Our 44th Anniversary Celebration

A week ago we celebrated our 44^th wedding anniversary… Photos on this blog site marked our beginnings, some fairly recent travel adventures and concluded with a more recent casual photo of Laurie and myself.  Now its time to share our actual celebration with you...

I thought that I’d start this celebratory story with a selfie that Laurie took of us just before we headed out for our special anniversary dinner…

For our big night out, we chose Bella, a relatively new upscale restaurant in downtown Maryville Tennessee.  Bella leans toward Italian cuisine but with a modern flair.  They refer to it as a “Tuscan Grill Concept.  Reviews to date have been very positive. 

Being a retired old time retailer, I love seeing the reuse/repurposing of old downtown department stores.  The J.C. Penney building was constructed in 1925 but for the last 20 years it housed Sullivan’s Downtown Restaurant.  Pistol Creek Hospitality is behind Bella and the restaurant is managed by Spaces in the City, a company that manages 5 other restaurants in the greater Knoxville Tennessee area.

Here are a few photos of the interior of Bella… We would describe it as a modified and softer version of the popular industrial look that one sees so frequently these days.  Love the lighting, the brick and the stone work!  Whoever first decided to backlight the liquor bottles behind a bar is to be congratulated…very clever and it lights up the room.  The overall color scheme at Bella is subtle but warm and the whole atmosphere is welcoming.  There is plenty of separation between tables, something we really like to see.  We were seated at the booth at the back left against the wall…

We kept the drinks simple.  My Miller Lite came in a chilled glass ($4.00) and Laurie had a glass of the Seasonal Sangria. ($10.00)

What to do for an appetizer or starter?  The Roman style fried artichokes, the calamari fritte and the crispy octopus all sounded tempting…but the Grilled Focaccia Bread Service with a roasted bulb of garlic, basil pesto and goat cheese, caught our eye and our choice was made. ($12.00)

We love quality focaccia bread, we hadn’t had a roasted garlic bulb since we moved from Chicago to East Tennessee…and the pesto with goat cheese just ensured our decision.  Our waitress drizzled olive oil over the top of the warm bread and we promptly devoured 3 of the 5 hunks of bread, all of the goat cheese and most of the pesto and garlic bulb.  Excellent and very, very satisfying.

I was tempted to go for the Prime Sirloin with parmesan truffle fries or the Tuscan Shrimp with penne pasta, but in the end I decided to order the Herb Roasted Chicken. ($24.00) It came with lemon basil butter, green beans and roasted fingerling potatoes.

As you can see, it was half of a chicken… The chicken was not only large and juicy but the herbs and lemon basil butter made it pop.  The roasted fingerling potatoes were very nice…especially after I sprinkled them with parmesan cheese. 

My only disappointment was the vegetable, or lack thereof.  Thanks to my medications, green vegetables are off my menu.  I was really surprised that Bella lacked any options that weren’t green.  I thought that some sliced tomato with a little salad dressing would be a slam dunk…but they weren’t an option.  My only choice was cherry tomatoes…something that I eat for a snack all the time at home.  So I doubled up on the fingerling potatoes.

I was a little surprised when Laurie opted for the Veal Milanese, an herb crusted bone-in veal chop, with lemon-butter, arugula salad and whipped potatoes. ($28.00) I thought for sure that she would order a pasta entrée.

As you can see, it was a great looking veal chop, framed by the arugula and highlighted by the potatoes with gravy.  Laurie thought that her meal was excellent!  She gave me one little bite of her veal chop and I concurred with her evaluation…

The good news with all this food is that we couldn’t really finish it all.  We ended up taking home 2 hunks of that focaccia bread and about 40% of that bulb of roasted garlic.  Our waitress gave us a bit more goat cheese and pesto too.  I took home almost half of my fingerling potatoes as well as the chicken thigh and leg.  In addition, a little of that veal chop remained along with a bit of the whipped potatoes.  Now this is what I call great leftovers!

When we finished our entrees, Crystal, our waitress informed us that because it was our anniversary, we could have a free dessert.  It was the Zeppole/Italian Donuts.  These excellent light pastries came with powdered sugar, pastry cream and chocolate ganache. (Normally $12.00) Trust me…there were no leftovers!

The first photo above shows our celebratory dessert with a little tower and, if you look closely, you can see a bit of smoke rising from the top.  Laurie couldn’t get her camera on and focused before the sparkler burned itself out… The close-up photo though is drool-worthy!

Crystal, our waitress was thoughtful and attentive.  The ambiance and the food were both noteworthy.  It was an anniversary dinner worth remembering.  We would recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting or living in the Maryville/Knoxville area.  Bella is located at 121 West Broadway in Maryville Tennessee.  Phone: 865-205-4111.  Website: www.bellamaryville.com. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave and Laurie