A Look Back at Some Special Recent Events
Here at Oliver Royale, our events are our lifeblood. Far beyond just being a restaurant, we love being able to provide a whole experience for our guests. And often, that means designing special events that allow guests to really dive deep into a particular spirit, experience a special holiday dinner, or have fun with others who share their same culinary interests.
Whether you’ve joined us recently for an event, or you’re still mulling over which is the best option for you, take a look at some of the fun we’ve had over the past few months:
Taste of Spain 2-Day Event
The wine event was so good we had to double it up. We’ve featured Grapes of Spain wine at dinner events before. But there’s always been so much interest (and we enjoy the brand so much), that we decided to make this our first-ever multi-day event. Aurelio Cabestrero, the Grapes of Spain ambassador, was a huge part of that decision. His knowledge, charm, and all-around great personality, makes it easy to understand why his events are always such a great success! We wanted to make sure our community had twice the opportunity to experience Aurelio and his product, and we knew that transforming this into a two-day event would make the whole experience more intimate and accessible.
And Knoxville showed up! We sold out BOTH dinners, with 50+ people at each one. If you missed the chance to taste a little Spain, make sure to join us for our Cass Winery Dinner on March 11. It will be a similar celebration of some amazing wines, plus the delicious food to match.
Sazerac Bourbon Dinner
If you were one of the lucky 55 who got tickets to our sold-out Sazerac Bourbon Dinner, you’ll know why this is always one of our favorite events each year. This was our fourth Sazerac dinner, and we think they just keep getting better.
Whether you consider yourself a bourbon connoisseur, or you joined us because you’re trying to acquire that taste for whiskey, the Sazerac dinner is always the perfect night for both ends of the spectrum.
If you missed our Sazerac Bourbon Dinner, check out our cocktail class, June 7th with Post Modern Spirits. This will give you the chance to not only enjoy your favorite spirits, but also learn how to incorporate them into your own homemade cocktails.
Holiday Season Events
Starting from Thanksgiving on, Oliver Royale hosted a marathon of events: our Bubbles Dinner in early December, followed by our Christmas Day and New Years Eve dinners (and then our Valentine’s Day dinner less than 2 months later!). Thank you to everyone who continues to support us through these special events - we were completely booked for all of our holiday events! Since we ask our staff to come in and work on those holidays, the support and love we get from the community on these days means the world.
Looking back on our favorite moments of 2019
As we head into the final quarter of 2019, we’re taking time to toast all that we’ve accomplished this year, because why wait until New Years?!
And don’t worry… we still have plenty more planned for the rest of 2019.
But for now, we’re celebrating eight of our favorite moments from the past eight months:
1. Sazerac Bourbon Dinner
We love this event so much that we decided to add another one to the calendar. Our first one was in January and kicked off 2019 in style. Our guests enjoyed it so much that we scheduled another one next month by popular demand! Set again for September 19th, our Sazerac Bourbon Dinner is where we raise our glasses to America’s native spirit. In our September event we’ll debut our trio of hand-selected Barrels Weller 107, Blanton’s, and Buffalo Trace. (Oh, and the five-course dinner is the proverbial cherry on top).
2. Orin Swift Valentine's Day Wine Dinner
Love was in the air at our signature Valentine's Day event, between the couples in attendance, of course! But there was also plenty of love for the four-course dinner and the delicious wine they were paired with.
3. Taste of Spain Wine Dinner
Guests didn’t even have to buy a plane ticket to enjoy the best grapes that Spain had to offer. We brought the Taste of Spain right to Knoxville, with this wine dinner back in March. In addition to the wines and the perfectly paired dinner, guests also got a history lesson on some of Spain’s most interesting wines, like Cava, Albariño, and Tempranillo.
4. Donkey and Goat Wine Dinner
Thanks to Wine Ambassador, Rich Dixon, guests at this event enjoyed a tasting (and the fascinating story) of some of Donkey & Goat’s most exciting wines, like Gadabout and The Bear and Gigi.
Can you tell how much we shared our love of wine in 2019?
5. Mother’s Day Champagne Dinner
For a little bubblier experience, we hosted our first-ever Mother’s Day Champagne Dinner in May. To celebrate all the amazing moms in our lives, we popped bottles of some of the most delicious champagnes in our collection.
6. Kicking off summer in style
We released our summer menu a couple months ago, and started enjoying favorites like the Sous Vide Swordfish and our classic Oliver Burger. With all the fresh produce ready to eat around this time of year, summer flavors are some of our favorites.
