Travis Freundt

Lonesome Dove takes 1st place dessert and 3rd place entree!

“I found my way to the orphanage next door and asked the director if I could live with them,” he recalls. In a way, his cooking began there. “We missed good food,” he says. “We grew our own stuff, cooked our own stuff. Cooking was surviving.” When he was 12, he was adopted by the Freundt family from Franklin, Tennessee. He found himself in Hawaii where he got his associates degree, surfed for a couple of years, then returned to Nashville and cooked at the Sutler Saloon and Nada.

Freundt and his mom, still in Ukraine connected on Facebook. She stunned him with the news that his biological father lived in Sacramento. “I went to meet him,” said Freundt. “He’s an osteopathic doctor. I met a half-brother.” In Sacramento, Freundt cooked at Camden Spit and Larder and Allora Italian restaurant. After a time, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas where he was a sous-cheff at Les Margot and the Press Café, before catching on at Tim Love’s Gemelle. This past January, he asked to be transferred to another of Love’s restaurants, Lonesome Dove here in Knoxville, not knowing that just three days after his arrival he would be approached to compete in the Top Chefs competition. He went on to host a lively evening in the vintage Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon building.

Fruendt’s grilled octopus appetizer was tender and flavorful, with Pimentón tomato sauce and bright parsley-caper Salsa Verde, lemon zest, and olive oil, paired with 2020 Henri Costal Vaillons 1er Chablis Cru Vallions. The smoked bison short rib came with a warm French potato salad tossed in a Dijon–champagne vinaigrette with shallot, garlic, chervil, parsley, chives, and fresh tarragon. The 2021 Louis M. Martini Cabernet Sauvignon balanced well. The Russian honey cake combined delicate layers of thin, honey-scented sponge cake with lightly spiced crème-fraîche and whipped cream filling, with mascarpone frosting and house-made raspberry coulis. “It takes patience and time to make this cake,” said Freundt. “It’s a beautifully balanced, decadent dessert.” The Dandelion Vineyards Legacy of Australia Pedro Ximénez XXXO Sherry was an apt counterpoint.