Scruffy No More

Knoxville celebrates its 225th birthday this October. I’ve lived here since 1984. You’d think the place wouldn’t hold too many secrets left for me to discover. Or at least that’s what I thought. But several months ago, I sat down at a long wooden table to break bread with, as it turned out, a Knoxville I had never met.

Gathered alongside me that evening were East Tennessee farmers, bakers, distillers, chefs, community activists, foodies, cheese makers, educators, musicians, and historic preservationists. We had come together to learn about and benefit Nourish Knoxville, an East Tennessee nonprofit dedicated to cultivating relationships between farmers, artisanal producers, and the community.

When I arrived at the dinner, my expectations were low. (I love living in Scruffy City, as we’re sometimes called, but our most memorable moments tend to be tied to the fortunes of the Tennessee Vols.) I expected to walk away with a full stomach and maybe a slight buzz—that’s all. But the event took me completely by surprise. Apparently I haven’t been paying attention. 

While dining on such culinary creations as ribeye and duck egg pound cake with honey buttercream frosting—made of entirely local ingredients, down to the honey—I could scarcely believe this new, homegrown version of Knoxville that surrounded me. The energy of the group was intoxicating, and not just because of the spiked chai cocktail we were sipping.

In the intervening weeks and months, I’ve eaten, toured, shopped, pedaled, and paddle boarded my way around my city. I’ve stretched my comfort zone, my body, and my preconceptions. Here’s a sampling of my favorite new, unexpected, and under-the-radar experiences.

01. Get Bowled Over

Tucked under Babalu Taco in downtown’s historic J.C. Penney Building, this “Spirited Bowling Experience” is the brainchild of University of Tennessee alums Kevin Rice and Greg Cox. The pair’s new bowling alley-bar-eatery is primarily subterranean, helping keep things cool—and upping the overall coolness factor—even in summer. There are 11 bowling lanes, including two in a private room. The “Maple” in the name, says Rice, is a nod to the wood used to handcraft the lanes. “It really is a beautiful space,” he says. “We tried to preserve as much of the history of the nearly 120-year-old building as possible.”

In addition to bowling, there are cozy seating areas for hanging out, live music, a full bar, an outdoor patio, and additional event space upstairs. The food menu, designed by James Beard-nominated chef Alex Bomba, is heavy on “shareable piles” such as a cheesy tater tot base served with a selection of toppings and dipping sauces. Maple Hall opens at 4 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. weekends. Families are welcome, but late night is 21 and up (check the website for specific hours). Maple Hall Bowling Lanes, 416 S. Gay St., @MapleHallKnox.

02. Change Your Perspective

Soar, swing, and climb among the trees at Ijams Nature Center on up to six elevated “adventure trails.” The tree-based trails include more than 60 elements, such as zip lines, nets, and elevated tunnels. A flat $49 fee ($44 for ages 8-11) covers two hours of trail time plus a 30-minute orientation and training. Open to ages eight and up. Reservations recommended. Navitat Ijams Canopy Experience, 2915 Island Home Ave., navitat.com.

03. Find Your Tribe

Billed as a “mixed-use creative space,” the Central Collective is a former car radio repair shop reimagined and completely renovated by a pie maker and her photographer husband. The ground floor houses the couple’s respective businesses, Dale’s Fried Pies (dalesfriedpies.com) and Shawn Poynter Photography (shawnpoynter.com). The upper level hosts an eclectic menu of activities, groups, and events. “We’d always dreamed of having a place to explore our many other interests—art, wellness, music, food, and community,” says co-owner Dale Mackey, whose sweet and savory fried pies (such as the Elvis: peanut butter, banana, and Benton’s bacon crumbles) are sold at the Market Square Farmers’ Market, Remedy Coffee, and other locations around town. “We host everything from First Friday art openings to pop-up dinners, and from yoga classes to private parties. It’s been so great to create a space that is really defined by the community and what folks want to see in this neighborhood.” The Central Collective, 923 N. Central St., thecentralcollective.com. 

