chow with chaz

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  • 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.

  • Chow with Chase like Chevy because it’s a Vegas Vacation

    Frontier Airlines did their best to keep us from getting to Las Vegas, but we made it at 3 am…pretty there that’s like 5pm to the youngins partying in Vegas. We went straight to bed though. Incredible meals would be had over the next few days.

    Eataly was in the hotel next door to us. If you haven’t been to an Eataly, its large food hall/market all Italian centered. There’s pasta and pizza stations, pastry counters, multiple bars, sandwich stands, a breakfast counter, crepe and coffee stand, and also a market with food and wine. We went every morning for coffee and breakfast. The coffee was good, nothing spectacular. The Nutella and banana crepe was dang delicious though. I had a couple of those. They also had a breakfast panini. It was good, but very messy. And ya boy does not like stuff on his hands so I was one and done with those. We also got cocktails and wine at various times. Both were excellent. The bartenders were incredible. We also saw a British couple arguing which may have been the highlight of my trip. The dude yelled to his partner to tell the entirety of Eataly and Park MGM that he was a loser…and Terry obliged. I stared, Kelsi hid in embarrassment of me staring.

    Esther’s Kitchen is an Italian restaurant in the Arts District. We were told about it by some locals. We went in February of 2024 and it was divine. I had the chicken parm sandwich and Kelsi had some lemon pasta. My dad had a meatball sandwich, don’t remember what my mom had, sorry Candace. They also do dipping sauces for their bread. These were the best thing we had this go round. I got spaghetti and meatballs and Kelsi got a different lemon pasta. Both were fine, nothing spectacular. They had also moved to a bigger space which just didn’t feel the same.

    Quick shoutout to my Vietnamese Iced Coffee in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. I get it atleast once everytime I go. I love it!!!

    Also shoutout to Zaytinya by Jose Andres. We did apps here and they were good. Im not the biggest humus fan, but I gorged myself on theirs. It was unreal. I also had a margarita that had “salt air” rather than salt on the rim. It was basically this really lite salt foam on top. It was a very cool drink.

    The final two I will write about were the best two. Herbs and Rye and Best Friend.

    Herbs and Rye is a bit off of the beaten path. I believe I have written about it before. They do half price steaks during happy hour…which is the majority of time they are open. We got a filet with Bearnaise and holy mackerel it was great. Their steaks are cooked perfectly but the sauces you get with them just elevate them to a different stratosphere. We have done the Béarnaise and the Creamy Horseradish and both were spectacular. The creaminess just pairs perfectly with the savoriness of the steak. We also got the Angolotti. I had never heard of such, but it was a stuffed past with short rib and red wine jus. It was the best past I have ever eaten. That isn’t hyperbole either. The cocktails are also a highlight but I was so full from steak and pasta that I only had one.

    Now, the Grand Finale. Best Friend., which is Roy Choi’s restaurant in Park MGM. First of all, it’s the coolest looking restaurant. You walk into what looks like a bodega. They take you through this red plastic curtain to this big room that’s like the streets of LA have been made into a restaurant. There is west coast hip hop playing with pictures of SOCAL around the room. We ate at the bar. First of all, I had a Henny and Coke slushy that was so good I went back the next day for another. For apps, we got Lumpia (these were ok, still not 100% sure what I ate) and fries with ramen dust and sambal mayo. If I could only have fries from one place the rest of my life, it would be these. For our meals, I got Kogi Short Rib Tacos. They were really good. The star along with the fries was the Spicy Pork BBQ. BBQ and fries are 1000% the way to go here. The pork wasn’t too spicy but was so succulent. They also give you a crap ton. The bartenders also just had that Southern Cali cool vibe. It was great. I will be going every time I go back to Vegas. Reservations are probably the best bet, but we were able to wait in line to get a seat at the bar. Just be there when they open.  

    Guess it wasn’t too bad because I demolished it.

  • I AM BACK HOMIES (JC Holdway Review)

    Hello Friends, it’s been a while. Back in April, Kelsi and I went out to celebrate finally getting full time employment since moving to Tennessee. We did this by going to the most delicious place in Knoxville, JC Holdway. This was our second time going (she has ditched me a few times to go), and it is a top 5 meal all time for me. It has been a while and I didn’t take many pictures, but I will do my best to recount. Also the best way to do JC (we haven’t done the chef’s tasting yet, and that’s probably the absolute best) is to do shared plates.

    One staple is the cornbread with sorghum butter. Just imagine your grandma is a James Beard Award winning chef. The cornbread was crispy and just moist enough while the butter had a bit sweetness and all of the elegance. I have gotten this both times we have gone and will get it everytime.

