Kentucky

*Jonathan Restaurant*
Lexington, Kentucky

To experience fine dining at it's best, visit Jonathan Restaurant at the Gratz Park Inn. Its menu features regional cuisine with a gourmet flair. Chef Jonathan Lundy born and raised in central Kentucky started his culinary training in 1990 when he moved to New Orleans and served as an apprentice to chef Emeril Lagasse at Emerils Restaurant. 

After graduation from Johnson and Wales he returned to Lexington and Roy and Nadines Restaurant to spend years as chef and then partner in the Pacific Pearl Restaurant.

In 1997, Jonathan and his wife Cara then opened the Gratz Park location serving Jonathan's redefined regional cuisine. We had a strict vegetarian in our group and the waiter assured her the vegetables and dumplings would be pure vegetarian and not prepared with chicken broth. They were delicious. I inhaled the Sorghum sea scallops. We licked the plates for every appetizer , salad, entree and dessert. The food was spectacular and the service equal. I ask a lot of questions about the menu, the preparation and ingredients. Most the waiter knew and what he didn't he found out quickly. I would return here every chance possible. 

Here are a few samples from the dinner menu:
King crab cornbread cakes with home fries, arugula and roasted corn aioli  23.95 
Blackened pork chop with crawfish corn pudding, mashed potatoes, string beans and sour cream  19.95 
Barbecued tuna with crispy grits, asparagus and cornmeal fried vidalia onion rings 24.95 
Fried oyster stuffed filet mignon  with mashed potatoes, sautéed spinach & horseradish gravy 26.95 
Maple-mustard glazed hot smoked salmon with celery root hash browns and mustard greens   22.95 
Sorghum glazed sea scallops with fresh corn pancakes, vanilla whipped cream and bacon wilted spinach  23.95 
Vegetables and dumplings with seasonal vegetables and potato-parmesan dumplings with browned butter 15.95

Jonathan Restaurant
Gratz Park Inn
120 West Second Street
Lexington, KY 40507
859-252-4949 
www.gratzparkinn.com (link on left index)

*Lynn's Paradise Cafe* 984 Barret Avenue Louisville, Kentucky  502 583 EGGS voice 502 583 0211 fax Reservations accepted for any size party. Accessible; Full bar Tuesday-Sunday 7am-10pm. Closed Mondays. Parking area adjacent to restaurant, on street  and they have another lot one block away.

What a kick! And come with a very big appetite. 

We stopped at Lynn's Paradise Cafe for breakfast on a Saturday morning. Our party of four was dwarfed by large groups of regulars and their friends, family and out of town guests.

Somehow through all this activity and mayhem, I was able to hear everyone at our table and the staff kept up the pace.

Serving over 4,000 patrons a week in a converted grocery store, Lynn's dishes up extraordinary quality and quantity. Forewarned by another regular regarding the size of breakfast orders, we all split an order of biscuits with a choice of sausage or vegetarian gravy as our "appetizer".  The person sitting next to me consumed about 2/3's of a western omelet and was never seen again! Myself and another guest split an order of excellent cinnamon French toast with custard sauce and it was more than enough. I even approved of the espresso!

The menu lists many vegetarian options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A children's menu is also available, including little favors, as are smoking or non smoking seating.

A good part of the fun at Lynn's is the decor in what I would call early thrift shop rejects or M. Stewart gone real bad. Actually now that I said that it sounds even better like attainable. Lots of fake fur covered lamps, odd knick knacks all over the place and the vaulted ceiling and walls hold more of a rotating collection of "collectibles".

Winning national magazine coverage, owner Lynn Winter prides herself on their use of the best local ingredients, innovative recipe development, a dedicated and service minded staff with the desire to serve people good food and fun. She has succeeded. 

Price ranges seemed reasonable with breakfast and lunches ranging $5-$12 and dinner $9-$17. Most entrees could be split by two regular eaters.

We heard a rumor that a second Lynn's Paradise Cafe is on the drawing boards for Louisville. I look forward to that.

The Highland neighborhood, where the restaurant is located, looks like an interesting area of eclectic shops and other eateries to explore while you're working off that mountain of platter size pancakes.

Bon Appetit!

*JO AN RESTAURANT*

3940 Olympic Blvd Erlanger, KY 41018 859 746 2634 voice 859 746 3666 fax  Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30-1:30 Dinner Mon-Sat 530-10:00  Ample free parking  Handicapped accessible

On recommendations from a Northern Kentucky resident who had traveled extensively in the far east, we ventured a short distance from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport and Holiday Inn to Jo An, a Japanese restaurant. I don't eat raw sashimi but thoroughly enjoy most other Japanese food. The menu covers five pages including sashimi, noodle dishes, soup, desserts, salads, stewed, deep fried and more. A superb selection. We ordered an assorted sushi platter to start and our waitress pointed out the "cooked" or California rolls for people like me.

Various dishes, like shrimp tempura, run in the $4.50-$6 range. Diners can make up a selection of plates for an excellent "tasting. This gives the less experienced or adventuresome an opportunity to try a variety of items they would never have ordered as a main course. The servings are not as small as tapas but similar to light lunch or half plates. We had two vegetarians in the group and they were stuffed and happy.

The service was as competent as possible with a full busy dining room. All the food was of very fine quality and correctly prepared. No clunkers here!

This three year old restaurant has received several dining awards and a large number of the clientele were Japanese. Always a good sign, a comprehensive list of quality saki made another companion quite happy.

Even the menu at the Holiday Inn had a Japanese breakfast listed which I haven't noticed in other central US states but our hosts explained the building of the Toyota car factory in Kentucky a few years ago brings in a large number of Japanese business people.

I look forward to visiting Jo An again.