Central Kentucky restaurant known for Southern charm is up for a prestigious dining award
A restaurant owned by one of Central Kentucky’s best-known chefs is up for a prestigious honor.
Midway’s Holly Hill Inn has been named a semifinalist for a James Beard Award in the Outstanding Hospitality category.
The flagship restaurant of chef Ouita Michel, who has been a James Beard Award semifinalist eight times, opened in 2001. The fine dining restaurant in a rural inn from the 1800s is known for its menu of locally sourced foods and Southern charm. In 2024 it won a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence from a leading authority on wine.
The restaurant frequently hosts dinner series and currently has a prix fixe special menu for $45 featuring a starter, a first course, an entree and a dessert.
Holly Hill Inn is up against 19 other restaurants from across the county in the category. Finalists will be announced in April, and winners will be announced in an awards ceremony in June in Chicago.
“This recognition is truly about the people who make Holly Hill Inn what it is,” Michel said. “From the moment guests step through our doors to every detail of their experience, our team pours their passion and love for hospitality into everything they do. We are humbled and grateful to be acknowledged by the James Beard Foundation, not only for our commitment to hospitality but for the opportunity to represent Kentucky on this stage. Hospitality has always been about creating a sense of home, and it’s an honor to share this recognition with our community and everyone who has supported us over the years.”
What restaurants does Ouita Michel own?
Besides Holly Hill Inn, Michel has several other Kentucky and Lexington restaurants including Wallace Station, Windy Corner, Honeywood, Smithtown Seafood and Zim’s Café, plus a bakery (Midway Bakery), a cocktail bar (The Thirsty Fox) and a special events division at Fasig Tipton.
She was last up for a James Beard award in 2022, when she was a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast. Last year one of her proteges, Lawrence Weeks, former executive chef at Honeywood, was also a semifinalist.
Kentucky restaurants up for James Beard Awards
Midway’s Holly Hill Inn isn’t the only Kentucky dining and drinking destination to be honored for 2025.
The Bar at Willett in Bardstown is a semifinalist for Outstanding Bar, a new category. And in the 20-chef field of Best Chef: Southeast (GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, WV), Kentucky is represented by two: Noam Bilitzer of MeeshMeesh Mediterranean in Louisville and Sara Bradley of Freight House in Paducah. Bradley is known for her runner-up finish on “Top Chef: Kentucky” in 2019.
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 10:15 AM.
