Hancen Sale, left, kind of shows you the mood of the packed house at J.C. Holdway at midnight on Tuesday.
J.C. Holdway, Knoxville’s only restaurant owned by a James Beard Award-winning chef, is great on any day, of course. But Chef Joseph Lenn‘s eatery really excels when it comes to making special occasions even more special! And what’s more special than New Year’s Eve?
This past Tuesday, in honor of the holiday, J.C. Holdway offered a five-course gourmet dinner with optional wine pairings selected by Chef Lenn and sommelier Jason Drotar. The prix fixe menu ($215 per person) sold out long before doors opened for the last day of 2024. And folks came in a mood to party!
The restaurant said that if you wanted to be in the building at the stroke of midnight, you should make a reservation at 7:30 or later. Our party of eight asked for a table at 8 p.m. When we arrived, we saw quite a few friends from the “early shift” (wimps!) who were just finishing their final courses and heading home before the midnight craziness. (Full disclosure: my husband, Alan, and I live downtown within walking distance of J.C. Holdway, so we didn’t have to worry about traffic or crazy drivers.)
Robin and Randy Gibson were among the early eaters. They told us we were about to be in for a treat!
More earlybirds: Janet Testerman and Dino Cartwright.
Janet’s husband, Joey Creswell, right, and Mitchell Moseley.
We caught these folks finishing dessert. From left, Rhonda Freeman, Nathan Kleumper, Matt and Leigh Ann Garrett.
Given the name of this cocktail, I guess I should have had it at the end of the meal. But, it’s my favorite libation right now and I was in the mood to celebrate! It’s called “The Last Word,” and it features hard-to-get green chartreuse.
Our friend Kim Henry, standing, stopped by our table as she came in. Seated are Emily Lenn, left, and Gay Lyons. Emily is Chef Joseph Lenn’s proud mother!
First course — or amuse bouche — might have been my favorite bite of the night! Roasted Murder Point oyster with hackleback sturgeon caviar and miso hollandaise.
The chef’s dad, Jerry Lenn, strikes a pose. I admire a man who’s confident enough to order a pink drink!
Judith Foltz and Hancen Sale also were our tablemates.
J.C. Holdway’s general manager, Adam Marks, center, greets the folks who would sit at the table beside us. Kevin and Maria McHale, left, are great friends of ours and also avid patrons of the eatery. They were with Alexa Kamm and Garrett Bell-Grisham.
Todd and Andrea Flanders, who were sitting at the chef’s counter, came by to say hi.
I love it when I see sommelier Jason Drotar approaching the table!
He was bringing the first wine — and the only white wine amid the pairings. A 2022 Neipoort Redoma Reserva from the Douro Valley. He told us to notice how its complexity seemed to increase as it got warmer in the glass.
The next delicious course: Gulf crab salad with winter citrus, celery root, and blood orange vinaigrette. Isn’t it pretty?
Great seeing Jared Worsham, left, and Nathan Ogle.
One of the new things at J.C. Holdway in 2024 was the installation of fun wallpaper in the restrooms. My favorite has animals drinking at a bar! Here are three of them! Cheers!
I walked into the main dining room to find these fun downtown pals of ours. From left, Anthony Wilson, Tyler Janow, Eric and Nikki Elliott.
I returned to the table just in time for the third course: potato and ricotta ravioli with beurre blanc and Alba white truffles. Absolutely fantastic. And so rich, it probably should be against the law!
It was paired with a 2019 Roberto Voerzio La Morra Barolo. It was delicious. Also the most expensive glass of the night at $67 for five ounces. Sommelier Drotar offered a tip to help with pairings: “If it grows together, if goes together.” I assume he was speaking of the truffles rather than the potatoes in the dish!
Our excellent server Domingo Pasillas explained all the courses to us.
If you know our friend Bill Lyons, you know that he has two passions: politics and sports! So, while the rest of us were raving about the food and wine, he was checking the score in the Fiesta Bowl!
Normally when you see this fellow, he’s mixing a drink or pouring wine. It’s lead bartender, Hayden Hall.
