The Brown Hotel is a destination stop in Louisville.
Our adventure started when Randy, the Dining Room Supervisor, sat us at a sunny table in the dining room. He explained the menu to me and my husband Geoff, and focused on their world famous Hot Brown as a perfect choice for our meal. We already knew it was our dinner choice, since at least three friends suggested that very dish when they heard we were going to Louisville.
Randy enticed us with a play-by-play of ingredients and mentioned how the Mornay sauce takes a few minutes in the oven to reach its peak of perfection.
At that point I mentioned that I run food tours and have had variations of the Hot Brown at a couple of restaurants recently. I told him they were nothing like the dish he was describing and not one of them included Mornay sauce.
Before he left our table, Randy told us Sam would be our server and would be over in a moment to take our orders of one to share and a couple of Caesar salads. I wish I had photos of the salads to show you, but if you know me, you know I only thought of taking a photo after the fact.
I will say, the salads were fine, each with crunchy croutons and a whole anchovy nestled on top. Geoff handed his anchovy over to me knowing it would be quickly cut into tiny bits along with my own and eaten with glee. We enjoyed the salads and took the time to gaze around the room at the beautiful surroundings while waiting for our world famous Hot Brown.
Soon enough, Sam brought our split order of Hot Brown. It had been baked in two separate ceramic skillets, and each delivered on a white charger plate. He assured us the skillets were fresh-out-of-the-oven-hot, so we approached them with care.
Every single bite of our Hot Brown was delicious!
The Texas Toast on the bottom soaked up some of the Mornay sauce and was baked firmly to the bottom of the dish in a couple spots, making for some delightfully chewy turkey-cheesy-bacon moments. Perfection!
Remember Randy, the Dining Room Supervisor, and our brief discussion about other Hot Browns we’ve been served on our food tours? Well, it seems Randy went into the kitchen and told the chef about it. The chef sent word that he’d like to meet with us before we left.
The Executive Chef at The Brown Hotel is James Adams. He’s a pleasant man with a big grin and wonderful stories of cooking at high end hotels and restaurants around the world. He’s cooked with media stars, the likes of Emeril, Bobby Flay and Paula Dean.
Jim, as likes to be called, is The Ambassador for The Brown Hotel and he’s very good at it. He knows its history inside and out and runs the kitchen so well he was able to sit with us at the end of the dinner rush for a full ninety minutes and talk shop! It was so much fun getting the inside scoop on how he manages the kitchen!
In particular, Chef Jim shared with us the details of making the world famous Hot Brown. Like eager students listening to a great teacher we took it all in.
Original Hot Browns are made with homemade Mornay sauce consisting of butter and flour cooked briefly into a smooth rich roux, to which heavy cream, milk and grated Pecorino Romano cheese are added, along with salt and pepper to taste. Separately, fresh strips of bacon are cooked until crispy and set aside until needed. Fresh Roma tomatoes are cut in half and held at the ready. Mountains of Pecorino Romano cheese are grated and kept chilled. Parsley and paprika stand by to garnish and add delicate flavor. As long as the mis en place is ready, meaning everything in its place, then Hot Browns come together in the kitchen easily. They’d better, since about 1,200 Hot Browns are consumed by guests on an average Saturday!
To make a Hot Brown place two slices of Texas toast, trimmed of the crust, on the bottom of an oven-proof baking dish. Place 7 ounces of freshly roasted turkey cut fresh from the breast evenly on the toast. Nestle two halves of a Roma tomato at each end of the baking dish. Pour a generous portion of the Mornay sauce to completely cover the dish. Sprinkle half of the grated Pecorino Romano cheese over all, place the dish under the broiler until the cheese bubbles and browns. Remove from the broiler, place two pieces of crisp bacon in a crisscross pattern on top, sprinkle with even more grated cheese, paprika and parsley. Slip the skillet onto a charger plate and get it to the table while piping hot.
The staff in the dining room at The Brown Hotel kept our glasses full while we visited with the chef at our table. Upon leaving, we thanked our servers for their service. I said they were lucky to work with such a fine and good natured chef. They agreed and asked if we’ve known him for a long time. They were quite surprised to find we had just met that evening. As I said before, Chef Jim Adams is a very good ambassador for The Brown Hotel.