I know what you guys are thinking: when you envision fresh, responsibly-raised seafood, your minds immediately go to land-locked Lexington, KY, right? Well, you would be correct, because that very thing is happening over at Smithtown Seafood! Not only do they serve up some of the best seafood around, they’re also doing a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff for our community that’s really cool. Smithtown opened in October of 2013 inside the Bread Box, a 90,000 sq. ft. complex that is home to several awesome businesses, including Broke Spoke, Magic Beans Roastery, and West Sixth Brewing, just to name a few. They also recently opened a second location inside The Barn food hall at The Summit at Fritz Farm, which segues into our series of local restaurants inside The Barn. Smithtown Seafood is also a part of the Ouita Michel family of restaurants here in the central Kentucky area, which is great because we’re huge fans of Ouita here at Bluegrass Bourbon and Eats! The name Smithtown pays homage to the neighborhood where this downtown compound is located, aptly named for Smith Street, which intersects West Sixth Street near the building. As we’ll find out about all of Ouita Michel’s restaurants, a lot of the Smithtown employees actually live in the neighborhood, giving people within the community a chance to really get some good work experience. 

We got to spend a really fun Monday afternoon with Ann Daugherty, the general manager of the West Sixth Smithtown location, and we learned all kinds of really cool stuff about one of our favorite seafood spots! Ann met Ouita in 2001 when Ouita was looking to open a stand-alone bakery for her flagship restaurant, the Holly Hill Inn, located in Midway. The two worked together to open Wallace Station in 2003, and while Ann had left the area for a couple of years to help her friends open their own restaurant, she made her way back to central Kentucky to work once more with Ouita. She now oversees the day-to-day operations at the original Smithtown location, where she's very personable with her staff, as well as the guests that visit the restaurant. Ann had a lot of interesting things to tell us about Smithtown Seafood, but first, we'll start with the menu. Both locations have a very similar menu (they are about 90% the same, according to Ann), but a very striking difference is that while you can get burgers at the original location, they are not on the menu at The Barn. This is because The Barn location shares a space with Pasture by Marksbury Farm, who specialize in serving grass-fed beef and chorizo burgers, and Ouita didn't want to cause competition within the food hall over burgers. However, if you stop by The Barn location on Sundays when Pasture is closed, you may see a burger special on the menu (not every Sunday, but I would bet it's a hot item when it's available)! The menu is about to get a shake-up at both locations, so be on the lookout for that to happen sometime this month; the carp will be coming off the menu, and the beloved tilapia will become more of a monthly special rather than an everyday item.

We also learned a little bit about where the seafood comes from for both restaurants! The tilapia is grown in-house in large aquaponic tanks by the awesome folks at FoodChain, a local non-profit that is also housed within the Bread Box (co-founded by Ouita, of course!), while the catfish comes from a farm in western Kentucky; the other seafood items come from other states, (the shrimp comes from Biloxi, MS for example), but that's okay - like we said earlier, Kentucky's not exactly near any large bodies of water! The best-selling fish and chips dinner is made using the West Sixth amber ale, and all of the breadings are made with Weisenberger Mill products out of Midway. While we were here we, of course, had to sit down and try the food; Renee had the Superfood Quinoa burger, while I had catfish platter. Renee's quinoa burger was very good; made with beans, tofu, millet, and spices, it was a very flavorful sandwich that even Renee (a very picky eater) enjoyed! I love a good catfish platter, and this was one of the best that I've ever had; the catfish is raised in Kentucky, and you can tell it's quality fish - the inside of the catfish was meaty and white all the way through instead of being kind of mealy and dark. Smithtown makes quite a variety of sauces to put on your fish; I chose the cilantro lime yogurt, the old-fashioned tartar, and the remoulade, but they also offer harissa mayo, harissa vegannaise, fresh horseradish cocktail, Thai nam pla, and ginger soy. I haven't had these other sauces, but I would bet that you can find at least one that will make your taste buds explode!

Let's take a small step back and dive a little deeper into FoodChain because they are doing some really cool stuff for our community. This nonprofit organization has worked to bring healthy foods and agricultural education to the downtown Lexington area via the first aquaponics system to be in use in Kentucky. Aquaponics works as a symbiotic, self-sustaining system that is used to grow both fish and leafy greens; the leafy greens provide a filtration system for the fish, while the fish manure provides fertilizer for the leafy greens. The fish are also fed with the spent grain that comes from the neighboring West Sixth Brewery, which helps reduce the amount of waste from the brewery itself. As we said earlier, tilapia is the type of fish that is raised using the FoodChain aquaponics system, so when you order this dish from Smithtown Seafood you'll know exactly where it came from - just mere feet from where you placed your order! This area of Lexington is also known as a food desert, meaning that there is no access to healthy food and produce within the area, and FoodChain is working to change that by providing these citizens with fresh, healthy food. But they don't stop there; FoodChain also hosts cooking classes, as well as helps people prepare for a career in the food industry by giving hands-on demonstrations in a commercial kitchen. The way FoodChain has teamed up with Ouita and the Smithtown Seafood family is really awesome; it's certainly an inspiration for both Renee and me to get involved in our community. 

When we walked into the Bread Box complex, we thought we were just going to learn about some good local seafood; I don't think either of us knew how much we would learn about our community and how truly amazing it really is here. And much like the sense of community that has evolved with Smithtown and the other restaurants at The Barn food hall, the establishments in the Bread Box have achieved the same success. The more Renee and I get to go out and about in Lexington and talk to local business owners, the more we realize that competition in the city is virtually nonexistent; everyone wants to work together to make each other better, and that's something neither of us really knew was the case in Lexington. We've spent a big chunk of our lives in this city, and knowing that there are so many good people here that want to help not only each other but others here who are less fortunate makes me proud to be a part of this community. So the next time you're in the mood to go out and have a nice seafood meal, whether it be lunch or dinner, stop in to either Smithtown Seafood location - not only will you be supporting a local business, you'll also be able to feel good about what they do behind the scenes.