Continuing the southern vibe, my en-
trée was named Howard's Porchet-
ta and featured slow-roasted Stone
Cross Farm pork shoulder wrapped
with pork belly, carved and served
with creamy Weisenberger Mill grits,
mixed pickled vegetables, gremolata,
and an apple butter-pork sauce.
Committed to the idea of going all
in on indulgence, our waitress con-
vinced us that we had to finish the
meal with Honeywood Cake, which is
tres leches that has been spiked with
bourbon and topped with strawber-
ries and toasted almonds.
Time passes quickly in the Blue-
grass come spring. There's Keene-
land, then the Kentucky Derby, and
soon enough summer arrived, and it
was time to drop back in on Holly Hill
Inn.
On my second visit, I was accompa-
nied by Kelsey Riley, the TDN's inter-
national editor, but our culinary ad-
venture was temporarily postponed
due to a power outage the night of
our reservation. They called to let us
know the bad news and apologetical-
ly asked if we could come the next
day. Happily, we could.
This year, the early days of summer
were blissfully cool, so we opted to
dine on the sprawling front porch. A
common trait in the South is friend-
ly—and chatty—wait staff, and our
server filled us in on the drama of the
night before. Guests who had already
been seated were moved to the porch
