Jim Saunders and Jimmy Loup’s latest venture soars with history, flavor, and flair.
Story By Brooks Clark | Photography By Nathan Sparks
When last we left transplanted Texan restauranteurs Jim Saunders and Jimmy Loup, they had bought Bella on Maryville’s West Broadway Avenue, hired Chef Cory Giaquinta, and quickly scored a hit with the dining public.
A few months ago, an 85-year-old building just a block away from Bella, once the home of Duggan’s Men’s Store, The Soup Kitchen, Tomato Head, and Diamondjack Wine Bar, came up for sale. “It was our dream to open a steakhouse,” says Jim, so they jumped. They did a complete redesign with Laws Interiors, uncovering the original red oak floors buried beneath three layers of flooring and restored them in the lounge area, adding to its special warmth.
They picked a name with a shared Texas-Tennessee history. Sam Houston’s family moved from Virginia to Maryville when he was a boy. At 16 he ran away from home and lived for three years with the Cherokee. His adopted father gave him his Cherokee name “Colonneh,” the Raven. Returning to his family, Houston opened a one-room schoolhouse for a time. He then fought under Andy Jackson in the War of 1812, moved to Nashville and became Tennessee’s governor, moved to Arkansas and then Texas, led the fight for independence and became the Republic of Texas’ first and third president.
Visiting the restrooms, you pass by a two-foot bronze scale model of Pennsylvania sculptor Wayne E. Hyde’s seven-foot statue on the Maryville Municipal Center lawn, showing Houston at 19, armed with his late father’s long rifle and a pipe tomahawk, and titled “You Shall Hear of Me.”
On first entering the lounge area we enjoyed a Raven Brown Ale, crafted by Peaceful Side Brewery especially for the Raven and drawn by bartender Lucy Cleek from one of four raven-sculpture tap handles custom-made by Dallas sculptor Amber Zuniga.
The lounge is set off from the dining room by the building’s original glass front door, which was found in the basement and restored. Warm with dark wood paneling, a large screen behind the bar shows soothing nature scenes. Another focal point is a textural painting by Lenoir City artist Donna Brass of sheep thick with wool. The corner-style, dark-granite bar has 11 seats, providing intimacy. Plaid banquets line the opposite walls with tables for casual dining. Bronze ravens in various poses peer out from five wall-mounted platforms.
The dining room is warm with a Belgium tapestry wall covering of a soothing woodland scene and upholstered seating keeps the dining room quiet and contributed to a plush atmosphere. Lighting comes from small pendants with a long leather straps anchored by an alabaster stone accent, a nice compliment to the Leatherbound menus and wine-and-drink lists were borrowed from the St. Regis Deer Valley in Utah.
Chef Cory came to Bella after a year at the Dancing Bear Lodge, where he learned from 2025 Top Chef winner Jeff Carter. Giaquinta comes from a big Italian family in Massachusetts. His father’s side is from Sicily. He loved bringing his own take to the menu at Bella, but when Jim and Jimmy ran the concept of a high-end steakhouse, he was all in. “I am all about super fine dining. It’s what I’m used to and like doing. It’s right up my alley.”
Adam Boyer, looking Johnny Deppish with his Rollie Fingers moustache and goatee, is not only beverage director for all of Jim and Jimmy’s properties but also its jack of all trades. A former construction worker, he was hands-on during the renovation of the Raven building. Did he relate to the episodes in The Bear when they tore their building down to the studs? “Very much so,” he says with a grin. Boyer became something of a legend after an oven hood failed by recreating another with parts he picked out at Home Depot. “My shining achievement to MacGyvering,” he says with a grin.
That said, Boyer’s passion is his craft cocktails. He welcomed us to the Raven dining room with a Crimson Mirage, made with Haku Vodka infused with pomegranate for six days, raspberry liqueur, Italicus, lemon, and rosewater. “It’s a light new age Cosmo with more flavor,” explained bartender Cleek.
