chow with chaz

let’s chow

  • Chaz’s Not So Definitive Guide to Knoxville Coffee

    Chaz’s Not So Definitive Guide to Knoxville Coffee

    A Coffee Drinkers Coffee Shop

    Partial – Partial takes their coffee almost as serious as they take the community that they’ve built. Built on the backs of Murph and Shay, it is the Cheers of coffee shops if Cheers served some of the best coffee. They shine everyday, but they take it up a notch on Monday and Tuesday. This is their “slow days” where the menu is limited to Pour Over (the best) and espresso based drinks. Plan a little extra time and stop in. You won’t regret it.

    Remedy – I am partial to Partial because I love Shay, Murph and the coffee they served but Remedy introduced me to my favorite roaster, Radio. Remedy sources absolutely amazing coffee. Radio is legitimately my favorite coffee that I’ve had. They definitely seem lean lighter and fruitier which fits my palate perfectly. I don’t really get their lattes, their flavor pairings generally aren’t my cup of tea (pun intended), but I still spend most of my lunch breaks sipping on either of their drip offerings (two per day) or the iced coffee. I haven’t gotten a pour over here yet, but I will be doing so soon.

    A Coffee Drinkers Latte Shop

    Seed – My thoughts on lattes may be a bit controversial later on, but the only thing controversial about Seed is that they don’t have some of their drinks year around. If someone told me to take them to get the best latte in Knoxville, we would head straight to Seed. Their most recent seasonal drink was a Chocolate Chip Cookie latte. I’ve written about it before, so check out Chaz’s choice from a few weeks ago. It was phenomenal. My first fall in Knoxville they had a Strawberry PB&J shaken espresso that is one of my favorite coffee drinks ever. Go in, get a seasonal latte and enjoy your day.

    Awaken- Awaken has a fairly extensive latte menu, but everyone that I have had has been divine. The Born in The USA (I think, it’s been a while) was some sort of Strawberry Macchiato. I don’t fully remember as it has been a while, but I do remember loving it. I need to go back soon.

    Five and Hoek – This is another that really focuses on the flavors over the sweetness. Their Vanilla Bourbon latte is top notch and I believe year round. They also do banana bread seasonally that tastes exactly like banana bread. So good. I have had some other seasonal there’s and all (except the pumpkin spice) have been great.

    Honeybee – this makes the list solely for their pumpkin spice. I love a pumpkin spice latte and theirs may be my favorite. Their regular coffee is really good too, but I think the pumpkin spice is them at the A game.

    Nothing Wrong with Doing Food Better than Coffee

    Wildlove/Old City Java – I’ll mention Old City Java again in another category. These two are sister spots (I think). They both serve WildLove pastries and Counter Culture coffee. Counter Culture is fine coffee, with some releases being exceptional. These two shine for the pastries though. GO EARLY! They sell out. Basically anything you get will be delicious though.

    K-Brew – This is essentially (maybe actually) a local to Knoxville chain. Their coffee is good. I have no problem at all getting coffee there. That said, if I am getting coffee it is usually because I’m there to get a bagel. I really enjoy their bagels. They are a bit thick, but very tasty. I think they also shine with their sweeter bagels as opposed to their savory. A sweet bagel with savory…whatever the word is for the inside of a sandwich…is my go to.

    Wrens Bakehouse – by the name, they defintely lead towards the bakery. I don’t think they even have black coffee, just lattes. Their pastries are top notch though. If they have homemade poptarts when you stop by, get more than one. Also, walk across the street to Pratt’s Country Store and look around.

    Hope You Like It Sweet

    Jack’s – these will cater to a certain clientele and there is nothing wrong with that. They are the perfect shops for southern college towns. The lattes are sweet and T Swift is being honored. Jack’s is the picture of this. They get creative with their lattes and they do a good job. They do pack the sweetness though. This is not where I would recommend if you just wanted good, solid coffee. However, if you are craving a treat in a cup, then this place is great. Jack’s also has a terrific space. It is large with multiple rooms, which a a huge benefit because there are large groups chatting in the main space on most occasions. They also have a tremendous back patio.

