Love for Popcorn: A Heartfelt Tribute to a Beloved Chef
The people who make a restaurant a family. A Chef, a Friend, and a Legacy of Kindness.
This episode is a bit of a departure from our regular show for an excellent reason. Sylvia, Co-Host of Family Tree, Food & Stories, and her husband, Bernie Lovely, the owners of Restaurant Azure and Patio in Lexington, Kentucky, recently woke to a phone call telling them of the sudden and unexpected passing of their Sous Chef, Austin Poplewell "Popcorn."
Known for his gentle spirit and culinary creativity, Popcorn’s presence turned their restaurant into a second family, filling it with warmth and laughter. Always sharing, Popcorn often brought family recipes to the kitchen, including that of his grandmother’s butterscotch pie.
This is more than a tribute; it’s a reminder of how we build a family through food, laughter, shared stories, and, in this case, a celebration of resilience, passion, and love.
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About Your Hosts: Nancy May and Sylvia Lovely are the powerhouse team behind Family Tree, Food & Stories, an Omnimedia company that celebrates the rich traditions and connections that everyone has around food, friends, and family meals together. Nancy, an award-winning business leader, author, podcaster, and Sylvia, a visionary author, lawyer, and former CEO, combine their expertise to bring captivating stories rooted in history, heritage, and food. Together, they weave stories that blend history, tradition, and the love of food, where generations connect and share intriguing mealtime stories and kitchen foibles.
Tune in and discover the secrets and superstitions hidden in your kitchen cabinets—you might find a new story to share with friends, family, or even a business colleague during your next meal.
#tribute #popcorn #souschef #restaurant #family #food #celebrationoflife #kentuckyfamilies
Popcorn, chef coat, and butterscotch pie.
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I am in the restaurant business because of its humanness.
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It's like your family.
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An assortment of crazy Uncle Bills and Aunt Sues, but on steroids.
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The customers come in all sizes and persuasions, but often with
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the drama that brought them into the restaurant to begin with.
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They, too, are family, and with any family tragedy, a life
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affirming story often emerges.
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Bernie, my husband, began his birthday weekend with his foot slipping off
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the brake, his car careening into the garage steps, and ultimately, into the
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garage wall before it came to a stop.
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The weekend was to get profoundly worse.
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Devastating news.
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Popcorn Our beloved 30 year old sous chef at our Azure restaurant
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and patio had passed away in his sleep at his grandparents house.
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Bernie found great pleasure in engaging with the Azure staff, which included
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Popcorn, beginning in 2015, just after he graduated from Sullivan Culinary School.
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Austin, Popcorn Popplewell, Got his nickname when, because of his soft
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voice, his fellow kitchen staffers could not understand the name.
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They settled on popcorn, and it stuck.
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Our tight knit service and kitchen crew gathered nearly every night to deliver
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delicious meals at a restaurant that had grown popular from its launch In 2005,
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Popcorn thrived.
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He brought his grandmother's timeless traditional recipes,
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adding his own creative flair.
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For He would sometimes bring homemade warm biscuits and butter to diners
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as they arrived at Sunday brunch.
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He would visit others when the kitchen slowed down.
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One special recipe was for butterscotch pie, Bernie's favorite.
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In years past, Bernie, not so subtly, would just happen on purpose
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to say in front of the staff how much he loved butterscotch pie.
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Chef Jeremy Ashby, our executive chef, would have a fresh one at Bernie's
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birthday evening dinner at the restaurant.
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This being a particularly challenging year, Bernie never mentioned
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the pie, and neither did I.
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But, Popcorn, remembered.
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In the chatter that comes with a passing, his grandmother shared, That
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he asked her to whip up her special butterscotch filling and he would
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complete the pie upon arriving at the restaurant and present it to Bernie.
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He never made it.
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Popcorn didn't complain about the long hours in a hot kitchen,
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often at night when others were with family and he was not.
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He was a simple person, prominently stated in his obituary.
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He loved his job.
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His grandmother reminded us at his visitation that Azure, his family,
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and cooking were his passions.
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Popcorn's chef coat was his favorite suit, she said through tears, and
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so it is only fitting that it was in his beloved chef's coat that
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Popcorn was laid to his eternal rest.
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