10
MARCH/APRIL 2015
Person of Interest
Ouita Michel
Classically trained chef makes her
mark in Midway and beyond
by Tanya J. Tyler,
Editor
Ouita Michel is
a “newbie” to the
ranks of those of us
Living Well 50 Plus – she just hit
the big 5-0 a few months ago – but
in her chosen career field, she’s
a well-seasoned (pun intended)
veteran.
A classically trained chef, Michel
owns the popular Bluegrass eater-
ies Wallace Station Deli, Windy
Corners Market and Holly Hill Inn.
“I started cooking like a lot
of people, just at home with my
mom,” Michel said. “She went to
work when I was a teenager so it
was important for me to participate
in preparing family dinner. I loved
it, but I didn’t really think about it
as a career until much later.”
At the University of Kentucky,
she earned a bachelor’s degree in
political science and was consider-
I try to follow the old adage of
hiring the best people I can find.”
—Chef Ouita Michel
ing going to law school. But while
she was a member of the debate
team, she had the opportunity to
eat at some outstanding restaurants
when they traveled.
“We started eating all this great
ethnic food and we had this little
cooking club,” she said. “I ended up
going to the Culinary Institute of
America (CIA) in Hyde Park, N.Y.,
instead of law school.”
Law’s loss is the food world’s
gain.
At the CIA, she met her husband, Chris. “We moved home to
Kentucky to plan our wedding and
just never wanted to leave,” she
said.
She worked at a number of
well-known local restaurants,
including Dudley’s in downtown
Lexington and Emmett’s on Tates
Creek Road. While she was working there, she met the family that
owned Holly Hill Inn in Midway
– the one place where she dearly
wanted to work.
“We had been there before and
fell in love with it,” Michel said.
At first the owners declared they
would never sell it, but circumstances occurred so that the
opportunity to purchase the inn
cropped up, and the Michels seized
it immediately. Chris is host and
sommelier at the inn.
Michel’s restaurant line-up now
includes Cleveland’s at the Woodford Inn in Versailles; Smithtown
Seafood in Lexington; and the
Midway School Bakery. Michel is
also chef-in-residence at the Woodford Reserve Distillery.
With all that she has going
on, how does Michel keep it all
together?
“I don’t always keep it all
together,” she said with a laugh.
“I rely on other people a lot. I try
to follow the old adage of hiring
the best people I can find. That
doesn’t always mean the people
with the best résumé. For me, it
means the best people with the
best hearts and the best character
that I can find. I think I have those
people working in my organization.
They’re all really dedicated to what
they do. I absolutely love my staff.”
With a reliable staff in place, Michel is able to concentrate on what
she loves to do most – culinary
craft and creativity. Each year from
January through March, Holly Hill
Inn hosts an event called “Around
the World in 80 Days.” Michel
designs a different menu every
week featuring cuisine from all over
the world.
“It is my favorite time of year,”
she said. “I really like ethnic foods.
One of my most favorite right now
is Ethiopian.”
Michel and her staff read a lot
to make the dishes as authentic as
possible.
“I love to read and research,” she
said. “A big part of being a good
chef in this area of the country
especially is research. There’s a balance between research and reading
about food to develop menus. I
also pull from my own [XY