Another remarkable Run for the Roses has come to pass at Churchill Downs, likely leaving you with one question: what’s next in the Derby City?

In The Voice-Tribune’s second installment of “Getting Lost in Lou,” we set out to discover five more eccentric features of Louisville to love, beginning with famed landmark, The Brown Hotel, to learn about one of the most famous dishes around: the Hot Brown. Over the last 89 years, the decadent toast, turkey and bacon combination has been served to Brown Hotel visitors an estimated 1,691,000 times. That equates to 845,500 slices of bacon, 740,000 pounds of roasted turkey, 10,150,000 ounces of Mornay sauce, 26,400 pounds of parsley, 3,382,000 slices of Texas Toast and 845,000 pounds of Romano cheese. Originating in the 1920s, the Hot Brown became a favorite night-cap meal, served in the wee hours of the morning following the hotel’s dinner dances. Chef Fred Schmidt created what is now known as the Hot Brown: an open-face turkey sandwich with bacon, tomatoes and a delicate mornay sauce. The perfect hangover prevention, the fabulous fare has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and on NBC’s Today Show. It’s been duplicated, altered and served numerous times around the country, but only one place is home to the original slice of sinful delight.

Speaking of tasty treats, The Voice stumbled upon the only soft drink invented in Kentucky still in existence today: Ale-8-One. Hailing from Winchester, Ky., with a manufacturing facility in downtown Louisville, Ale-8-One was invented in 1926 by G. L. Wainscott. The product’s name was derived from “A Late One” (as in the latest thing), a catchphrase suggested for a slogan contest sponsored by Wainscott at the Clark County Fair.

Fielding A. Rogers, president of Ale-8-One Bottling Company, calculated more than 50 million individual bottles of Ale-8-One are produced each year. “It’s a really refreshing, unique flavor,” Rogers said of what has made the product so successful. “On a hot summer day there’s nothing that tastes better.”

There’s more than one way to enjoy Ale-8-One, from suckers to salsa and barbecue sauce. The soft drink is also a popular mixer with alcoholic beverages. “Everybody’s looking for something unique to do or serve (with Ale-8-One),” said DeAnne Elmore, marketing and public relations manager for Ale-8-One. Savory recipes can be found at ale8one.com. You can also catch the product on the national stage, featured in the FX series “Justified” or in the 2005 movie “Elizabethtown.”

Speaking of Hollywood, an unassuming factory at the corner of Breckinridge Street may not seem like a site called upon by celebrities. But, Omega National Products has done business with international notables, including Madonna and Pink Floyd. Originally located off Baxter Avenue, the wood kitchen cabinetry and antique reproduction mirror manufacturer was once the world’s leading producer of disco balls during the Disco Era of the ’70s.

“In the 70s, we had about 27 employees that made about 28 (disco balls) a day,” said Toni Lehring, mirror sales and service manager at Omega National Products. Today, the company produces disco balls ranging from 12 to 48 inches in diameter, and once made a globe 10 feet in diameter for a Coca Cola promotion. Aside from concert tour decor and soda advertising, the dazzling local’s treasures have been witnessed across the U.S., at amusement parks and during the world-famous Super Bowl.

From disco to danger, the next stop on The Voice-Tribune’s Louisville quest was the Pope Lick Trestle, where urban legend, the Goatman – or the Pope Lick Monster – is rumored to guard the 100-foot-high railroad trestle in eastern Louisville. According to legend, the encounter with the half human, half goat is so startling that anyone daring to brave the walk across the trestle would rather fall to their demise than remain in its presence.

Stories purport the evil being is the result of bestiality, or that the Goatman is a farmer who practiced Satanism and was resurrected as a half-man, half-goat fated to walk the trestles. “I heard two different stories that either it was a creature that escaped from a circus train that crashed on the rail line,” said owner of Ultra Pop, Paul LePree, who makes and sells statues of the mysterious creature, “or it’s the spawn of a woman and the devil.” LePree was once told by a lady she had seen the Goatman in person, but he’s not sure whether he believes all the hoopla. “I have suspension of disbelief about all these creatures,” he said – And, it’s fun to let his imagination run with the spooky tale.

