Recently drove down to Lexington to visit family, mostly went to places I've been before but did manage to go to one new one. Graze Market and Cafe is in Winchester just across the Fayette county border (150 Combs Ferry Road). They have a blackboard menu that changes twice a day (one for lunch, another for dinner) and try to source ingredients from as local as possible, the steak I had came from the farm across the street and the produce was from about 1/2 mile up the road. A little expensive for the area, but very good!

Graze Market and Cafe
150 Combs Ferry Rd
Winchester, KY 40391
(859) 745-0990

Thanks for this, I had not heard of it, but I'm willing to pay a little extra for something good and different around these parts!

GAF wrote:I drive that route once a year to Western North Carolina.

About an hour south of Lexington is a restaurant that arguably serves the best fried chicken in the world (well, maybe not, but the debate between Hecky's and Evanston Chicken Shack fanciers will seem irrelevant). The restaurant is Jean's, located in Mount Vernon, KY (exit 59 off I75, on a hill overlooking the interstate on the northeast side of exit 59. They serve pan-fried chicken as is the tradition in much of the rural south. And pie!

The Renfro Valley/London/Corbin area is known for its fried chicken. Colonel Sanders hailed from Corbin and London hosts the World Chicken Festival and Corbin has a museum for the Colonel.

Other places in the area have their partisans (Ruby's, Charcoal House), but I recommend Jean's. It's only an extra hour to heaven.

GAF. I am sad to report that my internet search confirms that Jean's is no more. Reports indicate it burned down, probably in 2012. So sorry that we will not get to try the world's best fried chicken when in KY. However, I will likely visit Sanders Restaurant & Museum in Corbin. Thanks for the suggestion.

Any other ideas for the drive from STL to Lexington? Or in Lexington?

Was just in Lexington, picked up country ham (natural juice, no added water, excellent ham flavor, from Critchfield Meats http://critchfieldmeats.com/locations/

(side note, was able to put in my carry on bag, TSA at airport didn't care).

Sweet Willie wrote:Was just in Lexington, picked up country ham (natural juice, no added water, excellent ham flavor, from Critchfield Meats http://critchfieldmeats.com/locations/

(side note, was able to put in my carry on bag, TSA at airport didn't care).

Great idea, Sweet Willie. Maybe I'll bring along a cooler and stock up.

Just spent a week in Lexington visiting my family and tried a few new (at least to me) places. Willie's Locally Known is a music venue and barbecue joint that's been around for a while on North Broadway, but recently moved to a much larger space on Southland Drive. Since I wanted to stop by the nearby Sharp's Candies we stopped at Willie's for lunch. I had the pickle chips and burnt ends, pickle chips were done the way I like them (breaded in cornmeal rather than battered) and the burnt ends were smokey and tender. They have a pretty good beer list including several options from local breweries.

I finally made it to Middle Fork Kitchen and Bar located in the Distillery District on Manchester Road. This is the restaurant opened by the Fork in the Road food truck that I always tried to find when I was visiting Lexington and was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign. Not inexpensive, but very good! I had the bread boule and the Hog n' Oats. For the bread boule they first bring out a plate containing some butter, a line of coarse sea salt and a candle made of beef fat. While the bread is heating up the candle burns and the beef fat melts on to the plate. Hog n' Oats consists of a grilled slice of goetta on a bed of creamy grits with tomato jam, confit green tomatoes, cheese and a sous vide egg. The person I was dining with ordered the cheese plate, which had a smoked bleu cheese, a cave ripened cheddar and a soft goats(?) cheese and the hangar steak. Everything was excellent. Middle Fork is right next to a new brewery, Ethereal Brewing Co. I actually went here twice during the week, it seems to be a very popular place. They have 12 taps of their own brews that change fairly often.

On the other side of Middle Fork is an ice cream lounge named Crank and Boom. I didn't get to try it out myself but did hear good things about it second hand. Next time I make it down to Lexington I'll have to make a point of giving it a try. I'm not sure when that'll happen though, my family in Lexington that I go to visit once or twice a year have their house on the market and are planning on moving south as soon as it's sold. That'll certainly cut down on the frequency of visits to the old stompin' grounds.