Log Still Distillery in Gethsemane, Nelson County, Kentucky has announced it will be opening a new restaurant and tasting room experience on Louisville’s Historic Whiskey Row. The new “Monk’s Road Boiler House” will be a fine dining restaurant and tasting room experience.
Monk’s Road Boiler House will feature a luxury chophouse-style menu curated by globally renowned Chef David Danielson, alongside highlighting the distillery’s line of Monk’s Road Bourbons & Gins and Rattle & Snap Tennessee Whiskeys. The restaurant will be located at the most highly trafficked location in the city of Louisville right next to the YUM Center on the corner of 2nd and Main Streets. Locals will know this location as the former Bearno’s restaurant on the corner of the 2nd Street bridge. It is also just steps away from the Old Forester Distillery and about three blocks from the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience.
“Monk’s Road Boiler House brings a new dining experience to Whiskey Row. The restaurant takes inspiration from the famed chophouses and supper clubs of a bygone era with a menu featuring hand cut steaks, fresh seafood, pastas and crafted classic cocktails served in an elegant setting,” said Chief of Hospitality and Executive Chef David Danielson.
Danielson brings more than 30 years of experience in the culinary and hospitality industries, most recently serving as the Executive Chef for Churchill Downs Racetrack and Levy Restaurants. Danielson was the owner and chef at Louisville’s Old Stone Inn & Tavern. He has also consulted on several large-scale special events, including the PGA Championship, Super Bowls, U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, GRAMMY Awards, and the Olympics.
What Makes this Location Famous?
Whiskey Row gets its name from that fact that this section of Main Street was once home to dozens of offices and warehouses for the bourbon and tobacco industries in the mid-1800s. The collection of Revivalist and Chicago School-style buildings, many with cast-iron storefronts, were built between 1852 and 1905. When Prohibition hit in the 1930s all the distillery related businesses in this area were forced to shut down.
The structure known as Whiskey Row Lofts today was built in 1877 as an office building for commercial use by the (Henderson) Louisville & Nashville Railroad. It is located on the site of the original Galt House Hotel, built in 1835, where Charles Dickens stayed in 1842 during a visit to Louisville. The first Gait House Hotel was destroyed by fire in 1865 and a second Gait House Hotel built a few blocks west on Main Street.
There is a The Kentucky Historical Society marker in front of the building that reads as follows.
“A world-famed inn operated here from 1835 until it burned in 1865. Host to notables, such as author Charles Dickens, it was scene of assassination of USA Gen. Wm. Nelson, Sept. 1862, by USA Gen. J.C. Davis. Sherman and Grant met here March, 1864 to plan invasion that led to the “March to the Sea.” Traditions carried on at new Galt House at 1st and Main, 1869 – 1921.” Historic Marker No. 535. Erected 1952 by The Kentucky Historical Society & the Kentucky Department of Highways. (Marker Number 535.)
Danielson co-wrote the Southern recipe and hospitality guide, “The Bourbon Country Cookbook.” He has appeared on outlets such as “Top Chef” Season 16 as celebrity chef judge, “ABC World News”, “Fox & Friends”, “Travel Channel”, WGN, and “Secrets of Bluegrass Chefs.”
Guests can expect a two-level venue with the upper tier serving fine dining cuisine and the lower tier serving as a speakeasy style bar for tastings and curated bourbon experiences. During concert season at The Amp, the distillery’s outdoor amphitheater featuring world class entertainment musical performances, a shuttle will also be available to transport guests from the restaurant to the concert venue for a comprehensive experience.
“This restaurant and tasting room will embody the history of our distillery, reflected in its hospitality, craftsmanship, and atmosphere,” says Founder, President and Distiller Wally Dant. “Named after our flagship line of bourbons and gins, the moniker ‘Monk’s Road Boiler House’ is an ode to our historic distillery boiler house ruins brought to life through the architecture to give guests the feeling of being present during a Master Distiller’s process.
“The tasting room and speakeasy will be in the basement which at one-time had a boiler that heated the building… coincidental to our name. As folks walk down into the Monk’s Road Boiler House they’ll feel like they are entering into a different area of the distillery. We will transform the space to integrate into what we’ve done in Gethsemane. It will have the look and feel of being in our old boiler house.”
Monk’s Road Boiler House Opening Spring 2024
The new Monk’s Road Boiler House is expected to open on Louisville’s Whiskey Row in the Spring of 2024.
Log Still Distillery is led by Wally Dant and his cousins Lynne and Charles Dant. Log Still is built on old distillery land and reimagined to create a unique bourbon and family destination. Each bottle is filled with respect, ever mindful that faith, family, community, and bourbon pave the way for future generations. Featured products include the Monk’s Road line of Kentucky bourbons and gins and Rattle & Snap Tennessee Whiskey line.
Log Still campus includes an outdoor amphitheater with world-class entertainment, a 20,000-square-foot wedding and events venue, multiple B&Bs, a private train depot, and a walking path surrounding a 12-acre fishing lake, making it a one-of-a-kind destination to make lasting memories with family and friends.
Learn more about Log Still Distillery.
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Historic Marker photo courtesy of Shane Oliver.
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