Lexington, KY - It has been 14 years since Don Wathen retired from the restaurant business, but when he caught the scent of something cooking on Jefferson Street, he couldn't resist jumping back in.
Last month, Wathen, former owner of Suggins Bar and Grill, and his wife, Barbara, opened Nick Ryan's Saloon, the latest in a string of restaurants and shops that have taken hold along Jefferson in Lexington's Historic Western Suburb neighborhood.
Taking notice of the growing popularity of Stella's Deli and the Grey Goose, Wathen decided he didn't want to kick himself three years from now for not getting involved in the emerging transformation. He found a vacant lot on the block and built Nick Ryan's from the ground up, modeled loosely on the nearby Green Lantern, with multiple French doors that open from the dining room to a flag-strewn white porch stretching the length of the building's frontage.
"There's a lot of energy going on down here right now," Wathen said.
With the help of managing partners Adam Geissler in the front of the house and Joey Pugh as chef, Nick Ryan's has hit the ground running with a steady stream of customers for its dinner service. Wathen describes the restaurant's offerings as "modern American food," and entrees include beef stout pot pie, Nick Ryan's hot brown, a saloon burger and shrimp and grits. Wathen is now open the restaurant for lunch service this month.
The restaurant's name, suggested by Wathen's friend Jim McKeighen, honors another former Lexington restaurateur and business owner who operated his own Nick Ryan's Saloon on North Mill Street in the early 1900s. Ryan, whose picture hangs in the dining room of the new Nick Ryan's, was also in the men's haberdashery business, which explains the new restaurant's black bowler hat logo.
But while Wathen's new enterprise tips its hat to the past, the restaurant owner is looking just as much to the future.
"I'd like to see this become a dining district," Wathen said.
BIll Johnston has similar hopes for the area. As president of the Historic Western Suburb Neighborhood Association, he has renovated multiple properties on and near Jefferson Street since he moved downtown to raise a family on Third Street more than two decades ago.
"It's kind of like a flower that pops up in the spring," Johnston said. "You think it came up quickly, but there's a lot of work that went into it."
The district has been revitalized slowly, piece by piece and property by property, over the years, Johnston said, and there are still plenty of "holes to be filled." But the recent interest on the part of restaurant and business owners has been heartening for him.
"It's just so neat to see it start to sprout up," he said. "I was there the other day and the street was just full of people. It's incredible."
The recent addition of Jefferson Street to the route for COLT trolley service during weekday lunch hours and weekend evenings has also been a welcome new development, Johnston said. Business owners are looking at new ways to promote their establishments and encourage locals and downtown hotel visitors alike to utilize the free service, he said.
The real impetus behind the street's turnaround success has been the individuals who have brought their own new ideas, energy and investment to the corridor, Johnston said.
"You have all these people kind of coming along and doing their own little thing," Johnston said. "If it was planned, it would never be as good, because you wouldn't have that organic feeling."
Local showcase
Many of the newcomers on Jefferson credit Stella's Deli with starting the ball rolling.
"We are extremely excited about it," said Lester Miller, co-owner and general manager of Stella's. "We are approaching a critical mass of things to do and places to eat. ... We are thrilled at all the new businesses, and we just think, the more the merrier."
Stella's Deli had been operating at its Jefferson Street location for 25 years before it was acquired in 2006 by the current ownership team, which includes Paul Holbrook and Griffin Van Meter along with Miller and his wife, Aumaine Mott. With its welcoming yellow facade and red awnings, the new Stella's has made a name for itself by showcasing local ingredients on its menu, which features burgers made with local Black Angus beef, a sandwich of grilled apples and Kentucky Bleu cheese, and a fried green tomato BLT.
"It's easy to see the benefits of local foods," Miller said. "We've just had a great response to it."
And Stella's is still looking to build on that popularity. The business recently acquired a liquor license, which will allow it to start serving wine and cocktails. Miller expects it will help to boost Stella's dinner business and spur an expansion of its dinner menu, while giving the restaurant at opportunity to highlight a whole new avenue of Kentucky products.
"There are plenty of spirits that are indigenous to Kentucky. We're definitely going to have local wines," Miller said, although he doesn't expect the restaurant to limit itself to strictly local offerings. "We'll absolutely have bourbons in several varieties."
In terms of the addition of new businesses along Jefferson, Miller said, "We feel privileged to be a part of it."
Good for the Goose
Keith Clark, owner and proprietor of Grey Goose Bar, has owned commercial and residential property along Jefferson Street for 18 years. After purchasing the building that now houses Grey Goose (formerly Ballard's Grocery), Clark embarked on an extensive three-year renovation of the property, digging a new basement and including a 50-foot-by-20-foot addition and two complete renovations of the first floor to eventually accommodate a restaurant. A 20-foot-by-50-foot patio has also been added in back, featuring large shade trees. It was a drawn-out process, Clark said, completed over time with his own funds as available in order to avoid the need to borrow money. While the ongoing renovations were in progress, Clark said, other businesses started to percolate on the block, and the investment began to look more and more worthwhile.