On the subject of fables, there’s still much debate about one legend related to the 1980 University of Louisville basketball team. While some historians claim Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke first demonstrated the “high five” at a Dodgers game, many believe the celebratory hand gesture originated from Wiley Brown and Derek Smith during a UofL basketball practice. Reportedly, Brown went to give a typical low five (invented around the ’20s) to Smith, but was thrown by surprise when his teammate insisted, “No. Up high.”

Wiley Brown with Jake Simpson.

“I never claimed (I invented) it, I just (say) I knew I was a part of it, being that we were playing a lot of games on national television,” said Brown, who now coaches basketball at Indiana University Southeast.

Since the birth of the high five, varieties of the movement have been created between friends, acquaintances, teammates and coaches. “It’s been really, really fun to see people come up with the variations of the high five,” said Brown.

And, after the University of Louisville finally reclaimed the national title in 2013, Brown, naturally, brought back the classic gesture he helped make a mainstay of American pop culture nearly 30 years ago. “Absolutely no doubt about it (I gave high fives after the win),” Brown laughed. “It really (creates) an atmosphere where everyone can get involved with the game, so I hope it continues on. That’s one of the things I hope doesn’t change.”

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

Two weeks ago, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss attended the Kentucky Derby as the guests of Blue Equity Chairman and Managing Director Jonathan Blue and his wife, Tracy Blue, publisher of The Voice-Tribune.

The brothers also attended the 25th annual Barnstable Brown Gala with the Blues.

In 2004, the twins sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole their idea and defrauded them to create the popular social networking site. (The case settled out of court.) Most recently, Cameron and Tyler were portrayed by actor Armie Hammer in the Oscar-winning film “The Social Network,” also starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake and Andrew Garfield. Their take: “We both are big fans of the movie. We have always enjoyed films growing up so it was quite a thrill to have a part of our life story told on the silver screen.”

Since then, the incredibly successful 31-year-old entrepreneurs – both of whom graduated from Harvard and took 6th place in the men’s pair rowing event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics – have continued to create a buzz.

We caught up with Cameron and Tyler via email after they attended the Kentucky Derby and had resumed their busy lives. The brothers often agree and unless otherwise noted, they answered jointly with Tyler typing each response.

How was the Derby?

Tyler: The Derby was incredible. It’s no surprise people year in and year out come from all over to experience this great tradition.

Cameron: It was great, everyone was incredibly hospitable and Jonathan and Tracy Blue couldn’t have been more tremendous hosts. That being said, we will need to get better at picking our horses next time!

What was the most memorable moment?

Tyler: It was fantastic to meet Congressional Medal of Honor winner Dakota Meyer and NCAA champion Russ Smith.

Cameron: The highlight of our weekend was meeting Dakota Meyer. It’s very rare to meet such a great American Hero.

What’s the question fans ask you most often?

Most people ask us if the movie (“The Social Netowrk”) was true. I tell them that it’s based on a real set of events, but at the end of the day it’s a movie.

Patricia Barnstable Brown, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Priscilla Barnstable.

What is the next hottest online social networking outlet? 

I don’t believe the world at this point needs another social network. Right now we are really excited about digital currencies (like Bitcoin).

Can you explain what Bitcoin is to those of us who don’t get it? 

Bitcoin is a math-based digital crypto currency.

What is your best advice for budding entrepreneurs? 

Have the courage to try, fail and fail again until you get it right.

What do you do for fun? 

We enjoy hanging out with our close friends whether that’s going to dinner, going out or heading to the movies.

We checked out your Twitter accounts. Whom should we follow? And, Tyler, what is an “angel accelerator,” as you’re identified in your Twitter bio.

Both of us! An angel accelerator is an angel investor who brings more than capital to the table, they also bring strategic value that helps speed the growth of a young company.

Nelson Dawson with his cat, Scout.

