The Hot Brown at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky

We thought it would be fun to head to Louisville, Kentucky, last week to get into the Kentucky Derby spirit since the derby is just a few short weeks away. Of course, we went right to the source to find out how to make some of the best Derby Day dishes and learn about the traditions behind those recipes.

When you think of Louisville, The Brown Hotel certainly comes to mind as one of the grandest hotels in the city. What better place to start this adventure than The Brown Hotel, where The Hot Brown sandwich originated. The Hot Brown is in its 85th year, so it was time to celebrate that anniversary and the upcoming Derby with an original Hot Brown sandwich (or maybe two!).

The Brown Hotel has received many awards, including the Top 25 Best Hotels in North America by Condé Naste Traveler Magazine and Best Hotel/Resort in Kentucky by Kentucky Monthly Magazine. Their English Grill fine dining restaurant has received AAA’s Four-Diamond restaurant award and was recognized by ForbesTraveler.com for the Chef Table Top Ten.

This elegant and historic landmark in downtown Louisville is a true step back in time.  You might have guessed that we have a special affinity for older hotels.  Thankfully, this one was not haunted (like Le Pavillon in New Orleans or The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina).

We thought for a few minutes we might have been on a roll and hit on another spooky hotel when a pilot at The Thoroughbred Lounge (the lobby bar) mentioned that a few flight attendants have seen ghosts. However, I personally think these gals have had a few too many Kentucky bourbons before their bedtime, don’t you? I could not find any tales about uninvited, special guests, so that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

The Brown Hotel was built in 1923 by J. Graham Brown, a local wealthy businessman.  As with many of these grand old hotels, it has a rich past and has been visited by many well-known guests such as the Duke of Windsor, Elizabeth Taylor, Harry Truman, Gene Autry, and Muhammad Ali.

The hotel opened during prohibition (which lasted until 1933), but that sure didn’t stop anyone from imbibing. Too much late-night partying and dancing is one of the reasons we now have the Hot Brown.

The hotel has also had its share of less glamorous times throughout the years. One of those times was when it flooded in January of 1937 when the Ohio River rose and overflowed into the city of Louisville. A resurgence came along for the City of Louisville and The Brown Hotel with the onset of World World War II. The prosperity of the hotel continued until the city’s residents started moving away from the city in the late fifties as roads and transportation made it easier to move out where there was more land.

Mr. Brown passed away in 1969, and the hotel closed two years later in 1971. It was eventually purchased in 1983, and restoration began. In 1990, the Camberly Hotel Company assumed management, and the hotel was restored to its original grandeur.

The ceilings and marble archways in the lobby area are truly spectacular. I was also fascinated with the original brass bank-teller-type windows at the check-in area. Can you imagine the days when people actually paid cash for everything?

The Hot Brown has been part of the history of this hotel and Louisville since 1926 when the hotel’s chef, Fred K. Schmidt, invented the Hot Brown. Chef Schmidt created this sandwich late one night after an evening of waay too much alcohol, dancing, and revelry by the guests.

The party-goers (as many as 1200 each evening for the hotel’s nightly dinner dance) were tired of late-night ham and eggs, so the chef went into the kitchen and used what was available that evening which happened to be turkey, heavy cream sauce, bacon, and tomatoes. Voilà! The Hot Brown was born!

Although the exact original recipe may vary a bit (possibly Hollandaise Sauce rather than Mornay Sauce or some pimento to top the sandwich), this recipe remains the standard.  The Hot Brown has been featured in Southern Living, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and on The Today Show. Bobby Flay even challenged the hotel’s chef last March to a Hot Brown Throwdown; the Brown Hotel won, although it was close.

We met with Chef Laurent Géroli, Executive Chef at The Brown Hotel, to learn how to make the original version, which he does in this video. He’s so talented and personable on camera that I think he needs to apply to Top Chef.