    Cultivate – very similar vibe to Jack’s catering to the same clientele. It even goes so far as to have a flower shop in the back. Again, does solid lattes but “half sweet” will probably be your friend. I haven’t spent much time in the space, but they do seem to have a few rooms that close off which is really nice.

    I mean no shade with either of those. I think they are terrific spaces for people and both seem to be very successful. I am not their target market and that is perfectly ok.

    A Great Environment with Coffee

    Beard Brother’s – I absolutely love Beard Brothers. It has the coolest feel of any of the shops. See my review blog for the full breakdown. Their coffee is not necessarily my favorite though. It leans a little bit darker than I like. It is still good coffee and the environment makes it completely worthwhile. They also have very tasty lattes.

    Commonplace – I’ve spent more time here than any other. It was the closest to me while I was on my job search, so it is where I went. Their coffee is decent coffee. Nothing mind blowing. It is such a great space though, so much so that they rent it out. It is in an old bank. The old vault was my job application headquarters as it was quiet but still had the coffee shop vibe. Crew was also always incredibly kind, and it was nice to be seen as a regular.

    I Don’t Know Where to Put You

    Vienna – I like Vienna. Their coffee has a very different profile to me than anything I’ve really had. You leave there smelling like it as well. Vienna coffee may be the only coffee in the world that you could hand to me and I could tell you who roasted it. It is that unique. The space is also a restaurant, so it is a bit loud. They do have some comfy couches though.

    Mia Piccola – I have only been once, so I can’t speak too much on it. It has done well enough to expand to a new shop quickly, and people that I know really like it. I need to give it another shot.

    Capybara – This one is not in a very convenient spot for me, so I have only been a hand full of times. The few lattes I have had have been great.

    Potchke – not a coffee shop, just a casual Michelin recommended restaurant. They do serve coffee and various coffee drinks. Their drinks are almost as good as their food, which is a very high bar. Just ask Michelin.

    There are some newer coffee shops that I have not tried, but they are on my list.

    U-Brew – you do your own pour over. Not sure how I feel about paying to do that, but I will give it a shot.

    Primo Passo- I don’t know much about it, but their social media looks good!

    Intrepid Nitro – They specialize in nitro cold brew. That isn’t my favorite style of coffee, but I would like to give this place a go.

    Treetop – Their latte flavors sound really good, but my first and only experience there was not good. I would like to give it another shot.

    Remedy
    Potchke
    Seed
    A Cute Girl at Partial

  • Welcome to Atlantis Where the Players Play

    Food poisoning being the final souvenir will not have the same effect on this blog as it had on my digestive system. My mom has had Atlantis and the Bahamas on her bucket list for a while, and we checked that off a couple of weeks ago.

    Chow with Chaz focuses on the food, so that will be the gist of this blog, but I will share a little on my thoughts of Atlantis the Resort. The beach and the ocean there are absolutely top notch. The ocean was absolutely beautiful. The beach was pretty too, but I believe that sand is a gift hand delivered from Satan himself. Therefore, I spent all of the time in the ocean…which was fine by me. The waves our first day were awesome. They weren’t the best the rest of the week, but the ocean was still so much fun. Second only to the beach was the sea life around Atlantis. There were aquariums or lagoons at every turn. We could see the sting ray lagoon from our balcony. There was even a sawfish which was super cool. Another area where Atlantis shined was the waterpark. Their rapids river was so much fun. The tube slide going through the shark tunnel was also awesome. The drop slide was only good for a hilarious picture of Kelsi.

    We stayed in The Coral, which was a mixed bag. The view from the room was phenomenal. The rooms themselves were fine. They were a little dated but clean and had everything you need. It was also connected directly to the Casino which was very nice. The two major negatives were the elevators and the clientele. Atlantis was FLOODED with very poorly behaved children. They all seemed to be staying at our hotel. Terrible parenting was on full display. The only thing worse were the elevators. When we arrived, only 1 of the 3 was working. At no point in our time there did all 3 work. The two working took turns being broken. There were people getting stuck for upwards of an hour. This was absolutely unacceptable for what they charge for a room.

