Ouita Michel and Angela Beck launch new restaurant, featuring to-go options

What happens when two of Lexington’s most dynamic entrepreneurs combine their talents and energy?

Penny’s at Pomegranate, one of Lexington’s newest dining options.

Chef Ouita Michel has joined forces with textile designer Angela Beck to open her latest venture in the courtyard of a modest bungalow on Clay Avenue, where Beck’s collection of colorful hand-blocked table linens, apparel and bathroom and bedroom accessories have their first physical home.

The two women have been talking about a collaboration for 15 years, according to Michel, who said it began when Beck became her landlady at Windy Corners Market.

“Then the pandemic hit, and it got put on the backburner,” she said.

In April, the garden café opened, becoming Michel’s 11th culinary endeavor in the Bluegrass. While she has mastered everything from fine dining to casual eateries, from a bakery to a cooking school, this is her first attempt at running a spot that is part dine-in and part grab-and-go, with a touch of a special event venue thrown in for good measure.

“However, Penny’s is really focused on a to-go concept,” said Michel, adding that the challenge lies in the fact that “there is no actual kitchen here.”

Everything is made at Fasig-Tipton, where Michel owns catering business Holly Hill events, and brought to Penny’s, she said.

Penny’s is a small courtyard where a scattering of benches and tables provide seating for meals dispensed from a structure resembling a garden shed.

“We’re still working out the kinks now, but we have big plans,” said Michel, who describes her and Beck’s efforts as a multi-tiered approach. “It will be a Pomegranate-branded tabletop experience with the platters, napkins and glasses combined with Ouita Michel-branded food.”

As for the kind of food she has created for her newest establishment, Michel said it focuses on dishes both healthy and uniquely Kentucky.

For example, there will be a different soup every day, from asparagus to gazpacho with local tomatoes, to green garlic and potato bisque, depending on what is in season.

Michel warms up to her subject as she describes all the possible menu items — from healthy (quinoa salad with poached chicken) to those reminiscent of tea parties with our grandmothers (olive nut, pimento cheese and country ham on milk bread from her Midway Bakery).

Two favorites are the Chicky Sal — chicken salad made with dried cranberries and almonds — and Eggy Sal — egg salad with fresh dill, red onions and mustard.

There is benedictine to be spread on yeast risen crackers (and not just at Derby), different kinds of bowls, and small veggie salads with cucumbers, pickled beets, charred baby carrots, snap peas and cherry tomatoes fresh from the garden with homemade buttermilk herb dressing.

“The menu will change often as I want to ensure that every ingredient is as fresh and local as possible,” said Michel.

Diners have the option of eating at one of the courtyard tables where their meal can be accompanied by a pinot noir or chardonnay from Beck’s vineyard in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, or packaged to take home to enjoy later.

“We really see this as a place where folks will stop in on their way home from work to pick up a nutritious meal to have for dinner,” said Michel.

Michel and Beck also see it as an attractive option for neighborhood events ranging from book and wine club meetings to mah jong tournaments.

“We want them to feel at home here and experience the same kind of hospitality that my mother was known for,” said Michel. (The name Penny’s is an homage to her mother’s girlhood nickname, although coincidentally, Beck also has a pug named Penelope.)

Within the next couple of months, Michel says they will add a partial roof of waterproof bamboo, all-weather tents, string lights, planters and a gated entrance from East Main Street.

“We’re a work in progress now, but come back in a month or two, and you’ll find a whole different experience,” Michel said.

Penny’s at Pomegranate

Where: 700 E. Main St., Lexington

Hours: 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday

Online menu: pennyslex.com