Lynn's Paradise Cafe
Encyclopedia
Lynn's Paradise Cafe is a restaurant in the The Highlands
neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky
. It has been open since 1991, originally in the Crescent Hill
neighborhood, until it moved into a former grocery store in The Highlands. It has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show
and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay
on Food Network
, where Lynn Winter, founder and chef, defeated Bobby Flay
in a breakfast
contest.
It is known for its kitsch
y style in both decor and food. Both the exterior and interior are painted vividly and decorated eclectically. It is well known for its breakfast(fruit-sauced tropical French toast
, Bourbon
-ball French toast. and scrambled eggs with kielbasa
whipped in are typical Lynn's fare), but also serves lunch and dinner. Hours are 8am to 10pm.
It sponsors the "Ugly Lamp Contest" at the Kentucky State Fair
annually. It started when Winter was asked to judge the "Poultry Dressing Contest" at the Kentucky State Fair; she felt that she could come up with something new. After looking at her surroundings and realizing the restaurant could use some lighting the Ugly Lamp Contest was born! It proves to be delightfully fun each year. Anyone can enter in two categories, Born Ugly or Made Ugly, it is free to enter, simply bring your lamp to Lynn's during mid-July, fill out an entry form and Lynn's takes care of the rest. Lamps can be picked up after the fair or donated to the restaurant.
Lynn's Paradise Cafe hosts many events throughout the year, and is especially busy for a New Year's Eve and New Year's Day pajama party.
Lynn opened Lynn’s Paradise Café in 1991, creating a unique setting that attracts a diverse group of people from around the world. She made them feel welcome, introduced new twists on food and drink and brought new life to the dining experience in areas that had not been fully explored. Nineteen years later, the restaurant remains a tribute to her originality, providing food, fun and community in a visually stimulating, ever changing environment.
The Café has garnered its share of national and regional press in newspapers, magazines and television. Features include being named “One of the Four Most Fun Restaurants in America” by Esquire magazine, notable articles in Southern Living, USA Today, The New York Times and was included in Bon Appetit’s list of “The 100 Best Neighborhood Restaurants”. Lynn’s has also appeared on the “Best of” and “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” on the Food Network, CBS’s “Travels with Harry” and “The Oprah Show”. Lynn has also had the honor of cooking for two Inaugural Balls. “Decide for yourself: Is this a great restaurant with amazing art… or an amazing art gallery with a great restaurant?” Jane and Michael Stern’s book, “Roadfood”. Most recently in the “Lexington Herald Leader” Patti Nickell described us with this quote, “If Salvadore Dali and Dolly Parton were to team up to open a restaurant, they might come up with Lynn’s Paradise Café”.
Lynn has been able to turn her involvement with her restaurant into an opportunity to get involved with the community in other ways. She worked for over ten years with the Kentucky Restaurant Association. During her term as president with the KRA she worked at the National and Regional levels to legislatively bring about a healthy atmosphere to restaurants. She is active and has been for over sixteen years in supporting family farms and bringing farmers and consumers together for the mutual benefit of the community. She has also been involved in Urban Re-Development, bringing new life to the downtown area. After studying with John Carver, she initiated a move to bring local non-profit organizations together with national specialists in Board Governance.
For the last twelve years, she has been working in the relatively new field of Positive Psychology as a Happiness Coach, helping people utilize their strengths in their private as well as professional lives. After a sabbatical at UCLA, Lynn has continued her love of art in daily life through film, design, fine art photography, writing and mixed media.
Lynn has received numerous awards and honors such as, “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” from Ernst and Young, “The Tower Award for Women Leaders”, “Louisville’s Distinguished Citizens Award”, “Louisville’s 40 under 40”, National Restaurant Association’s “Chairman’s Award for Grassroots Leadership “Woman Business Owner of the Year” and “Best Restaurateur” in Louisville Magazine,
Her entrepreneurial ways led Lynn to open the World of Swirl, a very eclectic retail store. This expansion to the restaurant includes her own line of clothing as well as “The Birth of Swirl”, a book uncovering the true story of the world you will enter at Lynn’s. The store has many items that are sure to bring a smile to your face. Lynn currently has a thriller in the works, “The Secret Life of Meatloaf”, topped by a scratch and sniff sticker of her own formulation.
In addition to print articles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY magazine, articles about Lynn's Paradise Café have appeared in popular consumer magazines such as American Style, Bon Appetit, Condé Nast Traveler, Cooking Light, Esquire, Gourmet, House Beautiful, Southern Living, Travel & Leisure, Travel Holiday, and the in-flight publications of Comair, Continental, Delta, and Southwest airlines.