04. Be a Good Sport

Stuck in a rut? Pay a nominal fee (typically $25 or less) and bring a sense of adventure—as well as the willingness to step outside your comfort zone (and, maybe, into a baby goat petting zoo). “Basically, you show up and don’t know what you are going to do, but it’s going to be fun,” says Erin Donovan, an avid “good sport” whose day job is communications director for Visit Knoxville. “The night I went literally was like being in eighth grade again. We made something to cover an egg and then threw it off the roof of the building. There were 10 of us—all adults who showed up trusting and ready to try whatever. We were hanging out and meeting each other. It was so much fun, and it’s the sort of thing that’s going on a lot more in Knoxville now.”

Good Sport Nights (or, on occasion, Days) are held monthly. Fees, physical activity level, age restriction, dress code, and food and drink (included or not) varies depending on that month’s event. The organizers don’t reveal the mystery in advance. They do put enough details in the online event listing, however, to help you decide if you’re up for that month’s adventure. Good Sport Night at the Central Collective, 923 N. Central St., thecentralcollective.com.

05. Mess With Texas

What’s an “Urban Western” Texas restaurant doing in an historic East Tennessee saloon building? For James Beard award-winning chef and restaurateur Tim Love, the pairing presented a no-brainer recipe for success. “I chose Knoxville because I have strong ties and history here,” says Love, a 1994 graduate of the University of Tennessee’s Haslam College of Business. “I love doing business in places that I feel connected to, and there’s some really interesting stuff happening in Knoxville now. Plus, when the Patrick Sullivan’s building became available, I couldn’t turn it down.” 

 The Sullivan’s building—which operated as a saloon from 1888 until 1907, was reborn as Patrick Sullivan’s on St. Patrick’s Day 1988, and had been shuttered since 2011—is widely considered the cornerstone of Knoxville’s Old City. Love’s reinvention of the historic treasure includes the third (and first outside of Texas) locations of both his flagship restaurant and his casual Love Shack burger joint (opening next door to the Lonesome Dove this fall).

 “The novel Lonesome Dove is about seeking out the new and adventurous, and never settling,” Love adds. “The same is true for my flagship restaurant. I would never put Lonesome Dove Austin in Knoxville or vice versa, but it’s the same spirit that fills every location. Will there be some favorites from Fort Worth and Austin on the menu? Of course. But Lonesome Dove Knoxville will have tons of its own signatures [such as stacked pheasant enchiladas with Cruze Farms crema] and a personality all its own that reflects the surrounding community.” Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, 100 N. Central St., lonesomedoveknoxville.com.

06. Get Fired Up

After a decade at celebrated Blackberry Farm—where he was named a Grand Chef by Relais and Chateaux and received the James Beard award for Best Chef Southeast in 2013—Joseph Lenn is launching a new venture on familiar territory. “As a Knoxville native, I always hoped to open a restaurant here,” says Lenn, whose eatery is named for his late great uncle, Joseph Charles Holdway, a bachelor who, according to the chef, “ate out for every meal.” The menus will feature wood-fired, regional cuisine, including seasonally fresh ingredients from the nearby Market Square Farmers’ Market (held twice weekly, May to November). The location—in downtown’s historic Daylight Building—is no accident. “I have loved this building for many years,” adds Lenn, who cooked on the sidewalk outside the Daylight in 2011 for a dinner honoring his friend, the world-renowned smoked meat master Allan Benton. J.C. Holdway, 501 Union Ave., jcholdway.com. 

07. Hit the Sauce 

Chef/owner Matt Gallaher’s culinary career path also included a stint at Blackberry Farm, as well as world tours with performers such as Tim McGraw and The Eagles, and as chef in the Tennessee Governor’s Mansion. Emilia, which opened in May, is his second downtown Knoxville eatery and first foray into Italian cuisine (including house-made pasta and focaccia). As with Gallaher’s celebrated Knox Mason, the menu celebrates locally sourced and seasonally fresh ingredients, such as beef from Mitchell Family Farm in Grainger County and freshly foraged ramps (wild leeks). Emilia, 16 Market Square, emiliaknox.com.

