A Look At The Local Vendors That Make Our Menu Possible

Creating a new season’s menu at Oliver Royale involves a lot more than simply changing up the choices and printing a new menu. We start researching potential new ingredients for the next season’s menu up to a month and a half in advance. And one of our biggest focuses during this preparation phase is choosing the local vendors where we’ll get those ingredients.

Finding local farmers is a huge part of the process for building a new menu. Our Executive Chef, Jon Gatlin, takes the lead, meeting farmers in person to discuss what kind of crops they’re expecting that season. These relationships are always built in person: Jon either meets them at local farmers markets (including the one right here in Market Square!) or he’ll visit the farm himself. Once he has a better understanding of the ingredients available in the area that season, he develops menu items based off that list.

We take our place in downtown Knoxville seriously. We’re a part of this community, and we know how many amazing farmers are right here in our own neighborhood. Building off that community and using as many local ingredients as possible in our food is so important to us. As an added bonus, using local ingredients guarantees quality and freshness, while reducing the chance of damaged produce that often happens during long-term transportation.

If you’ve visited us recently, you’ve probably enjoyed at least a few of the ingredients that we’ve sourced from our neighbors. But when you were enjoying your food, you probably didn’t know the story behind your food. Here’s a look at all the vendors we worked with for this year’s menus, as well as the delicious ingredients they brought to the table:

Mountain Meadow Farms: stone fruit, berries, apples, and pears

In operation since 1970, Mountain Meadows is located in Anderson County, near Norris, Tennessee. They specialize in fruits and vegetables, and their products are available at several farmer’s markets in the area!

Cruze Dairy Farm: ice cream

Cruze Dairy has been around since 1980 and offers a ton of exciting ice cream flavors, including at Downtown Knoxville location. They also offer ice cream catering!

A Place of the Heart Farm: seasonal produce, fall squash, and beans

Located in Pioneer, Tennessee, A Place of the Heart Farm offers 70 different types of heirloom vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, all certified naturally grown. They also specialize in using environmentally friendly farming practices.

Springer Mountain Farms: chicken

Springer Mountain has more than a half-century of experience in raising chickens, humanely and without antibiotics. They’re located right next door to Tennessee, in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Abby Fields Farm: lettuce greens, pea tendrils

Abby Fields is truly our neighborhood farm, located just outside of downtown Knoxville. They have focused on creating local food systems and rebuilding urban spaces to produce healthy food.

Sugartree Farms: seasonal produce, fall squash

Mike Robinson runs Sugartree Farms, near Belvidere, Tennessee -- and he was actually named the 2017 Tennessee Farmer of the Year! On his hundreds of acres, he grows everything from produce and hay, and even raises timber, too.

Zavels Family Farms: seasonal produce, beets, butternut squash, kale

Located in Corryton, Tennessee, Zavels Family Farm is super active in our community and is a regular participant in several local farmers markets.

Huff Farms: corn

Huff Farms is family-owned and our go-to producer of sweet corn. They are the corn experts in the area, and are located in Blount County, Tennessee!

Honeybee Coffee: coffee beans

Maybe you like a cup of coffee with your dessert; thankfully, we have Honeybee’s special blends to offer! Honeybee is located right in Knoxville, and we also offer their coffee next door at The Oliver Hotel.

Lacewing Farms: heirlooms squash, tomatoes, beans

Lacewing is located just 17 miles from downtown Knoxville, in Corryton, Tennessee, and offers everything from vegetables to eggs. They even have their own beehives too!

Seven Springs Farm: tomatoes, beans, corn, specialty micro greens

This farm offers an incredibly diverse array of crops, including fruits, vegetables, and beef. They’re located in Maynardville, Tennessee, where you can also find The Winery at Seven Springs Farm.

Don’t just taste; Experience our food

In last month’s blog, we talked about three Fall dishes that inspired us to experiment, try new techniques, and up the ante in how we create food. We do this best by connecting experiences and stories to our dishes, staying true to who we are in the food industry, and using local ingredients to support our community.

