Hot Browns

WHY is it that every restaurant in Louisville (even if it's a chain NOT based in Louisville but is operating there) thinks they have to "reinvent" the Hot Brown?? I've had the original, and I like it. I don't like you (the restaurants) deciding to change the sauce..........I don't like you adding fruit to it.....I LIKE the bacon on it.

I had one of the most disappointting hot browns yesterday.......thankfully the management was FANTASTIC about helping me with the situation (replaced it with the best reuben that I have had in a LONNNNNNNNG time).

[Robin Garr]

Does Winston's still have the famous NOT Brown on their menu?

Does Winston's still have the famous NOT Brown on their menu?

Yep. Fried green tomatoes, shrimp, crab, bacon, spinach, mornay sauce. It's gooood.

I'm all for culinary creativity. Perhaps the larger sin was not making it clear that a traditional Hot Brown wasn't gonna be delivered to your table?

[Robin Garr]

Does Winston's still have the famous NOT Brown on their menu?

Yep. Fried green tomatoes, shrimp, crab, bacon, spinach, mornay sauce. It's gooood.

And, as I recall, started as a little Castro brothers sibling rivalry, in a good way.

It's kind of like how everything is now called a Martini in a lot of bars. People have expectations for what a dish is based on its name, if you change it, change the name!

Trisha, what restaurant was this? It would be nice to know so we could avoid the Hot Brown but more importantly try the Reuben!

It's kind of like how everything is now called a Martini in a lot of bars. People have expectations for what a dish is based on its name, if you change it, change the name!

I blame vodka. Vodka is what done it.

Yeah, I don't know where the peaches on a Hot Brown got started, but I would get the occasional request for them when I was at Big Spring, so probably one of the clubs would be my guess.
The only tinkering I've ever done to the Hot Brown was to make my "Southwestern" version which subbed a green chili Cheddar cornbread for the toast points and I would add add green chilis to the mornay sauce. It was a popular special when I served it in my City Cafe days.
However, I've figured over the years that it's best not to monkey around with the original too much. Some people also seem convinced that ham belongs on a Hot Brown as well. When I moved back here in the late 90's to re-open The Old Talbott Tavern, the Hot Brown was the most popular comment card topic or complaint. It seemed everyone had an opinion abut what they thought the "original" was supposed to be