Tupelo Honey Café is opening a restaurant on the first floor of The Oliver Hotel, a 28-room historic boutique property located in Knoxville, Tenn. Constructed in 1876, the building originally housed the Peter Kern Bakery. In 1982, the building was converted into the Blakely House Hotel and housed VIP guests for the World’s Fair.
The Oliver Hotel is located in the Market Square district of Knoxville, a city center with a farmers market. Market Square also hosts an International Biscuit Festival. Something tells us that Tupelo will participate in that event.
The Knoxville Tupelo will offer the same menu as its sister Asheville locations, and will be managed by Tupelo Honey owner Steve Frabitore and his executive team. Tupelo's executive chef, Brian Sonoskus, will oversee food quality and menu development. Alan Wolf, previously the operating and founding partner of Frankie Bones Asheville, will serve as director of store operations. Asheville architect Patti Glazer is in charge of the work to update the space.
Knoxville's Tupelo will seat 150 and boast a bar, The Sweet Spot, which will feature specialty moonshine cocktails and regional micro-brews and wine. Frabitore says that the Knoxville location should be open by this summer. Visit http://www.tupelohoney.com for more.
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