On a sultry summer evening, a group of fancily dressed partygoers followed the beat of the salsa music to its origin, en route passing a fleet of vintage cars parked along the street. This could have been a scene straight out of Ernest Hemingway’s Cuba circa 1950, with the crowd headed to the famous Tropicana nightclub to dance the night away.
Instead, it was 2025 in Lexington, and the crowd was headed to The Apiary event venue to dance the night away. Outside, it may have been trendy Jefferson Street with its row of upscale restaurants, but inside, it was all Caribbean sizzle heralding The Apiary’s version of Havana Nights.
Faux palm trees twinkled with lights; a cigar roller demonstrated his skill in the courtyard garden; and a bountiful buffet showcased the cuisine of the island—all to hip-swiveling music by salsa band Pavel & Direct Contact that evoked images of the Buena Vista Social Club.
This homage to Havana was just the latest in The Apiary’s Omage series of themed dinners designed to transport guests to the international destination of their dreams.
In the past, guests have dined on curries, savory noodles and stir-fry dishes in a Thai moon garden and tagine, couscous and zaalouk in the marketplaces of Morocco. They have savored the subtle wines of Provence and the bold beers of Oktoberfest in Munich. They have celebrated the Chinese New Year and Mexico’s Day of the Dead—all without the need for a passport.
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It was the latter, Día de los Muertos, that kicked off the first Omage celebration, said Cooper Vaughan, owner of The Apiary and the creative force behind its inventive offerings.
“We came up with the concept when the COVID pandemic made traveling impossible,” Vaughan said. “We realized that Lexingtonians were missing the world, so we decided to bring the world to them.”
Vaughan’s wife and creative partner, Mea, chimes in. “We had both the beautiful space and the talented team to create something, that through food and imagination could take people on a one-of-a-kind adventure,” she said.
Thanks to the creativity of the Vaughans and their staff of 20 full-time employees, diners have been revelers at New Orleans’ Mardi Gras, trekkers in the Andes, shoppers at a Middle Eastern bazaar and guests of the Red Queen at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
“Putting on something this complex is obviously quite a process,” Mea said. “It usually takes months of strategy before we put boots on the ground.”
“We want everything to be as authentic as possible—from the design to the music to the food,” Cooper added. “Especially the food. Everything revolves around the food.”
That’s a responsibility that The Apiary’s culinary director, Tony Yalmazov, a native of Bulgaria, and his executive chef, Catesby Simpson, don’t take lightly.
“Very few art forms engage all the senses the way food does,” Yalmazov said. “What else can evoke a memory of a place just through a scent?”
Once a destination has been determined, Yalmazov and Simpson spend as many as four days planning the menu with the assistance of sommelier Spencer Smith, who doubles as The Apiary’s director of marketing.
“All of us on the staff have to be special team players, capable of handling multiple assignments,” Smith said.
The night of the event usually requires up to 15 people to handle the food and drink, both in and out of the kitchen.
For Havana Nights, in addition to the massive buffet that constantly had to be replenished, Smith said there were three bars, each with a different vibe.
“We dubbed the main bar Pilar for the boat Ernest Hemingway used to sail to Cuba,” he said. “Under a tent in the garden, we had the Car Bar, named for the 1950s classic cars in Cuba, and our wine cellar became a daiquiri bar for the night. We called it El Floridita after the famous Havana bar.”
All this authenticity and glamour do not happen overnight.
“It usually takes about five days to go from seed to full flower,” said Mea, whose background in sculpture and art installation helps her create a multi-sensory experience.
“While we lead with cuisine in choosing a region, we also are influenced by that region’s art and architecture, as well as its textures and colors,” she said.
Cooper added that The Apiary is fortunate to have an in-house team of artists “who love to push themselves to their individual limits.”
If you had dropped in at the venue the week before Havana Nights premiered, you would have seen a group of these artists—clad in jeans, T-shirts and flip-flops—sprawled on the floor fashioning papier-mâché flowers or perched on ladders stringing lights.
“We always strive to be not only authentic but respectful of the culture we are honoring,” Mea said.
The team has had plenty of practice in complicated installations. Consider the 250 floating candles they had to suspend from the ceiling Harry Potter-style for their Omage to Magic. Then there was the 25-foot Chinese dragon they dangled from the same ceiling to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Cooper said each installation takes an average of three or four days, with 15 people involved in the process. It’s a piece of cake next to procuring the vintage cars for Havana Nights.
“We started with three cars for our first Havana Nights,” he said. “By this year’s event, we had it up to eight.”
Practice does indeed make perfect, but Cooper said they never take anything for granted.
“We all agree that it always feels like everything falls into place in the nick of time,” he admitted.
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Falling into place in the nick of time could be a slogan for The Apiary’s survival. Vaughan’s original plan for the building—once the site of a 19th century printing establishment—was to rehabilitate it for use as an event space for weddings, private parties and corporate gatherings.
All that was left of the original building was the section that now houses the kitchen, so Vaughan began an ambitious multi-year reconstruction effort that resulted in the stunning exterior and interior that one sees today, and the spectacular gardens that were designed by Jon Carloftis and are maintained by Neli Dimitrova, the mother of culinary director Yalmazov.
For months, as the construction continued, Lexington residents were intrigued by the mysterious goings-on behind the ornate brick walls on Jefferson Street.
The big reveal in 2015 left them awestruck, and before long, the world was knocking on the door.
“That year, the Breeders’ Cup came to Keeneland for the first time,” Mea said, “and they booked a series of parties with us. That was a big boost to get us started.”
That success continued right up to the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020, when the good times ceased to roll. The parties ended; weddings were postponed; corporate gatherings took place on Zoom.
It could have spelled the end for Cooper’s dream. However, once again in the nick of time, The Apiary’s creative team members came up with a plan. They created the Hive, a core group of locals who kept the kitchen humming with takeout orders for elevated food and drink.
As places cautiously began to open their doors, The Apiary provided a safe haven for Hive members to engage in social-distance dining.
“It kept us going during a very rough time,” Cooper said.
Today, Hive members enjoy the cachet of a private supper club salon every Thursday night where, as Cooper said, “There’s no theme. It’s just about embracing the food.”
The introduction of the Omage series allows non-members access to The Apiary’s spectacular events—plated dinners for up to 110 people and cocktail extravaganzas for 250 guests.
The 2026 Omage calendar kicks off in December with the popular Feast of the Seven Fishes, a quasi-religious Christmas Eve celebration whose roots stem from Southern Italy.
Although the staff has not announced the specific themes for 2026, there will be four dinners each month during January, February and March.
While the cost of the evening is higher than at some restaurants ($125 and up), how can you put a price on magic?