Southeast
Hot Brown is Kentucky's meaty, cheesy, signature sandwich that you don't eat with your hands
What is arguably Louisville, Kentucky’s most iconic dish had a most unusual beginning.
It was created by a chef who was bored with serving up the same meal night after night to hungry people who had just finished dancing, a hotel employee with knowledge of the topic told Fox News Digital.
In 1926, The Brown Hotel in Louisville had a nightly dinner dance, which brought in crowds of more than 1,200 each night, according to the hotel’s website.
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As the night stretched into morning, the patrons danced up quite an appetite and went down to the hotel’s restaurant for a bite to eat, the website said.
The chef, Fred Schmidt, soon grew frustrated with serving ham and eggs, the popular dish at the time. So he decided to improvise with ingredients he had on hand, Marc Salmon, human resources director at The Brown Hotel, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview.
The Hot Brown was invented in 1926 after a chef grew frustrated with making the same dish night after night — and decided to change it up. (Chris Witzke)
Schmidt sliced the crusts off a thick piece of bread and put them in a ceramic skillet.
He sliced turkey and put it on top of the bread, sliced a tomato in half, and then poured Mornay sauce on top and stuck it under the broiler.
When it emerged, he added even more cheese.
The Hot Brown was born.
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Nearly 100 years later, the Hot Brown is still being served at The Brown Hotel, largely unchanged from its original recipe – except that the dish now comes topped with two slices of bacon arranged in an X.
Nearly a century later, it remains a culinary staple in Louisville and Kentucky.
“Legend has it that a server … walked past it and said, ‘It’s all the same color,’” Salmon said.
“And so Schmidt said, ‘Fine’ — and put two slices of bacon on the top.”
The Hot Brown was immediately a hit, Salmon said. Nearly a century later, it remains a culinary staple in Louisville and Kentucky.
The Hot Brown sandwich has since become an iconic food in Louisville and throughout Kentucky. (Phil Vettel/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
“Whenever we hire a chef, we tell him, ‘You can do anything you want, but you can’t mess with the Hot Brown,’” Salmon said. “It’s got to be the original recipe.”
At The Brown Hotel, each Hot Brown sandwich is served with “seven ounces of hand-carved turkey breast,” Salmon told Fox News Digital.
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“One of the things that makes our [sandwich] very different from the imitators is that it’s fresh turkey breast that we’re roasting here in the kitchen and hand carving,” he said.
Only one or two people at the hotel are permitted to make the Mornay sauce, Salmon said, so that it stays consistent across the day.
“We serve it breakfast, lunch, dinner, [at] banquets, late night,” he said.
Legend has it that the characteristic “X” of bacon strips was a later addition to the sandwich. (Chris Witzke)
A Mornay sauce, Salmon said, is when shredded cheese is added to a béchamel sauce.
In the case of the Hot Brown, the chef adds Pecorino Romano, as well as nutmeg.
The nutmeg is “an interesting little secret to the sauce,” he said.
Salmon said he believes the Hot Brown has remained popular as it is “very authentic to the town.”
He also told Fox News Digital, “When you live and work in a town that produces a great spirit like bourbon, craftsmanship is really important in this town. I think the fact that it’s so uniquely ‘us’ is what’s kept it alive.”
A scenic view of Louisville, Kentucky. “When you live and work in a town that produces a great spirit like bourbon, craftsmanship is really important in this town. I think the fact that it’s so uniquely ‘us’ is what’s kept it alive,” said Marc Salmon, human resources director at The Brown Hotel in Louisville, about the Hot Brown dish. (Louisville Tourism)
Still, like many unique foods, the Hot Brown has its critics.
John Wise, an Ohio native who spent several years living and working in Louisville, recently shared on social media that he is “not a fan” of the Hot Brown.
“It’s a fork-and-knife operation.”
“Ingredients are all good, but why is it open-faced? Soggy bread is somehow good?” he wrote.
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And while the Hot Brown is technically a sandwich – albeit an open-faced one – it should not be eaten with one’s hands, Salmon said.
“It’s a fork-and-knife operation,” he said.
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A North Carolina woman whose disappearance in 2001 triggered a 24-year search is now facing criminal charges from the year she vanished.
Michele Hundley Smith, now 63, was located Feb. 20 at an undisclosed location within North Carolina after detectives received new information about her case, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said.
