Lynn's Paradise Cafe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lynn's Paradise Cafe was a restaurant in The Highlands neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. It had been open since 1991, originally in the Crescent Hill neighborhood, until it moved into a former grocery store in The Highlands. It had been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Throwdown! with Bobby Flay on Food Network, where Lynn Winter, founder and chef, defeated Bobby Flay in a breakfast contest.
It was known for its kitschy style in both decor and food. Both the exterior and interior were painted vividly and decorated eclectically. It was well known for its breakfast (fruit-sauced tropical French toast, Bourbon-ball French toast, and scrambled eggs with kielbasa whipped in are typical Lynn's fare), but also served lunch and dinner. Lynn's Paradise Cafe hosted many events throughout the year, and was especially busy for a New Year's Eve and New Year's Day pajama party.
It sponsored the "Ugly Lamp Contest" at the Kentucky State Fair annually. It started when Winter was asked to judge the "Costume Poultry Show" at the Kentucky State Fair sponsored by Morton H Sachs investment manager of The Fairmont Fund; she felt that she could come up with something new.
The restaurant closed for good on January 12, 2013, in the midst of a controversy over new tipping policies at the restaurant, and accusations of labor law violations.
The restaurant has received extensive local and national media attention, including features on television programs such as The Oprah Winfrey Show "Best of", the Food Network's "Throwdown", the Discovery Channel's "Christopher Lowell Show", Travel channels all new "Chowdown Countdown" and CBS Evening News' "Travels with Harry".
In addition to print articles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA TODAY magazine, articles about Lynn's Paradise Café have appeared in popular consumer magazines such as American Style, Bon Appetit, Condé Nast Traveler, Cooking Light, Esquire, Gourmet, House Beautiful, Southern Living, Travel & Leisure, Travel Holiday, and the in-flight publications of Comair, Continental, Delta, and Southwest airlines.
Within the hospitality industry, the Paradise has been featured in Midwest Foodservice News, Meetings & Conventions, Nation's Restaurant News, Restaurant Business, Restaurant Hospitality, Restaurants & Institutions, and Wine & Spirits.
Man v. Food Nation
On an episode of Man v. Food Nation set in Louisville, host Adam Richman paid a visit to Lynn's to try the restaurant's Quadruple "B" French Toast, which is dunked in buttermilk and black walnuts and topped with blackberry glaze and a Bourbon meringue. He experienced a unique way of grilling the toast when Lynn showed him how to launch it onto the grill with a 19th-century catapult.