    Now for what you all came for…the FOOD. The first word that comes to mind for food at Alantis is without a doubt…expensive!! Everything was expensive. I did not have any bad food at the resort. We had Shake Shack and Cocodrilo each twice for lunch. Both delivered every time. Cocodrilo was very pricy for what you get, 3 tacos were around $20. The tacos were very good though. I had pork tacos the first day and steak the second. The steak won that battle. We had some apps and some drinks at Claudio’s. Everything there was solid except for the service, the service was quite bad. Hands down the best experience at the resort was Fish by Jose Andres. All four of us went one night, and it was phenomenal. I had the shrimp and grits which were done perfectly. It was also probably the best bang for your buck the whole trip. My mom won ordering that night though. The fish slider was unbelievable. I would eat anything on the buns they used. She also ordered a mojo shrimp app that was fantastic. Maybe the star of the show though was the cobb salad. We all split it and it led to Kelsi and I going back for night 2.

    The Marina is technically part of Atlantis, I think, but we had a meal and cocktails several nights there. We had Marina Pizza the first night there. The crust was very different than any I had, but very tasty. My parents went back another night as well. Dilly Club was another place that really shined. We had coffee there a couple of times and cocktails a few nights. The balcony is right on the marina, so you are surrounded by absolutely massive yachts. The first night I had a coconut marg with a toasted coconut rim…I’d give it an 7 out of ten. Very good cocktail. The last night I had their maple old fashioned; it was probably a 5 out of 10. Very average. The second trip however, I had one of their espresso martinis. I believe it had caramel in it. 10 out of 10. No questions. Absolutely delicious.

    We had two dinners off resort…and 2 very different experiences. Kelsi and I caught a taxi back to Nassau and went to the Poop Deck. Very much no frills, the chairs were all plastic. It is all open air with the majority of the seats on a balcony. I had fried shrimp that were fine and Kelsi had red snapper which was really good. It was the fish of the day, so you go and pick your fish. While my shrimp weren’t mind blowing, the views and experience were top notch. Service was great. Again, you are overlooking the marina filled with yachts. Just a super cool experience. We walked to the bar next door which was also all open air. We had some very tasty cocktails with enjoying the breeze off of the ocean. Fantastic experience. The other dinner off resort left me with my souvenir. Our final night we went to Anthony’s. It had great reviews; my parents went the night before and had a great experience. The 4 of us did not have the same experience the final night. Service was absolutely atrocious. They were out of multiple things, some of which we weren’t told about until well after ordering. The food was fine, in the moment, but nothing great. It was not a place I would have gone back to…then the next morning that feeling was cemented. I got to fly home with food poisoning. So thanks Anthony’s, see ya never.

    Overall, Atlantis was a lot of fun. The company was top notch and the ocean was magical. I am very glad to have gone (thanks mom and pops!), but I do not think it is a place I would go back to.  

  • Chaz Chose a Stogie

    Alchemy Cigar Lounge opened up pretty shortly after I moved to Knoxville. It is a place I have wanted to try since opening. I have walked by numerous times in the Old City, and the smells that linger by the doorway are heavenly. Last weekend, I finally gave it a try.

    One of my best friends was in town to see Penny and Sparrow with me (check them out if you haven’t!). I took him to Kaizen, read my reviews, it’s amazing. After Kaizen, we walked over to Alchemy. It was my first cigar lounge experience, as I generally partake on my patio. To be honest, I have always been a bit intimidated about going in. I didn’t really know what to do and was also a bit hesitant that it would be very expensive.

    Alchemy could not have been more welcoming. We walked up to the bar and they asked if we were just drinking or smoking as well. We told them both so the cigar sommelier (don’t think that’s what they’re called) took us into the humidor. Gave us the run down and a really great recommendation. They were from West Tampa Tobacco Co. I am not a huge fan of heavy cigars. These were light but really complimented the bourbon. They had a really great selection. I went with the Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond which is kind of a go to for me with cigars. I generally do it or Eagle Rare.

    We got our cigar and our bourbon and found a couch that looked quite uncomfortable. We sat anyway and it was like sitting on a cloud. We stayed for about an hour. My only negative is the smoke did irritate my eyes after a while.

    The atmosphere was also incredible. It looked like a rich guys personal smoking lounge. It felt very homey. Was decorated well. Old wood and antique furniture adorned the area. Just overall great space. I plan on going back soon!!

  • Chaz’s Choice Week 4

    First Chaz’s Choice that isn’t Food! What up!!

