Chef Kathy Cary

“Food at Lilly’s continues to be influenced by our long standing tradition of buying locally from farmers and producers, rather than pursuing fashionable food trends”, says Kathy Cary, chef/owner. Susan Reigler, in her valedictory review during her tenure as restaurant critic for the Louisville Courier-Journal, wrote that “If any American city if 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 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,” she continued, “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 foodways but doesn’t hesitate to draw from Continental, Mediterranean, and Asian techniques. The resulting flavor notes are nearly always pitch-perfect.”