Boyer also introduced the Vesper Martini, one of many mixed-at-the-table cocktails. A tribute to the martini James Bond invents and names after double-agent Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, it combines Tanqueray 10 gin, Chopin Vodka, Kina, and Orange Blossom, which Boyer twists himself, showing that his on-table silver box contains lemon, olives, and other condiments if diners prefer them.
The Seafood Tower—for two, four, or six people—is excess at its finest, with plenty of king crab, snow crab, lobster, prawns, oysters, sauces, drawn butter, and house made saltines. The feeding frenzy is followed by moist, warm hand towels, as the Raven’s core customers would expect.
The Wedge exceeds other wedges by the freshness and quality of the iceberg lettuce, the subtle Danish bleu cheese dressing—“A game changer,” says Chef Cory—the sweet & spicy candied Benton’s bacon, dehydrated heirloom tomato, and pickled carrot. Some customers come to the bar to order just the wedge, and we understand why.
The Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes starter presents two crab cakes that are almost all crab— hardly any breading, in a remoulade that makes you think you’re in New Orleans, preserved lemon, and microgreens.
Between courses, Boyer returned to do a tableside Old Fashioned, made with Raven’s barrell select Makers Mark Bourbon, gomme, and aromatic bitters. As Boyer prepares the elements, he puts a cube of ice into a ice ball press that turns it into a perfect sphere.
Your taste buds travel to another world with each bite of the tender, succulent eight-ounce Prime Filet, also from Chatel Farms. The bone-marrow butter is house-made. It comes with flaky salt, but “Enhancements” include Au Poivre, Oscar-style with Truffle Hollandaise, Grilled Shrimp, Lobster Chunks, and Tableside Shaved Truffles. Raven’s steaks are all USDA Prime with abundant marbling, superior tenderness, juiciness, and flavor, and all seared at 1,800 degrees in a Montague oven whose intense radiant heat locks in juices and creates a flavorful crust on each steak.
To go with the cuts we sampled, Sommelier Andrew Palmer put forth two rich and subtle reds: a Ridge “Three Valleys” Zinfandel from Sonoma, California, and a Clarendelle Saint-Émilion 2019 from Bordeaux, France. The pairings were exquisite.
Beef Wellington is culinary performance art, sealing the Chatel Farms prime tenderloin in puff pastry, with et fungi duxelles, prosciutto, foie gras demi-glace, celery root purée, and served with herb-roasted asparagus.
Then came the 40-oz. Wagyu Tomahawk, with a Mayura beef marbling standard rating of 9, served with bone- marrow butter, and flaky salt. This and the three-ounce A5 Wagyu Japanese Filet fall into a pricey category. “We built this for people who want to indulge.” says Jimmy.
It’s not all red meat. Chilean Seabass has Crispy skin, Anson Mills forbidden black rice, edamame puree, tomato vinaigrette, chive oil, and smiley microgreens. The 16-ounce double-cut Villari duroc pork chop is juicy and flavorful, complemented perfectly by Anson Mills creamy grits, heirloom carrots, black garlic puree, and chowchow.
Highlights among the sharable side dishes are the loaded potato—like no loaded potato you’ve ever seen—and the Lobster Mac & Cheese with Italian Apron garganelli pasta, gruyere cheese, lobster, pimento, parmesan crust.
As fans of Brennan’s in New Orleans, Jim and Jimmy were committed to offering Bananas Foster, delicious with rum foster sauce, candied walnuts, house-made ice cream, whipped cream. The 14-layer Indulgent Chocolate Cake features soft cocoa butter cream and chocolate ganache. The Butterscotch Crème Brulee is creamy and light.
As a nightcap, we had a Velvet Talon of Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream, frambois, chocolate liqueur, and walnut bitters .
“Most importanly”, Jimmy reflects, “Even after all of the thought that goes into a restaurant of this caliber, it is really the team that brings it all together.”
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