    This week’s (last week, but who is counting) Chaz’s Choice is Company Distilling in Townsend. This was a Christmas Gift Kelsi, and it was such a fun experience. Firstly, Townsend is gorgeous. The “distillery” is right on the river, with a beer garden that is run out of a really cool airstream. The day we went was mid to high 60’s which was perfect by the river. You could not ask for a better spot.

    For the distillery, it’s not really a distillery. They source their whiskey and I believe age it at a different location. Jeff Arnett is the man in charge. He was the head distiller at some distillery in Lynchburg Tennessee. He is doing some really good things at Company. Mostly the rye!!

    When we arrived, we were seated large table by a really cool older man (sorry homie, I do not remember your name). He explained our options. We did the full tasting as well as their special release. These also came with a piece of chocolate to be paired with each from The Chocolate Bar. Upon the homie’s recommendation, we went through the offerings once and then back through with the chocolate.

    The bourbons were fine but nothing spectacular. They also had 2 ryes as part of the tastings. These were awesome. I ended up buying their Seismic Rye which was finished in cherry wood barrels. There were so many nods to the area in everything from their proofs to the names of their offerings.

    Our taste master also let us try their gin. Holy moly this stuff was delicious. They had just normal dry gin as well as a gin finished in a bourbon barrel. I didn’t love the finished gin, but the regular was fantastic. I took home a bottle of this. It was quite a bit more fruity than gins that I have had. It did not have as much of the Christmas tree note.

    We finished our time at Company with a cocktail by the river. Everything is was really good, this part was great. Such a beautiful day. The drinks were delicious. The company (ha!) was the best. I highly recommend getting out to Company if you are in the area.

  • Chaz Chooses Nashville

    I missed a week!! Im sorry!! Hopefully this Nashville review combined with Chaz’s choice will make up for it. Kelsi and I spent last weekend in Nashville…mostly to eat. We arrived Thursday night and walked over to a place called Bottlecap. It was fine. My burger was really good, but everything else was just kind of meh. We did walk over to Bartaco after to have a nightcap. Miles, the bartender, was awesome. He highly recommended the spicy pineapple margarita. I don’t think my brain understands spicy drinks, so I avoid them. However, Kelsi got it and was blown away. She also got a mango spice marg, but did not like it near as much. I had the respado and it was fantastic. They juice all of their fruits right in front of you which makes a world of difference. The pre-made mixes just make me feel bad after.

    On Friday, we woke up early and made our way to Buttermilk Ranch. My parents saw it on a youtube video and told us about it. This was one of the best breakfasts that I have had. Kelsi saved the day and saw that they had Vietnamese iced coffee, which is top 3 drinks for me. Theirs was right up there with the best that I have had. We started with some sausage balls. They were heavy on the dough and light on the sausage which is not how I am used to having them. The pepperjelly for dipping was fantastic though, and the sausage balls were fine. For my entrée (feels weird typing entrée for breakfast) was a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with loaded grits. As you will see below, this thing was MASSIVE. The croissant was perfectly buttered, the bacon was the right amount of crispy, and the freaking omelet they put on top was cooked to perfection. Maybe the best breakfast sandwich I have ever had. The grits were so good too. I think it was equal parts cheese and grits. Kelsi got Turkish Eggs which I had never seen. It was very tasty though. The poached eggs with chili crisps on top were my favorite part of that.

    After walking that off for several hours, we went back to Bartaco because the food looked so good when we were in the night before. Kelsi got 3 tacos, I tried the steak and it was fine. She would tell you she ordered wrong after tasting mine. I had pork belly crispy rice. I could bathe in the sauce they put on it. They call it an arbol chili glaze, so do with that what you will. The rice was a fried rice patty. The crunch on it was otherworldly. Pork belly is also kind of hit or miss for me. I need mine very well done and theirs was. It was also the perfect portion size (especially after the cute girl across the table stole a few bites) after that massive breakfast. For dinner we met up with a couple of friends. The company was great, but the food was not my favorite so we will just move along.

    Saturday morning we walked to La La Land. It is apparently all the rage. It looked like a Gen Z convention. The lattes were very tasty but wayyyyyyy too sweet especially for 9 am. We did look up La La Land to see where it started and saw their mission, which earned them all the points in my book. Long story short, their goal is to help children aging out of foster care and spread joy and kindness. Look them up after you finish this.

