We’ve made it to the last day of 2018!
Last week, I rounded up the most popular posts on Fabulous In Fayette. I figured that since I’m a huge foodie, and the majority of what I write about is food, I would a round up of my top 20 food pictures on Instagram.
I think it’s super fun to look back and reflect on the year! Looking back through my pictures, I noticed that six places ended up more than once in my top twenty! Which restaurants were the most popular? Keep reading to find out!
20. Back in spring, I got to do a super cool collaboration with Kentucky Tourism! Myself, along with a few other bloggers, got to spend the day at Lake Cumberland for the launch of the new tourism initiative – the Kentucky State Parks Culinary Trail. Kentucky is continuing to blow up the food scene. After all, Top Chef chose Kentucky as the place to film Season 16!
There are nine participating state parks and each park has it’s own regional signature meal! At the event, I got to sample each dish and meal for all the participating parks.
Be sure to use the hashtags #tasteky and #betterinthebluegrass on social media to promote our amazing cuisine!
Location: The Official Site of Kentucky Department of Tourism, 100 Airport Road, 2nd floor, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Post from May 2018: Experience the Kentucky State Parks Culinary Trail With Kentucky Tourism
19. Earlier this year, I worked with CRU Food and Wine Bar! It’s a romantic restaurant that would be perfect for a date night. At CRU, they have a pretty cool thing – wine flights! This is such a genius idea, because it allows you to try a few wines to see which you like the best!
For my flight, I chose the Sexy Reds flight. The flight included the following wines: Catena Malbee ’13, Concannon Petite Surat ’14, and Seghesio Family Zinfandel ’15. The Concannon was my favorite!
Location: CRU Food and Wine Bar, 107 Summit At Fritz Farm #120, Lexington, Kentucky 40517 (The Summit at Fritz Farm)
18. Appetizers are my jam! Whenever I go out to eat, about 9 times out of 10, I order an appetizer of some sort! These are Pretzel Nuggz from HopCat! These pretzels are flash-fried & salted. and are served with warm cheese sauce and spicy horsey mustard for dipping.
Location: HopCat, 410 W Short Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40507
17. CRU Food and Wine Bar had one of my favorite meals that I’ve ever eaten! When I went, I got the special of the day, which was a rack of lamb and potato parmesan risotto. My husband got the other special, which was a fresh sea bass served on a bed of mashed potatoes with a red wine reduction. Super fancy and super delicious!
Location: CRU Food and Wine Bar, 107 Summit At Fritz Farm #120, Lexington, Kentucky 40517 (The Summit at Fritz Farm)
16. Lexington finally got a Skyline Chili! Skyline invited me to try it out before they officially opened! We got to sample just about everything on the menu – the Coney, the 3 Way, Cheese Fries, and the Funnel Cake Fries. LaRosa’s Pizza, which is also from Cincinnati is opening in 2019!
Location: Skyline Chili, 2850 Richmond Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40509
15. When there is great weather, there is nothing like stopping by and enjoying a popsicle from Steel City Pops in The Summit at Fritz Farm. Steel City Pops make great gourmet popsicles. Their popsicles are made from the freshest, all-natural or certified-organic ingredients that are harvested locally where possible.
Location: Steel City Pops, 111 Summit at Fritz Farm, Suite 110, Lexington, Kentucky 40517
14. Have y’all heard of rolled ice cream? It’s a cool version of ice cream, and you guessed it, it is rolled! I tried the Strawberry and Nutella at CRAVE Food and Music Festival back this summer! Click here and scroll through the videos to see it all in action and how they go about making it! If you missed out on this, be sure to go to One World Ice Cream!
Location: One World Ice Cream, 99 Waller Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40504
Post from August 2018: Lexington, Kentucky’s Signature Food Festival – CRAVE 2018
13. You might be surprised that Whole Foods at The Summit at Fritz Farm has some amazing desserts!
Location: Whole Foods, 4059 Finn Way, Lexington, Kentucky 40503 (The Summit at Fritz Farm)
12. Minglewood is home to one of my favorite burgers. My motto when it comes to burgers is the messier the better! The Noli Burger is ridiculously good and totally messy, but it’s worth it! It is topped with melted brie, bacon orange marmalade on a 6 oz. burger. From my experience, the messiest burger is the most delicious!
Location: Minglewood, 159 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Post from August 2017: Live Love & Eat Local: Lexington Eats Week 2017 Recap
11. Steel City Pops is the perfect place to enjoy a summer treat. They are located in the heart of The Summit at Fritz Farm. Get a popsicle and enjoy the beautiful afternoon or evening on the green. Many times if the weather is good, there may be live music!
This particular popsicle is the Birthday Pop. It’s a cookies and cream pop, dipped in white chocolate, and dredged in all natural sprinkles.
