Thursday, June 24, 7:00 pm
Members $90, guests $115

There’s something about Kentucky that compels newcomers to discover its charms, and natives to return to the place they once called home. If we had to guess, we’d say it has something to do with the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and the culinary goodies available along the way, not least of which is the updated Kentucky-classic-meets-world-inflected cooking of chef Ouita Michel at Midway’s Holly Hill Inn.

Ouita, who co-owns Holly Hill with her husband, Chris Michel, was born into a food-loving family who lived, at turns, in Wyoming, New Orleans, and Puerto Rico before settling in Lexington, Kentucky, and establishing a formidable garden that formed the basis of the family’s meals. After graduating from the University of Kentucky. She eventually enrolled at the CIA and, several years later, graduated as class valedictorian. It was while she was at CIA that she met Chris Michel, a native of Manhasset, New York, who’d studied art and philosophy in college, although he’d known since the age of ten that he wanted to cook professionally.

After finishing school, Chris and Ouita made the move to Lexington. They both went to work at a restaurant called Dudley’s—Chris as pastry chef, Ouita as sous-chef. At the same time, she continued to refine her skills as executive chef of Dupree Catering. They opened Emmett’s Restaurant, where Ouita took the role of executive chef and Chris became the general manager, earning the restaurant a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

In 2000, Chris and Ouita bought Holly Hill Inn, a 150-year-old home whose storied past and architectural integrity has earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places. Of Ouita’s food, Martin Booe wrote in a recent issue of Bon Appétit, “Michel creates dishes—like a smoked pork chop with barbecue sauce enriched with coffee and bourbon—that defy categorization but always sing on the taste buds.” And at the end of an eating and drinking tour of the Lexington area, Food & Wine writer Michelle Shih enthused, “My best meal was at Holly Hill Inn.”

Made by the Labrot & Graham Distillery, which was established in 1812, Woodford Reserve Bourbon is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby, so you can bet it’s good (no need to bet—it is).