Where: Louisville, Kentucky
When: year-round
If you like: dining and drinks
Why you should go: Louisville’s Brown Hotel was once home to the South’s most sought-after midnight snack: an open-faced sandwich layered with turkey breast, tomato, two slices of bacon, and Mornay sauce, popped under a broiler to make it warm and melty. Chef Fred Schmidt devised the Hot Brown in 1926 after growing tired of serving ham and eggs in the wee hours of the hotel’s grand, thousand-guest dinner dances. A century later, the Brown Hotel still hosts revelers under the hand-painted plaster ceilings of its famed Crystal Ballroom, but the Hot Brown abounds at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. (Just head to the Lobby Bar & Grill or J. Graham’s Café.) “It really is a decadent dish,” says Marc Salmon, the hotel’s human resources director and resident historian. “It arrives sizzling in a ceramic skillet, and it lives up to the expectations.”
G&G tip: If you’re in town for the Kentucky Derby this year, the Brown’s lobby will be decked out in roses, and a milliner named Madame Foo Foo will be on hand to craft last-minute hats.
