Lawrence Weeks grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and cooked there in his early twenties, but he left when the food scene began to feel stagnant to him.
After working for Todd Richards in Atlanta and Ouita Michel at Lexington’s Honeywood restaurant, he returned home as chef of the new North of Bourbon. Now, Louisville’s dining scene reflects its diverse population. “I see a boom of artisans and the younger generation of chefs and creators taking off here,” Weeks says. “I didn’t think I was going to come back, but the homecoming has been great.”
North of Bourbon
We’re a restaurant and bourbon bar that focuses on the connection between New Orleans and Louisville. We want to educate guests on the subcultures that aren’t always highlighted—Italian, Vietnamese. I love it because I’ve gotten to learn about those subcultures myself. My great-great-grandfather was Chinese, and I found out that the Chinese were down South helping build the transcontinental railroads and mixing in the Black community. I get to show people the history of New Orleans beyond étouffée, gumbo, and po-boys.
Red Hog
Red Hog is an artisanal butcher shop using local animals to do whole-animal cuts and subprimals. They also have a restaurant. I’ll get a cocktail and sit at the bar, and after I have dinner or snacks, I’ll take home a steak or something that I can cook the next day. They have a sardine toast that’s really good, and their menu changes pretty often.
Frazier History Museum
My favorite exhibit is the bourbon exhibit, which highlights Al Capone and the bootleggers, and the history of distilling in America. There are artifacts and old-school bottles from pre- and post-Prohibition. When bourbon used to be outlawed, companies would circumvent the laws by saying it was medicine—a pint or a bottle a day was a prescription. It’s downtown on Whiskey Row. The buildings down there were barrel houses, and they would age bourbon in those basements.
Jasmine Chinese Cuisine
My family used to go there when I was a kid, and we would always eat from the Americanized menu. When I was sixteen or seventeen, I went in and they handed me an authentic [Chinese] menu. The lady apologized, but I was like, ‘Hold on, now—y’all have been holding out for ten years!’ That was the first time I really had Szechuan food, and I fell in love with it immediately. I like the garlic green beans, Chongqing chicken, and the spicy eggplant. Then I’ll get the dan dan noodles and some dumplings.
“Most Visited Places” is an ongoing digital and print series, underwritten by The Mountain Valley Spring Water.
