Feasting In Louisville Begins Long Before The Running Of The Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby lasts all of two minutes, but in Louisville it begins days before with a series of parties that can last all day and half the night. Of course, the city always has a vibrant nightlife in the bars and restaurants around town, and, once you’ve clinched a tough-to-get hotel room, joining the festivities is just a question of showing up.

During the preceding week in Louisville, which is promoted as Bourbon City, hordes of people will be joining the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, which begins at the Welcome Center within the Frazier Museum and takes buses out to visit distilleries like Angel’s Envy, Michter’s, Evan Williams and Old Forester, while the city’s own Urban Bourbon Trail heads down Whiskey Row on Main Street, which is now dotted with distilleries and restaurants.

At any time of year eating Kentuckians’ favorite foods is easy but requisite during Derby Week, not least pimento cheese and country ham and biscuits, which will be found at every party, with puffy split buttermilk biscuits with a thin slice of rosy, salty, thinly sliced country ham on the table. With this you drink a mint julep,

a cocktail made from bourbon, sugar, and mint, traditionally served at the running of the Derby. The cocktail dates back to before 1800. Historian Frances Parkinson Keyes observed that “The last instructions which a Virginia gentleman murmurs on his deathbed are, ‘Never insult a decent woman, never bring a horse in the house, and never crush the mint in a julep!”’

The other famous local cocktail is the Old Fashioned, made with whiskey (bourbon or rye), sugar, and bitters, served in a squat Old Fashioned glass. It was created around 1881, possibly at the Pendennis Club that opened that year.

Another signature Louisville dish is the

created at the Brown Hotel in the 1920ss when one night guests at its dinner dance went to the restaurant for a late bite, and chef Fred Schmidt came up with an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. It is still the featured dish at the hotel, though not easily found outside of it.

But no dish is more specific trace day than the Derby pie, a trademark name of the Kerns Bakery in town, for a very thick, rich chocolate-chip pecan pie.

You can find dishes like these at Churchill Downs’s nine food and drink venues, including Starting Gate Pavilion Balcony, the Skye Terrace, Millionaire’s Row and Stakes Dining Room.

One of my favorite places in town, dating back to 1958 is

Pat’s Steakhouse, set on two floors of a 150-year-old coach house with décor of dark woods, brass chandeliers, Waterford crystal, hundreds of old photos and white tablecloths, along with a wall of more than 60 bourbons. Begin with a platter of oysters, maybe the frogs’ legs in garlic butter and then the 16-ounce strip steak or Pat’s fried chicken.

Jack Fry’s pre-dates Pat’s by a quarter century in business, decked out in decades of sports and gambling memorabilia. Here’s where to get shrimp and grits with redeye gravy or the pork chop with smoked bacon and roast potatoes and the angel’s food cake.

Kentucky has a string barbecue culture, and one of the best I found in Louisville is

owned by Chan Nelson, who insists you don’t drown his succulent ribs in sauce. Best bargain is the three-meat platter with beans, smoked mac and cheese, and yams.

Red Hog is a butcher shop that also purveys terrific sandwiches, soups and charcuterie. The Fat Tony sandwich ($16), mounted with mortadella, salami cotto, city ham, provolone, mayo, hot pepper tapenade, lettuce and onion, is terrific.

There’s first-rate Italian food at ROC, owned by chef Rocco Cadolini, for sumptuous pastas. Try for an outdoor patio table.

For the big, brash splurge––and it’s sure to be packed every night––make a reservation in advance at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse, which does indeed have 14 cuts of steak, as well as 15 variations of sushi, wagyu meatballs, a massive pork porterhouse with polenta cakes and heady black pepper jus and for dessert a three-layer carrot cake with warm caramel cream cheese icing. The restaurant’s wine list deserves its many awards for great breadth and depth.