Picturesque; a term often overused yet I can think of few that better describe Danville, KY. Streets lined with manicured hanging flower baskets and old-fashioned store fronts. This small Kentucky city is full of history while managing to also be a trendy college town.
For the five years we lived in Lexington, I had always heard about Danville. I kept meaning to visit, but never took the opportunity. Once when we moved out of the city a little over ago, I got my land, my cattle farm view and my garden, but I also got Danville. Not bad timing either, especially for a foodie.
You see, Danville went wet just a little while back. If you are unfamiliar with small-town USA this means that they now allow alcohol to be served and sold in the area.
While going wet rarely brings the threat of people falling victim to a life of gambling and working the corners as many opponents fear, what it does bring with it are restaurants. Locally owned, locally sourced, unique restaurants.
Some of us in the area have begun the process of forming the Kentucky Food Bloggers Association. Word has been getting out and the Danville Boyle Co Convention & Visitors Bureau invited us to take a a food tour of the city, our first organized event as a group.
Nine bloggers from the central Kentucky area were in attendance. Cameras and notebooks in hand we tackled Danville one bite at a time.
Our first stop was the V the Market, a quaint shop offering everything from cheeses to wines and beers. You can get the rarest of imports as well as the varieties closest to home. Our host shared her interesting stories of how she sources her products and manages to get her hands on some of the rarest offerings in the area. Things like this blue goat cheese and Life & Limb crafted beer.
She worried she was boring us with her stories, but I could have sat on that couch and listened all night. Food, especially food this outstanding, is never boring to me whether you are eating it, hearing about it or taking photos of it.
Next was Mermaid’s Bar and Bistro. This little place is the perfect balance of modern and homey which was nicely represented by martinis sitting on the glowing bar right in front of the homemade meringue pie. We were served generous portions of Mermaid Punch which was followed by Porch Punch, both of which tasted like summer in a glass.
Soon after came a beautiful sampling of food. A prosciutto wrapped prawn, a portion of locally sourced tender steak and gently seared tuna with greens wrapped in a cucumber with a wasabi sauce.
Slowly starting to get full, but still in need of food to counteract the effects of all the punch, we walked down to 303 W of Danville. Bar food lovers, this is your place! This restaurant has the atmosphere of European pub meets US tavern. We were greeted with smiling faces as we marched in armed with DSLRs. We likely looked as if we were sniffing the air knowing that food was near.
We were greeted with a table full of appetizers. Pretzel sticks with pimento cheese, veggies with beer cheese, Wild Alaskan fish fingers, tortilla crusted pizza with spinach, artichokes and chicken, and two kinds of wings. We passed, we picked, we shared, and we got a bit of history about the location.
The most interesting to me was that the wood floors had been salvaged from Hamburg. Hamburg is an area in Lexington that is now full of strip malls, but it used to be a horse farm. The floors were from horse barns and likely had a few derby winners walk across them.
Bordering on “okay, now I’m starting to get really full,” we headed to the Bluegrass Pizza and Pub. Along with V the Market, this was the only place I had been to before, a couple times actually. The place itself isn’t our cup of dining-out tea, but that doesn’t take away from the pie. The pizza here is excellent and it has a lot to do with their crust – the ideal combination of crispy and chewy with just the right thickness.
This place is packed all the time and Thursday night was no exception. We were approached by several people who wanted to know who we were and why this crazy group was photographing their table.
We dined on the Mediterranean pizza with chicken, artichoke, olives and red onions. This was paired with bread sticks and a rich tomato sauce for dipping. And you can’t forget the cheese sticks! What is it about bread, cheese and garlic that is just so good?!
Now, officially full, we headed to the Beer Engine. One thing that has surprised me about Danville is that when they went wet, they went straight for the good stuff – microbrews and some of the most sought after craft beers around. V the Market, 303 W and Bluegrass Pizza all carry these types of beers. You can stop in for a pint or fill a growler (or two) to take home.
At the Beer Engine we were greeted with the kind of place where you just wanna hang out and perhaps discuss world issues over a pint. Or just drink a pint and discuss the masterpiece you have in hand. We got a unique tasting of some amazing beers and I didn’t get the names of all of them, but Dogfish Head Festina Peche and King George’s Nut Brown were part of the tasting. We also had a delicious stout and a honey beer. There were several in the group who did not drink, so the others of us who did took one for the team and made up for them.
Dinner, drinks…what else is there? If you didn’t just yell “dessert” at your computer I’m disappointed.
Yes, dessert!
All the dessert establishments were closed at the late hour our tour finished up, but they managed to host us without actually being open.
First, cupcakes from the Twisted Sifter.
Now I’ve visited this place a time or two and they are by far the best cupcakes I’ve had in the central KY area. (Did you hear that, Food Network? I’m talkin’ Cupcake War quality!) Not only that, but you can actually afford them more often than once a month which may or may not be a good thing. Our tasting flavors were Champagne and Pumpkin Spice. Speechless.
Burke’s Bakery is a Danville institution. I’m pretty sure I’ve never met anyone from Danville who hasn’t said something about Burkes upon answering the question, “Where are you from?” Burke’s is the epitome of an old fashioned bakery making the kind of cookies you used to get in Grandma’s kitchen. They gave us a bag of goodies including these cookies and one of their donuts. Did I mention they do all kinds of baked goods?
The cookies are small. Remember the kind we used to get when portion sizes were appropriate? This also means that a dozen will set you back a whopping $2.50 so when you visit be prepared to control yourself!
Dessert three. Yes, three and I’m not complaining. We got some gorgeous gift bags from Karamel Kreations. This place has holiday gifts written all over it for me. One of those – I could never make a caramel this good – places. I know that because there is a caramel missing from this picture. I felt it my obligation as a food blogger to try it before sharing it with you. You’re welcome.
I’d like to extend a special thank you to each of the staff from the Danville Boyle Co Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Danville Boyle Co Economic Development Partnership, and all the owners of the fine establishments we visited and tasted!
Danville – go, eat, drink, enjoy!
Disclaimer: All foods featured in this post were provided free of charge. I was not required to post about any food or establishment and received no compensation for doing so.
