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    It’s undeniable that Louisville has one of the greatest cuisine scenes in America. This city has it covered from five star dining experiences to delicious street side taco trucks. We live in a community full of endless opportunities for chefs and restaurateurs alike who are striving to make a name for themselves in the dining business, and no one knows this better than Chef John Varanese.

    After graduating with degrees in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management, Chef Varanese moved to Louisville from South Carolina in 1998 to gain experience at a couple of local restaurants as an Executive Chef. Once a developed and reputable chef, he began pursuing his dream of opening his own restaurant. And rather than returning to his home in South Carolina, Chef Varanese chose to stay in Louisville, the land of possibility, and open his very own restaurant, Varanese, in the historic Clifton neighborhood in 2007.

    And what a good decision it was! Eight years later and Chef Varanese’s restaurant is more successful than ever. With one-of-a-kind original dishes like the bourbon barrel smoked pork chops and the pecan encrusted California white bass, success was the only option the restaurant ever had.

    Chef Varanese’s team believes that over the course of the restaurant’s first eight years in business, nearly 360,000 patrons have been served, and of these patrons, 35,600 of them ordered the irresistible bourbon barrel smoked pork chops. And among these stats, the Varanese team also reports that they have served over 175,000 pounds of the menu’s delicious variety of grits and roughly 8,288 liters of bourbon.

    What can we say? We Louisvillians like our food fresh and our bourbon overflowing.

    To commemorate the eighth anniversary of the restaurant, Varanese will be offering a menu of special $8 cocktails August 17 – 20. And on August 20, guests will be offered special $8 appetizers as well as a complimentary slice of especially delectable anniversary cake whipped up by Chef John Varanese himself. This is an anniversary celebration too mouth watering to pass up!

    Varanese is located at 2106 Frankfort Avenue. To make a reservation, call 502-899-9904. To see the restaurant's full menu, visit Varanese’s website

    Photo courtesy of Varanese. 

    Carly Garcia's picture

    About Carly Garcia

    Lover of vegetarian cuisine, Stephen King, puppies, camping and wine...lots of wine.

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