Jessamine Co. dining guide: Must-have baloney sandwiches to ‘fire and brimstone’ burgers

Jessamine County’s food offerings are as diverse as the place itself.

The county just south of Lexington was long a rural outpost with sleepy Nicholasville as its county seat and nearby Wilmore, home to Asbury University and Asbury Theological Seminary a small, charming respite from the troubles of a fast-paced world.

But things change.

The county’s population has boomed almost 40 percent in this century as Lexington expanded and highways grew. The county became more diverse, older and wealthier as the per capita income grew 65 percent.

No surprise the local food offerings there now range from street tacos to European bakery delights, from baloney sandwiches to charcuterie boards.

There are three distinct areas for searching out great local eats in Jessamine County: Wilmore, Nicholasville and along the border with Fayette County. Here are a few to consider for your pandemic staycation local explorations.

Featured nationally on ABC’s “What Would You Do?” in 2018 and locally on WKYT this year, Fitch’s IGA has been owned by the same family for 60 years and is the definition of local, with workers calling customers by name.

The deli counter offers hot plate lunches (with a slice of cake to top it off), rotisserie chickens and sandwiches (baloney is the featured special on Fridays) as well as doughnuts and breakfast sandwiches for early risers.

A stroll across the parking lot from Fitch’s takes you to Solomon’s Porch where offerings include mocha latte with cayenne and curried chicken salad on croissant.

Reflecting Asbury and Wilmore’s deep religious roots, many menu offerings at Solomon’s have theological theme names, like “fire and brimstone burger,” “the Garden of Eden” and a host of beef hot dog offerings packaged as “the 12 Apostolic franks.” The food’s good and the menu you might help you in trivia some day.

Drive a few miles to Nicholasville, the county seat, where there are the usual highway national chains but also the trendy Euro Wine Bar on Main Street, across from the elegant 1878 county courthouse, where there are charcuterie plates, panned-fried ravioli and mini hot browns. Drinks include the Scofflaw (sugar cubes soaked in chocolate coffee and black walnut bitters with Bourbon) and the Uptown Girl (cucumber/melon vodka, gin, elderflower liqueur and Champagne topped with plum bitters.)

Venturing farther out Main Street there are several Mexican offerings, including the locally-recommended El Rancho Taqueria where tripe is a specialty but less adventurous palates can visit on taco Tuesday to sample more run-of-the-mill offerings billed as authentic Mexican street fare and vegetarian tacos. The Facebook page features lovely photos and videos that will have your mouth watering.

Although it doesn’t serve food, worth a visit in rural Jessamine County is First Vineyard, a National Register Historic Site where John James Dufour started the wine industry in the United States when he established a vineyard in 1799 on land at a bend in the Kentucky River that had been surveyed by Daniel Boone. Sone of the original grape varieties planted by Dufour are grown by the current owner.

Closer to Lexington are Dixie Café in Keene, where farm workers and suburbanites from the nearby Harrodsburg Road developments meet to indulge in breakfasts like the smothered chicken biscuit platter or lunches that include the Texas burger. A 2014 review in the Herald-Leader called it “a quick stop with good food.”

Is any tour worth it without desert? No problem there, European Delights Bakery in the Brannon Crossing shopping center just a stone’s throw from the Fayette County line has plenty of cream and butter inspired concoctions to keep sweet tooths happy for a long, long time. Just consider the description of the peanut butter cake: “made with three layers of dense truffle cake, filled with peanut butter cream and finished with Kahlua glaze.” The bakery also has breakfast pastries including croissants, scones, Danish and muffins, and a variety of cookies including the French classic macarons.

This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 6:00 AM.