Eateries to diners: Please be careful with your criticism

Posted on September 11, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

Darrell Benton of Benton’s Country Hams was one of the featured guests on Saturday at The Gathering at RT Lodge. Here he slices ham for a charcuterie plate.

Don’t worry. There will be plenty of pictures of great food in this post. After all, it is a continuation of the Blue Streak’s report on “The Gathering” at RT Lodge, which is a weekend of guest chefs, panel discussions, and other food-related activities held recently at the Maryville resort. (For the first part, see the previous Blue Streak post.)

But there was serious talk, too. One of the most interesting topics, to me, was how seriously the chefs and restaurant owners take customer reviews. RT Lodge’s executive chef, Trevor Stockton, said that it takes 49 five-star reviews on Yelp to neutralize an eatery’s rating after a single one-star review is posted! I found that shocking. And maybe a little unfair.

All the panelists said that they want to hear about any subpar experiences their diners have. “But, please, tell us directly,” Stockton implored. 

Suggestions about how to report bad experiences included calling the restaurant, writing the restaurant, or emailing them. They’d like to know about problems and they’d like a chance to make things right, they all said. But going to social media to air complaints is extremely harmful. As is giving a low score on one of the rating services.

But, if you have a good experience, by all means go public with it, they all agreed! Especially those five-star ratings!

OK. Now, on to the fun photos. Continue reading →

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

“The Gathering:” a place of food, drink, and friendship

Posted on September 10, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

RT Lodge General Manager Kelley Harris, left, and owners Annie and David Colquitt welcomed guests on the Friday night of “The Gathering.”

For the fifth year, RT Lodge in Maryville recently hosted a special weekend called “The Gathering.” Trevor Stockton, executive chef there, pulled together a genial group of chefs, farmers, and other suppliers, and the weekend was a solid sellout with prices ranging from $1,250 to $1,790 per person.

You can’t have a weekend of food and wine less than an hour outside of town and not attract a great batch of fun-seeking Knoxvillians — as well as others from far and wide!

In addition to the full weekend of meals, discussions, tastings, and excursions, some folks came just for the Friday or Saturday night dinners — and they were sold out, too. Part of the proceeds benefited the Southern Smoke Foundation, a nonprofit that provides emergency financial assistance to workers in the food and beverage industry.

Of course the food, wine and other drinks were great. But the thing that also stood out was the conviviality of the guests. To be frank, everybody seemed to be in a good mood! And that’s impressive with 150 people! (This post covers the first night of The Gathering. Come back tomorrow for a report on the rest of the weekend. It was a blast!) Continue reading →

Filed under: Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Marblegate party celebrates noteworthy gift

Posted on August 28, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

Knoxville Vice Mayor Lynne Fugate, right, with former Knoxville City Council members Janet Testerman, left, and Lauren Rider at the Marbelgate festivities.

Friends of the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont gathered recently to raise $324,000 and celebrate a generous $2.5 million contribution to fund the organization’s “second campus” in Blount County.

Marblegate is the name of the annual fundraiser and it is held at Bill and Donna Cobble’s farm and event venue of the same name located in Friendsville. 

The affair featured a cocktail hour followed by dinner catered by Bistro by the Tracks; short remarks by Charlie Sellars, the new superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Tremont CEO Catey McClary; a moving reading by Appalachian storyteller Elizabeth Rose; a silent and live auction, and live music before and after.

Philanthropist Amy Buckner Chowdhry’s donation consisted of $2 million to help build the learning center at Tremont’s new campus in Blount County  and another $500,000 to fund scholarships for students from Blount County to attend. The mission of Tremont is to expose people — especially children — to the wonders and benefits of being in nature. Continue reading →

Filed under: Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Randy McNally retires amid hugs and laughs

Posted on August 21, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

From left, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, and state Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson, at the party Tuesday night.

“What do you call a person who parties too much in medical school,” U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett asked Tuesday night from the microphone at the retirement party/roast for Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge. Burchett paused for a few seconds and then answered: “A pharmacist!”

The capacity crowd in the Oak Ridge Conference Center roared. McNally goaned. He’s a pharmacist. 

That pretty much sums up the good-natured ribbing that permeated the dinner gathering that was packed with Tennessee movers and shakers from Gov. Bill Lee to Burchett and local luminaries including Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, and state Sen. Becky Massey (R-Knoxville). Continue reading →

Filed under: Uncategorized | 7 Comments

It’s Restaurant Week: Get out there!

Posted on August 4, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

City Council member Karyn Adams, left, and Sara Houchins, a staffer at Big Ears and a member of the Nourish Knoxville board of directors, at the reception Monday night.

From now until Sunday, 31 local restaurants and bars are featuring special menu items. If you purchase any of those items, a portion of the cost will be donated to Nourish Knoxville, the non-profit group best known for organizing and managing Market Square Farmers Market and New Harvest Farmers Market.

To kick off Restaurant Week, as it is called, folks from Nourish Knoxville held a reception for supporters on Monday night at Maple Hall showcasing a number of the special items that are being offered. Here’s a look at some of them. For a full list of the participating eateries and drinkeries (is that a word??), click here. 

