When we moved to rural Kentucky many of our friends thought we were crazy. Why would we move ourselves 40 minutes outside of the city; 40 minutes away from convenience and access?
Lexington is wonderful, but we’d spent our time there. And after moving back from Brazil, honestly, I had changed. I didn’t care so much about things like going to Target once a week, or having easy access to take out.
Fortunately, looking back there is no way I would change our decision. Of course, there is our garden, and the silence of the weekend morning, but more importantly we have explored a side of Kentucky that we never would have otherwise.
And we have found some amazing things along the way.
Our most recent exploration? The Bluebird in Stanford, KY.
A small cafe serving gourmet food made with local ingredients such as pastured eggs and meats? A cozy, modern breakfast and lunch spot on a quaint small-town main street that uses the modern technology of an iPhone to take your order and an iPad to check out?
Yes, and yes.
I was blown away by the Bluebird. I don’t mean to say the food I have enjoyed in smaller towns isn’t tasty, but I wasn’t expecting such an outstanding experience from quality of the food, to creativity of the menu, to friendliness of the staff.
It’s less than an hour drive from where we live, and we set out for breakfast a few weekends ago after our Saturday morning run. I had checked out the menu online so I already knew what I was getting – the Breakfast Fries.
Brilliant, right? I mean, home fries are breakfast food, why not take the potato in the form of a French fry and cover it with all kinds of breakfast goodies. And they did just that with bacon, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, scallions, eggs and smoked Gouda sauce. It tasted every bit as good as it sounds.
We split that, and my husband ordered a biscuit with gravy. It’s standard around here, although this version was anything but, with a light, fluffy homemade biscuit and savory sausage gravy.
Thanks to the Bluebird I also discovered a new (to me) small batch, hand-roasted coffee in Kentucky – Baxter’s Coffee in Somerset, KY. You know I’m a bit of a coffee snob, and I am always surprised how delicious a locally roasted coffee can be. We enjoyed it so much my husband picked up a bag on his most recent visit. (Yes, he’s already been back!)
If you find yourself traveling through the Bluegrass state, put the small town of Stanford and the Bluebird on your agenda. It surpassed our former favorites even among the delicious foods in Lexington. My thanks to Chef Bill Hawkins for bringing wonderful locally sourced food to unexpected places.
202 W. Main Street
Stanford, KY. 40484
Mon-Sat 7am-4pm
Sounds like a great time with good food and a fun atmosphere. I completely understand being able to move away from the big town life, especially after living abroad. I feel the same way now. We live in rural Japan now but have much more available to us then when we lived in the Azores. I could just as easily live in the middle of nowhere in the US without a Target or Walmart around. I won’t lie though, I order from Amazon all the time! It’s how I get just about everything I need (SD card for the camera, running shoes, etc). It’s just cheaper than the local Japanese economy, although I do shop locally here too.
Everything looks fabulous! I’m super excited about going this weekend. I love that they have a pot of herbs outside the door with the little bluebirds!
Melinda – It’s so great to hear you’ve had a similar experience. And we do a lot of ordering too! It’s so much easier. 🙂
Candy – You will love it! Also, they have cute little bluebirds like that all around the store. A nice touch.
Oh I can’t wait to try it! I had hoped to be able to go with the group on Saturday but we’re headed to another little KY spot, Smith-Berry Winery for their dinner concert series! Thanks for the great review.
Breakfast fries! I love that. This is something I need to try soon.
Looks like a really wonderful place!
Gosh, I love those breakfast fries! Great pictures!
Ooh I’m all about places that use technology like that! So cool.
Danielle – You’ll love it! Have fun at the winery!
lisa – I know! The wheels have been turning with how I can recreate them with my own twist.
kat – It is really great.
Mindy – Thanks!
Michelle – A refreshing surprise!
Thanks so much!
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I like this cosy small place, what a great discovered !