A deviation from the usual eatery: Lexington, Kentucky, shows us how

Photos by Donna Campbell

Lexington, Kentucky, is a chic urban island in an ocean of bourbon distilleries and thoroughbred horse farms. On a recent trip, we stopped for brunch coming and going at each of the two locations of a most unusual restaurant in the city. Created in response to the opioid crisis, DV8 Kitchen “operates as a second chance employment opportunity for people who are trying to redirect their lives. People in the early stages of substance abuse recovery often find it difficult to find employers willing to take a chance on them.”   

Outside the DV8 in the East End neighborhood of Lexington, Kentucky

These twin restaurants employ folks working to stay sober while also gaining proficiency through weekly workshops conducted by community professionals who give their time to teach skills in conflict resolution, teamwork, customer service, and personal finances, among other topics. The enthusiastic and attentive staff easily demonstrated the presence of these new skills. The workers also take time for DV8-sponsored art and yoga classes. The overall vibe in the restaurants is hip, colorful, and playful. The decor is urban industrial—concrete floors, steel chairs and stools, factory lighting, and bold, bright walls and tabletops painted graffiti style, inside and outside on the patios.

The first DV8 Kitchen we visited is not far from the college basketball mecca, Rupp Arena, on Broadway downtown. On our second pass through Lexington, we headed for the larger establishment on Third Street, surrounded by planters of fresh tomatoes, herbs, and flowers that looked well tended. This DV8 Kitchen occupies a prime spot in the East End of Lexington, where the town’s Jif peanut butter plant, owned by Smucker’s, is just around the corner. Historic markers in the vicinity reference this land, once occupied in large tracts by early elites and later converted to more affordable neighborhoods for African Americans after Emancipation. Entrepreneurs, jockeys, and Black professionals who were part of the growth of the racing industry helped to make this area distinctive and are celebrated in “Ode to the East End.” Frank X. Walker, a contemporary Kentucky writer, composed this poem and also first coined the name Affrilachia to refer to the sometimes overlooked presence of African Americans in the Appalachian mountains.

The DV8 Kitchen menu is smart—not too many items--but with great variation in combinations available for breakfast and lunch. All the breads are baked on site—another art form that staff members tackle, including handmade brioche, sourdough and 12 grain loaves, croissants, biscuits, muffins, and saucer-sized cinnamon rolls.

They offer a tasty chicken salad with pecans, celery, grapes, and onions. There’s also a pimiento cheese spread that can go on burgers or chicken or biscuits. The house made orange marmalade goes well on the fluffy breakfast biscuits, but also serves as a topping for grilled chicken tenders. Meanwhile, a smoked ham sandwich features house made apple butter and a balsamic aioli. Their Monte Cristo sandwich comes with turkey, ham, Havarti, and house made strawberry jam on a croissant. The PB&J, served hot, comes on French toast smeared with Jif peanut butter and strawberry jam. Donna and I sampled the refreshing Mediterranean Veggie with jalapeno hummus, feta cheese, peppadew peppers, red onion, and lettuce, cucumber and tomato. All the jams are for sale in gift boxes along with other DV8 merch—T-shirts, mugs, and hats.

Left: an “altar” where patrons can light candles to honor a person in recovery. Right: original art covers the walls of DV8

Three kinds of fusion tacos can whirl you around the globe quick. The General Tso Tacos, which I ordered on our first visit, combine fried chicken, slaw, Tso sauce, cilantro, and Sriracha aioli for a nice kick. The Breakfast Tacos are made with savory chorizo, scrambled eggs, salsa verde, jalapenos, cilantro cream, and tortilla chips for a surprise crunch. The Curry Veggie Tacos feature roasted sweet potatoes, red onion, avocado, pumpkin seeds, peppadew peppers, and curry jam. By contrast, the breakfast burrito comes with steak for protein along with potatoes and scrambled eggs.

More traditional breakfast options—bacon, eggs, sausage, and gravy—come in the usual combinations, but then there’s the Breakfast Reuben which starts with a bed of corned beef, potatoes, swiss cheese, onions and sweet peppers, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing topped with an egg and served with toast. It was a tough decision, but on our second visit, I had the DV Ocho, which was a cohesive stack of chopped potatoes and chorizo held together by scrambled eggs and topped with jalapenos, cilantro cream, and tortilla strips. The portions are just right, given these big flavors.

Left: A traditional breakfast and biscuit. Right: The DV Ocho

For extra zing the kitchen team also offers a sidebar of sauces--a dijonaise, a smoked paprika aioli, and Sriracha catsup. Healthy salads present strawberries, and other fruits, seeds, nuts, and lettuce mixes. The soup of the day was Watermelon Gazpacho with a splash of picante pepper. The young woman who took Donna’s order proudly told us she had learned to make the soup herself and would never have believed she’d like, much less eat, a soup that was served cold! Donna declared it fabulous. 

DV8 also offers a to-go meal that feeds a family of 8 for $26 and includes 2.5 pounds of the chicken salad and a loaf of sourdough bread. Budget conscious diners can also come for breakfast anytime during the 8:00 a.m. hour on weekdays to get an automatic discount of eight percent.

This Lexington institution seems to be a successful model of job skills training, good food, reasonable prices and portions, and community collaboration. I wish we had something like DV8 Kitchen in my hometown of Carrboro, North Carolina, where, despite our enormous resources, the problem of reentry is very real for people just getting out of the justice system or out of a recovery program. In Orange County we also have a growing population of unhoused folks who need jobs to qualify for rentals from private landlords. The empty restaurant in downtown Carrboro where Tyler’s Taproom used to be would provide a perfect site.