A tale of two awards for Ouita Michel; the one you've never heard of touched her in a way the other couldn't

Michel and her award (Photo by Hayley Burris)

By Al Cross and Hayley Burris
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The big news for Midway chef Ouita Michel this week was that she received her second semifinalist nomination for national restaurateur of the year in the James Beard Foundation Awards. But earlier in the week, she got another surprise award that in some ways meant more to her.

Girl Scout Troop 2261 of Midway gave Michel its “Women Who Change the World Award” at Monday night's troop meeting in the basement of the Midway Christian Church. Michel had been helping host the monthly community dinner, and was invited to come down and hear the scouts give examples of women who they thought were empowering throughout history.

As Michel watched, not knowing she was about to serve as an example, each scout presented a poster and read a speech about the person, and provided a food item to go along with it. Women presented included Hellen Keller, Cleopatra and Amelia Earhart.

"There was no way I was capable of that at eight years old," Michel, who was a national-champion debater at the University of Kentucky, said afterward.

Michel listens to the scouts. (Photo by Hayley Burris)

Then each scout made brief remarks saying what they liked about Michel, and "I started crying," she recalled.

Michel told the scouts, “I think this is the nicest award anyone has ever given to me, girls. After listening to your presentations and seeing how well all of you did and all the work you put in, I am really honored.”

The troop said it chose Michel due to her involvement within the Midway community, her skills in building her brand throughout her career, and her overall way of showing how empowering women can be.

"It was the sweetest damn thing I’ve ever been a part of, it was so amazing," Michel said Thursday. "That totally just set the stage" for Wednesday's news that she was one of 20 semifinalists for Outstanding Restaurateur.

She was also a semifinalist in 2016, "but to be honest, I didn’t understand the award when I received it, and I was so busy with Honeywood, I didn't stop to fully appreciate all that it meant," she said. "I didn’t think I would ever get nominated in that category again."

But it may have been the opening of Honeywood, in the Summit at Fritz Farm in Lexington, that got her another nomination. The restaurant is named for Honeywood Parrish Rouse, whose family owned Midway's Holly Hill Inn, which Michel and her husband Chris bought 20 years ago.

The inn was the start of the Ouita Michel Family of Restaurants, which also includes the nearby Midway Bakery & Cafe and Wallace Station Deli, and these Lexington operations: Windy Corner Market and Smithtown Seafood; Zim’s Cafe and Thirsty Fox in the old Fayette County Courthouse; and Holly Hill Events, based at Fasig-Tipton Co. on Newtown Pike. The company also operates Glenn’s Creek Café at Woodford Reserve Distillery, where Michel is chef-in-residence.

Michel's business success and her leadership in the local-food movement led to five nominations for Best Chef in America (Southeast) in the James Beard Foundation awards.

Nominees for Outstanding Restaurateur are recognized for "high national standards in restaurant operations and entrepreneurship," a company news release said. Candidates must have been in the restaurant business for at least 10 years. Finalists will be announced in March; winners will be announced at the foundation’s annual gala in Chicago in May.

"I really think a lot of the James Beard Foundation," said Michel, who is a member. "They have done so much to reach out to chefs all across the country," educating them about "food waste, ocean sustainabilty, food access, hunger" and other issues, "trying to make advocates of chefs."

Michel said it was at a JBF anniversary boot camp in Vermont four years ago that she met some of the female chefs who will be part of the fourth Food Equity and Access Sustains Tomorrow event March 10 at Fasig-Tipton, to benefit FoodChain, a Lexington nonprofit that educates the public about urban indoor agricultural food production and processing through demonstration and hands-on training, including teaching children how to cook.

"That’s how FEAST came about," she said. "After the 2016 presidential election we all felt so dispirited that I felt like I needed to do something." The last FEAST event raised $60,000, she said, and "I think we'll raise a little more this year . . . for their kitchen, for their grocery store, for their vision of food access and reducing food waste."

Afterward, Michel posed with Girl Scout Troop 2261. (Photo by Hayley Burris; for a larger version, click on it.)