CMT Blog: Archive

Let's build my perfect sandwich - turkey, bacon, tomato and lots of cheese. Mmmm... But if you're dining in The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Ky., take it one step further and order a famous Hot Brown. The toast is buried beneath all those ingredients, as well as a creamy roux sauce, so you'll need a knife and fork to eat this decadent open-faced sandwich. Personally, I like a glass (or two) of Kentucky-made Basil Hayden's bourbon to wash it all down.

Back in the 1920s, when socializing involved exquisite dining and dancing, more than 1200 guests would waltz away the hours at the Brown Hotel. After the last dance, they'd seek out the restaurant, only to find the same old ham and eggs. The chef, Fred Schmidt, decided to step up his late-night menu, concocting a turkey sandwich topped with creamy Mornay sauce. Since everything is better with bacon, that's the top ingredient on the dish. Today the Hot Brown is served in a skillet with a few tomato wedges. You certainly won't miss the side items.

I didn't feel appropriately dressed for the formal dining room, so my friend and I plopped in the extremely comfortable couch in the lobby area, and our friendly waitress was still quite attentive. If you're lucky, there will be a cool concert going on next door in the beautiful Brown Theater. If not, the hotel is just a few minutes away from the nightlife at Fourth Street Live, although the indie vibe of Bardstown Road is more my style. Of course, all that food might send you straight to bed, and that's OK too - The Brown Hotel is AAA four-diamond establishment, so you're bound to be comfortable as you dream about turkey and bacon and cheese and tomatoes and ....

Get the recipe for The Hot Brown.