Location: Steel City Pops, 111 Summit at Fritz Farm, Suite 110, Lexington, Kentucky 40517
10. OBC Kitchen is one of my favorite date night restaurants. OBC Kitchen is brought to you by the same people who brought you Malone’s, Harry’s, Drake’s, and Aqua Sushi. OBC Kitchen’s version of chicken and biscuits is out of this world! It is crispy-fried chicken cutlets, buttermilk cheddar biscuits, tasso cream, roasted corn salsa, hot honey, and crispy leeks.
Location: OBC Kitchen, 3373 Tates Creek Road, Lexington Kentucky 40502 (Landsdowne Shoppes)
Post from April 2018: Local Spotlight: OBC Kitchen
9. Pasta Garage is one of my favorite casual Italian eateries! They were in attendance at the 6th annual CRAVE Food and Music Festival and of course I had to get what they were serving! I had the aracini, which is rice and cheese balls, along with Kentucky shaped butter noodles infused with hemp!
Location: Pasta Garage, 962 Delaware Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40505
Post from September 2018: Local Spotlight: Pasta Garage
8. Whole Foods is basically macaron heaven! They have many different flavors to pick from!
Location: Whole Foods, 4059 Finn Way, Lexington, Kentucky 40503 (The Summit at Fritz Farm)
7. More deliciousness from Pasta Garage!
Location: Pasta Garage, 962 Delaware Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40505
6. A close-up of some of the yummy food that you can find on the Kentucky State Parks Culinary Trail! Be sure to use #tasteky and #betterinthebluegrass on IG to promote tourism to our area!
Location: The Official Site of Kentucky Department of Tourism, 100 Airport Road, 2nd floor, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
5. Core Life Eatery has some amazingly beautiful salads! They are also fresh and healthy! Core Life has green bowls, grain bowls, grain bowls, broth bowls, as well as made-from-scratch beverages. Their menu is perfect if you are eating vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free!
Location: Core Life Eatery, 4040 Finn Way, Suite 110, Lexington, Kentucky 40517 (The Summit at Fritz Farm)
4. Carson’s is probably my favorite brunch spot! It’s no secret that chicken and waffles is one of my favorite dishes. For me, when breakfast comes, I always run into a dilemma – savory or sweet?
With Carson’s Chicken and Waffles, you can either choose their sweet version or their savory! I opted for the sweet version. It is Carson’s fried chicken placed on their Belgian waffles, topped with candied pecans, maple syrup, powdered sugar, and fresh strawberries.
The savory version is Carson’s fried chicken placed on their Belgian waffle, topped with pork belly sage gravy, pork belly and shaved scallions.
If you haven’t been, definitely be sure you make reservations!
Location: Carson’s, 362 East Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Post from May 2018: Local Spotlight: Carson’s Food and Drink
3. Minglewood is a restaurant located on Restaurant Row in downtown Lexington – North Limestone. Two of my favorite Southern dishes are Chicken and Waffles and the Kentucky Hot Brown. When I saw that Minglewood had a Fried Chicken Hot Brown on their menu, I had to order it. The Fried Chicken Hot Brown was made with wheat toast, city ham, tomato chutney, crispy fried chicken, smoked cheddar mornay, spinach, and bacon crumbles. What I love about Hot Browns is that the individual chef always put their own spin on it!
Location: Minglewood, 159 North Limestone, Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Post from August 2018: Local Spotlight: Minglewood
2. July is National Ice Cream Month, so mark it on your calendars for 2019! I teamed up with Graeter’s to celebrate! For my ice cream, I chose peach! Peach is my go to flavor during the summertime!
Locations:
- 836 Euclid Avenue, Lexington, Kentucky 40502 (Chevy Chase)
- 1925 Justice Drive, Lexington, Kentucky 40509 (Hamburg)
1. Earlier this year, A&W hosted a VIP night for some of us Lexington bloggers. We were treated to the Papa Style Burger, onion rings, fries, chicken tenders, poutine, and much more!
Y’all may not know this, but the headquarters are right here in Lexington! We are home to three locations (now four!) and they are the only ones in the WORLD like it!
Locations:
- 652 East Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508
- 114 Towne Center Drive, Lexington, Kentucky 40511
- 3401 Nicholasville Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503
- 2251 War Admiral Way, Suite 110, Lexington, Kentucky 40505
And that’s it, y’all! Be sure to follow along on instagram! Quite frequently, I’ll post something that won’t end up on the blog!
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In Case You Missed It:
- Looking for something to do tonight for New Year’s? I’ve got you covered! I put together a list of over 40 places in Lexington that is doing something for New Year’s!
- 2018 was a great year, so I rounded up the most popular posts that appeared on Fabulous In Fayette in 2018!
Hope y’all have a happy new year!