By NELSON L. DAWSON
Your Voice Contributor

The United States is full of First Churches, mostly Baptist, though other denominations slip in some occasionally. There is, however, a new First Church, long in development but now fully functioning, which is not listed in the directories – the First Church of Political Correctness. This all-encompassing church has various subsidiary causes – abortion, same-sex marriage, environmentalism, Darwinism, secularism, and – the list goes on and on. These various causes are held with all the emotional intensity of any religious worldview; this church is an example of what Winston Churchill called a “Non-God religion.” While militant secularists have enforced a separation of church and state far beyond anything our founders ever conceived, one could argue that the scope of the separation should be expanded so that the Non-God religions are also disestablished, particularly in public education.

It is a deep irony that the seemingly unassailable headquarters of the new First Church is in American universities which Abigail Thernstrom of Harvard described over 20 years ago as “islands of oppression in a sea of freedom.” Why is it that on American college campuses, some religions, like the animals in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, are more equal than others? Why is it that any Christian professor exhorting his students to believe in Jesus would face immediate censure while, day after day, class after class, the tenured acolytes of the Non-God religions proselytize freely? When did the honorable liberal professors of my undergraduate days, who welcomed free and open debate, morph into the politically correct leftist bullies of today? Of course, there are still honorable liberals on campus, and I am pleased to say that I know some. But they no longer are able to effectively resist the dominant politically correct fundamentalism.

In the 1950s, American universities were threatened by the indiscriminate anti-Communist zealotry of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The universities resisted. Today, an internalized McCarthyism is in force. The universities have succumbed. There is resistance, but, for the most part, it is coming from outside. Nonpartisan organizations such as the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and the National Association of Scholars are fighting to defend intellectual freedom. The real scandal, however, is that such organizations have to exist at all.

Indeed, for some zealots mere dominance is not enough. They want total control. People driving around with “Turn Off Fox News” bumper stickers are the psychological equivalents of small children who, when confronted by unwelcome news, shut their eyes, stick their fingers in their ears, and hum. There are many professorial fingers sticking in many professorial ears (and maybe even some humming). Any poll of college professors shows an overwhelming leftist dominance. Where is diversity when you need it? Where, for that matter, is affirmative action to redress the imbalance? Where is the true diversity of people who may or may not look alike but who think differently?

So is the answer really the total disestablishment of all religions, God and Non-God? This, tempting as it may be, is a kind of intellectual nuclear option. Far better is true diversity, true intellectual freedom, true openness to the riches of Western civilization. Far better is the recovery of the Socratic ideal. There is a pleasing symmetry here, for it carries us back to the fountainhead of our intellectual tradition which, unfashionable though it may be to say so, is certainly as varied, as profound, and as self-critical as any in history.

Socrates was a man of contraries – an “atheist” who revered the gods, a skeptic in search of transcendent truth, a rebel whose civic piety led him to endure an unjust death sentence. He shatters all comfortable stereotypes because for him the life of the mind was the great adventure of the human soul. Mary Renault gives us a memorable vignette in her novel “The Last of the Wine.” Her protagonist encounters Socrates in a “narrow Athenian alleyway” (symbolizing, perhaps, the constriction of the unenlightened soul):

“Can you tell me,” he said, “where one can buy good oil?” I thought it odd he should need telling, but I directed him. Then he asked after flour and cloth. I told him the best places I knew; he said, “And where can one get the good and beautiful?”

I must have looked pretty blank; at last I said, “I’m sorry, sir, I can’t tell you that.”

“No?” he said smiling. “Come with me, then, and let us find out.”

This is far, far better than the politically correct fundamentalism of the new First Church.

Nelson L. Dawson is a lifelong resident of Louisville. He lives in Crescent Hill with his wife Susan. He graduated from the University of Louisville, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the University of Kentucky. He has taught history at the University of Louisville and Indiana University Southeast. 

Orb won the first leg of the Triple Crown on May 4 in the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby.

By virtue of living in what is clearly a horse racing town, it’s not exactly a surprise when people want to talk about the new Kentucky Derby winner and their experience at Churchill Downs during Derby Week.

Louisville is, after all, a horse racing town.

