Recently, the results of the 2009 Scovie Awards were announced, and LaGrange-based KP’s Specialty Pepper Products, which manufactures hot sauces and spicy snacks, received four of the coveted awards. All of the awards KP’s took home were won by the ‘Towering InferNuts’ spicy snack line.  In the ‘Snacks (Nuts) Category’ the Sweet-&-Spicy Peanuts took 1st place while the Spicy Peanuts took 2nd.  In the ‘Snacks (Unique) Category’ the Spicy Trail Mix came out on top with 1st place and the Spicy Pistachios wound up in 2nd.

Leon Kirkpatrick, the founder and owner of the company, teaches music at Bellarmine University and says he stumbled into the spicy-food business while working at a church in Versailles, Ky. several years ago. “An older parishioner brought me a large bag of habanero peppers one day,” says Kirkpatrick. “He thought he had planted bell peppers in his home garden and got a spicy surprise when the smallish peppers appeared instead.” In a fortuitous turn of events, Kirkpatrick followed the advice of another parishioner and decided to try his hand at hot sauce. Thus was born KP’s Specialty Pepper Products, a relative upstart in the world of condiments and snacks.

Given that Kirkpatrick’s products were up against the likes of Pace Foods, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Garden Fresh Salsa, he can be especially proud of his four awards.

“This year’s entrants really represented the cream of the crop in fiery foods products,” says DeWitt, “Our 2009 winners represent some of the largest companies in the industry and start-up companies just getting off the ground.  The common factor is their commitment to excellence and the real quality of the products they produce.”

DeWitt was also pleased with the geographic diversity of the winners.  “This year, our winners represent companies from 32 different states and countries and provinces as diverse as Panama, Australia, Japan, Antigua and Canada.”

Many of the Scovie award-winning products, as well as thousands of other food items, will be available to both trade buyers and consumers at the 21st Annual National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show, which runs from February 27 to March 1 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  For information on the National Fiery Foods Show, call 505-873-8680.

Here’s info to contact Leon Kirkpatrick:

KP’s Specialty Pepper Products
P. O. Box 456
LaGrange, Kentucky  40031
(502)-876-4600

But most interesting in the story was the mention that El Nopal’s Sellersburg restaurant seats 225 people and employs just 12 to 14 workers. For those who’ve not worked in a restaurant, that’s amazing to have that many seats and that small a staff. Typically you’d have three to four times the troops. But as fans of such bean-and-burrito houses (count me among them) know, you often see the same faces working there every day and night. Per usual, these guys and gals hustle.

Wingin’ it in Clarksville: A Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant is scheduled to perch in Clarksville’s Coyle Commons development on Veterans Parkway later this fall—good timing, right in the heart of football season. The family sports pub has about 500 U.S. outlets and is among the fastest-growing wing concepts in the country. Published reports say construction is scheduled to begin in this spring as soon as the rain stops falling. With 2-5 inches of wetness predicted for this Thursday and Friday, I’d say the hard hats will have the rest of the week off.

Morton’s rolls pre-theater menu: Morton’s in Louisville is offering a $49.95 per person (tax and gratuity not included) pre-theater menu from 5:30 to 6:30. (That’s still more than a hundred bucks a couple, which is out of my league for a non-wedding-anniversary dinner out, but it’s better than regular prices.) Menu choices include: choice of Morton’s salad or Caesar Salad; entrée choice of single cut filet mignon, shrimp Alexander, filet Diane, or jumbo lump crab cake; side choice of vegetable or potato; and a choice of dessert tray selections. Coffee and hot tea are complimentary, while alcohol is extra.

Located at 626 West Main Street, the restaurant is just two blocks’ walk from the Arts Center and about a half dozen blocks from Actors. Call 584-0421 for reservations.

Update: Claudia Sanders reopens in wake of food poisoning: At last count, 133 customers of Claudia Sanders Dinner House were poisoned after dining there on Easter Sunday. The restaurant closed for about half of the last week in March before reopening on the 29th. Shelby County health officials still don’t know for certain what food may have harbored the virus that caused patrons to suffer abdominal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea after their March 23 meals. Earlier it was suspected that ham served that day was the culprit.

Pizza: My pizza industry buds will kill me for this, but I say skip delivery and get Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza.

Not only will the delivery dudes be swamped Sunday and it’ll take longer to get your food, if you get a large order at once, it’ll probably go cold before it’s all eaten. If you get take-and-bake pies, however, not only can you pick them up a day in advance, you bake them when you want, which gives you hot pizza all throughout the game. Papa Murphy’s is darn reliable pizza, too, and the price is fair. Word to the wise: Order in advance for late Saturday pickup.

Wings/Chicken: My picks are Pizza Hut’s WingStreet and Buffalo Wild Wings, though there are lots of places to get good wings in Louisville. And whatever wings you get, serve them hot by reheating them in the oven on a foil-lined sheet pan at 350 F for about 10 minutes. They’ll be nearly good as new. Far as chicken goes, sorry KFC, but I love the fried chicken at Kroger. Great price and great product. They have a chipotle-dusted chicken that’s excellent. Definitely order in advance.

The addition of Molly Malone’s would be a feather in the cap of St. Matt’s ever-improving restaurant and bar scene. In my pub crawling days (admittedly two decades ago), that neighborhood’s best beer was found in a few green import bottles hidden among legions of brown-glassed Buds.

Since then, Bluegrass Brewing Co. and Brendan’s Restaurant & Pub (a sibling of O’Shea’s Irish Pub and Flanagan’s Ale House) have raised the microbrew draught beer selection and food quality bar significantly. And unlike longstanding icons, Dutch’s Tavern and Gerstel’s Place, Brendan’s vibe is much more pub than pick-up joint, a real plus for the married set eager only to share beers and bites with friends.

According to Business First, MM’s owners don’t know exactly when they’ll move in since the transition hinges on Buffalo Wild Wings’ departure. But you can bet I’ll grant it, as the Irish say, “cead mile failte” (a 100,000 welcomes) when it comes. When you live on the fringes of the city, a shorter driver to a great pub is always welcomed.

Though some fear the new Molly’s is too close to the old Molly’s on Baxter Avenue, I don’t. The limited number of truly good, friendly neighborhood pubs like those clustered in the Original Highlands leaves local fans of such fare vastly underserved. Some in the Baxter crowd may migrate to St. Matt’s, but that’ll only make more room for those who want to visit the original. The St. Matt’s spot will, in time, draw new customers and bring Molly Malone’s a new pot o’ gold.