Exclusive, sophisticated Lexington venue will now take you on a dining destination

There are people who love to eat where they can luxuriate in an elegant atmosphere and be pampered while enjoying a leisurely meal. And there are those who will willingly endure plastic chairs and rude servers to experience great food.

Happily, Apiary on Jefferson Street offers the public dining experiences without the sacrifice.

Called Omage, the dinners revolve around a theme where the food, the setting, the floral accents, the wines, even some specialty drinks reflect a chosen place or setting. A recent dinner paid homage to Provence, the region in Southeastern France where good food and good living are baked into the DNA.

That’s aiming high but Apiary hit the mark. Diners found sprigs of fragrant lavender at their plates to set the tone for the five-course menu, plus a couple of extras including a between-courses palate cleanser of quince ice cream. The food was excellent, the setting beautiful and the service impeccable (our server even had lavender-colored nails to match the theme.) It was Kentucky in March but seated in the large but intimate orangery at Apiary, with an enormous skylight overhead, 18-foot tall windows along the sides, topiary trees and flowers everywhere it wasn’t madness to believe for a moment that it was spring in Provence.

This is a world that hasn’t always been open to everyone. Typing “the Apiary” into a search engine conjures up a magical world of perfect weddings with postings from the couples, of course, but also photographers, wedding planners and other wedding industry sites. There are also mentions from publications like “Garden & Gun” (“a sophisticated first-class event venue”) that reflect Apiary’s early years as exclusively a Lexington event space. When the Breeders’ Cup came to Keeneland in 2015 Apiary was where the organization hosted well-heeled guests from around the world.

In those years, for most of us, gaining access to what the Apiary had to offer meant waiting for an invitation. If it didn’t come, we languished.

When the pandemic hit, events stopped and that led Apiary founder Cooper Vaughan and his team to think about other ways to welcome people into their world. They began to develop the idea of creating special events that anyone can reserve and enjoy.

Events, whether weddings or something else, are necessarily influenced by the clients and usually involve serving a large number of people at more or less one time, Vaughan said. With Omage, he said, the staff has “the opportunity to flex creatively,” to develop and bring into being their own ideas about food, atmosphere and service. “It’s a lot of work but it’s satisfying work.”

It also offers a way to keep people coming into the Apiary during seasons — like the dreary early months of the year — when few people have big weddings and other large events are rare. And it gives people who might be thinking of the Apiary as an option for a special event a chance to test out the ambiance, the service and the food.

Originally, some dinners were only available to members of The Hive, Apiary’s private club but now all are open to anyone.

The format for the evenings can vary. Omage Destination ($175 per person), like the Provence dinner, are multi-course menus served at a reserved table. Omage Soirees ($175) offer a more party-like atmosphere with live music, cooking stations and plenty of seating but no reserved tables. Guests are encouraged to hit the dance floor after dinner.

Prix Fixe ($125) dinners are tailored to take advantage of seasonal ingredients. And, no surprise, there are also wine dinners ($175) where guests sit at long communal tables as wines are matched with each course and the sommelier talks about the pairings as they appear.

Slightly more mysterious are Asado, dinners offered outdoors where hearty tapas and open-air grilling are featured; and Secret Supper, where the location isn’t revealed until 24 hours before the event. Every detail, the website says, is “drenched in mystique.” Prices vary for those events.

There are no drop-ins, diners must have reservations. To learn about what’s coming up and see what past events have looked like, go to the Apiary Omage website, where you can sign up for a newsletter about upcoming events.

Although the dinners are planned by the Apiary’s chef and his team, dietary requirements can be accommodated and once reserved, diners will be consulted about any dietary or other restrictions or preferences.

Except for the wine dinners, drinks are extra (the wine list is very reasonably priced and mixed drinks are in the typical $13-$15 range), as is a 20 percent gratuity.

For Lexington the price may seem a little steep. But there are two things to consider if you’re worried about sticker shock: It will be very special, and it’s a lot cheaper than flying to Provence.

Apiary

Where: 218 Jefferson Street

Online: the-apiary.com

Call: 859-254-2225

Omage dinners

What: Themed dinners, parties and events open to the public

Reservations: the-apiary.com/omage

Walk-ins: Not accepted

Prices: Depends on dinner theme, menu but around $125-$175 per person

This story was originally published April 1, 2024 at 6:00 AM.