The Holly Hill Story
The Beginning
Ouita Papka and Chris Michel met on the first day of chef school at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.. Chris was a Long Island native; Ouita had moved to New York City from Lexington, Ky. to forge her future in the culinary world.
Five years later, they were married in Lexington and began to rewrite the story of the agricultural and restaurant economy in Central Kentucky.
Chris and Ouita Michel purchased the Holly Hill Inn in 2000 after a chance meeting with Bob Rouse, whose family had owned the property for generations. As a family home and later a country inn, Holly Hill Inn exemplified a hospitality born of deep roots in the town of Midway and its surrounding farmland. After a year of renovations, the Michels reopened Holly Hill Inn as a fine dining restaurant, known for its seasonal prix fixe menu.
Holly Hill Inn was the perfect fit for Ouita, whose cooking was founded upon using locally grown ingredients. “For me, as a young cook studying French and Italian cuisine, I realized their building blocks were local agricultural artisan products, and began to see the connections to our garden at home in Kentucky. From the very outset, written into our first business plan, we have differentiated ourselves by cooking what Kentucky farmers can grow. There can be no Kentucky cuisine without the Kentucky farmer.”
Because good food deserves good wine, Chris created a wine list which has garnered the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence yearly since 2001. His hand-picked wine flights have complemented every menu served at Holly Hill and he frequently collaborates with winemakers to host select wine dinners.
Kentucky’s bourbon whiskey also holds a place of prominence at Holly Hill Inn, as part of an extensive library and an ingredient in many signature dishes. While chef-in-residence at Woodford Reserve Distillery, Ouita developed a flavor wheel to illustrate how bourbon’s flavor components could be explored through using the spirit in cooking as well as pairing bourbon with particular ingredients for delicious combinations.
The Evolution
The Holly Hill family has grown to include several restaurants in Midway, Versailles and Lexington, all of which provide their guests with fresh, tasty food and do so by sustaining family farms. Altogether their restaurants have purchased more than $10 million worth of Kentucky-grown meats, dairy products, fruits and vegetables over the last 25 years.
Ouita’s work continues to earn accolades from local and national fans. She has received multiple nominations to the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef Southeast and Outstanding Restaurateur and has been recognized as a semifinalist several times. The Holly Hill Inn was named a 2025 semifinalist for Outstanding Hospitality.
Ouita is an alumna of the James Beard Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change, a collaborative effort to change the world’s food systems; and the U.S. State Department Culinary Corps, which sent her on assignment to Bahrain in 2024.
In 2025, Ouita collaborated with Steve Zahn and Rick Gomez of Macaroni Art to produce You Belong Here, a heartfelt journey through Kentucky food and food culture.
Chris and Ouita’s restaurants are often featured in The New York Times, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, CBS This Morning, Food Network and Cooking Channel. Ouita was also a guest judge on Bravo’s Top Chef Kentucky series.
Ouita is a founder and board member emerita of FoodChain, a nonprofit in the heart of Lexington, KY, working to forge a link between the community and fresh food through education and the working example of a sustainable food system.
She is a member of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, a citizens’ advocate for improving Kentucky public education; and an elder at Midway Christian Church.
Ouita received the UK Alumni Service Award in 2025 and was inducted into the UK Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame the same year. In 2025, she was also the sole inductee of the Kentucky Remembered Hall of Fame.
Other awards and recognitions include her induction into UK’s College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and the Junior Achievement Bluegrass Business Hall of Fame; the Fayette Alliance Agricultural Excellence Award; the Midway University Spotlight Award; and the Bluegrass Tomorrow Josephine Abercrombie Award.
The Family
Ouita and Chris live in a 200-year-old cabin beside the Holly Hill Inn. Their daughter Willa is a graduate of Columbia University. Having been at the stove for more than 35 years, Ouita is now mentoring a new generation of chefs and other culinary professionals to continue her legacy of sharing a deep love of Kentucky food and farmers with all whom they serve.