"It's got (close) proximity to Rupp Arena, and it's heavily residential, unlike downtown," said Clark, who noted that roughly 600 new residential units have been added within a half-mile of Jefferson Street within the last two years alone.
Clark, original owner and developer of Cheapside Bar, opened the Grey Goose with his wife and partner, Cheri Pulliam, in October 2009. Clark and Pulliam are longtime downtown residents, and Clark said they have always appreciated the architecture and the heritage that the area had to offer, which is getting harder and harder to find in Lexington.
""I'm kind of a downtown guy anyway," Clark said. "We like those historic structures. We like those old houses."
The Grey Goose menu features a handmade, New York-style thin crust pizza that has been popular with customers, Clark said, because it is a different version than Lexington is accustomed to.
"We don't do it like anybody else," Clark said.
Clark also prides himself on the restaurant's use of never-frozen beef products.
"We try to center on just-in-time delivery and get it as fresh as I can buy it," Clark said. "It's a very small menu, but it's manageable."
Clark expects the addition of trolley service will help bring more people out to experience Jefferson Street, especially if they run it during events like UK basketball games and if they get the word out to potential passengers that the service is free.
And among Clark's future plans for Jefferson is the potential for a bakery or an ice cream shop in back of Wine+Market, but those plans are still in the early stages, he said. All in all, Clark's time and effort on Jefferson Street has paid off for him so far, he said.
"We feel like we made the right decision," Clark said.
The new necessities
Wine+Market opened on the corner of Jefferson and West Second streets in 2008. In addition to an array of deli sandwiches, the shop serves as a neighborhood market for stocking up on what owner Krim Boughalem calls "the necessities of life," including bread baked daily, flavorful cheeses, fresh vegetables, pantry staples and a wide selection of wine and beer. The deli counter is stocked with cheese selections from around the world, including Roquefort from France, Jarlsberg from Norway and Stilton from England. Glass jars in the window display ingredients such as black currants and dried cranberries. In a separate room, more than 100 wine varieties line the walls, including many natural, or organic, options.
Wine+Market is frequented by Transylvania University students and professors, horse industry clientele, and quite a few Chevy Chase residents, as well as downtown denizens, Boughalem said.
"We have an eclectic clientele," said Boughalem, who was born in the French Alps and lived in New York for 17 years before settling in Lexington with his wife, Andrea.
The store also draws an international crowd, Boughalem said, because it reflects a style of shopping and dining that is more commonly embraced in European countries, and one that he personally missed from his experiences outside of Kentucky. But Boughalem said it has been a challenge to get local consumers to break out of today's mega-store shopping habits.
"They see cheese at Kroger, and for them, cheese comes packaged and sliced," Boughalem said.
Lexingtonians can be slow to react to new offerings, Boughalem said, and convincing them to travel a few blocks to try something new is difficult. Boughalem has started offering weekly wine tastings on Friday nights at his shop to help introduce people to the alternatives. He has also recently opened the restaurant Table Three Ten on Short Street, which features rotating seasonal selections, in part to help his clientele visualize on a plate the culinary possibilities that Wine+Market has to offer just a few blocks away.
"It's not just about selling the product," Boughalem said. "It takes education. ... But we need a lot of time to change people."
A spot for tea
Education has also been key for Lisa Samson, who opened Cuppa: A Tea Cafe in the former Isle of You corner location at Jefferson and Short streets in April.
"I expected more people to know about loose-leaf tea," said Samson, who moved to Lexington from the Baltimore area five years ago.
The restaurant has acquired its regulars since its opening, some of whom have Cuppa to thank for their new tea appreciation. Some customers are already aficionados, while others are almost apologetic for their lack of knowledge. Samson said there's nothing to be sorry about, and she's enjoyed meeting them all.
"It's been really fun getting to know people and being a part of what's happening here on Jefferson," Samson said.
Most of Samson's customers come from Transylvania University or the downtown area. The cafe also gets quite a few international tea drinkers, including many Canadian and British visitors, stopping in for a cup.
"Most people seem to plan to come in here," Samson said. "There's not a lot of passerby traffic."
Although Cuppa offers baked goods such as cookies, scones and brownies, all made on site, to complement its tea selections, it is not really a restaurant, like many other Jefferson Street establishments. It serves as a cozy coffee house alternative, with comfortable seating and a more tranquil vibe than most coffee shops.
"It's a quiet, relaxing environment," said Samson, "(Tea) takes time to make, and it takes time to drink."
The shop serves as a setting for college cram sessions, Bible study groups or intimate business meetings, Samson said, but she most appreciates it when her shop becomes a place for friends to catch up and laugh together.
"It's just so fun to hear people having a good time," Samson said. "I think at the end of the day, I'm more about bringing people together, and tea is the means."