Welcome
The best products are the beacons of utopia, and it’s out job to figure out how to use them to make the kinds of utopia WE want, to use them to choose a life that’s more exciting instead of more complacent. Ben Franklin found a way to turn a household item and a child’s toy into a way to electrocute people. How cool is that? The truth is, no matter how menu-tasting obese, reality-TV lazy, math-stupid, geography-ignorant we get, we’ll still be ahead of the rest of the world. Because we will always believe, like Walt Whitman and every rapper, in our own greatness. Convincing ourselves that the world is getting better is what causes us to actually make it better.
-Joel Stein, in Men’s Journal (the 99 Perfect Things Edition)
Welcome to the ninth annual Real Best of Lexington.
This is the second time in Ace history that the Best of Lex has gone to print directly on the heels of a national disaster (first 9/11 and this year, in the wake of Katrina).
It lends a certain perspective to polls and popularity contests that we might not always have-but it also gives us a moment to celebrate what’s good in our community.
What Ace seeks to do (during Best of, and the other 51 weeks of the year as well) is provide the readers with an Owner’s Manual to the City. It’s what newsweeklies all over the country have been doing for decades-from the Village Voice to the Chicago Reader to unique icons like New Orleans’ Gambit Weekly (decimated by Katrina but still publishing online).
Everyone has to find a way to live life on a scale that’s manageable, when the world’s become too epic. Community newsweeklies try to help life those voices, and celebrate them.
Susan Orlean has written eloquently about how collectors distill and focus and channel their passions in The Orchard Thief, while Nick Hornby and Buzz Bissinger have addressed the same topic in sports (in Fever Pitch, and Friday Night Lights, respectively). Everyone’s life needs a witness, in some form or fashion, and countless authors have spilled barrels of ink on how marriage or family fulfills that function for many (or dysfunction).
But Community’s part of the equation as well-and everything it entails-including pause for celebration. And this is the time when the Ace readers get their say-and celebrate their favorites.
As for the categories you may miss this year (from pancakes to barbecue) three consecutive wins means the category is retired, at least for a time, to make room for some new faces. (We’re not even sure if Alfalfa has enough wall-space to display one more winner’s certificate in the Best Pancake field.)
Ace is happy to be celebrating our “Sweet 16” this year-celebrating 16 years of devoted readers, for whom we are grateful every day.
WELCOME!!
Arts and Entertainment
BEST JUKEBOX IN TOWN
Buster’s
Marikka’s German Bier Stube
Malibu Pub
BEST PLACE TO SHOOT POOL
Yesterday’s
Buster’s
Marikka’s German Bier Stube
BEST VISUAL ART EXHIBIT IN LAST YEAR
Woodland Arts Fair
Ink & Blood (tie for 2nd)
Lexicon Project (tie for 2nd)
BEST LOCAL VISUAL ARTIST
Bill Santen
James Shambhu
Richie Wireman
BEST LOCAL THEATER PRODUCTION IN LAST YEAR
Kentucky Ballet Theatre’s Wizard of Oz
Lexington Shakespeare Festival’s Fiddler on the Roof
BEST LOCAL BAND DUE FOR A NATIONAL BREAKOUT
Lucid Grey
Emily Hagihara
Club Dub
Beauty, Health & Fitness
BEST HAIR SALON
Posh
J. Allen
Hair and Now
BEST WAX JOB
Posh
Planet Salon (tie for 2nd)
Hair and Now (tie for 2nd)
BEST YOGA/PILATES STUDIO
Pilates Place
The Massage Center
Gold’s (tie for 3rd)
LAC (tie for 3rd)
BEST GYM
Gold’s
LAC
YMCA
BEST MASSAGE
The Massage Center
Posh
BEST PERMANENT HAIR REMOVAL
Posh
Dr. Clifton Smith
Eat & Drink
BEST NEW RESTAURANT (OPENED IN LAST YEAR)
Bonefish Grill
Azur
Cosi
BEST DATE RESTAURANT
Rossi’s
a la lucie (tie for 2nd)
Dudley’s (tie for 2nd)
BEST HAPPY HOUR
Ramsey’s
Cheapside (tie for 2nd)
Annabella’s (tie for 2nd)
Merrick Inn (tie for 2nd)
BEST CATERER
Season’s Catering
Dupree Catering
Belle’s Bakery
BEST DIVE
Tolly Ho
Tonio’s
BEST CUP OF COFFEE IN TOWN
Common Grounds
3rd St. Stuff
BEST ICE CREAM
Graeter’s
Mollie’s (tie for 2nd)
Coldstone Creamery (tie for 2nd)