08. Forget Milk and Cookies

It doesn’t get much better than fresh-baked cookies and craft beer. On Mondays, you get a cookie on the house with your first pour at Sugar Mama’s. Co-owners Mike and Hannah McConnell have been pairing scratch-made baked goods with local brews since 2014 but only opened their brick-and-mortar shop in April. They also serve breakfast all day, host weekly team trivia and bingo nights, and whip up a decadent beer (or, old-fashioned root beer) float. Sugar Mama’s Bakery, 135 S. Gay St., sugarmamasbakeryknoxville.com.

09. Find Your Happy Place

The 14-building district known as Happy Holler is regaining its mojo. During its prohibition-era heyday, “buy local” meant purchasing illegal hooch from back-alley bootleggers. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, Happy Holler is now legal and home to a growing collection of locally owned shops, restaurants, and craft breweries. The latest arrival is Schulz Brewing Co., opened in May in the former Knox-Tenn Rental & Sales Co. warehouse. Park on the street and spend a couple of hours visiting new and old neighborhood haunts. Browse the shelves at Retrospect Vintage Store and the vinyl and comics collections at Raven Records & Rarities. Drink and dine at Central Flats and Taps. Play the vintage pinball machine and peruse the vintage motorcycle memorabilia at the Time Warp Tea Room. Shop for homegrown and organic foods, plants, and products at the community-owned Three Rivers Market. Finish up with an old-school soft serve cone from the Original Freezo drive-in, a Happy Holler standby since the 1940s. Happy Holler Historic District, North Central Street between Baxter and Oklahoma Avenues.

10. Roll in Dough

If you’re unsure about paying $2 for a single doughnut, step inside Makers and inhale. The aromas alone are worth at least a buck. Makers handcrafts small-batch doughnuts using locally sourced and seasonally fresh ingredients such as blueberries and blackberries, Benton’s Bacon, and Intelligentsia Coffee. Flavor options change weekly. Recent varieties include Lemon Drop (lemon icing infused with lemon zest and dusted with white candy sugar balls), Churro (a crispy cake donut coated with a cinnamon-sugar mix), and Key Lime Pie (lime icing, graham cracker crumbs, and a fresh lime wedge). The shop is open Thursday to Sunday, 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. The hours might be limited, but the supply of designer doughnuts isn’t. When they’re open, they guarantee there will be fresh doughnuts available. If for some reason the stash is wiped out when you’re there, you’ll get a coupon for a free dozen on your next visit. Makers Donuts, 804 Tyson St., makersdonuts.com.

11. Get in Gear

Downtown’s newest concert hall and event venue is the latest production from visionary concert promoter Ashley Capps (co-founder of the iconic Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival). Housed in the former Industrial Belting Supply warehouse, which once stocked gear for mills and mines, the multi-faceted space includes 20,000 square feet indoors and over 5,000 square feet in a grassy outdoor courtyard. Big Ears Festival attendees got a sneak peak in March, but the full Mill & Mine didn’t premiere until summer. Upcoming shows include M83 (Oct. 10) and Band of Horses (Oct. 21). The Mill & Mine, 227 W. Depot Ave., themillandmine.com.

12. Strike a New Chord

Hidden within West Knoxville’s strip-mall sprawl is one of the city’s newer—and most intimate—performance venues.  Once home to Rik’s Music store, the industrial space underwent extensive renovations in early 2016 and still includes a guitar shop, music school, and small café. But it’s the live music several nights a week (plus poetry slams and other performances) that makes Open Chord well worth the drive west from downtown on I-40 (exit 379A). Open Chord, 8502 Kingston Pike, openchordmusic.com.

13. BYO Book

The Wests—founding family of Market Square’s renaissance—retooled the existing Oodles Italian restaurant to create a new collection of intimate indoor and outdoor spaces. The covered patio remains prime territory for people-watching and noshing on small plates (try the bacon-wrapped chicken skewers and pulled pork sliders). Step inside to sit and spin in the Vino and Vinyl listening bar, a comfy space equipped with turntables, an extensive record collection, and occasional guest DJs. Or cozy up with a cocktail and a hardcover (bring your own or borrow one from the shelves) in the adjacent Bourbon and Books Bar. UnCorked Bar Books Vinyl Bistro, 28 Market Square, scruffcity.com/knoxville-uncorked.

