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The food and beverage scene on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail has taken another quantum leap forward. This comes with the recent opening of The Kitchen Table restaurant at the James B. Beam Distilling Co. in Clermont, Kentucky. The full–service bar and restaurant offers “authentic Southern hospitality” with indoor and outdoor dining and scenic views of the distillery grounds.
The Kitchen Table joins the top–tier of distillery experiences that have upped their food games considerably as Kentucky’s bourbon renaissance continues to grow. Some of my favorites include Kitchen & Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Company, the Five–Brothers Bar & Kitchen at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience, The Bar at Willett, and the recently opened Garden & Gun Club at Stitzel–Weller Distillery.
The Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky broke ground on a $60 million “reimagining” more than two years ago. After closing and re–opening in stages, everything is now open to the public, and we can see just what that reimagining looks like.
The name was the first thing reimagined: it’s now called the James B. Beam Distilling Co. (JBBDCo.) as a nod to the distillery’s heritage. The homestead, as it’s called, includes The Baker Beam Home (historical home and offices), The American Outpost visitor center (formerly the American Stillhouse), the new Fred E. Noe Distillery (home of their small–batch whiskeys), several production buildings and warehouses that make up the Beam Made Bourbon Tours, and brand new The Kitchen Table Restaurant and event space.
“Come as friends, leave as family”
The rock stars holding court over all this are seventh–generation master distiller Fred Noe and his son, eighth–generation Beam Distiller, Freddie Noe. The Kitchen Table Restaurant gets its name from a replica of the original Beam family’s round kitchen table. The original has been handed down and now sits in Fred Noe’s home. As you enter, you pass under a sign proclaiming “Come as friends, leave as family.”
JBBDCo. turned to Chef Brian Landry and QED Hospitality to help make this a unique experience in Kentucky bourbon country. QED has several restaurants and bars in the Pontchartrain Hotel in New Orleans and the Thompson Hotel in Nashville.
The father and son duo sat down with Chef Landry and the QED team to combine the best of southern cuisine with some of the Noe family favorites when creating the extensive menu. That resulted in a menu with an emphasis on four areas: barbecue, fish, pizza, and country ham. You could call it upscale Southern Comfort Food, but that’s not a Beam brand. Either way, despite gourmet–sounding descriptors on the menu like gastrique, aperitivo, aioli, and farro pilaf, this food is very approachable. But you can tell there are chefs, not just cooks, in the kitchen.
You won’t believe how they make the pizza dough
At a recent media event to show off the restaurant, we were greeted on the patio by QED Beverage Director John Douglas with a cocktail called The Golden Hour (Basil Hayden Straight Bourbon, Aperol aperitivo, and Lillet Blanc). It was the first of several different and tasty Beam Bourbon cocktails. Chef Landry showed us around the central bar area, which seats 30 under a rack of each of the 11 Beam bourbon brands, before seating us in the restaurant near the floor to ceiling glass wall overlooking the property.
Freddie Noe joined us, as well. We were right beside the round Beam kitchen table. A crew of distillery workers were obviously enjoying their meal as they sat in the eight chairs, one with the name of each of the Beam and Noe family distillers.
Overlooking the table is a large family photo of Booker Noe (6th generation Master Distiller) and his family having a meal around the original table. Freddie said it’s his favorite photo of his grandmother, who he says was not known for smiling much in family photos.
I was fortunate enough to sit beside Freddie, who is a gracious host, thoughtful brand ambassador, and obviously proud of the great things happening at The Kitchen Table and throughout the distillery. Freddie shared some interesting thoughts on maintaining the art of a distilling process that is equal parts art and science and giving each of their 11 different bourbon brands the individual attention to flavor that their customers require.
The team has taken a holistic approach to integrating the bourbon distillery and the restaurant. It turns out the pizza dough is made from the same proprietary yeast strain that the family has used to make bourbon all these generations. This is thanks to a suggestion from Freddie. Chef Brian joked about the hoops his team had to jump through to have access to the important keystone ingredient in the Beam distilling process. The pizza, like everything we tried, was delicious.
Second holistic fun fact: spent grains that come out of the mash cookers in the distilling process at Beam are delivered to Cedar Creek Farm, less than 3 miles down the road. That’s where the restaurant sources all the beef, chicken, and pork served onsite. The bourbon circle of life rolls on!
In terms of reviewing the food we sampled, despite my size, I am not a sophisticated foodie. I am more Big Appetite than Bon Appétit. But I can tell you this: the folks in Clermont have come a long way from the barbecue sandwich at Fred’s Smokehouse that was your only food stop at the distillery before this latest phase of additions. I would order and enjoy everything we sampled a second time. (See the menu below).
Until this meal, I would have said I don’t like lamb or venison. The Venison Poppers and Lamb Ribs proved me wrong. The pizzas were amazing (Hot Brown Pizza, who knew?) and especially delicious knowing the source of the yeast. The burger was as tasty and juicy, and the fries were steakhouse quality. You can’t go wrong with the Smothered Catfish or the Smoked Trout if you love fish. And save room for the bourbon balls or one of the other tasty desserts. Or just have the Basil Hayden Caribbean Cask neat to round out your meal.
I usually don’t drink my bourbon with a lot of accompaniments, but the cocktails we had throughout the event were delicious. (See the full list below). Check out the Jim Beam Highball that comes from a proprietary machine from Japan that dispenses Jim Bean White Label Bourbon with extra–chilled and extra–carbonated water) or my favorite, the Smash, with Old Grand–Dad 114 proof with lemon, mint, and sugar. As with the food, you can tell there are pros involved when it comes to making the drinks.
I had not met any of the 11 people at my table for this special event before, but after 90 minutes of great food, bourbon, and true Kentucky hospitality, it really did feel like a family gathering. I recommend you put The Kitchen Table at JBBCo. in Clermont on your list as you explore the growing options for food and beverage on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. You won’t regret it.
The Kitchen Table is currently open from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and Noon until 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