And look for Alan and me when you are out there participating in this worthy — and delicious — fundraising endeavor! Continue reading →

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

The best reason to drink moonshine: for the public good!

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

Beloved retired editorial cartoonist Charlie Daniel, left, with Ken Knight, the longtime general manager of the Crowne Plaza. Ken is a member of the VMC board of directors and the hotel was a sponsor of the event.

If you ever are looking for an excuse to drink moonshine, I can give you a good one!

Wine & Shine is the name of the fun annual fundraising dinner for Volunteer Ministry Center, one of the primary organizations dedicated to ending and preventing homelessness in our community. The dinner, held this past weekend at the Crowne Plaza hotel on Summit Hill Drive, featured a wine tasting curated by the folks at Water into Wine restaurant in Farragut and moonshine guided by Rod Parton of Drop Zone Distilling. It was fun! (Glad we were walking the few blocks back home to our downtown condo!)

According to the Knox Community Dashboard on Homelessness, in the fourth quarter of last year, 1,757 people were homeless in our county. Whereas it primarily is concentrated near the center city, folks report homeless camps in many other locations in Knox County, including Bearden and deep west Knoxville. Continue reading →

Filed under: Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Tired of the heat? I have a suggestion!

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

Did you know there’s a place fewer than two hours away where the temperature is always about 10 degrees cooler than it is in Knoxville? That’s because, while our elevation is about 900 feet above sea level, the elevation there is 5,000 feet above it. It’s The Swag, a beautiful 250-acre retreat located just outside Waynesville, North Carolina.

Alan was wearing a sweater vest a couple of weeks ago at The Swag just outside nearby Waynesville, North Carolina.

Alan and I were there for a few days last month and I thought you’d like to see what’s going on there now. We try to experience The Swag every year during three different seasons: spring, summer, and fall. They are closed during the depths of winter. If you’ve ever experienced the two-mile long “Swag Road” leading up to it, you understand why!

For me, the best thing about The Swag — other than the views, the food, and the hospitality — is the fact that despite it being so nearby, you feel as if you are far, far away from everyday life in Knoxville. There are no TVs in the rooms, which might partly account for that feeling. (But there is good internet service, so you can access almost anything using your devices.) Continue reading →

Filed under: Travel | 4 Comments

Taste of Summer: a delicious “pivot” for the KMA

Posted on July 1, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

Chef-owner Matt Gallaher of Emilia with his fiancee, Jessica Capalik, whose family owns Savelli’s, another popular Italian restaurant.

Our friends at the Knoxville Museum of Art have for many years been celebrating the start of summer with a big fundraising blowout! First it was “Summer Soiree.” That morphed into “Kickoff to Summer,” a rollicking party held at the museum. Both shindigs were huge fun and huge successes. 

The event this year made another pivot and became “Taste of Summer,” held recently at the museum. Taylor Lolley, the museum’s director of fundraising events, explains the reason for the affair’s latest iteration. “We thought it needed a refresh,” she said. “L’Amour du Vin is such a success that we wanted to get the next generation involved,” she said, referring to the KMA’s hugely expensive and hugely popular food and wine-centered extravaganza featuring a celebrity chef each year. 

Lolley said Taste of Summer is casual and less expensive than the signature fundraiser that L’Amour du Vin has become. “It’s kind of L’Amour du Vin light!” she laughed. Continue reading →

Filed under: Events, Food | 5 Comments

Barn dance raises spirits, funds to preserve a treasure

Posted on June 26, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, left, and Anderson County Sheriff Russell Barker had front row seats. (But I never saw them dancing!)

The annual Barn Dance fundraiser for the Museum of Appalachia was an early sellout last weekend and I’ve never seen so many items in a silent auction in my life! Organizers wisely kept the live auction to a manageable six items, but my husband, Alan, and I still couldn’t resist blowing past the limit we had earlier agreed upon and purchasing a private four-course dinner for eight by chef and restaurateur Jeffrey DeAlejandro. (But we’re glad we did!)

This is one of those events at which you can’t keep from smiling. There’s Appalachian musical performances, clogging, wagon rides, and some of the most interesting animals outside the zoo!

And with museum founder John Rice Irwin’s daughter at the same table as us and his grandchildren running the program (and the museum), you felt like you had a private invitation to a close-knit family’s picnic! Continue reading →

Filed under: Events, Historic preservation | 4 Comments

Bijou Jubilee makes most of theater’s beguiling location

Posted on June 22, 2026 by Cynthia Moxley

I’m not sure what it is exactly, but there’s something about closing a street to have a party that just gets everyone in a festive mood! This month, the Bijou Theatre took advantage of an opportunity like that and hosted its annual Jubilee fundraiser out on Gay Street under a clear tent. The night was a blast!

It was a beautiful evening as folks gathered on Gay Street in preparation for a delicious good time.

For the past couple of years, the non-profit historic venue kind of tiptoed into the concept by having a reception and dinner outside on Cumberland Avenue before taking the party inside. But this year’s soiree used the even better Gay Street space pretty much all night long. There were five musical acts altogether and they alternated between the outside stage and the indoor stage. The evening culminated with country singer-songwriter Margo Price, who was fresh from two Grammy nominations this year. Continue reading →

Filed under: Events, Music | Leave a comment