Have you ever had one of those weeks where you could just pick up and leave it all?  Well, we certainly have, and as part of Nashville Fork’s continuing mission of exploring not only Nashville, but also other cities we have the pleasure of visiting, we thought we’d tell you about a recent, spur of the moment trip to Louisville, KY.  There’s nothing quite like leaving work early and instructing your wife to be home early, so the two of you can spend the weekend in a historic hotel, with beautiful accommodations, and one that is famous for no less than a piece of southern history.  The Brown Hotel is the quintessential southern hotel, with a beautiful lobby, plush accommodations, and a distinct flair for classic, upscale southern dining.

After a rough week, you can see Sarah’s selection for our first evening (a traditional Kentucky mint julep, with Maker’s Mark Bourbon), and mine (just barely on the side) a Marker’s Mark and Diet Coke.  Let’s just say there’s something about a hotel where you can walk down from your room, sit down in the lobby, and order your drink and a southern classic just minutes after checking in.

The Brown specializes not only in its Hot Brown Sandwich, but takes a lot of pride in it’s Cheeseburger, shown below.  The burger is top quality beef smothered with delicious cheddar cheese in it’s purest form.  The crispy fries are are nothing to shake a stick at either, but the main course was no less than the completely decadent Hot Brown.

The Hot Brown’s  combination of roast turkey, bacon, bechamel sauce, and tomatoes makes for a combination with so many flavor profiles, it’s almost hard to separate each one.  One bite might be the salty bite of bacon, while another might be the cheesy good ness of the sauce combined with juicy roast turkey.  In all the hot brown is definitely worth traveling for, and might be something we at Nashville Fork try to recreate come Thanksgiving.