430 south gay street knoxville tn

Gay Street. Yesterday a soft opening allowed staff to practice before opening day and the restaurant was packed. Even with normal opening-evening bumps, it was a very pleasant experience. I knew a few things from my previous article focusing on the coming restaurant. You can also go to that article to see what this space looked like just a few months ago.

The two men are partners in a group of restaurants which include Five Bar Restaurants in Gainesville, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Athens and, now, Knoxville. Harbor Docks Seafood plays a role in the other restaurants, including the new one in Knoxville. Harbor Docks is not only a restaurant, it also is a wholesale market, getting fish fresh from the Gulf and distributing them to restaurants all over the country and into Canada.

Before fish are shipped to New York City, Boston, Montreal and Toronto, however, they are flown directly to this and the other restaurants in the group, assuring fresh gulf fish every day. The catch of the day is literally what was caught for Harbor Docks.

Gay Street is getting a new restaurant! Plus, what to know about a new rooftop bar

They also own some of the boats, making it a very in-house operation. Beyond the food, the labor is local — they bring in very few employees from other cities — and they focus on local art. The music for the soft opening was provided by jazz combo Gypsy Hombres from Nashville and the venue will feature live jazz every Sunday for brunch hours which also includes a Bloody Mary Bar.

I suggested that a wealth of jazz talent may be found inside our fair city, so they may look locally for that, as well. The thinking here, according to Charles is to strike a balance between offering too little and offering an overwhelming assortment of choices.

With fewer dishes to prepare, service can be faster and the kitchen staff can focus on the quality of what they provide. Salads are served with the entree and are not listed on the menu, also improving service time. One of the larger restaurants downtown, Five Bar can seat about and accommodate private gatherings for about fifty in the mezzanine.

Several dozen boasting a wide range in style, size and color dangle from the ceiling. Charles said that lighting in restaurants is one of the most complicated choices and once they thought of the concept, customers seemed to like it, so they replicate it at new restaurants.

One exception is the largest chandelier which came from the home of Dan Uggla, Atlanta Braves second baseman. Sean recently re-located to Knoxville where much of his family is located, so he said it was like coming home, for him. Additionally, Cris will live predominately in Knoxville for the foreseeable future in order to make certain the restaurant operates as intended and gets off to a good start.

All employees will be encouraged to do community service for a C3, whether Habitat for Humanity or a local no-kill animal shelter or other group. How do they encourage it? They will pay their employees up to hours through the course of a year to volunteer. They also offer their own c3 opportunity: They will soon have a local food truck called American Lunch, which distributes soups and gumbo, bread, iced tea and water, free to those who need it.

Many of their employees in other cities choose to volunteer through that effort. Employees who reach the six-month mark are also eligible for a K. Employees who agree to work out twice a week are provided a free gym membership. They feel that all these things make for healthier, better employees.

Another program which may or may not make it to Knoxville this year, but they have done in their other Five Bar Restaurants is a free Thanksgiving Dinner. Donations are accepted and the money goes to Habitat for Humanity or Destiny 430 south gay street knoxville tn, which is a program for distributing food to the needy.

I asked them how they came to select Knoxville for one of their restaurants and they mentioned Gary Higgins, an acquaintance, who lives in Knoxville.