Evan Williams, Old Forester, Mussel and Burger Bar, Louisville, and 610 Magnolia
After a satisfying pimento cheese sandwich from the FiveStar Food Mart…
…we headed out to Louisville for a day of distilleries, tourism and food.
Our first stop was Evan Williams…
…where, after some gift shop browsing…
…we headed downstairs to the “Five Brother Safe & Lock Co.” entrance…
…which actually brought us to a speakeasy bar.
After a few sad moments and prayers for the blind pig that once graced the bar…
…Jake the bartender taught us about bourbon’s history…
…through storytelling and many-a-tasting…
…(I mean look at all those glasses).
Fortunately, it didn’t stop us from having a post-tour cocktail (Old Fashioned) from Evan William’s upper level bar.
The drinks only continued at Mussel & Burger Bar, where a bourbon mule led the way…
…to some moules basquasie mussels (chorizo, lobster sofrito broth, peppers, onion)…
…and an amazing BBQ burger topped with fried cheese curds, onion rings, coleslaw and pickles.
After lunch, we walked over to Old Forester…
…where we purchased some drink cards…
…got a tall table in the bar…
…and enjoyed a flight at our leisure.
Other distillery stops in our walking adventure included Angel’s Envy…
…and Rabbit Hole…
…with an obligatory stop somewhere in-between to Please & Thank You…
…as there was a chocolate cookie I remembered some years ago…
…with which I wanted to get reacquainted.
That evening, we had dinner reservations at Chef Edward Lee’s 610 Magnolia…
…where we ordered the 6 course dinner (with wine pairings for two of us).
After a delicious bite of salty goodness (sorry, I can’t remember exactly what this was)…
…we started off with a fried oyster over a savory steamed egg custard and lemon zest…
…and it was so beautiful (and tasty).
Next, I received a scallop ceviche with pomegranate, cucumber, coconut and fried lotus on top…
…while my sister-in-law on this course chose the burrata with arugula, strawberry and country ham.
We all then received the carrot agnolotti with ricotta, almond, peas and pickled carrot…
…with fresh bread shortly after in time for a scarpetta (dragging bread in the leftover sauce).
The next course was one of my favorites – wagyu beef tongue over a daikon pancake with sauerkraut kimchi…
…and this was followed by some rather delicious lamb chops accompanied with sausage, confit sunchoke, raisin and green harissa.
As dessert approached, we were given these delicious jellies which were so flavorful and delicate that we are still talking about them.
Fortunately, they didn’t steal the thunder from the main dessert…
…a drunken banana cake with butterscotch, maple syrup, corn, brown butter ice cream and some magical smoke – you can it in the image – that smelled like burnt marshmallow.
A delicious ending to a wonderful Louisville day during our fantastic adventure in Kentucky!