Within the hospitality industry, the Paradise has been featured in Midwest Foodservice News, Meetings & Conventions, Nation's Restaurant News, Restaurant Business, Restaurant Hospitality, Restaurants & Institutions, and Wine & Spirits.
set in Louisville, host Adam Richman
paid a visit to Lynn's to try the restaurant's Quadruple "B" French Toast, which is dunked in buttermilk and black walnuts and topped with blackberry glaze and a Bourbon meringue. He experienced a unique way of grilling the toast when Lynn showed him how to launch it onto the grill with a 19th-century catapult
.
The Highlands (Louisville)
The Highlands is an area of Louisville, Kentucky which contains a high density of nightclubs, eclectic businesses, and many upscale and fast food restaurants. It is centered along a three-mile stretch of Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue and is so named because it sits atop a ridge between the...
neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
. It has been open since 1991, originally in the Crescent Hill
Crescent Hill, Louisville
Crescent Hill is a neighborhood four miles east of downtown Louisville, Kentucky USA. Area was originally called "Beargrass" because it sits on a ridge between two forks of Beargrass Creek....
neighborhood, until it moved into a former grocery store in The Highlands. It has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay
Throwdown! with Bobby Flay
Throwdown! with Bobby Flay is a Food Network television program in which celebrity chef Bobby Flay challenges cooks renowned for a specific dish or type of cooking to a cook-off of their signature dish....
on Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
, where Lynn Winter, founder and chef, defeated Bobby Flay
Bobby Flay
Robert William "Bobby" Flay is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur and reality television personality. He is the owner and executive chef of 12 restaurants: Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, New York City, and the Bahamas ; Bar Americain in New York City and Uncasville, Connecticut; Bobby Flay Steak...
in a breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the day's work...
contest.
It is known for its kitsch
Kitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
y style in both decor and food. Both the exterior and interior are painted vividly and decorated eclectically. It is well known for its breakfast(fruit-sauced tropical French toast
French toast
French toast or Eggy Bread, is a food made with bread and eggs. It is a Christmas time dessert in Portugal and Brazil.Where French toast is served as a sweet dish, milk, sugar, or cinnamon are also commonly added before frying, and it may be then topped with sugar, butter, fruit, syrup, or other...
, Bourbon
Bourbon whiskey
Bourbon is a type of American whiskey – a barrel-aged distilled spirit made primarily from corn. The name of the spirit derives from its historical association with an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky . It has been produced since the 18th century...
-ball French toast. and scrambled eggs with kielbasa
Kielbasa
Kielbasa, kołbasa, kobasa, kovbasa, kobasa, kobasi, and kubasa are common North American anglicizations for a type of Eastern European sausage. Synonyms include Polish sausage, Ukrainian sausage, etc...
whipped in are typical Lynn's fare), but also serves lunch and dinner. Hours are 8am to 10pm.
It sponsors the "Ugly Lamp Contest" at the Kentucky State Fair
Kentucky State Fair
The Kentucky State Fair is the official state fair of Kentucky which takes place at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. More than 600,000 fairgoers fill the of indoor and outdoor exhibits, eat a smorgasbord of food and ride hair-raising, adrenaline-pumping coasters during the 11-day event...
annually. It started when Winter was asked to judge the "Poultry Dressing Contest" at the Kentucky State Fair; she felt that she could come up with something new. After looking at her surroundings and realizing the restaurant could use some lighting the Ugly Lamp Contest was born! It proves to be delightfully fun each year. Anyone can enter in two categories, Born Ugly or Made Ugly, it is free to enter, simply bring your lamp to Lynn's during mid-July, fill out an entry form and Lynn's takes care of the rest. Lamps can be picked up after the fair or donated to the restaurant.
Lynn's Paradise Cafe hosts many events throughout the year, and is especially busy for a New Year's Eve and New Year's Day pajama party.
Where it all Began
With humble beginnings Lynn Winter began her career not as a restaurateur, but as a custom woodworker in Kentucky and Northern California. Although seemingly disparate professions, woodworking fulfilled for Lynn her desire to incorporate art into everyday life. After eight years of furniture making, a twist of fate led Lynn to waiting tables. She loved the pace, the people and the possibilities of the restaurant business. She sold her woodworking tools, and prepared to open a restaurant of her own.Lynn opened Lynn’s Paradise Café in 1991, creating a unique setting that attracts a diverse group of people from around the world. She made them feel welcome, introduced new twists on food and drink and brought new life to the dining experience in areas that had not been fully explored. Nineteen years later, the restaurant remains a tribute to her originality, providing food, fun and community in a visually stimulating, ever changing environment.
