This weekend, I got to go to Bardstown, Kentucky for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival (review in a separate post) and two special events either put together or hosted by Willett Distillery.
The first event, called Whiskey Pig, took place at the Harrison-Smith House…
…where the Harrison-Smith House and Louisville’s bar Vetti served small dishes…
…while guests wandered around the grounds…
…did a little silent auctioning…
…and made use of the pour tickets given at the door…
…via bars hosted by Delilah’s (Chicago), Jack Rose (Washington D.C.)…
…and Willett Distillery.
As Chef Newman Miller pieced apart the cooked lamb…
…we all mingled…
…and enjoyed such delights as raw oysters topped with pickled watermelon and watermelon ice…
…chicken liver toast with butternut squash caponata…
…country ham deviled eggs…
…beef tartar on an Italian-style crepes…
…Italian chickpea fries topped with mascarpone benedictine, cucamelon, and caviar…
…and short rib raviolis with black truffle and bone marrow.
And as the bourbon and mingling continued…
…there were yet more dishes like the short rib bahn mi…
…the smoked and fried quail with BLT salad (my favorite!)…
…and a whole bunch of the lamb with peanuts and salsa verde (the lamb actually got hotter as you ate it).
All very delicious!
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The second event I attended, called the Bourbon Capital Pancake Breakfast, started early on Saturday morning at the Knights of Columbus.
Admission got you a nice breakfast cocktail…
…compliments of Willett Distillery…
…and breakfast options that included eggs, pancakes, sausage and a biscuit.
And while bourbon in the morning was something I passed on, it was hard not to enjoy some bourbon flavored syrup.