Destination Lexington: Classic Favourites Keep Fans Coming Back

While much has changed in the 40-something years that international visitors have been traveling to Lexington, Kentucky for the Thoroughbred sales, plenty, too, has remained the same. And while the culinary scene in Lexington has blossomed in recent times, giving horsepeople myriad options for dining after a day at the sales, it remains odds-on that Dudley's On Short will be packed wall-to-wall with members of the Thoroughbred community.

Dudley's has remained a racing industry favourite by embracing innovation while also staying true to what has endeared it to its patrons. The Tournedos Maxwell and Pasta Dudley have been on the menu since the very beginning, and they are complimented by rotating menu items and a list of up to 10 specials per day, which are dictated by what is available locally and seasonally. Guests, likewise, will not be short on choices for wine, the selection of which is carefully hand-curated, in particular when the discerning sales crowds is in town.

Louisville, Kentucky native Debbie Long founded Dudley's in 1981 with the aim of serving food of the southern traditions of her home state fused with western influences gleaned from the eight years she spent living in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Mark Richardson, from Pikeville, Kentucky and executive chef since 2015, adds a French flair, having spent time cooking in Paris as well as New York City, Arizona, San Francisco, Chicago and Boston before returning home. Describing the style of Dudley's cuisine today, Long said, “American cuisine, which can be anything because America is a hodgepodge, a melting pot of so many different styles. Our chef Mark Richardson adds a little bit of a French flavour to it, but not to the degree that it feels like a French restaurant. He takes classics and adjusts them to what he can get locally and what our customers enjoy. We're always tweaking it. We try to use as many local and seasonal products as we can, which really drives the menu.”

Long, who can be seen on any given night in the Dudley's dining room socializing with the guests, many of whom she knows by first name, describes how a planned year-long trip to Colorado after graduating from the University of Kentucky to work as a 'ski bum' turned into eight, and paved the way for her discovering her passion for the restaurant business.

“I skied and I lived in a ski area, and it was fabulous,” Long recalled. “It was when you could actually be a ski bum. You could live and work on the mountain. Whatever money I made, in the spring and the fall I traveled. But the jobs that I did when I was there were always in the restaurant industry. I worked for friends that had a little bitty restaurant, helping them in the kitchen. I worked at a late-night bar, a steakhouse, a Mexican restaurant; you worked where the money was.”

Long tried temporarily to leave the restaurant industry, but the seed that had been planted had already blossomed.

“I did that for eight years before I got to one of those decades in life that you're like, 'maybe I shouldn't be waiting tables rest of my life,'” she said. “So I got my real estate license and I thought I'd stay in Colorado for the rest of my life. But I woke up one day and thought, 'I had never not wanted to go to work for eight years.' It was not always glamorous, but I loved it.”

And so it was back home to Kentucky for Long, and when the opportunity arose to take out a space in Lexington's historic Dudley Square, she and her business partner jumped at the opportunity. Dudley's was opened “on a shoestring”, Long recalled, and she credits college friends David and John Greathouse with helping to spread the word within the racing industry.

“The Greathouses were good friends of mine from college, and they became wonderful patrons from the get-go,” Long said. “They helped us bring in the horse crowd. They kept coming and have been great customers ever since.”

Long doesn't mince words when describing what the horse crowd has meant to Dudley's.

“They've been tremendous for us,” she said. “Especially during the sales. The restaurant would be packed, and most of them were European. They have become great customers and friends over the years, and we have enjoyed them so much. I've heard some great stories, I have to say, some I can't even tell. We've been very fortunate to have had them as customers. I've met a lot of unbelievable people in the business. It's been fabulous.”

“There were times I can remember during the July sales, I would look around,” Long added. “On a Monday in the middle of July at midnight, I looked around and every table was full in my restaurant, and there was a bottle of wine on every table. I just stopped for a minute and I said, 'you know what? There probably aren't a lot of restaurants in the world that are this busy at midnight on a Monday in the middle of July.' It was amazing.”

In 1989, Long bought out her partner to become the sole owner of Dudley's. Further change was to come for the Lexington staple some 20 years later when, in the midst of the 2008 recession, Dudley's lost its lease. Needing a new space, Long set her sights on the historic 1889 Northern Bank Building on Short Street. It was ideally situated, being at the head of the Cheapside public square that is the beating heart of Lexington's downtown social scene and now the permanent home of the Lexington farmers market, and near to the entrance to the high-class Gratz Park residential neighborhood. The path there, however, wasn't entirely straightforward.

“It was during the recession, I was a female restaurateur, and the banks were not real excited about lending me money,” Long said. “So we had to gather some folks together to buy the building, and then I had to borrow the money to do the renovation of the restaurant. It took a while, but we got it done and it was a great move for us.”

Further tumult was to come some 10 years on when the world was rocked by the Covid-19 pandemic. Like other area restaurants, Dudley's was shut down for about 2 1/2 months in the first half of 2020, and has had to be adaptable to varying public health restrictions ever since. Thankfully, Long reports Dudley's to be “in good shape.”

“We just sort of did what we could do,” Long said of the uncertainty of the past year and a half. “We were shut down for about two and a half months, and when we reopened we were at about 33% [capacity]. We kept pushing forward, trying to do the best we could for our customers and for our employees. Right now we're busy, really busy, which is wonderful. We're trying to fill our staffing, but as long as things don't take a turn in the wrong direction, I think we're going to be in good shape.”

Next month, Dudley's will welcome some of its longest-standing guests and oldest friends back into town for the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, some of whom won't have been through its doors for two years owing to the pandemic. Thanks to its longstanding history of cuisine and customer service of the highest quality, Dudley's appears to be in good standing to push beyond the pandemic and continue its traditions for many years to come, and Long pays credit to her personnel and clientele.