But the tone of the talk in the nearly two weeks since the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby on the streets and in the shops of this town has seemed a bit different since Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable’s Orb swept past most of the field on a soggy Derby Day at Churchill Downs to win America’s greatest race.

Surely there has been much love expressed in this community for Shug McGaughey, the Hall of Fame trainer from Lexington who finally secured his first victory in the Derby with the homebred son of Malibu Moon.  Churchill Downs was a stop on his rise to the top of American racing, and Shug is regarded as a favorite son by fans in every corner of Kentucky’s horse industry.

But since Orb splashed home on that soggy Derby Day at Churchill Downs, those conversations have seemed to focus much more on looking forward instead of a backward glance to the Run for the Roses. As a fairly recognizable member of the Churchill Downs team, I’m approached many times a day to talk about Derby, which is a delightful part of the job.

This year, however, those conversations are pointing in a special direction. Those fans want more from Orb.

They want victories in Saturday’s Preakness at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, followed by another victory three weeks later in the Belmont Stakes at New York’s Belmont Park. Wins in those races would provide Thoroughbred racing with its first Triple Crown sweep since Affirmed outlasted Alydar in a dramatic run through the final yards of the 1 ½-mile Belmont 35 years ago.

Not only do they want that elusive Triple Crown, many were so taken by the style and authority of Orb’s Kentucky Derby triumph and believe that this horse is special and the one that will complete that difficult task.

While there is always hope that the Derby winner will go on to join the elite group of 11 Triple Crown winners, it seems that optimism – and the confidence, shaky as it might be – has been a good bit stronger than usual in the days following Orb’s victory in the Run for the Roses. Lots of people in this horse racing town want to believe a Triple Crown can happen, but this year the words rolling off the lips of a good number of those fans provide evidence that they do believe that Orb can be the one.

The hope among fans of the sport and the Derby that they might see a Triple Crown winner in their lifetime accounts for some of the sunny optimism. But there are other factors in Orb’s victory that have fueled stronger Triple Crown dreams.

One is the horse himself.  Orb is unbeaten on the season, is a beautiful athlete and, once he got rolling on Derby Day under jockey Joel Rosario, he left little doubt as to which member of the Derby field was the best horse.

Another is the Shug factor. The display of love and appreciation for the Derby-winning trainer in the hours and days following his signature victory on the first Saturday in May has been as warm as the embrace for Calvin Borel after the first of his three Derby wins with Street Sense in 2007. Perhaps the crowd was not as demonstrative as it was for Calvin as he celebrated that Derby win or his encore performances in 2009 and 2010, but McGaughey’s story and his success have connected with a lot of people.

To borrow a well-worn adage, if I had a dollar for every person who has uttered the phrase “I’m so happy that Shug won” in post-Derby conversations, I might be able to go out and buy a nice yearling myself.

It also can’t hurt that, after watching Orb’s only workout between the Derby and the Preakness, the always calm and measured McGaughey called the move “breathtaking” and said it gave him “chills.” If you’re looking for another confidence-builder, those words will do.

And, along with Shug, the rest of Orb’s connections resonate with many fans. Racing and Derby fans love Cinderella stories like those surrounding the Sackatoga Stable group of high school buddies that won the 2004 Derby with Funny Cide and the team that vanned Mine That Bird from New Mexico to Louisville to rattle the Twin Spires with a 50-1 long shot victory in 2009.

But they also appreciate the clear joy expressed by Stuart Janney and Ogden “Dinny” Phipps, the cousins who bred and co-own Orb, in realizing a dream of a family that has loved racing and competed on its highest levels for well over a century. The family had produced the likes of Bold Ruler, Buckpasser and Easy Goer – who ranked 14th, 19th and 34th on a ranking by The Blood-Horse of the top 100 horses of the 20th century – but had not been able to win the Derby’s roses. All three horses, now enshrined in racing’s Hall of Fame, were bred and foaled at legendary Claiborne Farm. Orb is the 10th Derby winner to be bred or raised on the grounds of the Paris, Ky. farm.

