Lexington, KY - Horse Capital of the World

BLUEGRASS FLAVORS AND FEEL:

Downtown Lexington is such a fun place to hang out these late summer evenings! The most fun in the 18 years I have lived here. There is live music, there are wine tastings, and club scenes with taxi service. With the spectacular temps, everyone is out somewhere. You wanna see who lives here? Go downtown at twilight…and don't go home too early.

The increase is options is so exponential that it is the subject of conversation everywhere. Hasn't Lexington heard the term "recession?" How do you explain the seemingly daily emergence of new spots to eat and drink? And GOOD ones?

Beats me, but one of the newest, and one of the best, is The Village Idiot.

http://www.lexingtonvillageidiot.com/

And don't let the name fool you; the concept and execution is the polar opposite of idiotic.

Lexington has loads of places to drink beer, from flagship Marrika's

http://www.marikkas.com/

to the Irish pubs lining Limestone to Pazzo's and The Beer Trappe.

But TVI is the first gastropub here, and it's a fine introduction.

It is located in an old, two-story post office, the city's first, if I am not mistaken. Every day there are 20 brews on draught, and the selection runs from hyper-hoppy to refreshingly light lager. TVI has wine and a full bar as well.

And the food, under the sure direction of  Executive Chef Andrew Suthers and Sous Chef Wyatt Sarbacker, is appropriately seasonal, as locally-sourced as possible, beer-friendly and elevates not only the level of pub dining, but local cuisine in general.

The specials might be as filling as pork chops with gnocchi in a tomato broth or as quirky as shrimp corn dogs. But the menu's staples should all be sampled--which means a whole bunch of you should go at once--from the bowl of perfectly roasted brussels sprouts to the homemade pickles with chiles to scotch eggs wrapped in duck sausage.

More will be posted on this great newcomer soon, but I would be derelict not to mention it right now…because it is so very much right now!