Attorney Deno Cole stopped by to chat with Jerry and Emily.
OK, back to the food! Next course was roasted Pekin duck breast with butternut squash, beets, and duck jus. (Loved the beets. Gave the duck to Bill!) “Pekin,” by the way, is a duck breed — not to be confused with “Peking” Duck, which is a Chinese cooking method.
Its pairing was a 2022 Domaine Tempier Lulu & Lucien Bandol, a very drinkable red blend.
At this point, Chef Lenn dropped by to see if I had eaten any of the duck! He knows that I don’t eat anything on a baby’s blanket — no duck, no rabbit, no lamb. Also, there were plenty of other things! Trust me, I did not go hungry!
I mean, really? This is a Pekin duck! They are described on the Internet as “the friendliest” of all ducks. Both the Aflac duck and Donald Duck are Pekins. I just can’t . . . Everyone else loved it, though!
But, I digress . . .
At this point in an extended meal with wine pairings, folks start to get up from their tables and wander around — with their wine in hand, mostly!
Here are Hancen Sale and Laura Lenn. She and Joseph got married this past summer. She calls herself J.C. Holdway’s CFO — Chief Flower Officer! But she does a lot more to make the restaurant special and hospitable and fun! Plus, she’s a distinguished lecturer at UT’s Haslam College of Business.
Hancen again with Jared Worsham and Maria McHale.
Next course was wood-grilled prime New Your strip loin and poached lobster with sunchokes, chanterelles, broccolini and perigord black truffle jus.
Wine was a 2019 Booker Oublie Paso Robles. Sommelier Drotar compared it to a Chateaneuf du Pape. Everyone at our table agreed that all the wines were wonderful.
I don’t believe I’ve introduced everyone at the table beside us. They are, from left, Kevin McHale, Garrett Bell-Gresham, Samantha Generotti, Anthony Generotti, Alesa Kamm, Maria McHale, and Alex McHale.
Finally, this: hazelnut entremet cake with cornbread ice cream and salted caramel. Wow. An entremet cake is a cake with many layers of cake between pastry creams assembled in a mold and enrobed in a glaze. It was unbelievable.
But midnight was approaching.
Bill was fading.
His wife, Gay, was not!
The restaurant passed out hats.
Jerry put his on his nose!
Emily and Gay were a little more genteel!
Gerald Witt stopped by.
Our two tables selected Maria to poke a hole in the plastic holding up the balloons over our area. (There’s a sharp thing on the end of that pole!)
And down they came! Here’s sommelier and bartender Andrew Woodland.
Somehow Hancen wound up wearing Maria’s jacket!
Gay and our friend Stanton Webster after the balloon drop.
Lauren Chiles and Gerald Witt.
Everyone got some caramel corn to take home.
We had to roust Bill up to leave!
But wait. It was 12:45 and we noticed Chef Lenn was back in the kitchen! What was he doing?
Making burgers to send everyone off with! Holy cow!
Laura helped pass them out!
Alan looked happy to snag one! (I couldn’t eat another bite!)
He posed with Leah Smith, a bartender and server who always takes good care of us!
Happy 2025, friends!
Joseph and Laura: Thanks for the best New Year’s Eve party ever!
What a fabulous way to celebrate the New Year!!!!. Great food and the best of friends – outstanding.
Harriet: Happy New Year, friend! It was definitely a fun way to start the year. Look forward to seeing you during fun times in 2025
Thank you for the beautifully written account! We completely understand the hesitation about the duck—sometimes the cutest dishes are the hardest to eat. But they sure are tasty! Here’s to a delicious 2025!
Laura: Thanks. I was poking fun at myself over the duck. I had no trouble handing it off to an eager tablemate! We had a wonderful, wonderful time.
Everything was fabulous, but I think my favorite bite was the tiniest one: That Murder Point Oyster. I love MP oysters raw on the half shell, but this preparation was really special. We used to spend NYE pretty quietly. We are so lucky to be able to enjoy such a great time just a few blocks from home.
Gay: I think this is an awesome tradition! And I agree with you about the best bite! Those little oysters were amazing.
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