Knoxville Food & Wine Yard Party 2017

May 7th, 2017 was a day for the record books right here in Knoxville.

It was the day of the first ever Knoxville Food and Wine Yard Party at The Mill and Mine on West Depot Avenue, filled with some of the most talented and renowned chefs, bakers, beer enthusiasts, wine connoisseurs and more that our scruffy little city has to offer.  The Mill and Mine is a gorgeous and picturesque setting on its own, but add in some of the most beautiful pastries and baked goods around, and some of the most tasty and delightfully picture perfect "chef's table" plates hand crafted by our talented downtown Knoxville chefs, and well, it was simply a day to remember.

So enjoy yourselves as you look over these attractive pictures and explanations of some of the highlights of the day, and leave any comments with your thoughts, questions, or praises below!

The oh-so-beautiful interior and exterior of ​​The Mill and Mine​.  Gorgeous exposed wood and industrial style metals make this a location to remember.  I begged my husband to just "get married again" so we could have an event in this space  :)

​The event kicked off at noon, with an introduction from Eric and Mandee McNew of Knox Foodie, the MCs for the day, and the interviewing hosts for the first panel, discussing Knoxville's scene and progression in pastries, baked goods and coffee.  The first photo on the left is the always debonair Eric and Mandee, who did a fantastic job orchestrating and kind of facilitating the entire event.  On the third photo in the couch in the middle (to the direct right of Eric and Mandee) are Meg and Shaun Parrish of Wild Love Bakehouse and Old City Java.  To the right of them (on the far right couch but in the left seat) is Peggy Hambright of one of the (if not the most) best cakeries here in all of Knoxville, Magpies Bakery.   Then on the very far right right is Hannah and Mike McConnell, owners, yummy treats creators and great beer extraordinaires (and one of our food tour restaurants!) of Sugar Mamas Bakery in the 100 block of Gay Street.  Everyone in attendance got to sample several goodies in the form of cinnamon rolls, scones, croissants, cookies, coffee and more before the panel discussion started and while it commenced.  It was a great way to start off the day (keep in mind this was still just shortly after noon) and a nice start to the event in letting patrons get some coffee and sweets in them before the "hard hitters" of the afternoon came on.  

After the pastry panel was the Knoxville chef's table panel, and event though the food tastings were not served until a while later, I think their food photos and explanations need to be included in this section as well, since we are talking about them at the same time.  This chef's table panel was moderated by Dennis Perkins, food author at The Knoxville Mercury.  On the photo of the chefs on the couch, on the far left couch is chef Joseph Lenn of JC Holdway, who prepared a smoked catfish dish with BBQ chips for his plate.  Let me tell you, this was TO DIE FOR!  Those chips need to be bagged and sold immediately!  In the middle of the far left couch (with the ball cap) is chef Jeffrey DeAlejandro of Olibea, who prepared a dish I sadly did not get a photo of, or can remember exactly what it was (insert sad face here).  On the right of the left couch (still with me here?) in the red shoes is the famous Holly Hambright (often referred to as the Holly Llama) of Holly's Gourmet Market.  She prepared possibly my most favorite plate of the day, a gravalax toast topped with salmon, beets and other toppings.  On the right hand white couch in the left seat is the talented chef Matt Gallaher of Knox Mason and Emilia.  Knox Mason is the older and more established of the two, so he seemed to be more representing that one, and served a plate of pork belly on a bun with soy, benne and cilantro (I am leaving out all the "fancy" words here).  MAN, was this good!  To the right of him on the white couch is brilliant and personable founder of Sweet P's BBQ, Chris Ford.  The plate they served may have not been the "fanciest", but when it says "world famous mac n' cheese" you know it's gonna be good (and boy, is it!).  Lastly, on the far right chair is one of Knoxville's most innovative and upcoming chefs Jesse Newmister of Kaizen.  His dish was a perfect balance of sweet and savory, being a smoked eggplant, sweet and spicy collard greens and lo mein noodles.  Not pictured on this couch is a rep of Lonesome Dove in the Old City, but they did prepare my husband's favorite dish of the day, a sugar cane skewered pork belly with avocado and other toppings.  A gentleman from here did do a cocktail demo later on, so stay tuned for that.

After the chef's table panel was a brewery discussion and free tastings (you heard that right...FREE BEER!).  Facilitated by Rob Shomaker of Knox Beer Snobs, this panel basically featured all the "best" brew guys here in K-town.  On the couch from left to right is Marty Velas of Fanatic Brewing Co., Will Rutemeyer of Balter Beerworks, Zack Roskop of Knox Brew Tours (my "other" favorite tour in town!), Michael Frede of Last Days of Autumn, Aaron McClain of Crafty Bastard and lastly (on the far right...still keeping up?) Matthew Cummings of Pretentious Beer Co..  Not being a huge craft beer drinker myself (my hubby is still trying to sway and train me), I didn't get any photos of any beer samples before my other half gulped his down.  This panel, in my opinion, was the most talkative and lively of the entire day.  But hey, they make (and drink?) beer for a living, so being a little "looser" than everyone is just in the job description, right?!

Next up, it was almost time for the "main event".  An interview by Sweet P's BBQ man Chris Ford to the "special guest chef" of the day, Pat Martin of Martin's BBQ Joint in Nashville.  Basically this was a talk about BBQ evolution, styles, preferences, and more.  Being a recently converted vegan who just started eating meat again last year after not doing so for the past five years, I found all the "hog info" most informative, and somewhat fascinating(...?).  Never trying (or hearing of) his BBQ before, I was stoked to try a sandwich from Martin, and it did not disappoint!  Even my husband, who HATES coleslaw, but was told "you can't get it without it!", enjoyed his fully as well.  

Lastly, I'm going to combine these last few "events" together, since they're all in the same genre.  After the main course dining and all the food plates we could handle, there was a whole spread of 5 different wines to sample (that's right FREE WINE TOO!).  Nothing too formal or set up wise was done for this spread from Downtown Wine and Spirits, it was simply a long stretch of tables pushed off to the side, with a (long) line of patrons waiting to get samples.  After that was a cocktail introduction from Eric McNew and Stanton Webster, the creators of an almost open, brand new distillery, Post Modern Spirits.  Post Modern Spirits had a signature cocktail called Strawberry Fields Forever that you could also use one of your five drink tickets to "purchase" throughout the day, and they showed guests how to make that, and posted the recipe as well.  After their presentation was one from Marty Staton, the energetic and vibrant rep from Lovesome Dove.  He showed guests how to make their signature cucumber jalapeno margarita, which was also available to drink with one of your drink tickets. So very refreshing and just a tad spicy, this is the perfect summertime concoction.  

The whole event as accompanied by ear pleasing music from the Old City Buskers, cornhole and jenga provided by The Mill and Mine out on their beautifully landscaped and arranged outdoor patio, and just good times all around.  

With ticket prices at just $60 a person, and the option to buy them online ahead of time, or even at the door, the amount of food, drinks and entertainment you get in a total of 7 hours (should you stay that long) is definitely a great value for the price.  

I cannot wait to attend again (hopefully) next year, and hope those of you who hadn't heard of this, or were skeptical to go, join in next time as well!

Cheers.