Culinary Heritage
Dishes with a backstory
Savor our kitchen's signature recipes, each dish a flavorful reflection of our hotel's storied past.
Historic Cocktails
On April 15, 1880 General Ulysses S. Grant hosted a dinner party at the Capital Hotel. This was an 11 course feast of local foods and preparations but was most noted for 15 toasts. General Grant was a devotee of Kentucky’s Old Crow Bourbon, one of the oldest brands for which the Northern soldiers developed a taste during the war. At the prospect of 15 toasts, however, General Grant made a tactical adjustment and drank Champagne throughout. The bedrock of the Capital Bar & Grill cocktail menu include many home-grown creations, most based upon vintage preparations including a number of pre-Prohibition drinks. They include the Crop-duster – a regional take on the vintage Aviation. This cocktail includes seasonal blackberries from the famous P. Allen Smith, garden designer, conservationist, and agricultural historian and preservationist; it is very seasonal and entirely dependent upon the year’s bounty.
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