Orb is clearly a talented horse and appears to be improving as the second jewel of the Triple Crown approaches. Throw in the foundation provided by McGaughey, his owners and the Claiborne pedigree, and it’s easy to see why fans at every level of racing find a reason to believe when discussion turns to Orb’s Triple Crown chances.

As of this writing, it appears that Orb will face eight rivals in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.  There appears to be ample pace to set up a Derby-style late charge, but Orb has more tactical speed that he displayed in the Derby and there’s a good chance he’ll be much closer in the early stages of Saturday’s race in Baltimore.

His biggest rival could be one of three new shooters in the Preakness, and a foe that is familiar.  Departing won the Illinois Derby and is a gelding owned and bred in partnership by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, the team that turned back the unbeaten Zenyatta with Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Orb and Departing spent time in the same Claiborne paddock early on, and now they’ll meet with much on the line in the Preakness.

Of those horses back for another try after losing to Orb in the Derby, the ones most likely to offer turnaround performances would appear to be Will Take Charge, who was running alongside Orb at Churchill Downs until Verrazano shifted into reverse in front of him in the homestretch, and Itsmyluckyday, who simply threw in a poor run on Derby Day.

The guess here is that Orb will again prove to be the best horse, with the help of the hottest jockey in the land at the controls in the saddle. Make my Preakness top four: Orb, Itsmyluckyday, Departing and Will Take Charge.

If Orb delivers, he’ll fuel three more weeks of “what if” conversations leading up to the Belmont, the Triple Crown’s remaining jewel and people inside and outside of the sport will be talking up the horse and the possibility of the first Triple Crown in 35 years.

He has a big chore to accomplish in the Preakness, but Orb could be the horse to really give them something to talk about in the days leading up to the Belmont and beyond.

Photos by TIM VALENTINO | Contributing Photographer

“I need a hero. I’m holding out for a hero

One of the great moments of my life was sitting next to legendary Louisville attorney Frank Haddad at a luncheon when he found that he had received the first Peter Perlman Outstanding Trial Lawyer award from the Kentucky Academy of Trial Lawyers.

As they started his bio, the surprised Frank started crying like a baby. A sudden heart attack took him less than a year later. Winning the Perlman award was the crowning achievement of his career.

It may seem ironic that the award was named for another living, and practicing, trial attorney, but everyone understood why.

Richard Hay of Somerset, who has received the Perlman award, said starting with law school where Perlman was one of his instructors, “Pete has always been the attorney that all Kentucky trial lawyers look up to.”

Perlman is an influential, national figure in the universe of trial attorneys. He is a member of the Inner Circle of Advocates, which means he is considered one of the top 100 trial lawyers in the United States.

He is the only Kentuckian to ever be president of the American Trial Lawyers Association and has been president of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and the Civil Justice Foundation. His website notes that, “In nearly 50 years of practicing law, Perlman has won more than 50 multimillion verdicts and settlements. It also notes that “he is recognized worldwide as a specialist in product liability and crash-worthiness litigation.”

I personally know the power of Perlman. Thirty years ago, he was the first major attorney to refer a structured settlement client to me. (Frank Haddad was the second.) From California to Washington D.C. and every stop in between, big time trial attorneys would tell me, “if you are good enough for Peter Perlman, you are good enough for me.”

They understood that Pete demands a level of excellence from everyone around him. The same pursuit of perfection that he demands in himself.

When you look at the list of cherished professions, trial lawyers are far down the list. Nurses and firefighters hit the top and trial lawyers check in somewhere around lobbyists and used car salespeople.

It’s easy to see why trial lawyers can be unpopular. Like journalists, the nature of their business is to champion a cause. If you are on the other side of that cause, it’s easy to demonize the attorney fighting against you.

I’ve sued and been sued. It’s not fun on either end.

Without trial lawyers, average Americans would not have an advocate when a drunk driver rams into their car or someone sells a product that kills or maims people.

Perlman is a champion for the underdog. Every aspect of his being is devoted to bringing honor to the legal profession that he loves.

There are several life lessons to be learned from watching Peter Perlman.

Pete is not a headline grabber.

