Lynn's Paradise Cafe - Where IT All Began

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 Winfrey 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.

Jan. 11, 2013 amid allegations of worker abuse Lynn's closes its doors.