14. Taste the Heritage

Opened in November 2015, Knoxville’s only small-batch craft distillery produces seven different varieties of spirits (with three more planned by the end of the year) and offers tastings and tours. The spirits—which already are earning accolades, including a 2016 American Distilling Institute gold medal for the Old City Heirloom Corn Whiskey—celebrate the heritage and flavors of East Tennessee.

 “We support local agriculture by building relationships with farmers like Riverplains Farms, which provides the organic corn we use,” says Stanton Webster, Knox Whiskey Works manager and one of the distillery’s ten investor-owners. “East Tennesseans appreciate the fact that the corn we use was grown right down the road from us in Jefferson County, and that every part of our process—from the bottles made in Shelbyville to the labels designed around the corner in the Old City by Robin Easter Design—is rooted right here in Tennessee.”

 Even the proof listed on the labels is 86.5%, a nod to East Tennessee’s 865 area code. One of the newest products set to premiere soon is a spiced orange liqueur, sure to gain a loyal following in Big Orange Country. Knox Whiskey Works, 516 W. Jackson Ave., knoxwhiskeyworks.com.

15. Raise a Mug

K Brew’s baristas craft every cuppa Joe—and hot chocolate, latte, mocha, and other steaming and iced mugs of deliciousness—with artistic flair. Take a moment to savor the fern leaf design or other mini-masterpiece on your foam before sipping. While you’re waiting for your brew, hang out in the indoor hammock room (garage doors open in warmer weather) or the communal gathering space. Knoxville brothers and owners Michael and Pierce LaMacchia regularly host food trucks and musicians at this location (there’s a smaller shop downtown). Check the K Brew Facebook page for daily updates. K Brew, 1138 N. Broadway, knoxvillebrew.com.

16. Turn Over a New (Tea) Leaf

Sara Griscom, who opened her holistic healing arts and wellness center Gypsy Hands on Central in 2003, has recently added a new source of buzz. “The Tea Temple is an extension of Gypsy Hands, and is meant to educate and nurture community,” says Griscom. In addition to a selection of traditional and medicinal teas, an apothecary providing tinctures and salves, and a menu of  (non-GMO, organic, gluten-free) snacks, visitors can learn more about Gypsy Hands’ offerings, such as intuitive consultation, Maori deep-tissue massage, and energy healing. Lil’ Tea Temple On Central, 707 N. Central Ave., gypsyhands.com.

17. Say Namaste

Whether you’re a yogi or couldn’t tell a downward facing dog from a barking one, you’ll find a welcoming community at the Glowing Body Yoga Studio. Most classes are drop-in and most days include at least one “Karma” class where participants pay whatever they can (suggested donation $7-15). This Happy Holler haven is next to Holly’s Corner and Magpie’s Bakery, and the savory and sweet aromas from both kitchens are irresistible. Save time after class for an Italian Cream cupcake from Magpie’s or a slice of the Lurleen quiche (Benton’s country ham, collard greens, Sweet Valley Farms smoked cheddar) from Holly’s. The Glowing Body Yoga Studio, 711 Irwin St., glowingbody.net.

18. Move Your Feast

Stroll, sip, and munch your way around downtown (or the District in Bearden) on a guided private or small group food tour. The progressive feasts showcase locally owned eateries (such as Café 4 and Bistro at the Bijou) and several locally produced and packaged products, including Goodson Bros. Coffee and Flour Head Bread. Knoxville Food Tours, knoxvillefoodtours.com.

