Order one of the special cocktails from the bar, preferably John Henry’s Hammer, made with Old Forrester Signature Bourbon and the house allspice bitters and apricot syrup and served over a meticulously carved ice ball, and it’s clear that you’re a far cry from the twangy bluegrass-infused Louisville of legend. The Hot Brown, a stacked-high, open-face sandwich that’s long been the city’s culinary delight, suddenly seems as relevant as a bag of Doritos.
Each year, the Kentucky Derby, which happens next Saturday, draws more than 1.5 million people to the city. But thoroughbreds aren’t the only reason to visit Louisville. Chefs and bartenders around town are invigorating Southern culinary tradition with inventive fare. Taking cues from global customs, they make the most of the local bounty.
Social is on the ground floor of the Green Building, a brick warehouse built in 1850 that was gutted and turned into a LEED-certified mixed-use facility that also houses offices and a gallery. It’s owned by Gill Holland, a movie and record producer and activist, who has pioneered the transformation of East Market District into an artsy strip steeped in Boho vitality.
In keeping with other urban neighborhoods rechristened when they boost their cool quotient, the area is now referred to as NuLu (shorthand for New Louisville). Here, farm-to-table is the new “meat and three,’’ a Southern term for a heaping plate of protein and three veggies.
The high-ceilinged restaurant embodies NuLu’s ethos to the max, from its menu options to share (they don’t call it “Social’’ for nothing) to the eco-conscious design. The slabs of wood that serve as the bar top, tabletops, and barstools, even the coasters, are made from American oak reclaimed from a Lexington tobacco barn.
