LEXINGTON, KY. (LEX 18) — For Ashley Minton, her restaurant, Minton's at 760 is the culmination of a dream.
"I feel like it's in my blood. I've been cooking since I was a little and have always just loved being in the kitchen," she said.
When workers showed up Wednesday morning, they found someone had broken in overnight.
"It feels like a huge violation of your personal space. This feels like home for me and my guys and so to just know that someone was in here poking around in our stuff and taking our things, that somebody feels they have the right to do that, it hurts a lot," she said.
Minton said the person stole a few hundred dollars out of the cash register and took the iPads they use to get orders out. But if Minton knows anything about the Lexington restaurant community, it's that they all stick together.
"You know, we all work so hard in local restaurants and bars and it's tough to see things like that happen to your brothers and sisters in this industry," said Kevin Heathcoat, owner of Bourbon 'n Toulouse and Chevy Chase Inn.
Heathcoat heard about what happened and immediately hopped on his restaurant's Facebook page, urging his customers to skip lunch there and head to Minton's.
"Go try her food. It's a great little hole in the wall up on North Limestone and definitely save room for dessert. It's well worth it," Heathcoat said.
Minton said a lot of other local shops reached out too. They were able to run out and buy new equipment to get up and running today.
"The restaurant community and just the business community in Lexington rallies so hard when stuff like this happens and it means a lot, because a lot of times, we feel like we're alone down here," Minton said.
Days like today that show her they are anything but alone.
