Thursday, March 1, 2012

Bountiful Brunch at Bistro at the Bijou

Bistro at the Bijou, Knoxville, February 2012

When we decided to have lunch with friends on a Saturday, Urban Woman suggested Bistro at the Bijou. After some discussion - perhaps tongue-in-cheek - about whether the politics of one of our party might preclude that choice, we decided to try it out. This being a Saturday, lunch was set for 2:00 PM.

Bar at the Bistro at the Bijou, Knoxville
The walk to the restaurant was beautiful and in late February, spring was in the air. I love the interior of the Bistro. Wood and brick are two of the prettiest surfaces in the world, to me. I also love leather (sorry animal activists), so brown was my favorite color for years and there are plenty of earth tones inside. My favorite color is now black, but you can't expect too much of that in restaurant decor.

Interior, opposite the bar, Bijou at the Bistro

We were surprised to learn that each Saturday the brunch is served until 3:00 PM, which pretty much turned each of our choices in that direction. We learned it is served all day on Sundays. Many people consider it the best brunch in the city and I can tell you that it is very good.

Bloody Mary, Bistro at the Bijou

Eggs Bijou, Bistro at the Bijou
Bloody Marys are $3.50 with brunch and are beautiful and (I'm told) are delicious. We each ordered different dishes and everyone happily enjoyed their selection. I had the Eggs Bijou with includes poached eggs served over crab cakes with Bearnaise sauce served atop an English muffin with cheese grits as my side dish. I couldn't have asked for it to be better.

Eggs and Cheese Toast with Bacon

Eggs with Goat Cheese and Potatoes
Urban Woman had the classic French toast with scrambled eggs and bacon. Our friends Kevin and Melinda had the eggs with goat cheese and the Red Flannel Hash topped with poached eggs, respectively. The later includes potatoes sauteed with beets and onions.

Red Flannel Hash with Poached Eggs
Politics didn't play into the day, at all, and everyone left more than full. We enjoyed a few minutes looking at a lovely building about which I hope to share some big news, soon. Kevin did try to vote at the City County building, but learned that they do not offer early voting there on a Saturday, so he had to drive to Downtown West. I waited until Monday and voted at the City County building.

But on Saturday, the food was good and no one was thrown out as far as we could tell. We didn't, however, see Stacey, which seemed a good thing, after all. I ended the day at the other end of the city at another establishment which has dusted up a small political controversy of its own, but that's a blog for another day.

Bistro at the Bijou, Knoxville, February 2012

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4 Comments:

At March 1, 2012 at 8:06 AM , Blogger elm said...

An interesting side story... The Bistro was originally built along with the Bijou (which was a hotel and house of ill repute. And it was originally a bar and has, since the early 1800s been a bar or restaurant of some kind. And the story goes that the painting behind the bar was an original fixture.

 
At March 1, 2012 at 8:36 AM , Blogger Chrissy Johnson said...

This was the wrong post to read at 8:34 in the morning, when I haven't eaten breakfast yet!

I've been in love with the Bistro since we moved to Knoxville in 2003. When I worked at the library we took author Ruth White and illustrator Robert Blake there for dinner when they visited and they just raved and raved about it.

 
At March 1, 2012 at 11:34 AM , Blogger Andrea said...

Yum! I agree, this is not the post to read when you are hungry!

 
At March 1, 2012 at 6:51 PM , Blogger Knoxville Urban Guy said...

Interesting info Elm. I knew most of it, but I'd forgotten what I'd been told about the painting. Chrissy and Andrea, I'm sorry I made you hungry. Maybe we'll all just have to convene there for some food down the line.

 

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