans: Coffee and Donuts bread pudding, with coffee ice cream.
If you go: East End Tap and Table
Where: 333 East Main Street
When: Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 4:50 PM with the headline "New Lexington restaurant backed by UK coach launches on Main Street."
