Restaurant, bar and music venue blends the best of owner Joseph Clay’s authentic Kentucky
The birth of Bour-Bon has been a four-year labor of love for owner Joseph Clay. Over that time, the new restaurant, which opened in May in downtown Paris, has grown to reflect the life experiences of the man behind it.
Clay is the former owner of Amelia’s Field Country Inn, a restaurant and five-room bed and breakfast in Paris, and an early adopter of the farm-to-table culinary movement.
His roots in Paris run deep. His family owns Runnymede Farm, a 365-acre Thoroughbred farm in Bourbon County founded by Clay’s great-grandfather shortly after the end of the Civil War. Horses opened the world to him, he said, and drew him to Europe, where he also trained and performed as a thespian in England.
Clay’s experiences, both at home and abroad, have always been tied closely to his Bourbon County upbringing, he said. His new enterprise, Bour-Bon, serves as both an homage and a celebration of his rearing, with not only a menu that highlights mostly organic, locally grown fare, but also a craft cocktail bar, a performance stage, art gallery space and landscaped areas for alfresco dining.
His goal, he said, is to create an intimate gathering place where the community can connect over good food and also engage their senses through music, art and performance, in a way that preserves the Kentucky authenticity that Paris has managed to maintain in recent years.
“I’m doing it really because I have a passion for food and beverages, as well as the county where I’m from,” Clay said. “With Bour-Bon, it is about bringing people together in a celebration of Kentucky.”
The restaurant’s name is a play on the name of the county, with an emphasis on all things good, or “bon” in French. Historically, Kentucky’s bourbon heritage and Louisville’s reputation as a metropolitan center made the state a place of distinction in the world of libations, Clay said, and its people have always held a strong connection to the land.
Clay’s extensive renovations of the restaurant on Paris’ Main Street have melded Bour-Bon together from three separate buildings, including a tavern dating back to the 1840s. To create more space for the cocktail bar and main dining room, Clay purchased an adjacent property to house the kitchen. The two areas are connected through an enclosed breezeway to the outdoor patio, which features a large Argentinian cooking fireplace that gives patrons a peek at the restaurant’s open-fire cooking techniques.
“We’ve really tried to keep what’s true to the building, and to utilize local materials as much as we can,” Clay said.
Bour-Bon tapped the talents of Louisville-based consultants at the Hawthorn Beverage Group to develop the bar program for its cocktail bar, which features fresh-made syrups and offer patrons the chance to experience “an authentic and effervescent cocktail,” Clay said. The back of the restaurant converts to an intimate stage area, with a film projector, stage lighting, and a high-end sound system that Clay hopes will attract top artists as they travel through the region. The restaurant also has gallery space on its second floor, where Clay plans to host community group meetings and feature art installations in the future.
First and foremost, however, Bour-Bon is about the food, with an emphasis on the organic, farm-to-table principles that fit Bourbon County’s agrarian mystique. The restaurant’s head chef, Norberto Piattoni, and sous chef, Pia Morosini, are both trained in native South American cooking techniques, which emphasize simple preparation that accentuates flavor without overwhelming it, Clay said.
While the restaurant’s decor sports a French sense of style –– with Louis XVI chairs and soft blue-gray hues –– the menu is designed to showcase local meats and vegetables, with strong South American and Italian influences.
In terms of its entertainment potential, Clay said the opportunities still remain to be seen, but he wants the facility to be geared toward bringing locals and tourists to Paris to see “an authentic Kentucky.”
“Paris is a time-capsule town that hasn’t been corrupted by the homogenized, mass-consumer culture,” Clay said. “We’re really trying to bring people back to where they came from.”
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