Dining Out

Anaba offers welcoming authentic Japanese cuisine on Northshore Drive The moment you step inside the doors of Anaba, you’re greeted with a warm “Irasshai,” Japanese for welcome, from the team of chefs behind the sushi bar, led by General Manager Young Woo Cha, 32, who’s been with Anaba for 10 years. “I make sushi. I do everything,” says Cha, who came to the U.S. from Seoul, South Korea, as a boarding student in his sophomore year at the Kings Academy in Seymour, where he was a midfielder in soccer. He then played…

A high-end southern prime steakhouse fills a niche on Northshore Drive Tucson, Arizona, native Mandy Glenn was new to Knoxville when she tasted Fire + Smoke’s prime tenderloin tartare small plate, Japanese kuroge wagyu New York strip, and hand cut beef tallow fries. “I was with an Australian guy who hadn’t had tallow fries in forever,” she says. “I called the next day and said, ‘I want to work here.’” Now an enthusiastic, knowledgeable server, Glenn recently brought on her younger brother Micaiah as a host. Fire +…

Fire & Salt gives Chef Alex Gass a stage for his culinary creativity When you walk into Chef Alex Gass’s Fire & Salt restaurant in Oak Ridge, you are immediately charmed by the staffers’ camaraderie. “It’s a family environment,” says hostess Eden Frazier, whose sister Jayley is a pastry chef. They and a dozen or so others came with Gass from Walnut Kitchen in Maryville. When Gass told them he was starting a restaurant, they said they wanted to be a part of it. It’s an atmosphere reminiscent of the TV series…

Sit back and enjoy Koyo’s multi-course tasting menu At Koyo, on Clinch Avenue just off Market Square, Executive Chef Chris Bowman wants you to experience an evening of carefully curated courses and wines. “Omakase” refers to a succession of dishes selected by the chef paired with tantalizing wines. “You come in and you leave it up to the chefs,” says Beverage Director Stephanie Hunley, whose competitive sommelier spirit was honed as a Lady Vols rower. “We won a Wine Spectator award for our wine list. We have…

Point B is a little bit of Paris in Knoxville Owner Daniel Goss likes to tell both the long and the short versions of the founding story of Point B. The condensed version starts in the dark days of the pandemic lockdown in March 2020, when Goss had to furlough the employees of the Downtown Grill & Brewery, including himself. Some employees asked, “What should we do?” Goss replied, “We’re all at Point A. We’re like ducks. We keep moving forward, and at the end of this, there’s going to be a Point B.” Much as…

Oysters on the half shell and signature cocktails bring NOLA to Market Square The French poet Léon-Paul Fargue wrote, “Eating oysters is like kissing the sea on the lips.” Knoxville’s only raw bar, The Brass Pearl, opened on Market Square in early 2022 with a simple concept: oysters from various regions of the east and west coasts, fresh-caught seafood, hand-crafted cocktails, and “bubbles.” It is a delightful addition to the Square. The interior design with its lofty ceilings, rococo mirrors, and black-and-white…

Bella offers authentic Italian cuisine—and the flaming Pasta in the Wheel! Bella occupies a building in downtown Maryville that was built in 1925 as a J.C. Penney, whose name is memorialized in a mosaic at the front door. For 20 years it was Sullivan’s Downtown, a cousin to Sullivan’s on Rocky Hill. When owner Chad Irvine decided to close his satellite venue, Jim and Loni Klonaris and their partners took the space and opened Bella in April of 2020. Executive Chef T.J. Saunders’ daughter Madeline named it: “If you’re…

Japanese-style pub Kaizen offers an informal, peaceful atmosphere When you walk into a restaurant and see one of Knoxville’s top chefs enjoying a birthday dinner with her family, you figure you’re in for a good meal. “I would come here five nights a week if I could,” says Holly Hambright, with a grin. It’s no wonder Hambright loves this place. Kaizen, which moved from Clinch Avenue in 2020, takes an innovative and fresh approach in merging a multitude of Asian culinary traditions. We sat on the patio, a re-imagined…

Osteria Stella offers a true Northern Italian dining experience From the bustling Jackson Avenue sidewalk in the Old City, walking into the softly lit, stylishly designed interior of Osteria Stella feels like stepping into another era. It is a contrast to the bright décor of Brother Wolf, its sibling cocktail bar next door. “I wanted to create a dramatic contrast between the two,” says co-owner Jessica Thompson, who also created the speakeasy Peter Kern Library. “I wanted Osteria Stella to be lovely, warm,…

The Oliver Royale blends debonair décor with flavorful dishes in Knoxville’s downtown When you walk into The Oliver Royale on Market Square, you’re really entering the Jersey Lily Saloon. That’s what it was in 1876, when the Kern’s Bakery and Confectionery Building was built. Now also home to the Oliver Hotel, Tupelo Honey, and the Peter Kern Library speakeasy, the edifice was designed by architecture icon Joseph Francis Baumann with flourishes of Italianate round-arched windows, decorative hood molds, and elaborate…