Smith was 38 when her husband reported that she left their Eden home Dec. 9, 2001, to go Christmas shopping in Martinsville, Virginia, and never returned. Her vehicle was never found.
An extensive investigation followed, and, despite years of investigative work, her whereabouts remained unknown until last week.
The 63-year-old woman posted $2,000 bond on a failure to appear charge related to a DWI from the month before she vanished for 24 years. (Robeson County Sheriff’s Office)
Authorities said Smith told investigators she left on her own accord and referenced “domestic issues.”
Sheriff Sam Page told Fox News Digital the sheriff’s office had no prior record of domestic incidents at the home. No criminal charges are expected in her disappearance. However, following her identification, investigators discovered an outstanding order for arrest dating back to 2001.
A missing persons flyer circulated at the time of Michele Hundely Smith’s disappearance in December 2001. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
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In a statement, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office said that, after consultation with the District Attorney’s Office and further investigation, authorities identified an outstanding order for arrest for Smith for failure to appear.
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The order stemmed from a DWI charge issued by the Eden Police Department Nov. 11, 2001. Smith failed to appear in court Dec. 27, 2001, for that charge, the statement said.
On Feb. 25, 2026, Smith was taken into custody by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office at the request of Rockingham County authorities. She later posted a $2,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Rockingham County District Court March 26, 2026.
A missing mom found alive after 23 years reveals she left due to domestic issues. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
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On Thursday, the New York Post reported it had located Smith in a trailer in a rural community near the South Carolina state line. Smith told the outlet she is trying to make amends with her daughter and the family she walked out on decades ago.
“My daughter is forgiving me. We are in contact, so leave me alone,” she told the outlet.
Smith’s neighbors said she had “been here for years and years” and mostly keeps to herself.
“We asked why she didn’t come out of the house much, and she said her husband passed. He passed last year. … She was really sad about it. She said she was depressed and stayed inside,” the neighbor said.
Michele Hundely Smith disappeared after leaving her home in North Carolina to go Christmas shopping in Virginia in December 2001. (Bring Michele Hundely Smith Home/Facebook)
In a 2018 interview on “The Vanished Podcast,” her daughter, Amanda Hundley, said her mother’s marriage was unraveling under the weight of alcohol abuse, infidelity and escalating marital arguments.
Smith had recently lost her job at a veterinary practice after being fired for drinking on the job, Hundley said.
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“My dad didn’t like the fact that my mom hid her drinking. I knew about it, and I was the only one. And I felt, you know, I was young, and I felt obligated not to say anything to betray my mom,” Hundley said on the podcast.
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According to Hundley, her father suspected the drinking but did not fully understand the extent of it until after Smith vanished.
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“He said, ‘Do you know where she kept the bottles at?’ And I showed them we had a little red building outside, and it was full of rum bottles, the empties, the ones that she had already drunk,” recalled Hundley, who was 14 at the time.
The couple’s relationship had also deteriorated. Hundley said both her parents had affairs during the marriage. She described frequent arguments that “got physical a few times.”
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Southeast
Atlanta-area police blast parents over vodka martini packed in school lunch: ‘That is NOT apple juice’
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An Atlanta-area police department issued a blunt notice to parents after officers claimed a child brought a vodka-based beverage to school — tucked beside Doritos in a packed lunch.
The City of South Fulton Police Department sounded off about the incident in a now-viral Facebook post, warning parents to “CHECK. THE. LUNCHBOX.”
“Say Twin… Before you send them babies off to school… CHECK. THE. LUNCHBOX. Because why are we getting reports of juice boxes sitting next to… Cutwater margaritas??” the department wrote.
Officials also shared a photo of the alleged lunchbox, containing what appears to be a child’s lunch, Doritos and a Cutwater Lemon Drop Martini.
The police department shared a photo of a Cutwater canned cocktail in a lunchbox. (City of South Fulton Police Department via Facebook)
“That is NOT Capri Sun. That is NOT Apple Juice. That is a whole ‘Parent had a long night’ starter pack,” the department wrote. “Now little Johnny done pulled up to 3rd period talking about: ‘Who want fruit snacks?’ knowing good and well he got a Lemon Drop Martini in the zipper pocket.”
Cutwater Lemon Drop Martinis, as found in the lunchbox, are 11% ABV ready-to-drink cocktails made with vodka, triple sec, lemon juice and natural flavors.
