Adrienne Cole is co-founder and owner of House of Marigold in Louisville, Kentucky, a full-service breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant she opened with her husband, Kris, in 2023. She started her restaurant journey operating a small corporate café in a busy downtown office building, eventually expanding into an elevated, Southern-inspired catering company with Kris as chef. Now the pair is growing the restaurant arm of the business, planning additional House of Marigold locations in Louisville and moving into dinner service.
Cole’s mother has always been very intentional about bringing fresh flowers into the home, and that inspired the naming of the restaurant, she said. Plus, marigolds symbolize prosperity and good fortune, something every restaurateur strives for.
Brunch at House of Marigold includes signature deviled eggs.
The menu at House of Marigold features signatures such as scratch-made biscuits, honey cornbread, and build-your-own deviled eggs with toppings like housemade green tomato chow chow, pickled red onions, and crispy bacon. “It’s seasonal Southern comfort food, reminiscent of the way Kris and I grew up,” said Cole. The beverage side of the menu includes craft cocktails, lots of bubbles and a robust coffee program with matcha, lattes, and cold brews.
The Marigold brand is more than just a business to Cole. It empowers her to be a role model while also demonstrating the possibility that a woman of color has a place in the management and executive sides of the restaurant industry.
Listen as she describes Marigold’s innovative Southern-inspired menu, how she built House of Marigold into a welcoming community hub — the kind of place she likes to hang out in — and her dream for growing the brand into a national presence.
Menu Talk is a collaboration between Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News. You can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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