He gets most of his clients as referrals from other attorneys or through his reputation. He does not advertise. Several Perlman award winners, like Bill Garmer, Sam Davies and Richard Hay, operate in the same fashion.

Perlman befriends his clients and stays in touch, years after cases are resolved.

Perlman told me in a recent interview that one of the most important aspects of how he chooses a case is whether he truly likes the clients and his co-counsel.

Pete communicates at a level that juries and average people understand.

Perlman is the author of the book, Opening Statement and is a master at using humor, music lyrics and stories to connect with a jury. I once heard him describe pain by asking how much they would accept to have a rock in their shoe all day long. It’s a description that everyone understood and could relate to.

Pete is well-conditioned and an impeccable dresser, but manages to connect to who he is talking to at their level. A lesson anyone who communicates should understand.

Perlman gives back to his community. Perlman has endowed scholarships, served as president of the Lexington Jaycees, given countless hours and dollars to charities and political candidates and been a force in his hometown for his entire adult life. He is the kind of civic leader that all cities want, but few actually have.

Perlman gives back to his profession.

Last year, Perlman received the Leonard M. Ring Champion of Justice award. One of the highest honors in the legal profession, it is “given to a person whose life and career epitomizes a true champion of justice.”

When trial lawyers are looking for a hero, it’s easy to see why Peter Perlman is the one they pick.

Don McNay is a settlement planning consultant based in Richmond Kentucky and New Orleans. He has written four best selling books, including “Life Lessons from the Lottery.” 

The exquisite repast featured a breakfast display of buttermilk biscuits and house-made sausage gravy, apple smoked bacon and pork sausage links, country style potato hash/ricotta cheese blintzes with berries compote and market fruits, among other delicious edibles. Blu Italian Grille also set up omelet and traditional Eggs Benedict stations, Belgian waffles and breakfast pizza stations.

Antipasti and salads were served, along with a fresh, house-made pasta station with lobster ravioli, rigatoni and ballerine, a carving station featuring prime rib plus entrees such as crab cakes, Pinot Grigio-caper emulsion, petit filets, roasted shallot demi-glace and roasted fingerling potato hash. The chef’s desserts display rounded out the decadent fare with petit fours, tortes and pies. Live jazz entertainment and complimentary Pamalini cocktails added the finishing touches to a memorable meal with mom.

Photos by BILL WINE | Contributing Photographer

Each year, in communities across the country, passionate candidates engage in a spirited competition to earn the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “Man and Woman of the Year” titles by raising funds for blood cancer research. The candidates compete in honor of children who are local blood cancer survivors. Every dollar counts as one vote, and the titles are awarded to the man and woman with the most votes at the end of 10 weeks.

Photos by BILL WINE | Contributing Photographer

Some questions I have received:

Is Meilinger the most versatile football player UK ever had?

Could be. He played quarterback, halfback or fullback and end.

Is he the best all-around Wildcat?

No.

Who is the most versatile athlete UK ever had?

That’s an easy one. Charles “Turkey” Hughes owns that honor. Turkey, who coached and was director of athletics at what is now Eastern Kentucky University, lettered in four varsity sports. On some days, he played baseball and ran track during the same couple of hours. That was when the Wildcats’ baseball field and Stoll (football and track) Field were side by side across from what is now Memorial Coliseum. Turkey finished with about 16 varsity Ks and four freshman monograms.

Turkey lettered all three years in football and basketball plus track and baseball. He played from 1923-25.

Who was the best all-around Cat? That’s easy. The Southeastern Conference says that Wallace “Wah Wah” Jones holds that title. He is an SEC Legend in three sports: basketball, football and baseball. He played on the Fabulous Five and won an Olympic Gold Medal. He feels the same way about that Gold Medal that teammate Ralph Beard did: “Podge, that Gold Medal was for our country!”

I may have had a part in Meilinger’s great story. When he was playing position after position during one football game, I said to my seat mate in old Stoll Field, “Meilinger plays every position except in the band.”

Guess what: The next home game there was No. 80 (Meilinger’s number) lined up carrying a huge tuba in the marching band!

