A Special Birthday Treat!

The day before my birthday, I started getting suspicious… First of all, Laurie suggested that I put long pants on instead of shorts to go out for a casual dinner.  That was weird as I don’t wear long pants in the summer unless I’m going to a funeral or a wedding.  Then she upped the ante by suggesting that we go to a fancier than usual restaurant… I rejected both suggestions without hesitation!  When I went to change my clothes for our casual dinner, she’d picked out my outfit…so we’d color match?  Weirder yet!

So I changed and by now I’d decided that she had some kind of birthday deal in the works…probably dinner out with our neighbors.  When there was a knock on our door, I was completely surprised by Dawn Marie.  She’d flown in from Miami for my birthday!

Then I did have to change my pants…because Dawn had asked Laurie to pick a well-regarded restaurant for my special dinner that I would be unlikely to choose myself due to the expense.   

A short time later, we were on our way to Knoxville’s Old Town (Old City) area.  This area was once part of a vice-ridden and raucous section of town called “The Bowery”.  In the early 1900s, Central Street was lined with saloons and brothels.  Fights and shootouts were not unusual.  One gunfight in December of 1901 occurred when Kid Curry, who was a member of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch, shot 2 Knoxville police officers. 

The area declined until the late 1990s when some efforts began to revitalize it.  In the last few years, it has become hot property for the burgeoning core of the city.  Restaurants, entertainment venues, lofts and apartments have sprung up in many of the old structures with new builds underway.

These 2 photos were taken at the corner of Central Street and West Jackson Avenue.  The first photo shows the Urban Bar and Corner Café.  Since its ‘smoker friendly’, it’s not on our ‘to do’ list.  The second photo is of Boyd’s Jig and Reel, a Scotch whisky bar (800 varieties!) and restaurant that also focuses on preserving Scottish music.  When Laurie’s sister and her husband visit the next time, we will experience Boyd’s!  Website: http://jigandreel.com/.

The Lonesome Dove, which occupies another corner of this intersection, was our dining destination.  It occupies a two-story Romanesque Revival building that was built in 1888.  When completed, it was originally called Patrick Sullivan’s Saloon.  After Knoxville banned saloons in 1907, the building served several businesses, including an ice cream parlor.  As recently as 2016, the building was operating as Patrick Sullivan’s Steak House.

Note: Valet parking is available for only $5.00.

The ambiance at the Lonesome Dove is rustic and warm with a bit of an ‘industrial’ touch as well.  The tables under the balcony are matched by tables upon the balcony.  As you can see, the bar is quite large.  Note the antler lights above…

We were seated in an adjacent dining area.  It was a bit brighter but it is a pleasant dining venue.  As you can see, the grill/kitchen is located along one wall in this room.

I took the photo of Laurie and Dawn at our table and Laurie took the photo of the birthday boy and Dawn… FYI, Dawn had mentioned that this was my birthday dinner when she called in the reservation.  There was a restaurant staff signed birthday card on the table...but curiously, no special dessert or anything was offered for the occasion.  

A preface before I wax-on about our dining experience.  This is a high-end ($$$$) restaurant.  We expect more from dining establishments in this category than we would in a local diner.  Also, Dawn Marie travels the world and she has eaten in high-end restaurants around the world so her expectations are also high…

We started out with cocktails.  This was Dawn’s Jalapeno Cucumber Margarita. ($12.00) It’s made with Herradura Double Reposado “Love 22”.  Dawn thought that it was a very nice cocktail.

The 3 photos above depict Laurie’s cocktail, both the presentation and finished product.  It arrives at the table in a smoky glass dome which is then lifted to show the drink and a small pile of smoking oak embers.  This is “The Willie”. ($14.00) Laurie loved this drink made with rye, vermouth, Angostura bitters and its smoky flavor.

I stayed true to my self-image ordering a Miller Lite. ($5.50) 

Our first appetizer was what was called a Wild Game Fettine. (Fettine is Italian plural for thin slices of meat) As per the menu, these are shaved wild game roulades spit-roasted over open-mesquite fire.  We ordered the Fettine Trio… ($16.00) This included a bit of the Wild Pig/Venison/Huckleberry, the Lamb/Pork Loin/Chili Black Garlic and, the Duck/Quail/Cheddar. 

We were a little surprised that the fettine wasn’t served with toast points or some other bread product.  We tasted the fettine by itself but we also asked for bread and butter on the side.  All three of us agreed that the various shaved roulades were ok but lacked much flavor…

FYI, Laurie and I really liked the focaccia style bread that our waitress brought us.  She observed that we favored the bread vs. the muffins so she brought us more bread.

This is a good time to talk about our service.  Our waitress was pleasant and eager to please but she seemed like she was fairly new…perhaps needing more training.  She couldn’t give a definitive overview of some offerings and she didn’t know what ingredients were in some dishes.  She never refilled Dawn’s glass of Pellegrino (sparkling water) ($6.00) although she did refill our glasses of tap water regularly.  She requested that we place our full order so the kitchen would have time to prepare everything from scratch…but then delivered our “First Course” before we really got started on the Fettine.  She also didn’t offer to refill our coffees…but then again, we weren’t charged for them either.