    Lunch Saturday was about 90 percent of the reason I wanted to go to Nashville. East Side Bahn Mi. My favorite sandwich in the world is their #1. It’s a Bahn Mi with Ham Hock Terrine (don’t know what that is), pate and smoked bologna. The bread really makes these sandwiches, but the meat and veggies inside are so tasty too. Kelsi got the chopped steak which is kind of like a sweet Asian smash burger. It was also incredible. I may have to venture out next time and get that one.

    For dinner, we went to Kore. It has been there around a year. Its in a supercool East Nashville neighborhood. They serve Korean small plates. They also serve some of the best cocktails I have ever had. I got the blackberry rye which I would order again in a heartbeat. It has rye whiskey, blackberry syrup, yuzu and lime juices, and egg whites. The foam the egg whites created on top made me feel very fancy. They recommended 4-6 plates per person…which may be a bit too many plates. We started with plantains on a siracha goat cheese spread. It was so good I created my own siracha goat cheese spread yesterday. We then had Kalbi dumplings. These were filled with kalbi beef, glass noodles and chives. They were really good, but did not stand out as much as our final two dishes. We also had some scallops; they were just ok. Our final two dishes were their K Pop Chicken and Sticky Ribs. Our waiter, who was no nonsense but still aa really good waiter, told us when ordering that they may be the best ribs we have ever eaten. Homie told zero lies. They were sticky, they were succulent, they were sent straight from the hand of God. If these were the only thing I ate on the trip, I would’ve been satisfied. After eating the ribs of some magnificent beast, they brought the k pop chicken. We were quite full, but managed to eat a few pieces. It was basically fried Korean chicken nuggets in the best way possible. They had the most excellent fried crust and super juicy inside. The sweet and spicy glaze was balanced perfectly. And they were very tasty in bed after the wine bar that evening. (This is being added after writing) I totally forgot about one dish until I was uploading pictures. We had a kimchi bacon risotto. It was a super creamy risotto with fried kimchi on the bottom and blackened shrimp on top. It is also part of the reason we couldn’t finish the K Pop chicken because this stuff was pretty hearty and absolutely delicious.

    We finished our trip Sunday morning at Nashville Jam Co. I am not sure how we stumbled upon it last time we went, but we made it our mission to go back even though we didn’t remember the name. it is a no-frills breakfast spot in an old house in some random neighborhood. It is the perfect breakfast on the way out. We mostly went back for the banana bread pancakes. Which taste exactly liked you would expect. They even have slices of bananas baked in and nuts on top. I also had a sausage egg and cheese biscuit which was fine. It started as a farm and they make jam…see the name of the restaurant. So, I got their apple bourbon jam for my biscuit. Not sure what the bourbon added but it was an amazing apple jam and complemented the savoriness like you read about.

    The best thing I had of all of that…the company of Kelsi on the trip (also I just can’t pick). Love you all!!

  • Chaz’s Choice Week 3

    Really late this week!! Sorry. The weather has greatly impacted my ability to try things. I was able to venture out Friday and meet my parents for South Coast Pizza. South Coast has long been one of my favorite spots in Knoxville. It is in South Knox which is probably my favorite area.

    South Coast is very much a no frills pizza place. You order at the counter and they hand you the pizza in the to go box out of the kitchen. They have picnic tables and a few booths inside and a patio outside overlooking Sevier Ave. My favorite thing I had this week was the meat pizza. It is a fairly thin crust with pepperoni, bacon, sausage and ham. A lot of pizza places use the same weird Italian sausage that is kinda gross, they do not at south coast. Everything is delicious. I got to enjoy this with my parents while the snow started to fall in Knoxville. It made for a great Friday evening.

    I did not have it this time, but I have to mention their Cuban Pizza. It is a Cuban sandwich in pizza form. The base is yellow mustard and bbq sauce.  It is topped with mozz, pulled pork, ham, pickles and swiss cheese. It is one of my favorite pizzas ever. The sweetness of the bbq mixed with the tang of the mustard makes for an incredible base. It is also one of the only ways that I will eat dill pickles. 10/10 you have to try it if you come to Knoxville. Grab a beer, order a pie and enjoy the patio.