The Café has garnered its share of national and regional press in newspapers, magazines and television. Features include being named “One of the Four Most Fun Restaurants in America” by Esquire magazine, notable articles in Southern Living, USA Today, The New York Times and was included in Bon Appetit’s list of “The 100 Best Neighborhood Restaurants”. Lynn’s has also appeared on the “Best of” and “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” on the Food Network, CBS’s “Travels with Harry” and “The Oprah Show”. Lynn has also had the honor of cooking for two Inaugural Balls. “Decide for yourself: Is this a great restaurant with amazing art… or an amazing art gallery with a great restaurant?” Jane and Michael Stern’s book, “Roadfood”. Most recently in the “Lexington Herald Leader” Patti Nickell described us with this quote, “If Salvadore Dali and Dolly Parton were to team up to open a restaurant, they might come up with Lynn’s Paradise Café”.
Lynn has been able to turn her involvement with her restaurant into an opportunity to get involved with the community in other ways. She worked for over ten years with the Kentucky Restaurant Association. During her term as president with the KRA she worked at the National and Regional levels to legislatively bring about a healthy atmosphere to restaurants. She is active and has been for over sixteen years in supporting family farms and bringing farmers and consumers together for the mutual benefit of the community. She has also been involved in Urban Re-Development, bringing new life to the downtown area. After studying with John Carver, she initiated a move to bring local non-profit organizations together with national specialists in Board Governance.
For the last twelve years, she has been working in the relatively new field of Positive Psychology as a Happiness Coach, helping people utilize their strengths in their private as well as professional lives. After a sabbatical at UCLA, Lynn has continued her love of art in daily life through film, design, fine art photography, writing and mixed media.
Lynn has received numerous awards and honors such as, “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” from Ernst and Young, “The Tower Award for Women Leaders”, “Louisville’s Distinguished Citizens Award”, “Louisville’s 40 under 40”, National Restaurant Association’s “Chairman’s Award for Grassroots Leadership “Woman Business Owner of the Year” and “Best Restaurateur” in Louisville Magazine,
Her entrepreneurial ways led Lynn to open the World of Swirl, a very eclectic retail store. This expansion to the restaurant includes her own line of clothing as well as “The Birth of Swirl”, a book uncovering the true story of the world you will enter at Lynn’s. The store has many items that are sure to bring a smile to your face. Lynn currently has a thriller in the works, “The Secret Life of Meatloaf”, topped by a scratch and sniff sticker of her own formulation.
Lynn's Paradise Cafe in the News
The restaurant has received extensive local and national media attention, including features on television programs such as the Oprah Winfrey Show "Best of", the Food Network's "Throwdown", the Discovery Channel's "Christopher Lowell Show", Travel channels all new "Chowdown Countdown" and CBS Evening News' "Travels with Harry".In addition to print articles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY magazine, articles about Lynn's Paradise Café have appeared in popular consumer magazines such as American Style, Bon Appetit, Condé Nast Traveler, Cooking Light, Esquire, Gourmet, House Beautiful, Southern Living, Travel & Leisure, Travel Holiday, and the in-flight publications of Comair, Continental, Delta, and Southwest airlines.
Within the hospitality industry, the Paradise has been featured in Midwest Foodservice News, Meetings & Conventions, Nation's Restaurant News, Restaurant Business, Restaurant Hospitality, Restaurants & Institutions, and Wine & Spirits.
Man v. Food Nation
On an episode of Man v. Food NationMan v. Food Nation
Man v. Food Nation is the name given to the fourth season of the Travel Channel's Man v. Food, a food reality television series. It premiered at 9 PM ET on June 1, 2011, with a special preview episode, "The Quest Begins", airing at 9 PM ET on May 25, 2011.In this show, host Adam Richman, actor and...
set in Louisville, host Adam Richman
Adam Richman (actor)
Adam Richman is an American actor and television personality. He was the host of the Travel Channel's eating challenge program Man v. Food and is currently hosting Man v. Food Nation.-Early life and education:...
paid a visit to Lynn's to try the restaurant's Quadruple "B" French Toast, which is dunked in buttermilk and black walnuts and topped with blackberry glaze and a Bourbon meringue. He experienced a unique way of grilling the toast when Lynn showed him how to launch it onto the grill with a 19th-century catapult
Catapult
A catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during...
.