Murals of butterflies are scattered upon the outside of the building, all painted with a meticulously steady hand with their different shades and hues of blues, oranges, yellows and pinks. 

A couple sits quietly holding hands. A girl reads her book with a steaming hot lunch in front of her, looking eager to dive into her food.

This warm environment is exactly what Alison Davis had in mind for her restaurant when she first opened the cafe in April of 2021. 

Luna’s Coffee, Wine and Butterfly Cafe is located in Jessamine County, Kentucky. The cozy cafe serves coffee, cocktails, soups and various assortments of sandwiches. 

Davis currently works as a weekend and evening cook at her cafe, as well as being an economic developer for the University of Kentucky. 

Davis’ husband, Web Barney, works with raising butterflies and moths for the cafe’s greenhouse and helps Davis manage the cafe.

 “He wakes up every day and goes to Luna’s and is there until they close, seven days a week,” Davis said. 

Davis also jokes that her husband is “Kentucky’s moth man” and that he raises a species of butterflies named the luna moth every year.

“The Luna moth is typically the first one to emerge, which is nice because that is what we are named after,” Davis said.

While raising butterflies might seem like an easy task, it is more difficult than one may think. Davis said Barney must deal with the challenge of providing enough food for the butterflies to eat.

“The hungry caterpillar is the biggest understatement I’ve ever seen,” Davis said.

However, the challenges are worth it, he said. Davis said children and adults alike will come inside the cafe and look in awe at the butterflies they have in an enclosure next to the front door.

So, while Luna’s might be considered a hot spot for coffee, after-work drinks or a fun place to see butterflies, it offers much more to the people of Jessamine County.

“Butterflies for many seem to be a sort of sign, like a memory of a lost person … people come here, and they have this spiritual feeling … there’s a real joy,” Davis said.

Recently, the cafe suffered the loss of an employee who took her own life. This employee had been working for the cafe for the “past month or two,” Davis said. 

Customers, along with Davis and Barney, traveled from Lexington to Louisville, Kentucky for the funeral service, and in front of her casket there was a framed butterfly she loved that Barney had given to her years prior. 

“I just remember sitting in the same seat with my husband, and you know it was awful, but I said ‘God this is something special here … what are we going to do about this community who rely on us,’” Davis said.

The weekend following her passing, Davis and Barney created a fundraiser event for mental health awareness and everyone sat in “shared tears and memories,” Davis said. 

Many customers attended the event, some Davis said she had not seen in years, but the moment she saw customers from previous years Davis realized exactly what she wanted her cafe to be: a community. 

“I wanted to have a place where people know me and know my husband, and I know them, and when they don’t show up for weeks, I call them to make sure they are okay,” Davis said.

Along with customers, Davis and Barney have a “great relationship” with barista Olivia Wiseman, according to Davis.

“They (Davis and Barney) are like my second family. They take care of me, I take care of them, and we have a very strong relationship,” Wiseman said. 

Davis said people will come in specifically to see Olivia.

“The community here is awesome, all of the regulars, all of my coworkers. I love everybody; our regulars take care of us,” Wiseman said.

While talking about the love she holds for her customers, a woman named Tamara Fitch pulled Wiseman into a warm embrace. 

Fitch is a “big fan” of the tomato soup with a turkey club that Luna’s serves, and usually gets to the cafe in the morning for coffee and stays until lunch. This is a routine she shares with her friend Danielle every Wednesday.  

Sitting on the big orange couches, these two regulars can be found sharing a laugh and a bag of yarn, as they usually knit when they are at the cafe. With a bond of 20 years of friendship, people like these women make the cafe atmosphere match the decor: cozy and fun.

“They’re (the customers) are just like family. It sounds so cliche and corny, but it truly is,” Davis said.