Early Dinner Destination and More

We were out and about in the mid-afternoon following an appointment with the ophthalmologist.  Time to wander on into Farragut Tennessee to try a relatively new restaurant and to check out businesses are occupying a large structure at the busy intersection of Kingston Pike/US Hwy 11 and Campbell Station Road…close to the Turkey Creek shopping area.   

Our eventual destination on this occasion was this restaurant.  It’s called the “35 North Bar and Grill”.  Originally the complex was intended as a brew pub with rotating food trucks…but apparently that concept didn’t catch fire.  Now at least half of the building is all about this ‘new’ restaurant.

It was early yet and two other businesses are located adjacent to “35 North”.  Time to explore before dining…

The Summer Moon Coffee Shop is located at one end of the building.  It turns out that Summer Moon was founded by a family and their friends in the Texas Hill Country.  From an initial coffee shop the company has expanded via family friends licensed locations in Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and Houston.  Recently the company has expanded in more Texas locations as well as in Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Kenosha WI, Fayetteville AR as well as Knoxville!  The company now has more than 50 locations…

This coffee shop is spacious and has a warm welcoming feeling.  Summer Moon coffee beans are still roasted in Texas Hill Country in wood-fired ovens that were built using the time-honored process used by 19^th century coffee masters.

After our meal at “35 North” we stopped by Summer Moon again…and this time Laurie ordered a treat for herself.  She had a hot Summer Moon Latte and she really enjoyed it.  I did observe that Summer Moon offers a number of related items for sale…such as t-shirts, mugs, etc.

The Summer Moon Coffee Shop is located at 104 North Campbell Station Road in Knoxville/Farragut Tennessee.  Phone: 865-671-0428.  They are open until 8 PM Monday through Saturday.  Summer Moon’s website is at Summer Moon Farragut, TN (summermooncoffee.com). 

Our next stop was the Park+Alley Marketplace.  It’s billed as a one stop shop for both home goods and good homes.  Customers can shop a nice selection of home décor, luxury textiles, gift sets and even some vintage finds.  Up to this point, it sounds like another stylish home décor shop.  Laurie did make a small purchase…

Where Park+Alley Marketplace runs off on an interesting tangent is that the shop is also home to a boardroom where their team of full-service residential real estate agents meet with home buyers, sellers and investors to address home ownership goals in East Tennessee.  The founder and owner of Park+Alley is Crystal McNamee...and she's behind the counter in the second photo.

It is an interesting shop and an even more interesting concept.  Customers can also shop on-line.  Park+Alley staff also stage or style homes for customers.  Phone: 865-895-0037.  Website: SHOP | Park+Alley Marketplace (parkandalley.com). 

Now for our early dinner at “35 North”…

“35 North” offers a pleasant setting for outdoor dining.  Given that the restaurant is located at such a busy corner with heavy traffic on both roads, the outdoor area was surprisingly quiet.  The inside dining area definitely fits the ‘Industrial’ style with the open ceilings with metal, HVAC conduits and lighting, all offset by tan/brown floors and wood topped tables.  TV’s abound as well… 

The big circular bar with its metal accents and TV’s certainly dominates the core of ‘35 North’.  The bar is on a higher level than the dining area, which adds to its design ‘dominance’.  The bar is light and bright with all the windows reaching up to its high ceiling. 

Another design element that we’ve noted in the last couple of years is ‘bottles of liquor’ as art…adding a dramatic touch to the bar area.  If it looks like a lot of liquor, it is!  The bar menu at “35 North”, (if I counted correctly) lists 113 whiskeys, bourbons and ryes.  Plus there is a significant list of other liquors including Scotch. Vodka, gin, tequila, cordials and liqueurs.  Of course other adult libations such as beer, specialty cocktails, wine and champagne are available too.  

Time to eat… We started with this impressive serving of Burrata Bruschetta. ($12.00) A huge oversized champagne style container was loaded with fresh tomato, garlic, chopped basil and parmesan cheese with a lettuce base.  It was topped with a ball of burrata cheese and a balsamic glaze and it came with those crostini’s.  We could have added shrimp for $5.00 but decided not to.

FYI for those who don’t know…burrata is an Italian cow’s milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream.  The outer casing is solid cheese, while the inside contains stracciatella and clotted cream, giving the burrata an unusual soft texture.  Stracciatella is yet another cheese which is made from Italian buffalo milk.

This was a nice way to start our meal and it was filling.  We have one critical observation and that relates to the container that everything was served in.  It was so tall you can’t see what you’re doing as you try to scoop out the goodies inside.  Very awkward indeed...

Other appetizers did catch our attention.  My favorite alternative is the Fried Deviled Eggs. ($9.00) The deviled eggs are hand breaded, fried and then served with pepper jelly, egg yolk mousse and fresh jalapenos.

As I’m mentioned previously, Laurie is now using a medication that has impacted her ability or desire to eat very much food at a time.  After the bruschetta she felt that she was getting full.  Consequently she ordered a small Caesar Salad with a parmesan crisp. ($6.00 small/$10 large) Added options include Portobello mushrooms ($2.00), chicken ($3.00), steak ($4.00), and shrimp ($5.00).

Likely choices for her next visit, (without an appetizer), include the Grouper Po Boy with lemon caper mayonnaise, shredded lettuce and pickles. ($16.00) Alternatively she might be tempted to order Avocado Tacos…flour tortillas filled with crispy avocado, red onion, slaw and a spicy dill yogurt. ($12.00)

For my meal I order the Crispy Chicken Sandwich with hot (spicy) honey, pickles and mayonnaise. ($13.00) All sandwiches at “35 North” come with French fries.  From this exploratory food venture, I discovered that I really don’t care for spicy honey on a sandwich.  It was OK but that ample hunk of fried chicken breast was ‘lost’ to the honey.

Note: I was tempted to order a burger…that was until I noted this statement on the menu. “All burgers and steaks are cooked medium to mid-well”.  What the hell?!  I’ve experienced the burger issue before but I’ve never seen this limitation on steaks.  If it isn’t medium rare, I’m not ordering it!

That medium to mid-well limitation made me look at the rest of the menu to see what I might order on a second visit.  The Roasted Chicken…herb roasted chicken with heirloom carrots ($18.00) and the Pork Belly and Kimchi Fried Rice with yum yum sauce were the most likely options.

Admittedly we barely touched the menu at “35 North”.  Despite the red meat limitation, we’ve decided that it is a viable option for another meal in the near future.  “35 North” is located at 11321 Kingston Pike in Knoxville/Farragut Tennessee.  Phone: 865-355-6698.  Website: 35 North - Knoxville, TN (the35north.com).

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave