Laurie’s Birthday Celebration!

As we’ve gotten older, birthdays have become fairly low key.  Let’s face it, we’re really celebrating the fact that we’re still around and enjoying life…

Nevertheless, Laurie’s ‘low key’ birthday celebration is an annual 2 – 3 month affair…with presents/objects of desire or ‘want’ being fair game along the way.  On her birthday in early December, we typically go out to a restaurant of her choice.  This year, we ate at home on her actual birthday and celebrated with this moist mini-cake from our local Fresh Market. (https://www.thefreshmarket.com/)

The reason that we didn’t go out for a special dinner was that Dawn Marie was flying in to Knoxville the next day and she wanted to take Laurie out to dinner for her birthday.   

Fortunately for me, I was allowed to come along… Of course, the best part about this story was that Dawn Marie flew into Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport and she suggested that Laurie pick someplace really nice in nearby Maryville Tennessee for her birthday dinner! 

The obvious choice to frequent diners like ourselves was The Foothills Milling Company.  We’ve been there several times over the past few years and we think that it’s probably the best restaurant in the Knoxville metropolitan area!

Laurie started out with this lovely Goat Cheese Tart with caramelized onions, Benton’s bacon and a cornbread crust. ($12.00) She was a happy birthday girl!

This appetizer was ‘the bomb’ in a good sense!  It was a flavor avalanche!  The HBC Sandwich consists of pecan wood smoked pork collar, Benton’s bacon and Amish cheddar cheese on sourdough toast, all topped with a fried local farm egg and warm jalapeno cream. ($13.00)

This was the highpoint of my total meal!  I could have eaten 2 or 3 of these and skipped the rest of the food…although it was all quite nice too.

Information regarding Benton’s famous Bacon and Hams can be found at http://bentonscountryhams2.com/.

What would a special birthday dinner be without a nice bottle of cabernet from the Cosentino Winery in California?! ($36.00) (http://www.cosentinowinery.com/)

Tasting notes: Deep crimson in color with sweet and spicy notes of fresh herbs and cloves on the nose.  On the palate, intense flavors of fruit with hints of black pepper.  Ends with great structure and long finish.

Laurie and Dawn really liked this wine…but as red wine and gout don’t co-exist well, I stuck with a beer!

For my entrée, I ordered the Cedar Planked Salmon. ($32.00) The Scottish salmon was marinated and roasted on a cedar plank and it was served with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and roasted asparagus.  I don’t know what the marinade was, but this was an excellent and tasty slab of salmon!  (If you look closely, you will see the embers still burning on one end of the plank...) 

Dawn Marie decided to have the Foothills Meatloaf as her entrée. ($29.00) This meatloaf is stuffed with braised short rib meat and it’s served with tomato chutney, truffle macaroni and cheese plus baby green beans.

Of course, much of the time one’s opinion of an entrée is a matter of personal taste.  Dawn didn’t really care for this meatloaf but she must be the exception because this is a perennial item on the Foothills Milling Company’s menu.  They must sell a lot of it!   

Our birthday girl chose the Surf and Turf for her special meal. ($37.00) Her medium rare Angus beef tenderloin steak came with a shrimp and crab topping and it was served with creole white wine cream, potatoes and baby green beans.  Laurie was very happy with her choice!

Our server took this photo of our little group at the table with our entrées in front of us…

This was our birthday girl’s special dessert!  We didn’t sing to Laurie as it would have been embarrassing in so many ways… (I personally have one of the worst voices that ever tried to carry a note!) 

I’m not sure what any of the desserts were named as I didn’t pay for the meal and therefore I don’t have the detailed receipt to work from.  Foothills Milling Company doesn’t post a dessert menu on their website…but they should!  All of the desserts were excellent…and mine…this last one pictured above…was also huge!  Don’t worry, I managed to force myself to finish it!

Thanks to Dawn Marie, Laurie had a terrific birthday dinner outing!  Service was outstanding and our waiter was quite knowledgeable.  One of the owners, Tommy Vaughan, stopped by and chatted with us as well.  Foothills Milling Company is located at 315 Washington Street in Maryville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-977-8434.  Their website is found at: http://foothillsmillingcompany.com/default.asp?ID=1. 

Currently, TripAdvisor has recorded 476 reviews for this restaurant and 89% of the reviewers gave it an ‘excellent’. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to help us belatedly celebrate Laurie’s birthday!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave