How Graze is proving third time’s the charm for this Lexington dining location

Question: What happens when you put a chef who was raised on South African game reserves together with an entrepreneur who was raised on Auburn University basketball?

Answer: You get Graze, the latest restaurant to occupy a space in the Woodlands, a luxury apartment building on East Main Street – a space which hasn’t exactly proven hospitable to past tenants.

Damion Scott and Craig De Villiers are hoping the third time’s the charm – that Graze, unlike its predecessors, the Woodlands Grill and the Julep Cup, will be the restaurant to stay the distance.

Scott believes it will. They already have a built-in clientele – the same people who made the trek to Clark County for the original Graze, where the farm-to-table menu was printed on a chalk board and the view was of surrounding farmland.

From Clark County to the Woodlands

The tiny spot immediately gained a following, but with such limited space Scott knew that those devoted patrons were unlikely to increase in number.

His expansion into the Lexington market brought more of the same. Taking over the small cottage on Limestone which had previously been home to the House of Soul, he operated both restaurants simultaneously for three years (2016 to 2019).

It soon became obvious that the 46 seats in the Limestone location weren’t going to be enough for what Scott had in mind.

“To put it simply, we just outgrew both spaces,” he says.

Luckily, for he and De Villiers, the space at the Woodlands, which had been vacant since the Julep Cup closed its doors in late 2017, was looking for another restaurant to fill the space.

“This proved a perfect fit for us,” says Scott. “It tripled our seating capacity (to 150) and it gave us a whole new market. In addition to our regulars from both the other restaurants, we’ve become popular with downtown residents and of course, residents of the Woodlands.”

A Lexington dining hit

Since opening in May of 2019, Graze at the Woodlands has indeed proven a hit with Lexington diners. Online it has an average review of 4.7 stars (out of 5).

Much of that has to do with De Villiers, who grew up on Shamwari, one of the largest privately owned game reserves in South Africa, and whose father breeds Thoroughbreds in that country.

With so much livestock and wildlife around him, where did he get his desire to spend most of his time in the kitchen?

“As a child, I lived in Swaziland for awhile with my grandmother who is from Liverpool,” he says. “We constantly watched cooking shows on the BBC.”

All that telly watching has paid off – both for De Villiers and those he cooks for. Originally coming to Lexington to work with the horses at Lane’s End Farm, he continued to dream of spending his time in the kitchen instead of the barn.

He left Lane’s End for the now closed Bellini’s, and in 2013 found himself the head man in the kitchen at the original Graze, entering into a partnership with Scott.

A partnership that plays on the strengths of both men. Scott works the front of the house, greeting customers, both regulars and newcomers, with the warmth of his southern upbringing. A graduate of Auburn University with an MBA in Finance, his head for hard numbers is equaled by his sense of fashion and style.

A natty dresser, his personal taste can be seen throughout the restaurant – from the cozy fireplace in the chic, streamlined bar (those who remember the kitschy seashell and mermaid studded mirror in the Julep Cup bar are in for a surprise) to the delicate chandelier in the elegant private dining room.

The menu at Graze

There’s one area he’s content to stay out of, however, and that’s the kitchen. That he leaves in De Villiers’ more than capable hands.

“I work about 100 hours a week as it is,” says Scott, “so I’m happy to leave the menu decisions up to Craig.”

That menu, which both men describe as global comfort food, has definitely found a local audience. Popular dishes include Baked Bolognese (beef and pork ragout with Lexington pasta, rigatoni and mozzarella); Curry (marinated chicken, coconut, curry broth, tomato, onion and ramen) and Sole and Chips (lightly battered sole filet, fries and lemon garlic butter.)

By far the most popular menu item, according to De Villiers, one which emphasizes the comfort over the global, is the fried chicken accompanied by Carolina fries (crispy shoestring fries with pulled pork, queso and kale slaw with poppyseed dressing.)

“We won’t ever take that off the menu,” he says.

That’s just fine with Lexington foodies who, if the packed house on a recent Thursday night is any indication, have added Graze at the Woodlands to their list of dining hot spots.

Scott says the future is looking rosy for the latest incarnation of Graze. He and De Villiers feel they are in a good place (literally) and they have investors who believe in their long-term goals.

“We want this to be the last stop for us,” says Scott.

Both he and De Villiers believe that if they continue to bring people together over food and drinks that this will be their last stop. That they will be the ones to make Graze at the Woodlands a vital part of the Lexington dining scene.

Graze

Where: 111 Woodland Ave., Lexington, in the Woodlands apartment building

Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday

Contact: (859) 309-2490; grazeky.com