S&W Grand

S&W Grand continues to become the place to be downtown Knoxville. Last weekend, I enjoyed a fantastic dinner there with a meal that included their daily special, John Dory with preserved lemon and gigande beans, plus a bottle of one of my favorite wines, 2006 Bell Claret. And the garlicy, buttery pop-overs that's served with your meal are to-die-for. I can't imagine anyone else in Knoxville is offering food on this level, other than the Northshore Brasserie, of course. The restaurant was completely full and buzzing. There was such a great vibe...

Follow that up with a stop by this Friday night to another packed house for Donald Brown's jazz night. Once again - amazing energy. We sat on the patio and enjoyed a couple of new-to-me wines - Spellbound Petite Sirah from Northern California and Clean Slate Riesling from Mosel, Germany. I've never had Riesling. I'm not a sweet wine fan and was under the impression all Rieslings were sweet. This wine was simply fantastic - full of minerality while not being too sweet at all.

I think there's great things ahead for the S&W!