“Any time you're in business for 40 years, as long as we have been, it has a lot to do with your staff and your customers that have been so loyal,” she said. “The staff have been so supportive, especially during these difficult times.

“Here's the thing: you can't do it on your own. This is not something you do on your own. My customers have been amazing support. My management staff has been wonderful. I'm very appreciative of both of those entities in my life. I've made some of my best friends in this industry. It's been a good ride.”

Dudley's is just one of numerous Lexington favourites that visitors have frequented over the decades. Others are detailed below.

MALONE'S – 10 minutes from Keeneland

3735 Palomar Centre Dr, Lexington, KY 40513

With three locations in Lexington including at Palomar Centre just minutes from Keeneland, Malone's has long been a staple for Keeneland racing and sales goers from near and far. Malone's opened its initial location on Tates Creek Road in 1998, and 10 years later added its restaurant in Palomar Centre just up Man O'War Boulevard from Keeneland. Naturally, given its location, the decor pays homage to horse racing, and at any time during a Keeneland race meet or sale the who's-who of the horse industry can be found enjoying one of Malone's signature steaks. But it's not just the elite of the equine world who frequent Malone's, as you'll quickly notice when scanning the celebrity-signed menus adorning the walls.

And while it is its USDA Prime Beef steaks that made Malone's famous, it is far from a limited menu; Malone's offers a fresh selection of salads, chicken, sandwich and seafood options, with a dedicated sushi menu from its Aqua offshoot that is served at each of its locations. For those looking for a more casual setting, the patios at Harry's in Palomar and Drake's on Tates Creek serve as an excellent alternative.

MERRICK INN – 13 minutes from Keeneland

1074 Merrick Dr, Lexington, KY 40502

If you're looking to experience exceptional Southern fare on hallowed horse racing grounds, look no further than Merrick Inn off Tates Creek Road. Built before the Civil War, the Merrick Inn was the manor house for Merrick Place, where the 1918 Kentucky Derby winner Exterminator, among many other accomplished Thoroughbreds, was trained. The property was named for another racehorse, Merrick, who won a remarkable 62 races just after the turn of the century and was in the money on 157 occasions. Merrick lived to be 38 and his gravestone is located just in front of the inn. Merrick Inn offers a select of steak options, seafood and salads, but is famous for its fried chicken. Pair it with a Classic Southern appetizer like fried banana peppers or fried green tomatoes.

COLES 735 MAIN – 19 minutes from Keeneland

735 E Main St, Lexington, KY 40502

Quickly establishing itself as a Lexington favourite upon opening in 2012, Coles pairs culinary delights with an expansive bar selection including hundreds of bourbons, an award-winning wine program and cocktails handcrafted with unique house-made ingredients. Though it is a more recent addition to Lexington's portfolio of restaurants, Coles occupies a historic dining space; the Coles 735 Main building was constructed in 1938 and was The Stirrup Cup, Le Cafe Francais, Hall's On Main and Furlongs before Executive Chef and Owner Cole Arimes returned to Lexington to launch his namesake restaurant. The history of the restaurant space was important to Arimes and his team, and they have worked to honour it with the restoration of three English hunt scene murals painted for the restaurant in 1949 which are today the focal points of the equestrian art that adorn the walls.

The same care that went into the restoration of the restaurant space goes into the dishes at Coles each day; meats and vegetables are sourced from local farms, with meats cured in-house. Guests will find a selection of steak cuts, pork and chicken dishes, pasta, seafood and more. Fans of Coles can also pop just down the street and visit Chef Arimes's newer offering, Eppings on Eastside, a scratch-kitchen restaurant located in a historic restored Lexington warehouse building.

LE DEAUVILLE – 17 minutes from Keeneland

199 N Limestone, Lexington, KY 40507

While the aforementioned Lexington classics largely revolve around Southern food, that is not so at Le Deauville, which is firmly rooted in genuine French fare, unsurprisingly given its name. And it is authentic, too, having been founded nearly 20 years ago by Frenchman Christophe Descarpentries, with fellow Frenchman Marc Puil-who went to culinary school in Paris and worked at some of New York City's most acclaimed French bistros before relocating to Lexington–taking over in 2007. Le Deauville offers traditional French bistro food-think French onion soup, duck leg confit, Bouillabaisse Marseillaise and much more-while diners likewise have an extensive wine list to choose from. Stop by on Mondays for all you can eat crepes, or on Tuesdays for all you can eat mussels.

CARSON'S FOOD AND DRINK – 18 minutes from Keeneland

362 E Main St, Lexington, KY 40507

Carson's Food and Drink prides itself on its chef-driven plates featuring local Kentucky products and its impressive selection of drinks, from local craft beers to a hand-picked wine list and prohibition-style cocktails. The decor is modeled on 'old Kentucky elegance' and pays homage to the area's history of bourbon, Thoroughbreds and basketball. Featured menu items include filet medallions, scallops, salmon and burgers, while salmon bruschetta and pretzels and beer cheese are popular among the extensive list of appetizers. While good to visit any time of day, Carson's is well known for its brunch.

TONY'S OF LEXINGTON – 15 minutes from Keeneland

401 W Main St, Lexington, KY 40507

Tony's Of Lexington is the second of three steakhouses owned and operated by the Italian-born Tony Ricci, who operates on the philosophy that great hospitality is just as important as great food. Guests at Tony's will have no trouble finding both, with expansive selections of seafood, hand-cut steaks and pasta dishes all complimented by fresh, local, organic ingredients. Enjoy a craft cocktail and live music in the bar area before moving to the dining room, or for a larger occasion reserve one of Tony's private dining rooms.

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