When Chef Jonathan Lundy sat down for his first Fridges of Fayette County interview back in the 90s, he served up a grilled fig rubbed with cinnamon, olive oil, and date sugar.
Long before opening Jonathan at Gratz Park in 1998, he’d made his culinary bones at the popular Lucie Slone Meyers mainstay, Roy and Nadine’s.
In 2009, he produced the cookbook, Jonathan’s Bluegrass Table, writing, “From our front porch swings, we enjoy sunsets over fields of sweet corn, sorghum and soybeans. Food and animal feed crops have replaced much of the traditional tobacco base, and farmers markets have found permanent homes in the cities. There is nothing like a Kentucky tomato or local wildflower honey. Pork has reached near-cult level — country hams, jowl bacon — there is simply none better. The same limestone that nurtures the thoroughbred horses here also imparts its richness to grass-fed lamb, cattle and goats, whose milk has inspired local cheese artisans. A sixth-generation mill still grinds local corn and wheat just up the creek from where I played as a child.”
After the closing of his eponymous venture at Gratz Park in 2014, he and Cox went on to consult with Greer Co at projects like Coba Cocina and Italx, and opened Corto Lima downtown in 2017.
Lundy announced his next project with Cox earlier this week. The new concept, 3TEN, will open later this Fall at the Short Street space formerly occupied by Table 310, and the recently closed Creaux.
The new space is expected to include echoes of Roy and Nadine’s, where Lundy and Cox both once worked.
Lundy says of the upcoming menu, “I’m going in a lot of different directions and enjoying the freedom of not being glued to a specific concept. There’s so much I want to do to make it interesting, fun, and playful.”
Will the long-mourned country ham pot stickers from Jonathan at Gratz Park be part of the new venture? It remains to be seen.
Click here to page through the digital edition of the Ace 2024 Summer Guide print issue. To subscribe to digital delivery of Ace’s print edition each month, click here. Click here to join the Ace Eats Out Facebook.