    I forgot to take a picture of the pie, but I remembered as I was eating leftovers on Saturday. So here it is! Shout out air fryer. Love you all!

  • Chaz’s Choice Week 2

    Week 2 and I am already late. Great start Chaz. If you saw my IG post last week, you saw the early contender. The McPaysan from Paysan. It was a their take on a McDonald’s mcmuffin…taken up a few notches. I’m not the biggest English muffin fan, but this one was incredibly flavorful. They are usually just a bit bland for me. It had sausage, a hashbrown, and a maple mustard. SAY WHAT! The maple mustard was divine. Perfect mixture of the vinegar tang with the sweetness of the maple. Cheese was melted and so messy. It was a glorious concoction…that finished second for the week.

    I am giving the best thing I had this week to…….myself! I smoked my first pork shoulder Saturday. In the snow. I got a bit of a late start but we got it done. I woke up around 730 and immediately got started. As the smoker rose to 250 degrees, I trimmed the fat cap a bit, slathered her in mustard, then put on a healthy coating of Bad Byron’s Butt Rub. I sourced my process from various places on the interweb and it turned out well. After a couple of hours, I put an aluminum pan with half apple cider vinegar and half water in to create some moisture. I let it go until it got to around 170 degrees and it hit “the stall.” My prep for wrapping was some of the vinegar mixture, some butter and some bbq sauce on some aluminum foil. I wrapped her in that and put it back in until it got to 200. I pulled her at about 630 which was over 8 hours on the smoker. Let her rest for about 30-45 minutes then went to shredding. It was honestly some of the best pulled pork I had ever had. The bark was absolutely incredible. It retained so much moisture. We made sandwiches Saturday night, and then I made my top meal of the week last night. Some very simple pork nachos with queso and Kinder’s Hicky Brown Sugar bbq sauce. 10/10 and will eat again tonight…because there’s still 4 pounds left.

    The roads are a bit treacherous here this week, so we will see what that has in store for week 3. Love you all!

  • Chaz’s Choice #1

    I am going to attempt a new weekly series where I highlight the best thing I had that week. Some weeks will obviously be better than others. Some may include my own cooking which I will include recipes for that. It could also be cocktail or a coffee…because I decided to start this on a week where I didn’t really have anything new or exciting food wise (because we’re all getting healthy in the new year) PYSO crossover!

    Best thing I had this week is something that I have mentioned before in a blog and I have had it a few times since and its always great. That is the Chocolate Chip Cookie Latte from Seed Coffee in Knoxville.

    https://www.seedcoffee.co/

    The first time I had it I got it hot. It was so silky and smooth. It’s legitimately like you are drinking your grandma’s chocolate chip cookie right out of the oven. I am assuming that it is made with real chocolate (and other real ingredients) because nothing about this drink tastes artificial. That can sometimes be the case with flavored lattes. The shops in Knoxville do a really good job with their homemade syrups (shoutout Murph and Shay of Partial). I have since also done the drink iced and I think I may even like it better. It feels like such a treat, but does not leave you feeling bad after like some other sugary lattes. I have also only done this drink with whole milk. I generally ask when ordering a latte what they recommend with a drink. They recommended to stick with whole milk and I was not disappointed at all. I had been leaning towards Oat mostly because of the calories saved, but I do love the creaminess that oak provides. I do think this may deter from this drink though. I think the silky smoothness of it is already perfect.

    Seed also probably had my favorite coffee drink ever (outside of a Vietnamese iced coffee) in their PB&J shaken espresso. If anyone from Seed reads this, please bring back the PB&J!!!!! That is all to say, it is not surprising that Seed got the inaugural Chaz’s Choice. They do coffee drinks really well, and if you ever make your way through Knoxville then you should definitely check them out. If you are disappointed, then the next drink is on me. Cheers, love you all!

    PS: New Year’s Revolution…take some dang pictures of these things.  

