people and places profiles
BY J. CHRISTIAN WALSH | PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAN DRY
honkytonk
I
Restored firehouse and shrine to “Bakersfield Sound,” The Silver Dollar shines
I’m guessing moneymaking brainstorms are rarely coined during late night bourbon binges, but this is exactly what happened for the newly minted restaurateurs behind The Silver Dollar. While spinning “old school hillbilly records” and swigging Kentucky’s finest at six a.m. one morning, business partners Larry Rice and Michael Rubel decided to recreate their good time for paying customers.
The Silver Dollar 1761 Frankfort Ave. 502.259.9540 22
Above: Larry Rice (left), Shawn Cantley (center) and Michael Rubel (right)
heroes
Talk about following your bliss! Rice, Rubel and third partner Shawn Cantley’s formula of vintage vinyl and whiskey-by-the-drink is sustaining a buzz that began fermenting before opening night. Throw Chef Jonathan Schwartz’s gussied-up roadhouse fare into the coffer and you have what is amounting to a gold mine. On busy nights, the former Hook and Ladder building that houses this reimagined honky tonk struggles to contain all those who come in search of good food, stiff drinks and generous helpings of Western Swing. By the time this reaches print, in fact, seating at the Silver Dollar will have doubled, with sidewalk and patio seating on tap for the warmer months. Also ahead: weekend lunch service, along with a rejiggered cocktail and dinner menu to reflect a seasonal sensibility. That’s all well and good, fellas—just tell me you won’t scratch my Stockyard Pony, ($8: a herbaceous blend of J.W. Dant Bourbon, Aperol, fresh lemon and Angostura Bitters.)
An old one and a cold one
Despite the craft cocktail lineage of its brain trust (Rice helped alter the way Louisville imbibes while at 732 Social; Rubel is a force behind the renowned Big Star and The Violet Hour in Chicago’s Wicker Park), the Silver Dollar tends to play down its top-shelf pedigree. House-made syrups, bitters and fresh-squeezed juices make the concoctions here as good as any around, but, in case you miss the glowing neon on your way in, the Silver Dollar is, at its heart, a whiskey bar. www.facebook.com/foodanddine�Summer 2012 23