“Welcome to 1875: The Steakhouse, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett.
Your Table #41 in the Wine Room is ready for you.”
Kevin and Lori Bennett have heard this a time or two. They’ve
been regulars at 1875 for 15 years — almost always at that same Table #41 — for all
of life’s special occasions. Christmas dinners with friends. Their 50th
birthdays. Their sons’ proms; Lori’s mom’s 70th birthday; their
daughter-in-law’s bachelorette dinner. This past weekend, they celebrated the
30th anniversary of their first date at 1875.
But this particular “welcome to 1875” greeting was one that
resonated a little different.
It was on May 9, when the real 1875 had been closed for pandemic precautions for nearly two months. So Kevin and Lori’s coworkers and friends, Rob and Amber, decided to do the next-best thing. They re-created the 1875 experience at home, with an elaborate series of clues guiding Kevin and Lori to a surprise dinner that left them in tears.
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| Date night in the real 1875 Wine Room. |
Not hard to deduce that, from the dozens of photos their
friends see on social media from Kevin and Lori’s visits to 1875. At Joe
Bennett Backhoe, Plumbing & Rentals (JBB), the family-owned business they
run in Hardinsburg, Ky., everyone knows that one of their 90-minute trips to Indiana
is in the works when they hear a certain buzzword about every other week.
“We’ll say, ‘Oh it’s French Lick Friday,’ so they know we
plan to go over to French Lick for the weekend,” Lori says.
On April 29, an invitation to a surprise social distancing
event appeared in Lori’s mailbox at work. New clues about the surprise arrived
each day, advising them to come with an appetite and to be dressed up when a
chauffeur arrived to pick them up.
When May 9 rolled around, the chauffeur drove them around Hardinsburg for a little while, then pulled into the parking lot of their business at JBB. At the door was Amber’s son, dressed as a waiter to greet them.
“Welcome to 1875: The Steakhouse, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. Your Table #41 in the Wine Room is ready for you.”
Their coworkers didn’t miss a detail in transforming the JBB shop into 1875: The Steakhouse. Their favorite song that they renewed their vows to — Thomas Rhett’s “Blessed” — was playing when they walked in, just as the pianist does when they arrive at 1875. A large backdrop of the Wine Room was created to hang behind their table for two. Amber’s husband JR was the chef responsible for creating all their 1875 favorites: filet mignon, wedge salad, asparagus, baked potato, mushroom risotto, chocolate-covered strawberries.
“It’s truly amazing they did all that,” Lori said. “Just
completely blew us away.”
1875 reopened a couple weeks ago, and the Bennetts had
literally been counting down the days. “We knew the last time we were there was
March 14,” Lori said, “so when we went back on July 4, it had been 112 days
between visits. And that’s just unheard of.”
While Kevin missed his favorite wedge salad and Lori craved
the shrimp cocktail after all that time away, it’s those little moments they
savor most: like getting up from their table to dance in the middle of the
restaurant when the pianist plays their song.
And sure, their visits to the steakhouse are about the ambiance.
And the food. And the wine, as Lori is slowly building a wine tree at home from
bottles of her favorite Meeker Merlot.
“We cried four times during that meal, because we were just so happy to be there and to see everyone, and have everyone come in and talk to us. They know us by name, they ask about our kids. It just makes it feel so personal. It’s a place where you feel at home, like you’re with family.”