After a family vacation abroad (most recently to Spain) for culinary inspiration or a visit to a local farm for organic produce, Kathy Cary always returns to the kitchen of her restaurant, Lilly's with fresh ideas to invigorate her customers' dining experience. Cary's dedication to inventive ingredient combinations and a menu centered around seasonal, locally produced produce and meats results in diners leaving the table with the satisfaction of having eaten a wondrous meal with a patented Cary twist.

"I want ingredients that make sense to communities. Our menus are a return to great ingredients and simple preparations," says Cary, 51, who began her entrepreneurial career with La Peche catering in 1979 befroe opening Lilly's in 1986. Since then she's been invited to cook at New York City's prestigious James Beard House five times, picking up three nominations for the Best Chef in the Southeast.

Cary attributes the roots of her success to the innumerable hours she logged in the kitchen during her first decade as a chef and restaurant owner. In the process she learned to "look up from the chopping block" and take notice of what was going on outside the kitchen. For Cary this means appreciating her staff, seeking inspiration through travels, and cultivating relationships with local farmers and community-minded businesses. More than 10 years ago she organized a meeting of the minds between farmers and chefs to discuss collaboration and currently works with eight farms on a regular basis. Seeing the farmers more as partners than distributors, she makes a point to name the farms on her menu, allowing diners to connect with the source of the evening meal. "It's a way of giving back and being thankful," she says.

Kentucky- and Southern Indiana-grown foods meake up two-thirds of the ingredients for Cary's latest, Barcelona-inspired menu selections. Lilly's tapas fuse local products such as "Purple Dragon" carrots with Spanish imported specialty items -- an example of her enthusiasm for connecting food from farmer to chef and then to customers in new, gratifying ways.

-- Beth Newberry