Dinner at Knoxville Tennessee’s Market Square

...taking a break from my postings about our summer vacation!

Laurie’s sister Bonnie and Bonnie’s husband Bill were visiting us here in East Tennessee.  A couple of months earlier Bonnie had been checking out restaurants in East Tennessee in anticipation of their visit.  She’d told Laurie that they’d like to try Emilia, an Italian restaurant located on Market Square in downtown Knoxville.

So, as per Bonnie’s wishes, we made our way to Market Square and her chosen restaurant…Emilia.  Market Square is usually about a 45 minute drive from our house but our early dinner reservation time conflicted with rush hour traffic…so we were a few minutes late. 

No problem… It was early enough that Emilia’s dining room wasn’t all that busy when we arrived. 

FYI…Emilia’s menu states that they serve “simple, seasonal Italian cuisine inspired by the Emilia-Romanga region of Italy”.  All of Emilia’s pastas are made in-house on a daily basis.

Both the dining area and the bar’s décor are definitely minimalist…a version of the current trend of industrial chic.  It’s obvious to anyone entering the restaurant that this isn’t a traditional Italian restaurant.  

Our new “neighbors to be” Mike and Sherry joined us for dinner.  They moved down to the paradise that is East Tennessee from Rochester New York so they’d still have the 4 seasons but Mike could still play golf year around…

With a little luck their home will be completed in early 2019.  Their original goal was to be in the house by Christmas 2018...

Bonnie and Bill sat across from each other so we ended up taking separate photos of them…

Mike insisted on taking a photo of Laurie and yours truly.  I just don’t recognize that old guy sitting next to my wife!

Call me old fashioned but in my opinion bread should automatically be served with an Italian meal.  Build the cost into the price of the entrée…but then again, some folks don't want bread.

In any case, all 3 couples ordered this Warm Housemade Foccacia with Cruze Farm ricotta, Georgia olive oil, flaky sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. ($5.00 per couple) The bread was good but not great…

For a starter, I ordered Emilia’s Grilled Romaine Salad. ($7.00) The grilled romaine lettuce was served with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, oil cured olive and herbed bread crumbs plus traditional Caesar dressing.  It was excellent!  I’d like to have one of these salads with my dinner at least once a week!

Bill’s appetizer was the Grilled Spanish Octopus. ($15.00) The octopus was served with cannellini bean and olive oil puree, parsley, chickpea croutons, Cruze Farm crema and oil cured olives. 

While this was a tasty and attractive offering, Bill was a bit put off by the size of the portion for the money…

This was Bill’s entrée, the Genovese Style Fisherman’s Stew. ($26.00) It included the market fish of the day, Prince Edward Island mussels and Louisiana shrimp in San Marzano tomato brodo with grilled bread and aioli.  It was a nice entrée, but once again it didn’t exactly satiate Bill’s appetite.    

Both Laurie and Bonnie ordered the Local Autumn Squash Agnolotti. ($17.00) Autumn squash and ricotta cheese were stuffed into pasta pillows with spiced roasted cauliflower, crispy Benton’s Country Ham, red wine-brown butter, sage and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.  They both really enjoyed their meals.

Sherry decided to go with the Polenta and Meatballs Pomodoro. ($15.00) Creamy Shelton Farm Polenta was served with traditional meatballs, San Marzano tomato sauce and Pecorino Romano cheese.  She enjoyed her dinner and the men at the table all thought that it was a more substantial serving.

My entrée was this plate of Gnocchi Amatriciana. ($17.00) These hand rolled potato dumplings were served with a traditional Amatriciana sauce of house cured pork jowl, garlic, chilies, San Marzano tomatoes and Pecorino Romano cheese.

You guessed it!  I was still hungry after finishing my meal.  One of the reasons I’d picked this entrée was the fact that it included the words ‘garlic’ and ‘chilies’.  If there was any garlic in this dish, or for that matter, any spice of any kind, I couldn’t taste it.  ‘Bland’ was the word I used to describe it…

Mike chose the Mitchell Farm Beef Shortrib ‘Francoboli’. ($18.00) The Tuscan ‘postage stamp’ ravioli were stuffed with braised beef and Taleggio cheese with slow cooked root vegetables, Cippolini onions, spinach and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. 

I really don’t know how Mike felt about his entrée.  ‘Postage stamp’ ravioli would have prevented me from ordering this dish in the first place.  Bill and I would have been looking around for something to eat if we’d ordered Mike’s dinner.  Of course, Mike was able to snack on at least one of his wife’s meatballs…

Each couple decided to order and share a dessert to cap off the meal.  This was the Dark Chocolate Torta with chocolate-hazelnut crunch and cocoa whipped cream. ($7.00)

Another selection was the Butterscotch Budino, creamy butterscotch pudding with salted caramel, whipped cream and pine nut crumble. ($7.00) Laurie and I shared this one and it was very good…

This was the Fior di Latte Panna Cotta, Cruze Farm vanilla custard with citrus confitura, coconut macaroons and Amaro Montenegro. ($7.00)

I do remember Bill commenting that while their dessert was good, he couldn’t believe how small it was…

This is Emilia Restaurant at night following our meal.  Service was quite competent but portions were small…perhaps actually the proper healthy size that we should be eating.  The pasta itself was very nice.  Still, I must say that if this is Nouveau Italian cuisine, I’ll stick with the original version.

The best part about this meal (although I feel a little guilty thinking about it) was that Bill and Bonnie insisted on picking up the tab for Laurie and I.  Thanks guys!

Emilia is located at 16 Market Square in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-313-2472.  Their website is at http://emiliaknox.com/.

Since the 1860s Market Square has been one of Knoxville’s most popular places to shop, work, play, eat, drink and live.  Burgeoning housing growth in the downtown area centers on the “Square” and nearby “Old Town”.  There are a variety of restaurants, bars and shops and hotels in and around Market Square.  In season, the weekend farmer’s markets are not only expansive but also a lot of fun!

Performers at work… It isn’t unusual for a band or some other form of entertainment offering entertainment on Market Square’s bandstand.  The Square is also home to a number of annual events, such as Knoxville’s International Biscuit Festival and the “Big Ears (music) Festival.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for dinner!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave