Friday, October 15, 2010
Beth, Kara and I finally arrived in Versailles, Kentucky at Keeneland, after stopping in Nashville to have lunch with cousin Blaine Smith. I was so tired but not as whooped as Jackie, Martin and Stan who had ridden a total of 90 miles by Friday. They left Birdeye Wednesday to tour the Bourbon distilleries and ride bikes. Today they had put on 40 miles in hills and straight line winds. They compared our Vanndale hill at home to the ones they had to battle in Kentucky except they said it was like 12 Vanndale hills in a row with no breaks. They were certainly proud about their ride and were ready for dinner. We loaded them up and headed 5 minutes from Keeneland to Midway, Kentucky.
The town had a wonderful downtown and there were several restaurants up and down the strip. Kara picked Bistro La Belle, after a short fifteen minute wait, we were seated and crazy Lisa was our waitress. She and Kara immediately hit it off and bantered back and forth during the meal. I think it started with Kara asking her about one of the specials. Very funny.
The restaurant was casual with different country looking tablecloths on every table and country style chairs. They had couches up front set up like a mis-matched living room. There was a long, packed dining room next door to the couches, that was country looking as well. We enjoyed hearing about the bike stories and sipping our wine while waiting for a table.
Stan was the appetizer orderer in our group. He ordered the Chesapeake Oysters that were Panko crusted and served with a green onion remoulade sauce that Kara said was spicy. I didn't have one but Jackie said it was as good as his favorite oysters at Felicia Suzanne's in Memphis. They served warm, fresh baked crusty french bread that was great and hit the spot with my unoaked Chardonnay from Chile (I forgot to write it down!).
For dinner, I had my first Hot Brown. Jackie and I intended to get one on our May trip to Louisville for a wedding but it didn't happen. This super rich, baked sandwich comes in a casserole dish. It has country ham and smoked turkey (Kara tried it too and we weren't sure it had bread in it...) covered in a bechamel sauce topped with tomatoes, smoked bacon, cheddar and asiago cheese and broiled until "hot brown". It was so rich but I really liked it. Jackie had the Mr. B's Crispy Crispy that was thin, crumb crusted chicken breasts served over linguine, artichokes and lemon caper butter and asiago cheese. He loved it as well.
Kara ordered dessert which was bread pudding with a vanilla bean and peanut butter ice cream. She said it was divine and wasn't too sure about the peanut butter with the bread pudding but she said they pulled it off and loved it.
After the boys recovered with a good meal and lots of unsweet ice tea, we loaded up and headed to Berea, Kentucky about 45 minutes away. Midway is a neat, small town that is located just minutes from Keeneland. It was surrounded by miles of fences and horse farms. October was the perfect month to tour it, the trees were changing and it was just beautiful.
Bistro La Belle, 121 E. Main Street, Midway, KY 859-846-4233 www.bistrobellemidway.com
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