Lunch At The Jeptha Creed Café

We were looking for someplace new to have lunch and Rosemary suggested we try the Jeptha Creed Café. We have been to Jeptha Creed Distillery before, but the only time we had eaten there was when we attended a Farm to Table Dinner with Josh Moore of Volare’ Restaurant. We decided to go and try their Café.

It is an easy drive from our house just east of downtown Louisville. Traffic was light and we arrived in about twenty minutes. We walked in and told them we wanted to get lunch at the café. We were directed to the bar where you order food and drinks and pick any seat available while your food is prepared. We ordered cocktails – I had the Winter Sour made with their 4 grain Bourbon, egg white, lemon juice, spiced simple syrup and garnished with a sage leaf and a sprinkle of nutmeg. Rosemary tried their barrel-aged Black Manhattan made with their Bonded Bourbon, Amaro Averna, Ne Oublic Black Walnut bitters and orange bitters and aged for a couple of months in an empty Bourbon barrel. Both cocktails were excellent.

We tried their soup of the week, a broccoli cheddar soup, a grilled cheese sandwich and a supreme pizza. The soup was one of the best broccoli soups I have ever had, served with a couple of mini corn muffins made from their Bloody Butcher corn meal. The sandwich was good but the star of the show was the pizza. It was not greasy and limp-as you might expect from a distillery, not a pizzeria. It was a 14” pizza with plenty of toppings but not overly topped and not too messy to eat.

I was recognized and very soon we were talking to Bradley Smith, the Vice President of Tourism and Hospitality. I am glad he stopped by our table because it had been a couple of years since I was last at Jeptha Creed Distillery and I had several questions for him. First of all, the distillery is expanding its market into several new states, but they do not have an overseas export market yet. Domestic sales are still strong and I expect that they will get better. Hard times usually lead to more people buying bottles of whiskey and not going out to drink. The distillery is running at capacity and tourism is still strong. Jeptha Creed is planning a bourbon and cigars event on their outdoor patio on May 1st. They have scheduled a Jammin’ at Jeptha event with the Bacon Brothers on June 21st. There’s a lot going on at Jeptha Creed Distillery.
It was an excellent lunch and cocktails. We enjoyed our visit to the distillery and plan on going back soon. I would recommend anyone visiting Louisville to do the Bourbon Trail, to make the short drive out to Shelbyville and visit the Jeptha Creed Distillery.