The sunlight stretched across the wooden floor of Amy’s Asian Kitchen, creeping up against the wall that separates customers from employees. Owner and head chef Amy Rouse prepared for the day, a little pep in her step. The restaurant was just named “Best Thai Food” and “Best Vietnamese Food” in town by The Winchester Sun newspaper.
“I really didn’t think I’d make it,” Amy said, as she leaned on a broomstick during a pause while sweeping the floor.
Amy’s Asian Kitchen is the only dedicated Vietnamese restaurant in Winchester. The recipes are hers, developed over the years of cooking. Though Kentucky is no stranger to Vietnamese culture, her presence has made a mark on Clark County. Last year, the city celebrated by including the dragon dance in the parade, its colorful feathers and fluid movements made its way down Main Street. Amy often hosts toy drives and free activities for children in the area, and it has become a hub for celebration.
She arrived in Winchester in 2017, after coming to Lexington from Vietnam the year before. Her first few years in Winchester were spent raising her children: Emma, 6, and Jonathan, 13. While she enjoys motherhood, Amy knew there was more she wanted to do. With her husband Tim Rouse, she opened the kitchen six years later, in 2023.
A sign — “Your mom doesn’t work here! Clean as you go!” — is taped to the refrigerator in the back in loopy script. It is signed by Amy. Another reads, “I’m not a therapist but if you want me to be, it’s $140 per hour,” with a smiley face included in Amy’s signature. Her employees, two sisters, know her well.
While out for dinner with their mother, Alayna Woodring, 23, and Lauren Woodring, 21, noticed how Rouse was alone and needed help in the kitchen. “Are you hiring?” they asked.
That was three years ago. The women tease and joke with each other during the long work days at the kitchen. “These girls are like my family,” Amy said. “I love them.”
Alayna recently purchased her own dragon head for a few hundred dollars. It is yellow with a flat mouth. In the two-person dragon dance, she controls the head and the front while her sister controls the back.
“I’ve learned a lot about Vietnamese culture working here. I love it,” Alayna said as she mopped the floor. “Amy taught me that the colors of the dragons mean different things.” Yellow means warmth, wisdom and wealth, while red means excitement, joy and ushering in good fortune.
“She is the best thing to ever happen,” Tim said as he watched Amy laugh with a regular through the restaurant windows. With Amy’s arrival, good fortune has indeed come to Winchester.
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