Echo – Seth & Lisa, this inscription pops up in my email every so often, bearing the promise of some new and fabulous dinner special at Echo Bistro. Echo is located in a small, sleek, tan building with a black and tan awning in the Bearden neighborhood. A “little neighborhood joint” Seth Simmerman would say, a bit of the New York dialect of his youth coming out. But a swankier “neighborhood joint” with a bigger heart, you will not find.  “Have you been to Seth’s?” “Do yo

So often guests on my food tours tell me that they get in the habit of always eating at the same places and ordering the same items, or that they are hesitant to try new restaurants because they are not sure how to drive or park in certain areas of town. That’s where I come in. This column will be a guide in exploring the hidden gems, haute cuisine, and culinary hot spots of Knoxville. A slight bit west of Downtown, near the University of Tennessee campus, is one of my newe

The second event during my Exhibit "Eat Me Two" at downtown Knoxville fabricator extraordinaire Paulk & Co was masterminded by Knoxville Food Tours owner Paula Johnson. She enlisted 12 local eateries to invent dishes based on the food paintings I had in the exhibit. Best Idea Ever. The chefs exceeded my expectations. (The full menu is printed after the images.) Sunday evening, March 30th was devoted to eating our way through these culinary masterpieces while listening to loc