They come in 12-ounce cans, similar in appearance to a soda can.
The City of South Fulton Police Department issued a statement after the apparent mishap. (City of South Fulton Police Department via Facebook)
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The department said it understands mornings can be hectic, but issued a stern notice to parents to “TIGHTEN UP.”
“Your child shouldn’t be the only one in the cafeteria with a beverage that requires an ID,” authorities wrote. “If it says 12% ABV… it does NOT belong next to a PB&J.”
Officials also provided a “quick parent checklist,” with items including: “Homework,” “Lunch packed,” and “Alcoholic beverages.”
Boxes of Cutwater Tiki Rum Mai Tai and Strawberry Margarita canned cocktails. (Gado/Getty Images)
“Check the lunchbox before the Fulton County Schools Police resource officers gotta do inventory at recess,” the department added.
It is unclear if any parents or students were disciplined in relation to the mix-up.
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Fulton County Schools did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The City of South Fulton, Georgia, is a rapidly growing municipality located about 20 minutes from Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
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A federal prosecutor acknowledged Thursday that the decision to charge Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia two years after a routine traffic stop was “extraordinary” while defending the human smuggling case as legally justified.
Abrego Garcia, 31, has become a flash point in the national immigration debate since last March, when he was deported to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order in what Trump administration officials acknowledged was an “administrative error.”
The Supreme Court later ruled that the administration had to work to bring him back to the U.S.
After returning in June, Abrego Garcia was taken into federal custody in Nashville and detained on human smuggling charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee.
He has pleaded not guilty and is seeking dismissal of the charges on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura, left, are accompanied by Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, right, of We Are Casa, as they leave the federal courthouse, Thursday, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
A 2019 court order prevents Abrego Garcia from being deported to El Salvador after an immigration judge determined he faced danger from a gang that had threatened his family. He immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager and has been under the supervision of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Abrego Garcia was accused in court records of repeated domestic violence against his wife, who alleged multiple incidents of physical abuse in protective order filings. She later withdrew the protective order request and has defended her husband publicly.
The Department of Homeland Security has also said he was living in the U.S. illegally and has alleged ties to MS-13, disputing portrayals of him as simply a “Maryland man.” His attorneys have denied the gang allegations.
Tennessee Highway Patrol body camera footage from when Abrego Garcia was pulled over for speeding shows a calm exchange with officers. While officers discussed suspicions of smuggling among themselves — noting there were nine passengers in the vehicle — Abrego Garcia was issued only a warning.
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A woman holds a sign in support of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in front of the U.S. District Court in Nashville. (Getty Images )
First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire, who was acting U.S. attorney in April 2025, testified Thursday that his decision to charge Abrego Garcia was based on the evidence.
“I had previously prosecuted several human smuggling cases,” McGuire said, noting that after seeing video of the traffic stop, “I was immediately struck by how similar what was being depicted in the body cam was to those investigations.”
McGuire said Abrego Garcia’s vehicle belonged to someone with “a human smuggling background” and added that the route was “suspicious.”
“It was a large number of individuals traveling in one SUV with a driver who spoke for the group. No one had luggage… the car had Texas plates… the route was suspicious,” McGuire said.
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrived at the federal courthouse, Thursday, for a hearing on whether the charges against him should be dismissed. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
During cross-examination, McGuire acknowledged that the timing of the charges, coming so long after the traffic stop, was “extraordinary.”
He said he had not previously been aware of the traffic stop but reiterated that nobody in the Trump administration, including the White House or the Department of Justice, pressured him to seek the indictment.
When asked about whether he might have felt pressure to prosecute the case, McGuire said, “I’m not going to do something that is wrong to keep my job.”
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia, right, and his brother Cesar Abrego Garcia, center, arrive at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
McGuire also said timing factored into charging Abrego Garcia since he was being held in El Salvador, and he did not want the indictment to go public before all senior officials were briefed on the matter.
“I knew from the get-go that this was going to be a controversial matter,” McGuire said.
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw did not make a ruling Thursday and said he would wait to receive post-hearing briefs from attorneys by March 5 before determining whether another hearing is necessary.
Crenshaw previously found some evidence that the prosecution “may be vindictive” and that prior statements by Trump administration officials “raise cause for concern.”
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Thursday’s court appearance came after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from re-arresting Abrego Garcia into federal immigration custody on Feb. 17.
Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch, Jake Gibson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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