Lexington, KY - In addition to their partnership in Lexington's Saul Good Restaurant & Pub, proprietor Rob Perez and executive chef Jeff Mayer share a common past. Both are relatively new transplants to Lexington (within the past decade), having migrated here for employment. Both fell in love with the town, ultimately sealing the jobs for which they came here (development for Thomas & King for Perez; head chef at Embassy Suites for Mayer). Curiously, each spent an earlier part of his career working for both the Walt Disney Company and New York City's ESPN Zone. So it may be surprising that it was their 4-year-old daughters, having become fast best friends at pre-school, who ultimately introduced Perez and Mayer a few years back.
After 23 years managing and developing brands and concepts in the restaurant industry, Perez was ready to give his own concept a try. He admits that his initial culinary interest in the Mayer family was actually directed toward Mayer's wife, a pastry chef he wanted to snag for recipes for a chocolate bar he had visualized.
"I explained to her the concept and ideas for the menu that I wanted to work on," Perez said. "It just so happens that her husband wanted to hear more."
The concept for the restaurant - one of the only locally-owned highlights in the new outdoor shopping strip behind Fayette Mall - centers on the urban legend Saul Good, a jeweler who traveled the world collecting jewels, "specifically in Belgium where he fell in love with everything Belgian," Perez explained. "He fell in love with the diamonds, the waffles, the beer, the chocolate. He started to get fascinated with food, and everywhere he traveled, he tried to pick up a recipe or two to bring home to his friends and family. ... Pretty soon, he fell in love with entertaining more than he did the jewelry business, so he converted Saul Good jewelry store to Saul Good Restaurant & Pub."
Items on Saul Good's "world fusion" menu feature a variety of ingredients picked up on Saul's world travels - soy sauce, classic arrabiatta sauce, tzatziki, pesto and spices from the Middle and Far East, as well as Central and South America.
"We even marinate in Wild Turkey," Perez added.
Chef Mayer said that much like Saul's, his influences are all over the board, rooting back to international dinner nights his family had when he was a kid.
"We'd do a Mexican night, an Italian night, Chinese," he recalls. "This was 35 years ago, when you didn't have such a choice of ethnic restaurants, so it was pretty special." Mayer, a Culinary Institute of America graduate classically trained in French cuisine, adds that his personal favorite cuisine is Asian.
"The idea for the menu is to incorporate things that women might like: lots of waffles, lots of chocolate, lots of beer, with everything fresh, homemade, chef-driven," Perez said. "Essentially, this is a pub for womenÖwe think that's pretty good marketing for men, too - with enough great beer and enough women, we get most of the guys, too."
Popular items at Saul Good, which celebrated its one-year anniversary on St. Patrick's Day, include Argentinean pizza, chicken and waffles and an all-day breakfast plate. Many items are designed for sharing, from the beer flight to the chocolate fondue.
The Legend of Chicken and Waffles
The legend of Chick and Waffles extends back to Thomas Jefferson - who, according to Perez, was the first person credited with owning a waffle iron in the United States. "Waffles were kind of a sign of aristocracy," he said. "The cool thing with waffle irons is they never wear down, especially in the 1700s."
At some point after Jefferson got a new waffle iron, the original ended in the trash bin, where the slaves got many of their kitchen tools, Perez coninued. "(The slaves) made chicken and waffles as a holiday treat. Waffle batter was something they were allowed to have, and they could always sneak a chicken if they needed to. It became a soul food dish based on that."
Saul's Special Chicken and Waffles (lightly fried chicken served with a toasty Belgian waffle, maple syrup and scallions) has been one of the most popular items, much to the surprise of Perez and Mayer. "We thought it would be a novelty item," Perez said.