CITY GUIDES | THE SOUTH
The Baker’s Table in Newport Turns a Tasting Menu Into a Serious Night Out
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By Eric Barton | Feb. 25, 2026
Baker’s Table is chef David Willocks’s 20-table argument that fine dining can still feel warm, not ceremonial. The critics seem to agree: Willock is a semifinalist for best chef in the southeast from the James Beard Foundation, and the Cincinnati Enquirer boasts that his restaurant will “remind you why you love restaurants"
The six-course lineup changes monthly, but the fact that it’s posted online is a bonus for a prix fixe, which is so often a surprise to everybody but the chef. The most recent $90 menu moves from canapés like a Rosalie apple with pumpkin seed butter and rosemary caramel into a starter choice that includes mushroom “tartare” with crème fraîche and kennebec chips, then pasta like cocoa rigatoni with beef bolognese and daikon gremolata or tonarelli with butternut parmesan and kale pesto.
Mains split between striped bass with corn velouté and Meyer lemon and lamb osso bucco with balsamic jus and Napa cabbage, with dessert landing on either a sage macaron with blackberry and lemon curd or a red velvet éclair with chocolate mousse and hazelnut.
The room is styled for vintage atmosphere and low lighting, there’s a bar for à la carte, and the add-on pairings—wine or spirit-free—make this feel like a place that actually expects people to talk about what’s in the glass, not just what’s on the plate.
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