Speaking of produce, did you know we also use it in many of our cocktails? We taught 43 people about quality ingredients, mixology, and how to present the perfect cocktail to guests as part of our Launch to Summer Cocktail Class in June. One of our favorites? The Gin X.
7. Big change across our entire ownership group
You may have noticed some changes across our property if you’ve been to visit us recently. Right next door to Royale, we kicked off our biggest renovation yet of The Oliver Hotel. We’ve started remodeling many of the guest rooms, and we’ll continue the project through the rest of this year. We’re so excited for guests to see our new (yet still classic) look.
But our big year has extended even outside of Knoxville. Our ownership group just opened up the new Station House Inn in South Lake Tahoe. So when you need a getaway from the charm of downtown Knoxville, we’ve got just the western oasis for you, with access to a private beach, ski resorts, and the beautiful water of Lake Tahoe.
8. Buffalo Trace/Castle & Key Tour
Our events throughout the year are focused on our guests -- giving them the best experience, the most delicious dinner, and the most exciting spirits. But when it comes to our Buffalo Trace/Castle & Key Tour, this is where our staff gets the most amped up. As part of the barrel program, we visit Buffalo Trace every year as a group (combining forces from Royale, The Oliver Hotel and Peter Kern Library) to pick out our own barrels of Weller, Blanton’s and Buffalo Trace bourbons. This year, for the second year in a row, we were able to add on a tour of Castle and Key Distillery -- and most importantly, get our hands on a Weller Full-Proof Barrel!
As 2019 draws to a close, we’ll keep evolving in this last quarter. In addition to finishing up renovations at the hotel (focusing on the lobby next), our remodel is also set to include our speakeasy bar, the Peter Kern Library.
Even with the new looks, our guest experience will stay the same: delectable food, exciting events, and the best spirits in town. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for some of our favorite photos throughout the year, and sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on events.
It’s a New Year! Debut of our Winter Menu and Upcoming Events at Oliver Royale!
The new year is upon us once again and we have a lot to share and celebrate with you! Between our new menu launch and our upcoming events, you'll want to stay tuned throughout the coming weeks.
The seasonal change can be felt fully here: the holiday hustle and bustle of Market Square has quieted down; the Farmers Market has dwindled away for the winter, and the Oliver Royale team has been in deep ideation and creation of our Winter menu brimming with bold flavors of winter cookery. Roasts, braises, confits, stews, and aromatic sauces fill our kitchen and our dining room - the robust flavors of root vegetables and hearty crops are inspiring us to bring on contemporary yet traditional flavors to our kitchen.
Yes, folks. Once again, we jumped head first into the process of a new menu adventure! This is a time where the experts in the kitchen get to create dining experiences anew with what’s available to us as the season changes. We test our culinary craft to find creative and innovative ways to make the few items that are available in our local area come alive in so many different ways. The Winter Menu debuted Monday, January 8th, 2018 and our guest feedback has been affirming to say the least!
And that's not all happening at Royale! Let's bring on the new year with our first event of 2018. Join us for:
Tuesday, 1/18, 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
We're so excited to announce our first ever Taste of Spain Wine Dinner at Oliver Royale with Laurence Vuelta with Aveniu Imports. We invite you to spend an evening, enjoying each others company, a relaxing atmosphere and an enchanting dinner. Upon arrival you'll be greeted with a cava based cocktail followed by a five course dinner prepared for you by our Executive Chef Jonathan Gatlin and his team.
Throughout dinner, guests will be led through a tasting (and a fascinating history) of some of Spain’s most interesting wines, stretching across various regions and including popular varietals like Cava, Albariño and Tempranillo. Not a wine connoisseur? No worries, this is a perfect way to learn and get excited about wine.
Tickets are $79 per guest, plus tax and gratuity. Total pricing of $102 in purchase price include event dinner, welcome cocktail, five wine pairings, dessert, take home gift, tax and gratuity. We truly hope you can join us for this very special event! There are only 6 tickets left!
And there's still more to come! 2018 will be packed with cooking classes, cocktail demos, private catering, and an exclusive in-home chef experience. Stay tuned and check in on our upcoming events, Facebook and Instagram to reserve a spot to any of our fun-filled functions.
Finally, we would like to personally thank each and every one of you - for your support in our community, your patronage to our restaurant home, and your appreciation to culinary excellence. We love what we do! On behalf of myself and the rest of the staff at Oliver Royale, here’s to the best year yet!