Marble Slab (tie for 2nd)
BEST KENTUCKY BOURBON
Maker’s Mark
Woodford Reserve
Knob Creek
BEST SMOKING PATIO
Triple Crown Lounge
Atomic
Two Keys Tavern
BEST VETERAN LOCAL RESTAURANT (DECADE OR OLDER)
Dudley’s
Merrick Inn
deSha’s
The Goods
BEST NEW STORE
Off Broadway Shoes
Boutique Milan
Jonk
BEST AUTO DEALER
Green’s Toyota
Tri-City Auto (tie for 2nd)
Don Jacob’s (tie for 2nd)
BEST USED/NEIGHBORHOOD BOOKSTORE
Black Swan
Morgan Adams
BEST PLACE TO BUY/SELL USED MUSIC
CD Central
Disc Jockey
Pop’s
BEST WOMEN’S CLOTHING
Bella Rose
Isle of You
Chico’s
BEST MEN’S CLOTHING
Logan’s
Dillard’s
J. Crew
BEST ECLECTIC/ARTSY/FUNKY JEWELRY
Black Market
Artique (tie for 2nd)
General Eccentric (tie for 2nd)
BEST FINE JEWELRY
Sheila’s Fine Jewelry
Silver Treasures
Artique
BEST GIFT SHOP
Artique
Peggy’s Gifts
Front Porch (tie for 3rd)
3rd St. Stuff (tie for 3rd)
BEST STORE YOU WISH LEXINGTON HAD
Pottery Barn
Saks
Neiman Marcus
Services & Professional
BEST VETERINARIAN
Eric Headley, DVM
Masterson Animal Clinic
Beaumont Veterinary Clinic
BEST LAW FIRM
Darling & Reynolds PSC
Frost, Brown & Todd LLC
Stoll, Keenon & Park
BEST FLORIST
Best of Flowers
Michler’s Florist
Oram Flowers
BEST MECHANIC
Lowell’s
Motorsports
Stuttgart Motors
Home & Garden
BEST ARCHITECTURAL FIRM
Pohl Rosa Pohl
Omni Architects
Ross/Tarrant Architects
BEST INTERIOR DESIGNER
Jennifer Schnabel Interior
Matthew Carter Interiors
Kimbrell/Birkman Interior Design
BEST CONTEMPORARY/MODERN FURNISHINGS
TK Designs
Alteriors
Arhaus
BEST ANTIQUES
Heritage Antiques
Greentree Antiques
Lexington Antique Exchange
BEST PLUMBER
Senninger Plumbing Services
Fayette Plumbing
BEST HOME INSPECTOR
John Bain Property Inspections (tie for 1st)
Pruitt Property Inspections (tie for 1st)
Jerry Abney
BEST GENERAL CONTRACTOR
Back Construction
Padgett Construction
Congelton-Hacker
BEST HONEST ROOFER
Burnett & Sons (tie for 1st)
Jodie Shadbolt (tie for 1st)
Reliable Residential Roofing
BEST LUXURY APARTMENT COMMUNITY
Park Place
Grand Reserve
Merrick Place
Media
BEST EVENING NEWSCAST
WLEX-18
WKYT-27
WDKY-56
BEST NEWS HAIR
Marvin Bartlett
Dia Davidson (tie for 2nd)
Nancy Cox (tie for 2nd)
BEST ACCURATE WEATHERCAST
WLEX-18
WKYT-27
WTVQ-36
BEST LOCAL RADIO TALK SHOW
Sue Wiley (590 WVLK)
Jack Pattie (590 WVLK)
Kruser & Co. (590 WVLK)
BEST RADIO STATION
91.3 (WUKY)
103.3 (WXZZ)
104.5 (WKYT)
Sex & The City
BEST ELIGIBLE BACHELORETTE
Dia Davidson
BEST POWER COUPLE
Alan & Kathy Stein
Anita & Preston Madden
Bill & Kim Farmer
BEST PLACE FOR BACHELORETTE PARTY TOYS
Hustler
Priscilla’s
Intimate Apparel
BEST BAR FOR A HOOK-UP
Cheapside
Bigg Blue Martini
Two Keys Tavern
SEXIEST LOCAL NEWS ANCHOR (MALE)
Marvin Bartlett
Sam Dick
T.G. Shuck
SEXIEST LOCAL NEW ANCHOR (FEMALE)
Dia Davidson
Megan Newquist
Jennifer Nime
SEXIEST RADIO PERSONALITY
Mary Jane (Z-103)
Andrea Sayre (98.1)
Jack Pattie (590)
SEXIEST LOCAL OFFICIAL
Teresa Isaac (tie for 1st)
Bill Farmer (tie for 1st)
BEST DIVORCE ATTORNEY
Anita Britton (tie for 1st)
Sandy Dawahare (tie for 1st)
Natalie Wilson (tie for 1st)
Local Color
BEST USE FOR LEXINGTON MALL’S CURRENT CARAPACE
New Mall
Upscale Apartments
Office Space
BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO DOWNTOWN THIS YEAR
Downtown facelift (new real estate developments)
Courthouse/fountains
Resurfaced streets
BEST LOCAL ACTIVIST/HELLRAISER
Gatewood Galbraith
Mike Scanlon
Don Pratt
BEST COUNCIL MEMBER
Bill Farmer
Bill Cegelka
BEST STATE LEGISLATOR
Ernesto Scorsone
Kathy Stein
Alice Forgy Kerr
BEST FUNDRAISER THIS YEAR
Decorator’s Showcase
KET Summer Celebration
Beastie Ball
BEST LFUCG SCANDAL
Mike Scanlon allegedly roughing up car dealership employee
Water company
Smoking ban
BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL
Sayre
Lexington Catholic
Lexington School
BEST HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER
Marilynn Cunningham-Amos (SCAPA)
Nora Alexander (Lafayette)
Jenny Forgy (Lexington Catholic)
Optional Essay Questions
WHAT LEXINGTON NEEDS
More downtown entertainment options
More bike lanes
More green space
WHAT LEXINGTON DOESN’T NEED
More suburban sprawl
A water company
A smoking ban
