Wednesday, March 23, 2016

March Forecast: Windy Corners




Ah, Lexington. Pick a road, drive away from the center of town, and within eight minutes or so, you are surrounded by the kind of countryside that has made our region legendary. Residents take it for granted.  It inspires awe in our visitors.

Pick Bryan Station Road and head out of town. As the subdivisions become fewer, and farther apart, the landscape opens up to those famous rolling hills of bluegrass pastureland. By early spring, the fields will already be green, and Lexington’s next crop of potential superstars will be frolicking over the soggy ground. That’s another thing Lexington residents often take for granted; the presence of horses.

At the corner of Bryan Station and Muir Station roads, you’ll find a charming restaurant/market/watering hole called Windy Corner. And yes, it always seems to be windy at this intersection, not just in March!  The restaurant is delightfully unexpected, surrounded as it is on all sides by horse farms.  This isn’t an old general store or house that has been re-purposed. It’s new construction. The horses in the adjacent paddock are clearly already acclimated and ready to pose for pictures.
Pick a table near any window so you can gaze out at the horses grazing nearby and day dream about having a stake in the next Derby winner. But before you start fantasizing about owning your own thoroughbred operation, do pay attention to the menu—it’s diverse.  They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. They also offer bakery items and ice cream.

It’s hard to make a bad choice here. Menu items range from Po-Boys, salads, fish baskets, burgers and “health pub baskets” to Cornish game hen, prime rid and steamed shrimp. There are always daily specials as well. Let me just give a tip: order Mabel’s Nut Burger. It is not a burger made from nuts. It’s made from 100% Kentucky beef with an intriguing -- and very tasty-- spicy peanut dressing. Unexpected, but delightful ...just like Windy Corner itself.

Windy Corner Market and Restaurant
4595 Bryan Station Road
Lexington, KY, 40516
Open seven days a week!