Chef Darin Hoagland’s grandparents and mother ran a hunting restaurant in California. “The kitchen, with them, was my comfort zone,” he recalls. He went to culinary school at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and cooked in several high-end kitchens before moving to Knoxville and Oliver Royale eight years ago.
Bar Manager Kirstie Durham and Bar Back Christoph Ewing started the evening off with a Spanish-style gin and tonic made with Tinkerman’s gin, juniper berries, lemon and orange wheels, thyme, rosemary, and lavender. The elegance of its presentation was wholly appropriate to the sophisticated ambiance built into the Oliver Royale.
Cityview Publisher Nathan Sparks introduced Chef Darin Hoagland as having “spun the globe” and deciding on Knoxville. Chef took the helm.
Hoagland noted that he had unexpectedly lucked into a batch of Nantucket scallops that were simply too good to turn down, so he turned his planned appetizer into a two-parter. Part One was a ceviche of scallop bits and fruit served on a clamshell-styled dish. Part Two was an octopus carpaccio served alongside pickled Fresno chilies, jerked lemon aioli, heirloom cherry tomatoes, Meyer lemon oil, and micro radish sprouts, topped with a micro-thin squid-ink tuile.
“The octopus is soaked for four or five hours in milk,” said Chef. “Then we pressed it until it’s hard as a brick, then sliced it and combined it with micelles and truffles. Baking soda makes the squid-ink bubble.”
“We’re pairing this with a Schloss Vollrads Volratz Trocken Riesling 2018 from the Rheingau region of Germany,” said Durham. Diner Krista Desocia commented on the “citrusy balance” it gave to the dish’s spicy qualities.
Hoagland introduced his entrée, a braised oxtail mofongo served with twice-fried plantains, garlic, crispy oxtail chicharrons, pickled red onions, braising jus, plantain crisp, and micro cilantro. This was paired with a K Vintners “El Jefe” Tempranillo 2019, from Washington State, selected, said Durham, because it is “not going to overpower the plantains.” The winemaker describes it as having “aromas of grilled cherries, black plum, dark chocolate, pipe tobacco, and smoked paprika.”
For dessert, Hoagland opted for “Caribbean comfort,” a mango coconut flan served with mango pineapple chutney, caramel, toasted coconut, citrus, papaya, dehydrated pineapple, and mango crisp—paired with a Rosé Brut Royale from Reims, France.
“It’s a commercialized Brut made by adding pinot noir and chardonnay into the champagne,” said Durham.
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