The “Hot Brown” isn’t brown

The question is, “What’s your specialty?”

It can be a food, a drink, a landmark, or a natural wonder. But if it is unique to an area, we want to see it or sample it.

So when we rolled into Louisville, we knew we had to try the Hot Brown and Derby Pie, and see Churchill Downs. If we had had more time, we would also have toured the Louisville Slugger factory.

Just about every restaurant in town has their version of the Hot Brown, but we decided to go to the place that invented it – The Brown. It’s an elegant hotel and restaurant right downtown. Service was impeccable and the presentation surprisingly pretty for a dish that can be, sorry, a hot mess. It’s like the upscale cousin to the open face turkey sandwich, with a buttery Mornay sauce instead of gravy.  I liked it, but the calorie count has to be astronomical, so I don’t think I’d order it again.

On the other hand, the Derby Pie pushed all my buttons.  It was a little like pecan pie, but made with walnuts and chocolate chips, and a lot less sticky. Derby Pie is trademarked (the company sues anyone who dares call their version by that name), so the only thing The Brown could do was gussy up the presentation.