  • Best Meals of 2025…kinda

    Behind the scenes and a look into my brain (I hope you’ll continue reading!). I started this with the intention of doing a Top 5 of 2025. As I started, I didn’t make it past one as it represented so much for this year. So I am going to share that reflection with you all. Short tangent, I am drinking a Chocolate Chip Cookie Latte from Seed Coffee…if you’re in Knoxville, you need this drink!! This was a really big year for me. 2024 was very much a transition year for me. It was my first full year living in Knoxville. I was still finding my bearings (I still am to an extent), I was searching for a job, and was splitting time between my parents’ house and Kelsi’s. I spent time substitute teaching and eventually working fully part time at an incredible elementary school was some of the most passionate and incredible faculty. This was such a rewarding experience and I love you all at Rockford. However, in April I finally found full time employment in Knoxville. It took A LONG TIME, and so to celebrate Kelsi and I went to JC Holdway. As I continue to reflect, this is my 1A meal of the year, it was going to be number 1 but a second and much different celebratory meal will be second. As you can see, we celebrate with meals. This time at JC we kinda went all out. It was the best meal of my life. It was by far the most money I have ever spent on a meal and I did not regret a single cent. I don’t remember everything we had, but I remember it all being incredible. To be able to do that was such a blessing. Thank you so much to my parents for supporting me as I searched far and wide for a job, thank you to Kelsi for your patience while I was a broke boy and thank you to Jeni for taking a gamble on me. That meal was all of that being celebrated and it was done with the best food I have ever eaten. So it would be virtually impossible to beat…but I am going to have a 1B. Finding employment allowed Kelsi and I to being searching for a place to live. It started with us looking for places to rent and ended up with us owning a “whole damn house” – Kelsi. Our first night we had 1B…Marco’s pizza. A few hundred dollars less than JC. No tableside service. No fancy cocktail made by someone else. But the first of a lifetime of pizza Friday’s in our new home. That is something that could compete with JC Holdway. Marco’s may not be mentioned by Michelin like JC, but when shared in a place you can call home with the person you love most has to be the best meal of any year.

    If you have made it this far, yes we do accept housewarming gifts! Kidding, kinda. Love you all!!

  • Swipe Right on Kaizen

    Two years ago today I had a date at some restaurant named Kaizen. I knew nothing about it as I had been I lived in the city for less than 24 hours. The food review portion will have to come from the numerous times I have eaten there since. Hard to remember the food when the prettiest girl in the world is sitting across from you and you are playing the drums with your chopsticks because you are so nervous. I’d say it turned out ok though, because I am currently sitting at a coffee shop trying to make time move faster as I wait for that same girl to get home to celebrate two years together. I guess the drum solo was a good one. Kaizen has become a special place for partly because of that awkward, incredible first date. We have continued to go sometimes to celebrate birthdays, sometimes to relive our Old City first date, and sometimes spur of the moment on a Friday evening. Everyone of them is special though because of the company. Ok now sappy reflection is over, LETS EAT.

    Knoxville has a surprisingly great Asian food scene. Kaizen is my favorite though. I rarely venture out from one of their fried rice dishes, which sounds very basic, but when basic is done to perfection it plays. They have a fried chicken fried rice that has a sweet chili sauce. It is the perfect combination of sweet and spice. This makes the chicken thighs so dang tasty. I have also done the wagyu fried rice. The steak is tender and juicy. The peanut satay is also a great compliment to both the steak and rice. It is hard to put into words just how good the rice itself is. I feel like us American’s usually associate our fried rice with yum yum/yellow/sometimes pink sauce at Hibachi. This needs none of that. It packs so much flavor by itself.

    My other favorite thing about Kaizen are the buns. That can relate to the first paragraph too ;). I think at some point I have tried all of them except for the mushroom. Im not an eggplant fan so I will rule that one out. It is hard to beat a pork belly bao bun and there’s is done well! The bang bang shrimp bun has really good flavor, but it is not the easiest to eat. The thai sausage is usually my go to. It has the same peanut satay as the wagyu fried rice.

    Lastly, the cocktails and beer selection are both great. They have a number of Japanese beers, a great whiskey (both American and Japanese selection), and they make fantastic cocktails. I usually go with a Weller Reserve Old Fashioned and it never misses.

    If you’re planning trip to Knoxville, make a reservation at Kaizen. You will not be disappointed. You may get hot though as they keep that place WARM!!

    I don’t have a picture of Kaizen, so i’ll just post a picture of Kelsi and I from that fall.