"Distinctive" and "elegant" are often applied to both Kathy Cary and the cuisine she creates. But to know her, you've also got to throw in strong passion, a long-time connection with farming, energy easily twice that of people half her age, and a way with food that has put Louisville on the culinary map.

Kathy Cary, with her musician husband Will, owns and operates Lilly's, a much-celebrated Louisville restaurant that Will designed. Cary is also the chef/owner of two gourmet-to-go sites called La Peche ("the peach"), so named for "the most perfect thing you could possibly eat, in taste, texture, and smell," she says.

Cary has brought attention to a much overlooked part of the country, known for its wonderful produce, but not generally thought of for its cuisine. The same energy she's invested in raising the profile of southern cuisine she threw into organizing the Chefs Collaborative Celebrity Chefs Dinner and joint fund-raiser to benefit the Collaborative and the Louisville Orchestra.... The fund-raiser came right on top of Kentucky Derby Week, itself a blizzard of eating events, from private parties to box lunches to big, special occasion dinners. But planning, organizing, and performing adroit culinary acrobatics, often back-to-back, are what Kathy Cary does best, and her well-choreographed efforts are one of the strengths she brings both to the Board of Overseers, of which she is a member, and the Collaborative membership as a whole.

GROWING UP AGRARIAN

Growing up on a family farm, Cary actively assisted when her mother entertained, but discovered early on that her love of cooking surpassed her love of farming. By age eighteen, she had started a successful Washington, D.C.. catering business. Upon returning to Louisville, she worked a short stint at someone else's restaurant and quickly decided to establish her own business again, the place she was most comfortable investing her considerable energies.

Lilly's, named after Cary's daughter 13 years ago when she was just a year old, is housed in a hundred-year-old, two-story brick building with very large windows. "Bill's Garden" blooms out front, a flower plot dedicated to a waiter and friend who had lovingly done the flowers for the restaurant for years before an untimely death from AIDS.

The interior walls of Lilly's are painted dark green rubbed with black and the ceilings are a deep purple. Art deco lamp-fans whir quietly overhead, and murals dominate two of the three dining rooms. One of the murals shows large '30s-era ladies with lilies strategically strewn over and around their naked forms. The mural in the main dining room in the bar is reminiscent of Cary's parents' country farm -- Longfield -- where she grew up. It depicts clover and wheat, cows and horses, and a garden complete with chickens.

Cary has had multiple invitations to the James Beard House in New York and was named a "Great American Chef" for 1997 by Gourmet magazine. She got raves in The New York Times and is certainly among those most responsible for introducing "Kentucky fine dining" as the national press dubbed this once undistinguished culinary scene.

Signature regional ingredients like black-eyed peas, creamy grits, country ham and smoked pork tenderloin grace Cary's menu, transposed from bluegrass country traditional to eclectically leading edge.

When Lilly's was about a year old, Cary initiated a dialogue between chefs and the farmers. At the time, she was purchasing from just one farming group but wanted others, and sensed other chefs might, as well. She called the local media, the State Agricultural Department in Frankfort, a group of chefs and a number of farmers, and had a large informal get-together at Lilly's. "It was a little unorganized, but everybody came," recalls Cary proudly. It was the start of what are now regular connections among chefs and farmers, and a steady flow of produce and goods from farm to restaurant kitchen. Cary's own suppliers include an organic farm in Hart County that provides exotica like baby bok choy and snow peapod tendrils, as sell as the 20 kinds of lettuce she puts into her salad mix. The farm has no formal name, but it's run to extremely high standards by her favorite farmers, Carol Friedman and Bruce ( who uses no last name). Says Cary, with evident respect and affection, "They even sleep with their vegetables when the raccoons are out."

Cary's cheeses come from Capriole Farm just north in Indiana, and a local supplier nearby in Bagdad brings farm-raised, pastel-colored organic eggs in the shades of barely-tinted blues and greens and beiges (yes, they are laid this way!) that Cary loves.

"The farmers are the ones, especially in our growing season, who put smiles on our faces, not to mention our patrons' faces," she says. "People in the community are very proud that we do support so many farmers, and they can taste the difference." The bottom of the Lilly's menu reads "God Bless Our Local Farmers."

FROM SEED TO TABLE

An interest in that same community is a key motivator for Cary. Her pet project, "From Seed to Table," a local community service program, is now in its fifth year. Born of a grieving period when Cary lost both her grandmother and one of her principal chefs within days of each other, this project was her solution for dealing with this double loss. She realized how much her 92-year-old grandmother and 31-year-old chef Michael Lyles had in common: people, gardening, flowers, and food. She paid a visit to a local organization called The Cabbage Patch, an inner-city settlement house started in 1911 for kids and families, to ask if she could start a volunteer education program propelled by her biggest passions: gardening and cooking.

The group originally established a garden in downtown Louisville, but later moved it out into the country. For two years in a row, its young growers have won major ribbons for most unusual varieties of eggplant and peppers at the Kentucky State Fair, beating even 4-H clubs. During the nongrowing season, the program continues once a week at a locale near the Cabbage Patch with cooking classes for the kids. The result is that participants get a well-rounded sense of the entire process -- from seed to table.

"The whole idea for this program, for me," says Cary, "was to let kids know that the farming/restaurant business is a friendly one that you can get into without a college degree." Some of the kids prefer the farming aspect and some connect with the cooking aspects, but either way, the rewards are great.

FAMILY FIRST

Her own children, 14-year-old Lilly and 10-year-old Will, are her first priority. Cary maintains that having "two smiling faces at home waiting for me" is what keeps her life in perspective. She pointedly designed her business with her family in mind.

"My idea was never to be here at the restaurant at night, especially during the week. I go home, take care of the kids, help them with their homework, feed them dinner." Candlelit family dinners at seven are not unusual. If a sports activity interferes with the family gathering, there is at least one parent with one child at dinner-time, even if dinner is a hot dog en route from a baseball game.

Second only to her family, Cary's staff get passionate support from their boss -- and they return it. She's had the same dishwasher for fourteen years, same prep cook for thirteen and the same La Peche takeout chef for eleven years. Even a few servers have been at Lilly's for twelve years.

"One thing I attribute this longevity to is the mom-and-popness of our restaurant and the work ethic," says Cary. "I don't believe in being open more than five days a week. Life's too short. We close at Christmas time for four and five days, and everybody still gets paid. My whole thing is, go enjoy your friends and family."

And what that means for Kathy Cary and family is a Christmastime return to Longfield Farm, where Cary grew up, to recharge and replenish. It means going back to the seat of that connection to farming, to the kitchen of her childhood, and to the treasure of family recipes that have so inspired her. If Cary can be said to be a product of farm and family, then Lilly's is the product she has made of her own roots. It's clear that Louisville has learned to savor all of it.

["Chefs Collaborative 2000 is a network of chefs and food growers across the U.S. who promote sustainable cuisine by teaching children, supporting local farmers, educating each other, and inspiring their customers to choose clean, healthy foods. The Collaborative is a supporting organization of Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust."]