    I am not a big seafood guy but apparently in relationships you have to compromise. So we got the Tuna Crudo. I still don’t know what crudo is but it tasted fine.

    The main course was Osso Buco with mashed/whipped potatoes. Top 3 best things I have ever put in my mouth. The veal was so succulent and slid right off of the bone. My God it was magical. It was my first time having Veal and will not be the last. It just melted in your mouth but was oh so savory. Its 830 in the morning as I am writing this and I just want some veal.

    We also had some carrots, they were good.

    Last but certainly not least, the experience. Both times we have gone to JC, it has felt like we were the only patrons there despite the restaurant being completely full. You are taken care of like no other restaurant I have been to. I believe last time I wrote about JC, I said it was service as if Chick-Fil-A was a Five Star restaurant. This time was even better. David from North Dakota, Go BISON, was incredible. He felt like your best friend by the end of the night.

    If you can, go to JC Holdway. You won’t regret it, maybe a little when the bill comes, but it is worth the treat.

  • Sweet P’s Uptown Corner

    I went out to run some errands yesterday and of course planned these around where I was going to go for lunch. I have heard a lot about Sweet P’s BBQ since moving to Knoxville. I love BBQ, but I have yet to try it. I changed that yesterday. I am pretty sure where I went was a new location for them. The atmosphere was great, despite me being the only person in there. It was a restaurant where they take your order at your table, which is always a little odd for me at BBQ but I’ll allow it. I got a sweet tea because ya gotta with BBQ. It was very sweet…just like it should be! For my meal, I ordered the pork burrito and mac and cheese. The burrito was filled with pork, cheese, slaw, and pinto beans (I think that’s everything). They had two sauces on the table, mild and hot. I didn’t try the hot because as soon as I tasted that mild vinegar sauce I was sold! I like most BBQ sauces, but vinegar takes the cake for me. The burrito was absolutely divine. I am not the biggest bean fan (texture!!!!) so I would probably get it without them next time. I wanted to try it as it came the first time though. For my side, I went with Mac and Cheese. It was baked mac and cheese. I like my mac and cheese a bit gooey and you don’t always get that with the baked variety…this had a great amount of gooey. I will be going back 1000%. I rate this 4.8 Wilburs out of 5. In the attached picture, you will see exactly what I thought of Sweet P’s

    BONUS REVIEW!!!!

    Wren’s Bakery is right next door. I could go broke and get the betus in that place. They had a variety of cookie sandwiches which are a weakness of mine. I got the chocolate chip espresso, which I have not tried yet…looks so good though. I did try the carrot cake in a cup and it had maybe the best icing I have ever had. We may have a new contender in the battle of the bakeries. Maybe I will do a Battle of the Bakeries Video! Let me know if you would like that.

    Love you all!!

  • Battle of the Bakeries

    Knoxville Edition

    Two of my go to spots in Knoxville are bakeries. Magpies Bakery and Wild Love Bakehouse. These both have incredible offerings, but they can be quite different. Whoever said you can’t compare apples and oranges is wrong.

    I will start with something they both do…cookies. Wild Love generally has one or two cookie options. Their salted chocolate chip is maybe the most common, its ok. I don’t love the salt. The cookies also tend to lean a bit dry, and that goes for the majority of their cookies. The chocolate sable is a bit better, but it really just tastes like a brownie. Magpies cookies are soft and just chewy enough to be out of this world. They did a chocolate chip cookie with oreos baked in and its maybe my favorite cookie I have ever had. They also do cookie sandwiches. The oatmeal cookie sandwich is magical. One of my favorite desserts ever.

    I think where Wild Love really shines is in their buns. Everyone loves some good buns. Their apple morning bun is probably my favorite thing that they do. Their normal morning bun is really good as well. They also do a hand tart, but these always just leave a bit to be desired for me. It’s a bit too much filo dough for me, I want the filling!! I also enjoy their tea loaves, their citrus tea loaf is phenomenal, but I have only seen it once.

    Magpies shines in their cupcakes and actual cakes. They generally have special cupcakes for the week. One week was a brown sugar espresso and oh my lanta was it delicious. The strawberry cream is also amazing. I cannot think of a bad cupcake I have had from there. Their carrot cake will also knock your socks off. This is a favorite of ours.

    In this battle of the bakeries, my winner is Magpies. They do specialize in different things, and I like cupcakes more than pastries so that does not help Wild Love’s case. Magpies cookies are just far and away better too though, so it is a pretty decisive victory for me. There are a couple people in my life that I am pretty confident would pick Wild Love. You cannot go wrong with either, and you really can’t go wrong by just getting both! Love you all!

    PS Sorry for still not having pictures. I will have a restaurant review next week that I promise will include pictures!!