Since it is the 85th anniversary of the Hot Brown, Chef Géroli is creating 85 different versions of the Hot Brown.  It’s a little bit like Bubba Gump and the shrimp…don’t you think?  We did try a Hot Brown Croquette during our visit, and it was very tasty. I wish I could sample the other 84 versions of the Hot Brown. Maybe we should go back for The Derby.

The Hot Brown is the most requested dish at the hotel and is served everywhere you can dine at The Brown Hotel and at nearly every restaurant in Louisville. We even had a version of the Hot Brown for breakfast one morning. It was pretty amazing to see them lined up in the kitchen when we were with Chef Géroli. Everyone I saw in the bar had a Hot Brown dish in front of them. People even walked through the lobby asking where they could order one. These rich, little sandwiches are incredibly popular.

The English Grill at the Brown Hotel restaurant is one place that you need not order the Hot Brown and treat yourself to other delightful creations from Chef Géroli and his culinary team. Chef Matthew Wilcoxson is at the helm at this restaurant (under the direction of Chef Géroli).

We loved the old-world elegance of The English Grill. The food was creative, and there was a mix of what I would call traditional Kentucky flavors along with an international flair. As one of the finest restaurants in Louisville, it is certainly a place to spend an evening for a special occasion.

You must have the Striptease Dessert (no matter how many Hot Browns you have had that day and dinner courses you have just had at The English Grill). It is not to be missed.  Be sure to ask Chef Géroli to do the honors and light it for you. Booze and chocolate…I knew I liked this guy! 😉

If you are a frequent reader of Pratesi Living, you know that I will bring home a recipe from our travels and make it in my own kitchen. This trip was no exception. Besides, no one can ever have too many Hot Browns (well, maybe…).

The recipe that the Brown Hotel provides varies slightly from Chef Géroli’s creation. He adds two extra slices of bacon in the process. His Texas Toast is also more like a brioche pullman, so it is sweeter and heavier (the Texas Toast I generally think of is a white bread). His Mornay Sauce was also a bit different.

To be as authentic as possible, I roasted a whole turkey last night. I did use half and half in place of the heavy cream (I need to watch that ever so expanding girlish figure of mine). I also used brioche bread in place of the Texas Toast.

The Hot Browns I made were excellent based on the recipe and looked just like the dish we had in Louisville. I did not have any luck finding the Hot Brown dish so I substituted a 19 ounce au gratin dish, but once you start to eat it, you won’t care what it’s served in.

I prepared these for the hubs and my stepson and there weren’t but a few words or sounds uttered while they worked their way through the dish, like an OMG! or Mmmm here and there. I take that as a positive sign.

As close as mine was to the version I had at The Brown Hotel, they are definitely keeping the recipe for their secret sauce to themselves up there in Louisville. Chef Géroli’s Mornay Sauce was different in flavor and in color from the one I made. I knew it would be because the ingredients I used were all white and their sauce was a bit orange. My best guess is that there is some cheddar cheese in their version and perhaps some paprika or Worcestershire Sauce.

Their Mornay Suace was also thinner. I am sure they need to keep the sauce thinner since they make sooo many of these at the hotel. Otherwise, it would seize up and get too thick to pour. I am now on a mission to go back to Louisville to see exactly what they are doing in that kitchen to make those things so darn delectable.

If you can’t make a trip to Louisville, this recipe is certainly as close as you can get to the real Hot Brown. One bite and you will be addicted!

Thank you so much to The Brown Hotel, Chef Géroli, and their gracious staff for allowing us to spend some time with them in the kitchen. They were incredibly hospitable (as you would expect they would be in the state of Kentucky).

I highly recommend a trip to Louisville, The Brown Hotel, and ordering a Hot Brown while in town. We had so much fun and cannot wait to share the rest of our adventures with you. The Derby is just ten days away, so grab a hat and start planning your party.

Enjoy!

Disclosure – Thank you to the Brown Hotel for providing dinner and our room during our stay.