If an American city is fortunate, it will have a signature restaurant, an eatery combining a sense of place with the best local flavors. To be truly outstanding, it will have a worldview, too, drawing on many culinary traditions.

For almost two decades, our city has been very lucky indeed to have its own such quintessential restaurant.

Lilly's could be found nowhere but in Louisville.

Chef/owner Kathy Cary grew up here and loves Kentucky food. The restaurant is located on the edge of the Cherokee Triangle, one of the city's oldest and prettiest neighborhoods. And Cary uses ingredients such as catfish, country ham, bourbon, seasonal produce and local artisanal cheeses and meats on an ever-changing menu that honors Southern food ways but doesn't hesitate to draw from Continental, Mediterranean and Asian techniques.

The resulting flavor notes are nearly always pitch-perfect.

The winter dinner menu has just gone into effect, and all of Lilly's virtues are present on it. You could make a meal from a selection of the ÒKentucky tapas,Ó including Duncan rabbit croquettes in bourbon sage cream and the Kentucky lake catfish spring roll. Or choose more traditional favorites from starters, salads and entrees.

A perfect cold-weather starter is the plate-sized butternut squash ravioli ($14), topped with sautŽed foie gras and flavored with accents of country ham. The bistro salad ($7) also exhibited a beautiful balance of flavors, in which the greens were tossed with just-right portions of pumpkin seed, pickled beets and smoked bacon and dressed in subtle lemon vinaigrette. It was served with Capriole goat cheese bruschetta.

The bacon-wrapped Kentucky Heritage pork tenderloin ($26) is a pork lover's dream. The fragrant meat was perched on a slice of country sausage with sautŽed spinach and sweet-potato hash on the side.

Most surprisingly, the new menu features Louisville's outstanding Indian dish. (Yes, you read that correctly.) How do you cook Indian with a Southern accent? Serve a richly flavored, heartbreakingly tender lamb curry over stone-ground grits. A cooling goat's-milk raita is provided on the side.

A bottle ($55) of 2002 Lane Tanner "Julia's vineyard" pinot noir ably accompanied dinner, which concluded with a shared chocolate lava cake ($9). The warm chocolate center was complemented by Old Forester bourbon ice cream and lashings of rich caramel sauce.

[Sidebar summary to this review: "Endlessly inventive, seasonal menu with regional ingredients and international influences. Attentive service. Stylish but comfortable atmosphere. Award-winning wine list."]