20. Hit the Trails

Spend an hour, a day, or a whole weekend exploring Knoxville’s premier public playground for all things outdoors. Located across the Tennessee River from downtown, the 1,000-acre Urban Wilderness corridor includes 10 parks and 50 miles of multi-use trails. The new Baker Creek Preserve adds over six miles of trails, including a competition-style (one-way downhill and extremely steep) mountain bike trail funded by a $100,000 Bell Helmets grant. “Ten minutes from town you can get out in the woods for a remote hike, sit on bench, and watch the river go by; take a short hike and look down on the quarry; or rent a bike and ride miles of trails,” says Ed McAlister, president of River Sports Outfitters, which rents bikes, kayaks, and stand-up paddle boards for use in the Urban Wilderness. “Within minutes you can be in total isolation with no noise but nature.” Urban Wilderness, South Knoxville, outdoorknoxville.com.

Although Ijams has been a public nature park since the 1960s, this 300-acre urban oasis remains a bit of a best-kept secret, even among many Knoxvillians. There’s no charge to hike the center’s 12-plus miles of trails or  to climb (at your own risk) the new Ijams Crag, Knoxville’s only outdoor rock climbing area. The Crag currently has about 12 bolted routes for beginner to expert climbers. In summer, canoe, kayak, and paddle board rentals are available at Mead’s Quarry Lake. Call 865.577.4717, extension 110, for rental information. Ijams Nature Center, 2915 Island Home Ave., ijams.org.

21. Turn Up the Heat

Glassblower Matt Salley is known for his delicate flower sculptures (on sale at the Knoxville Museum of Art gift shop) and for his patience in teaching non-artistic types how to sculpt hot glass. He regularly hosts workshops in his small South Knoxville studio, Marble City Glassworks, or you can schedule a private class for one or two people (or for a group of 4 to 12). Glassblowing is a cool art form, but it gets extremely hot in the studio. During warm weather, schedule private sessions before noon or after 6 p.m. Marble City Glassworks, 105 Artella Dr., marblecityglassworks.com.

22. Find Your Type

When they’re not creating letterpress concert posters, wedding invitations, or business cards, printmakers Bryan Baker and Sarah Shebaro share the art and craft of typesetting with anyone who wants to learn. Sign up for a one-time workshop, or schedule a small group or private session to print like it’s 1450 (when Gutenberg invented the printing press). Most classes involve setting type, cutting wood and linoleum print blocks, and operating a printing press. Striped Light Letterpress Studio + Record Company, 107 Bearden Place, stripedlight.com.

23. Follow the Suds

The craft beer scene was slow to brew in Knoxville, with the bulk of the city’s breweries only opening last year. Now, however, more than a dozen area breweries are on the map— literally. The Knoxville Ale Trail map is available online and at the Knoxville Visitors Center, 301 S. Gay St. Some trail locations, such as Balter Beerworks and Crafty Bastard have tasting rooms. Others, including Fanatic Brewing Co., offer tours. Beer from all breweries is available locally on tap or in bottles or growlers. Knoxville Ale Trail, various locations, knoxvillealetrail.com.

24. Rock the Cradle

New commemorative markers for the Cradle of Country Music Walking Tour downtown are helping to shine a brighter spotlight on landmarks such as the St. James Hotel, the site of the 1929 and 1930 “Knoxville Sessions” recordings. Launched in 2011, this self-guided tour highlights East Tennessee’s leading role in the creation of country music. Follow the route to learn the history and to retrace the steps of legendary performers such as Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, and Elvis Presley. Updated brochures are available at the downtown visitors center (301 S. Gay St.).

25. Tune In

Every day except Sunday, listener-supported WDVX radio (89.9 FM) broadcasts a live music show from a tiny stage inside the Knoxville Visitor Center. From noon to 1 p.m., the “Blue Plate Special” attracts an audience of curious tourists and locals on lunch break. Playing the Blue Plate is popular with new acts, and with musicians appearing in town or just passing through. Past performers have included The Avett Brothers and Old Crowe Medicine Show. Get there by 11:30 a.m. if you want a seat (there’s usually about 30 folding chairs set up), and bring a sack lunch or buy a snack at the counter. WDVX Blue Plate Special, 301 S. Gay St., wdvx.com.

About the author: Knoxville-based writer Maryellen Kennedy Duckett wrote “Secrets of the Smokies” in the June/July 2016 issue.