Had a mighty fine weekend in Berea. My brides family reunion was held there this past weekend and we had our usual great time catching up on the family. Boone Tavern Inn is in the middle of a $10 Million renovation which should finish up in mid 2009 to celebrate their 100th anniversary. The whole second floor of the Inn is now closed and being completely renovated. We stayed on the 3rd floor and our room was nice in a 1948 style way. Looking forward to seeing the rest of it reborn next year.
As the kitchen was the first to be renovated I asked for a tour from the kitchen manager and they were happy to show it off. The space has been opened up and a row of windows on the back has been added making it very light. They have individual gas line hook-ups in the floor so they can move the stations around as necessary depending on how much space they may need for prepping and cooking for any given event. All new walk ins, dishwashing and the usual. They proudly pointed out the large standing 1948 Hobart mixer. They had it rewired and polished up and it still is the only mixer that has been making their famous spoonbread since then.
We had the Sunday Buffet yesterday and it was very good. The usual suspects for breakfast food and green beans, steamed fresh vegetables, fried chicken, mashed taters, omelet station and a hot carving station rounded out the bill of fare. 4 desserts available and good strong brewed ice tea.
The fried chicken was battered in spoonbread mix which made for a very interesting crust. Like a thick cornmeal coating but without any discernible grease present. It was delicious.
We headed down there Saturday night and had Papaleno's pizza for dinner. Hand tossed fresh dough makes this pizza stand up very well. It is a fine example of the small town pizzeria. Giovannis Pizza in West Liberty, KY makes a similar style pie. Good sturdy crust with large chunks of spicy sausage and large, thick pepperoni rounds.
Good weekend for small town Kentucky chow.
