One of Lexington’s most famous chefs says she is finally going to open a restaurant
One of the hottest chefs working in Lexington with a dedicated local following and a strong national one has never had her own restaurant to call home. But that’s about to change.
Sam Fore, who was just announced a semifinalist for a James Beard award for her Tuk Tuk Sri Lankan Bites pop-ups, is planning to open a new Lexington restaurant later this year.
“I’m actually opening a brick-and-mortar in Lexington,” she said. “I can’t say where yet but by the end of summer if everything goes right. ... It’s happening, I just can’t say where yet.”
It will be called The Tuk Tuk Snack Shop and will serve a lot of the Sri Lankan-Southern fusion food she’s been cooking across the country over the last two years, as well as favorites from her time “under the tent” in Lexington.
The restaurant will be counter service, she said, “targeting the people taking multiple things home for later.”
And because Fore will be cooking from Los Angeles to Portland, Maine, again this year, she plans to hire a strong staff.
“I really do want to build a place where an equitable staff has a big stake in the success,” she said.
Before she became a national name, Fore started her Tuk Tuk Sri Lanka Bites in 2016 as an occasional pop-up, serving at bars. Through word-of-mouth, her reputation blossomed.
By the time “Top Chef” came to film in Kentucky in 2018 and host Padma Lakshmi asked what she should eat in Lexington, the one name everybody mentioned was Sam Fore. So after taping at Rupp Arena, Lakshmi dropped by Fore’s house, where she and fellow chef Wyatt Sarbacker whipped together a banquet.
Now Fore is on “Kimball’s Milk Street on PBS” and has a line of spices at Spicewalla.com with her signature flavors.
And, in a few months, her own restaurant to call home in Lexington, finally.
This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 10:15 AM.