It wasn’t Meilinger, of course, but a UK friend of mine from Lafayette High in Lexington, Jack Hall, who was about as big as Steve.

Meilinger, who retired from the U.S. Marshall’s service, will be inducted Dec. 10 in New York City. The Football Hall of Fame is now at Notre Dame, but a new Hall of Fame building is being built in Atlanta.

Another triple sport UK athlete was Ellis Johnson, another great athlete from Ashland. He later coached both football and basketball at Morehead.

He also is famous for something he pulled on while coaching a basketball game in Tennessee during the early days of the Ohio Valley Conference.

Morehead was getting slaughtered and was down to four players. Ellis played in his sock feet so the game could continue!

The next time you see Tony Neely, UK’s sports information director for football, give him a pat on the back. He dug up information from long ago to get Meilinger honored.

Crispy sweetbreads appetizer.

By ROBIN GARR
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

For the first month or so after it opened in February, if you wanted to check out what Chef Edward Lee and his crew were doing at MilkWood, it was easy: Just wait until the play started at Actors Theatre of Louisville upstairs. The restaurant would empty out, and you could enjoy your meal in almost solitary splendor.

Pork burger.

This trick doesn’t work so well any more. Louisville’s dining public, rarely slow on the uptake, has discovered that the latest dining room at Actors breaks the long pattern of its predecessors, which seemed focused on basic pre-theater fare.

MilkWood fills the same space, attractively if sparely renovated, but it brings a fresh approach: Think of it as a destination restaurant that just happens to share space with Actors. We arrived just at curtain time and saw hordes heading upstairs for the play. But as they departed, a noisy, happy new throng moved in to enjoy a second dinner cycle.

“Enjoy” is the operative verb: On repeated visits, once with a group of friends, we had no complaints about food, drink or service. This is not surprising when you consider that MilkWood is the product of 610 Magnolia’s Chef Ed Lee with his sidekick Kevin Ashworth in the kitchen. Wine guru Len Stevens, formerly of L&N Wine Bar, presides in front of the house, while Stacie Stewart and mixologists build creative cocktails behind the long bar that’s centerpiece of this comfortable venue.

Sweet and sour soup.

Of course, we came for the food, and MilkWood holds up its end on the culinary side. Lee’s creative culinary mashup, much of it created as small plates, offers upscale takes on locavore fare blended with touches of his Korean heritage and a panoply of flavors from around the world.

In contrast with 610 Magnolia, which is justly perceived as pricey with its $50 and $60 prix fixe menus, MilkWood’s concise but diverse menu seems practically economical. Only a few of the dozen entrees, such as the rib eye ($28) or fish of the day ($25) exceed a double sawbuck; the memorable crispy-skin duck dish at $38 is intended for two to share. Eight starters – which can serve as small plates for grazing – are $7 to $10. The creative wine and drinks lists are organized according to flavors and are attractively priced.

The romaine salad ($7) featured a mix of tender grilled and crisp fresh romaine lettuce dressed with a tangy grapefruit vinaigrette, dabs of sweet ricotta, and crunchy sunflower seeds and fried capers.

Hot and sour soup ($7) was just outstanding. A memorable, pork-rich broth with ramen and tiny country ham dice surrounded a soft and silken duck egg poached sous vide at 58C.

Donut holes with chocolate ganache, candied ginger and condensed-milk ice cream.

Crispy sweetbreads ($10), an appetizer served as a main dish, were very good, dredged and fried, crisp on the outside, melt-in-your-mouth creamy within. They were garnished with pastrami and perched on grilled frisee with blue cheese and tart pickled grapes.

Krispy Kreme just wishes it could make donut holes like MilkWood’s tongue-in-cheek dessert ($9), which come with chocolate ganache, candied ginger and a decadent scoop of rich condensed-milk ice cream.

With the cocktail and a Campari ($10), our dinner for two came to a very reasonable $63.60, plus a $14 tip.

MilkWood
Actors Theatre of Louisville
316 W. Main St.
502.584.6455
actorstheatre.org/milkwood
facebook.com/MilkWood.Louisville