Mittie herself was known for her starched aprons, her warm but no-nonsense demeanor, and her unerring palate. The tea room originally served light lunches and afternoon tea to ladies who “shopped downtown.” But word quickly spread: the chicken salad was something special.
And perhaps that’s fitting. Part of Mittie’s magic was the sense that you were eating something secret, something just beyond replication. A bite of that chicken salad tasted like slow afternoons, linen napkins, and a gentler pace of life. While you may never sit in that floral-wallpapered room on Bardstown Road again, you can resurrect its spirit. Serve this chicken salad at a spring bridal shower. Pack it for a picnic with a thermos of iced tea. Or simply make it on a quiet Wednesday, plate it on your grandmother’s china, and take a moment. mittie-s tea room chicken salad recipe
In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, drained relish, minced onion, sugar, celery salt, almond extract, and white pepper. Mash the hard-boiled egg yolks into this mixture with a fork until smooth and pale yellow. Set aside. Mittie herself was known for her starched aprons,
In a large bowl, combine the cubed chicken, minced celery, chopped egg whites, and almonds (if using). Add the creamy yolk-mayo mixture. Fold together with a rubber spatula using a gentle “cut and fold” motion—do not overmix. You want distinct pieces, not a mash. Part of Mittie’s magic was the sense that
You’ll taste it then—the ghost of Mittie’s. The perfect crunch of celery. The faint, floral almond note. The tender chicken. And for just a moment, a little bit of old Louisville comes back to the table. If you make this recipe, share it with someone who remembers Mittie’s. And if you’re enjoying it for the first time, consider yourself initiated into a quiet Southern tradition—one chicken salad sandwich at a time.
When Mittie’s finally closed its doors in the early 2010s (after a long decline and a change in ownership), the city mourned. Dozens of articles appeared in the Courier-Journal and local blogs, all asking the same question: Where can we get the recipe? What made Mittie’s chicken salad so distinctive? Let’s break down the attributes that set it apart from every other deli scoop or church cookbook version.
Unlike some minimalist recipes, Mittie’s included hard-boiled eggs, but they were not dominant. The yolks were mashed into the mayonnaise base to add richness, while the whites were chopped finely and folded in. This gave body without chunkiness. The Most Authentic Reproduction Recipe After interviewing former employees, scouring archived food sections, and conducting taste tests with Louisville natives who remember the original, the following recipe has emerged as the consensus closest approximation to Mittie’s Tea Room Chicken Salad .