After lounging around together on Thursday morning watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, bring your friends and loved ones to Proof on Main. Maybe this year you just don’t want to cook, or perhaps you have never wanted to cook any of the years and are looking for a new restaurant to celebrate in. Whatever the case, Proof on Main at downtown Louisville’s award-winning 21c Museum Hotel will be serving Thanksgiving Day dinner to you and yours.
From 2pm to 8pm, Chef Levon Wallace and his team will be serving you items from their regular menu while offering some of the traditional holiday items that the day demands, including turkey with all of the “fixin’s.” “Thanksgiving is my favorite, favorite holiday,” says Wallace, “there should be a Thanksgiving once a month. At least bi-monthly.” And what floats his gravy boat this time of year? Gravy. “I’m the gravy master. I get really geeky about gravy at Thanksgiving. A little guilty pleasure of mine is to use the gravy as a cold sandwich spread the next day.” Thank God for chefs.
Chef Wallace has proven in his short tenure at Proof that he is handy with the techniques and flavors of Southern and regional cuisine but says that you may see some of the influences of his family and heritage peek into the menu by way of small ingredient or clever idea. “I grew up in a Mexican household in Los Angeles and there was always a lot of cool stuff like tamales and what not. There are two things I love. One is picadillo, which is more Spanish than Mexican. And there was this drink called ponche, which just translates to punch, and all it is is spiced brandy with apples and cinnamon and guava and it is this really funky, fruity, hot drink. It’s sort of like wassail and caroling. There are vendors selling ponche on the street and you and your family go around singing these hymns.”
Wallace loves that bit of blending when it comes to cuisine, saying, “it’s in the true sense of Thanksgiving, right? Two cultures coming together to share a meal.” Just look at his ponche recipe. “Now that the bluegrass is my home, I put bourbon in it.”
Check out Levon’s recipe for ponche:
Ponche
This classic street punch will keep you nice and warm during those cold winter nights. You can keep this in a crock pot during family gatherings and it makes your house smell amazing! Guavas and sugar cane can be found at most Mexican grocery stores.
2 small, tart apples peeled and chopped
5 chopped guavas (or ½ cup guava paste)
1 cup raisins
1 cup prunes
4 oranges sliced with rind
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 pieces sugar cane stalk, pelled and cut into strips
2 cinnamon sticks
5 quarts water
Sugar to taste
Bourbon, brandy or rum (optional)
Instructions: Place the apples, guavas, raisins, prunes, oranges, sugar cane and cinnamon in a large stockpot with water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover and simmer for one hour. Add more sugar if desired, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. If adding bourbon or other alcohol, add and simmer for a few minutes longer. Serve hot in mugs. Serves 10-12.
> For dinner reservations, call 502.217.6360
> Invite friends and family via facebook