This month, we’re walking you through these same three dishes, but this time, we're offering you suggested appetizers, desserts, and wine pairings, to hopefully set you up with your own stories and memories to share. Get to know our menu and our techniques so you can experience food at its fullest at Oliver Royale.

If you're craving adventure, this dining experience is for you:

Appetizer

Artisan Cheese & Charcuterie - an assortment of locally sourced cured meats, artisan cheeses, pickled vegetables, olives, dried fruit, jams & chutneys

Entree

Confit leg of rabbit - braised endive, Benton’s bacon, Yukon gold potato mousseline, roasted radishes, roasted cauliflower, and kale, paired with our 2015 Diora Pinot Noir

Dessert

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brûlée - candied pumpkin, pretzel ginger snap, pepita, caramel, corn, dark chocolate, and crémeux

If you're craving more of a seafood kind-of-night, look no further:

Appetizer

Mussels & Clams - pho bone broth, house-smoked tasso ham, fennel, basil, jalapeno, cilantro, cured lemon

Entree

North Carolina Trout - foraged mushrooms, cornmeal-crusted okra, Anson Mills grits, swiss chard, radish, and tabasco gastrique, paired with Anonymous Sauvignon Blanc 2017

Dessert

Autumn Mousse Cake - charred orange mousse, roasted pears, candied walnuts, caramel, poached pear sorbet, and oatmeal cookie

The days are short and the holidays are near, so this dinner experience is all about treating yourself:

Appetizer

Seared sea scallops - Chestnut risotto, roasted cauliflower cream, truffle dust, crispy leeks, and radish chips

Entree

Confit lamb shank - parmesan polenta, butternut and acorn squash, chestnut, gremolata, and confit garlic, paired with the Heartless Cabernet Sauvignon 2016

Dessert

Truffles & Macaron - tasting of assorted, seasonally inspired chocolate truffles & house-made macarons

The next time you’re here, have this blog handy and take your taste buds on an adventure. Whether it’s with friends, family, or yourself, we invite you to explore our dishes in a way that’s not just about taste, but about the experience. We’ll see you here!

Psst...the holiday season is approaching! Check out our upcoming events and make your reservations!

New Fall Dishes...and a few surprises for you!

It's been a long time coming, but Fall has made its debut, and it's finally here to stay. While it's been a bit of a transitional challenge with this seasons' high and low temps, we are grateful that we know the area well and our local farmers, too, to help build this season's menu.

This Fall, we honored typical Autumn-worthy flavors like pumpkin, cinnamon, big bold braises, and red wine. But we're not all about the familiar. As you know, we like to straddle over the edge of well, edginess here, like:

What will surprise your palette?

Which aromas will pull you into the dish?

How can we put a spin on a typical plate?

What techniques could we use to bring out the flavors in our meat?

As we answered, experimented, and taste tested, we decided to introduce, and bring back, a few new concept dishes that we feel will delight you and your taste buds. For example, we tried out confit versus braise techniques on a few of our long-term cooking items such as the short ribs and lamb shanks. The result was that the absence of liquid allows for so much more flavor and a much different texture than a traditional braised cut.

So here are some of our favorite dishes that combined techniques, bold flavors, and new concepts to the table:

Confit leg of rabbit
with braised endive, Benton’s bacon, Yukon gold potato mousseline, roasted radishes, roasted cauliflower, and kale

North Carolina trout
with foraged mushrooms, cornmeal-crusted okra, anson mills grits, swiss chard, radish, and tabasco gastrique

Confit lamb shank
with parmesan polenta, butternut and acorn squash, chestnut, gremolata, and confit garlic

Playing around with rabbit, cornmeal, squashes, and other Fall flavors and ingredients were wonderful and exciting, and they gave us an opportunity to create and concentrate on flavor. In turn, we are so happy to produce an amazing dining experience for you! The next time you're in town, sit with us and try one of our new culinary dishes. We love feedback and hearing from our guests.

Psst...the holiday season is closely approaching so be sure to check our upcoming events and make your reservations! We also have some new faces at Royale so be sure to stop by and meet the crew!