LOUISVILLE — Former Churchill Downs Executive Chef David Danielson likely had served food to hundreds of thousands of people down to a science after 11 years in the position. When Danielson left the job to be head of food and beverage operations at Log Still Distillery in Gethsmane, Kentucky, someone had to step up and take the reins. That person is chef Kenneth Hardiman. 


What You Need To Know

  • Kansas City native more recently was head of food service at Milwaukee Bucks' arena

  • Hardiman came to Churchill Downs in February to replace former chef

  • He is working his first Kentucky Derby as head chef on an interim basis

  • Hardiman says planning is crucial to serving hundreds of thousands of people

Hardiman came to Churchill Downs in February from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he was head of food operations at Fiserv Forum, the home arena of the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks. 

Hardiman said he works for Levy, a restaurant and hospitality company based in Chicago specializing in providing food and beverage to major entertainment and sports venues, including Churchill Downs, in a regional role. 

“I’m just the chef-in-residence,” he said the Thursday before the Derby. “It’s an interim role, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m here doing this and doing it the best I can. It’s a challenge I look forward to. (It’s) an honor just to say I was the chef at the Kentucky Derby.”

Hardiman is an experienced executive chef with a history of working in the food and beverages industry. He said his skills include menu engineering, catering, budgeting and fast casual. A native of Kansas City, he is a graduate of Brown College Le Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Hardiman has transformed more than half a dozen independent restaurants from the Midwest to the West coast into award-winning establishments and has won several awards and competitions. 

Hardiman told Mariah Kline of Churchill Downs magazine that every company he has worked for and city he has worked in has taught him something. 

“It’s always continued to be a part of me,” he said. “When I look at cooking, I want people to see a clear path of where I came from in my early stages to where I am now—the growth and the different sides of me.”

Hardiman’s creations for the Derby and the days leading up to it include classic Kentucky dishes and seasonal favorites. 

“I’m hoping to bring the feel of Kentucky,” he said. “It’s probably going to have crowds like we haven’t seen in a long time because of the pandemic. I want to make sure everyone has that same feeling that they had at past Derbys and make this one even better.”

Although he has never done so, Hardiman has a plan for preparing food for so many people.

Workers in the kitchen at Churchill Downs. (Spectrum News 1/Brandon Roberts)

“Lots of planning and lots of teamwork,” he said. “There’s a lot of logistics behind it. You have to just be fluid and flexible. There’s a lot of things we kind of went through with the pandemic that taught us some things and then we’re just going to kind of build off of it.”

Hardiman is serving Benedictine spread, which is believed to have been invented in Louisville near the beginning of the 20th century by Jennie Carter Benedict, on a charcuterie board. His recipe for that and all the official menu dishes are on the Kentucky Derby website.

Hardiman has an identical twin brother and enjoys drawing, reading, going to church, and spending time with his wife, Lindsay, and son, Clayton.