On the positive side, when she learned that Dawn was cold (The dining room was a bit chilly), she brought her a wrap that Dawn used during dinner.  One measure of her desire to please was the fact that later in the meal, she picked up on a negative comment regarding one of our entrees…but more on that later.     

On to the “First Course”.  We had 10 items to choose from.  As we chose to mix and match a platter of these bites or appetizers, we were charged by the piece.

These were the Hot Quail Legs, served with Blue Cheese Fondue and Pickled Celery. ($4.00 each) Laurie and I really liked them…very tasty…and we liked the pickled celery too.  The only downside was that as Dawn pointed out, the blue cheese fondue was negligible and it didn’t figure into the flavor of the quail legs.

Laurie loves Lobster!  She wasn’t sure if she’d like Lobster Hush Puppies ($5.00 each) because normal hush puppies aren’t her favorite.  She really liked these little beauties!  These lobster hushpuppies were served with Smoked Tomato Butter and what the restaurant calls, Parsley-Cilantro ‘Salad’.

These little offerings with the Tennessee State Flag are pieces of Rabbit-Rattlesnake sausage on Manchego Rosti with Crème Fraiche. ($4.00 each) The sausage was fine but the Manchego Rosti was overdone…like eating a crisp with no flavor.  I looked at Chef Tim Love’s original recipe on-line and his picture of this offering showed the rosti to be a lighter color…hence not overcooked.

Our next selection were the Wild Boar – Beef Tenderloin Albondigas, Sofrito, with Shaved Manchego Cheese. ($4.00 each) Laurie didn’t care for them but then again, she’s not crazy about meatballs.  Dawn and I did like them, both opining that the sauce that came with them made the dish.  We just wished that we had a spoon to ladle it on the albondigas. 

Onto our second course!  Laurie chose the Grilled Corn, Okra, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad with Red Wine-Mustard Vinaigrette. ($9.00) She really enjoyed this course…

Dawn and I both opted for a Bowl of the Texas Red (chili without beans) with Cheddar, Crema and Crispy Tortilla strips. ($10.00) We had our avocado corn salsa on the side as we weren’t sure we’d want it.  Our waitress had cautioned us that the Texas Red was spicy hot.  Dawn and I agreed that this chili was loaded with meat and quite tasty…but not particularly spicy.

 For her entrée, Laurie chose the Crispy Chicken Thighs, Grilled Lemon Jus, Scalloped Potato and Fried Olives. ($35.00) She enjoyed the chicken thighs and the fried olives but thought that the tiny stacks of scalloped potatoes were bland and tasteless…

Dawn ordered the Wapiti (Elk) Short Rib.  with Fermented Lime Vinaigrette. ($41.00) It normally comes with Crispy Cauliflower and Fermented Lime Vinaigrette but Dawn doesn’t like cauliflower and asked for the scalloped potatoes instead.

OK…the Short Rib portion was small…but it also was tasteless and dry as a bone.  It was the low point of the meal.  I tasted it too…definitely not a winner!  On the positive side, the waitress was working at an adjoining table and she heard us talking about the short ribs.  She picked up on the portion of our conversation regarding the serving size…which was enough for her to take it off the final bill without being asked.  I also tasted Dawn’s tiny stack of scalloped potatoes and we agreed with Laurie…just no flavor/seasoning at all.

This was the birthday boy’s entrée. (Main Course) It was the Stuffed Pork Chop with Smoked Celery Root Puree and Ratatouille. ($36.00) It was stuffed with a sweet pork sausage mixture and the chop was cooked perfectly.  The chop was above average in quality.  A spicy sausage stuffing would have been more in my wheelhouse but this was fine.  I didn’t eat the ratatouille as it just isn’t my thing…

To summarize… We were disappointed with Lonesome Dove, especially given the price points.  I was quite happy that dinner was a birthday present.  Thanks Dawn-Marie for my one of a kind experience!  The steaks might have been a better choice but a 14 oz. New York Strip would have been $52.50 and we’d already done a number on Dawn’s generosity given the appetizers and second course.  Service should have been more on point and too many offerings let us down, not quite delivering the quality we expected.  Too bad too, as Dawn Marie has an office in Dallas and The Lonesome Dove has a restaurant there as well. 

In fairness, I will point out that the vast majority of on-line reviews for this restaurant are quite favorable.  What can I say?  In any case, if you’d like to check out The Lonesome Dove for yourself, it is located at 100 Central Street at the corner of Central and West Jackson Avenue in Knoxville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-999-5251.  Their website is at: https://lonesomedoveknoxville.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.  A couple of them are bit fuzzy…sorry about that!

Thanks for stopping by to see what we had for dinner!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave