Lexington restaurant known for Cajun-Creole menu, brunches won’t reopen after all
A restaurant that was one of Lexington’s most anticipated openings in 2022 has closed for good.
Lady Remoulade, which opened in March 2022 after a crowd-sourced campaign to rehabilitate a restaurant spot on North Broadway, closed its doors in November. At the time, owner Kelly Mackey said the restaurant would be closed for the holidays but expected to reopen.
But over the weekend, the team announced on social media that the Cajun/Creole fusion spot would not be coming back after all.
In the post, the closure was blamed on rising costs after the COVID pandemic.
“When we closed our doors in November we hoped that it would be temporary, but has unfortunately become permanent,” the restaurant posted. “We want to thank Lexington for supporting us from a small food truck in 2017 to the beautiful brick and mortar space we worked so hard to create. We were crowd sourced and chef owned. We took a historic space and brought life back into it. Unfortunately with the rising costs post Covid, we were unable to keep our doors open.
“Thank you again to all of our patrons. We are so thankful for each and every one of you.”
The restaurant was known for inventive brunches and dinners, serving alligator and waffles as well as beignets and pastries.
Owner-chef Mackey previously operated the Roulay concept on West Short. Mackey, with pastry chef Rachel Chancellor, sous chef Jonathan Evers and general manager Corie Mackey rehabbed the former Flag Fork Herb Farm building at 900 N. Broadway.
Mackey said in a text that she is proud of her team and is thankful for their supporters.
“Most of our funding came directly from the Lexington community. Local business owners (such as Kevin Heathcoat of Bourbon ‘n’ Toulouse, Lisa Cox of Sidebar and Sarah Brown of Lussi Brown) hosted takeovers and pop-ups to help us open up. Our Kickstarter raised $30,000 in 21 days. We could not have done this without the Lexington Community,” Mackey said.
“Unfortunately with the rising cost of goods, we were not able to make ends meet. We closed our doors, for what we hoped would be temporarily. Our goal while we were closed over the holidays, was to find an investor, or find someone to purchase our concept,” she said. “Our next step is still unknown. The beautiful building that we helped transform is available for rent or sale. We, along with the building owner, would love to see such a unique space be utilized by a non-profit.”
