Kentucky B&B has art, pilates and tasty amenity: Cooking class, lunch by local chef
International foodies are familiar with the concept of “closed-door restaurants” where a host, usually working with a famous chef, provides a multi-course gourmet meal in a secret location that would-be diners must discover for themselves.
A network of these authentic dining experiences crisscrosses the globe from Argentina to South Africa to Belgium. They are the food equivalent of the resurgent speakeasy.
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Kentucky also offers one of these closed-door dining experiences, but it’s not in Louisville or Lexington. Would you believe Georgetown?
Well, believe it. The hostess is Jane Hale, and she would like to invite you to Bleubird Studio + Suites.
After spending 32 years in the rat race of Manhattan, Hale opted for a “180-degree lifestyle shift,” and relocated to Central Kentucky where she purchased the robin’s egg blue two-story house on Georgetown’s West Main Street.
With her adorable Labradoodle Sandy by her side, she has transformed Bleubird Studio + Suites into a cultural community.
In addition to two suites for overnight guests, the Bleubird offers a full-service yoga and pilates studio, an art gallery displaying the works of local artists, and an impressive event space where once a month chef Rodney Jones of Rodney’s on Broadway conducts a cooking class followed by a three-course lunch.
What does chef Rodney serve at lunch
On a recent Sunday, I joined 15 other guests for an afternoon of food, fellowship and fun.
Sipping a glass of prosecco, I watched as chef Rodney started by making a bruschetta with fresh mozzarella, oven-roasted tomatoes, kalamata olives, fresh basil pecorino Romano and balsamic reduction.
Squirming in my seat like a schoolgirl who feared being called on to recite, if past cooking classes were any indication, at any moment I would be summoned to prep my own version. The call never came.
Instead, chef Rodney segued into the entrée — Stuffed Shrimp with Maryland Blue Lump Crab, panko breading, Dijon mustard, Duke’s mayonnaise, egg, lemon juice, dried tarragon and his own Cape Cod seasoning.
Again, no one was singled out to give it a try. By the time Jones started on the dessert course, a flourless chocolate sin cake infused with chambord and topped with crushed pistachio, fresh strawberries, raspberry Melba and whipped cream, guests were happily chatting, starting on their second glass of wine, and nodding agreeably as chef Rodney assured us that we too could make this at our next dinner party.
I decided that this was the kind of cooking class I could cotton to.
Over a lunch of the chef’s delectable dishes, I chatted with two of my table mates, Steve and Tamera Gregory, who had moved to Georgetown from Columbus, Ohio, in 2019.
The Gregorys were repeat guests, having as Tamera says, “come for the local connections and stayed for the food.”
How the Bleubird, Rodney’s collaboration started
It seems the Gregorys are not the only ones. Hale says 40% of her guests are repeat customers.
So, just how did this (not so) secret dining experience get started?
“During the pandemic, I flew in a couple of $150 steaks from Peter Luger’s (a famous Brooklyn steak house) for myself and a guest,” says Hale. “Instead of me cooking them, I asked Rodney to do it.”
It seemed a good decision as Rodney’s on Broadway has been singled out as the “Best Steakhouse in Kentucky” in an online survey by MSN.
That evening proved serendipitous as the bnb owner and the chef decided to collaborate, and came up with the idea of doing the cooking class and lunch as a way to keep both of their businesses viable during COVID.
They started in 2021 with cooking classes on Zoom before moving to the Bleubird where guests still wore masks for everything but eating and tables had to be spaced six feet apart.
“People were so happy to be out of the house, and we remained CDC-compliant throughout,” says Hale.
Jones, a protégé of the late famed Lexington chef Stanley Demos, had previously indicated interest in doing small events in a luxury setting.
“Jane had the space to do the classes,” says Jones, “so I told her I would do the initial one — I’m still here three years later.”
What to expect for lunch
The format has remained the same since that initial event. Guests (limited to 30 people) arrive at the Bleubird at 2 p.m. on a Sunday.
They never know what will be on the menu,” says Hale, “only that they will have three delicious courses.”
Chef Jones does say that the entrée usually focuses on fresh seafood such as tuna, scallops, crab or shrimp.
While the menu may be unpredictable, the one thing that isn’t is the rollicking good time had by all.
“This isn’t a cooking class in the traditional sense,” says Hale. “It’s all about community where like-minded people can come together in a relaxed setting for an experience you really can’t get in a restaurant.”
Bleubird Studio chef’s events
Where: Bleubird Studio + Suites, 427 W Main St. in Georgetown
When: Nov. 10, 2-4 p.m.
Cost: $85 per person and guests should BYOB. Reservations can be made by going to bleubirdstudio.com/events.
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