Margie

10/01/2026

I’ve spent most of my life in kitchens.

I’ve worked in hotels, restaurants, classrooms, catering, and more dining rooms than I can count. For years, I thought being great at this business meant getting the food right, getting the timing right, and making sure the operation ran the way it should.

But somewhere along the way, I realized the moments I remembered most weren’t really about the food.

They were about people.

They were the moments when someone noticed something small. When a guest didn’t have to ask. When a problem was handled with genuine care instead of just being “fixed.” When someone took an extra minute to make another person feel important.

That changed the way I look at hospitality.

To me, service is doing the job well.

Hospitality is making someone feel like they matter.

That idea has followed me through every part of my career. It’s something I’ve tried to teach my students, something Samantha and I have tried to build into Noodlecraft, and it’s probably one of the biggest things I want Margie to be known for.

Of course I want the food to be great. I want people talking about the pasta, the bread, the w**e, and the meal.

But I also want them to remember the way they felt when they were here.

I want someone to walk out the door and feel like we were genuinely glad they came in.

That matters to me.

And as we get closer to opening Margie, I’d love to hear from you:

**What is one restaurant, hotel, or hospitality experience you still remember because of the way someone treated you?**

It doesn’t have to be fancy. Sometimes the smallest gesture is the one you never forget.

Tell me about it in the comments. I’d really love to read those stories.

09/28/2026

Dining L I T T L E P E A R L . Ready for a wonderful experience

09/27/2026

"I don't know what to do with my hands." — Ricky Bobby 🤝 Chef Rick.

6 weeks out from opening Margie and Rick is still trying to figure out where his hands belong when they aren't rolling pasta. Here's a sneak peek of what you can expect when we open

09/23/2026

It started with a simple folding table, one cooler box, and a few portions of fresh, handmade pasta.

​Long before blueprints, permits, and construction, NoodleCraft was our proving ground. Selling pasta directly to you at market tables taught us what people truly love, refine our craft, and build a community around great food.
​Now, as we stand 7 weeks away from opening Margie, that humble market table is officially growing into something permanent: a dedicated kitchen, a fresh pasta lab, and a dining room made for sharing meals together.
​We’re taking everything we learned on the road and bringing it home. Thank you for pulling up a seat with us from day one—we can’t wait to welcome you through the doors.

09/19/2026

We are counting down the days here at Margie until we swing open those doors for the first time, and this week we are introducing you to the Chef himself!

09/15/2026

There are some names that carry more than a name.

Margie is one of those for me.

When I think about her, I don’t think about restaurants, menus, awards, or anything complicated. I think about the little things—the kind of memories that probably didn’t seem important at the time, but somehow become the ones you hold onto.

A kitchen.
A familiar dish.
People gathered around.
Someone making sure everybody had enough.
And the feeling that you were exactly where you were supposed to be.

That feeling is a big part of why this restaurant is called Margie.

We’re not trying to recreate the past.

We’re trying to carry a little piece of it forward.

And when we open these doors, I hope you feel some of that too.

8 Weeks to Margie.
This is where the story begins.

09/12/2026

Warning: this is an emotional one. Margie means more to us than simply just a name on a building. Margie is our why.

09/10/2026

**8 WEEKS TO MARGIE | OUR STORY**

This one feels a little surreal.

The Lexington Herald-Leader recently shared the story behind Margie, and seeing this dream of ours told across Central Kentucky means more than I can say.

Margie has always been about more than opening a restaurant.

It started with my Nani — the way she welcomed people, fed them, cared for them, and always made room for one more at the table.

That feeling has stayed with me through restaurants, hotels, classrooms, farmers markets, and now into Margie.

We want to build a place where hospitality feels personal, the pasta is made by hand, Kentucky ingredients matter, and people feel like they belong.

There have been long days, hard decisions, and plenty of moments where this dream felt far away.

Now, we’re only weeks from opening the doors.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way.

And Nani — I hope we’re doing your name proud.

8 Weeks to Margie.

Read the full Lexington Herald-Leader story here:

Homemade pasta, local ingredients and a feeling of visiting grandma are part of the renovations to this new restaurant.

09/02/2026

Why does food taste the same everywhere you go?

Because corporate food figured out that consistency, shelf life and profit are easier to scale than flavor.

Same frozen appetizers. Same pre-portioned proteins. Same factory-made sauces.

Different restaurant. Different sign. Same truck pulling up out back.

And those massive 8-page menus with 75 choices?

More choices don't always mean more cooking.

Too often, they mean more frozen products, more pre-made sauces, more bags being reheated and more food designed around a microwave instead of a cook.

Chain restaurants have taught us to expect everything, all the time.

We're going the opposite direction.

At Margie, our goal is to source 100% of what we reasonably can from Kentucky.

We're building relationships with Dry Branch Farm Market, Think Little Farm, Foxfire Farm, , 4J's Family Farm, Harv’s Butcher Shop, Covey Chase Farms and other Kentucky farmers, growers and makers.

If Kentucky grows it, raises it or makes it, that's where we want to buy it.

Our menu will be smaller because we actually want to cook the food on it.

It will change because farms change. Seasons change. Food should change.

You won't find 75 entrées at Margie.

But what you will find is a kitchen full of cooks making food from real ingredients, from people we know.

Less choice. More intention. Better food.

We don't want Margie to taste like 2,000 other restaurants.

We want Margie to taste like Kentucky.

Come hungry. Taste what's growing here.

08/23/2026

We promise we're working hard 🫠
😂