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Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/53439
[ Dining Out>>Review ] Farm-to-Table Hangout T he Army is at least partly responsible for Bruce and Courtney Lake opening a cafe downtown in the East End city of Anchorage. Te two avid cooks and devotees of celebrity chefs met at Fort Knox in the late '80s, when Bruce was training as a tank officer and Courtney was fulfilling ROTC duties as a finance officer. "Our first date was at Jack Fry's," Bruce Lake told me in a recent phone conversation. "Tere was not much to do in Radcliff." Tey were living in Connecticut in 2009 when his wife accepted a job at Humana, where she still works. "We didn't move down here to open a cafe," Lake says. "But we talked to people in the community, went to town meetings. People told us they wanted a casual alternative in Anchorage." In April 2010, the couple took the plunge and opened the Anchorage Cafe. Last June, [82] LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 2.12 they brought in executive chef Andrew Myers, who said in a separate conversation that he "didn't even know where Anchorage was" while he was executive chef at Bellini's in Lexington. Te building is a split-level, the only new structure in the small city's redesigned commercial center, and it emulates a train depot, sitting across from the Village Anchor. Te main floor's counter, with glass cases displaying baked goods underneath large chalkboards with the day's menu and specials, also has a spacious barista section and shelves holding bags of roasted beans. A line of stools along another countertop fronts a staircase descending to the restaurant's lower level, where I was able to sample what has become an effort to bring local and seasonal dining to Anchorage. "We didn't really set out to do a farm-to- >>By Stephen Hacker Photos by John Nation Like a slice of old Europe delivered to Kentucky, the Anchorage Cafe takes a rustic approach to menu-making. table thing," Lake told me. "We wanted to become a hangout." And the restaurant is a comfortable place to linger, its lower level an expanse of widely spaced dark tables, chairs and banquettes, with free Wi-Fi and friendly staff encouraging long stays. As the Lakes and Myers became more familiar with the area, they expanded local offerings through breakfast, lunch, and small plates a few evenings each week. During breakfast, my chicken biscuit ($6.25) featured a chicken breast from Marksbury Farm in Lancaster, Ky., expertly coated with panko breadcrumbs, its crust blending nicely with the buttery and crisp chive biscuit and creamy mustard sauce. My cooked-to-order egg sandwich ($5.50 with choice of meat) had its rich yolk ooze into the chewy interior of a locally made pretzel roll that surrounded a thick slab of spicy house-made chorizo.