Goodbye, Riverside
Tonight, I had what will probably be my last meal at Riverside Tavern here in Knoxville. The food was decent, not especially memorable, but the event will stand out nonetheless.
Back in the mid-1990's, the storied and ancient Regas family of Knoxville restaurateurs opened a new place on the river called, imaginatively enough, Riverside Tavern. The original executive chef was one of Wolfgang Puck's protégés, and it showed clearly in the first iteration of the menu. At first, the food was fresh, interesting, creative, and always well-prepared; it was inventive, while still paying homage to local culinary ingredients and traditions.
The building, situated on a small bluff over the Tennessee River, is an architectural treat -- subtle little references in the building's design are meant to evoke boating and sailing. The steel rafters are formed as a series of triangles, resembling a row of sailboats on the water. The wood ceiling is formed of narrow boards resembling a boat's deck planking, and the ceiling is ever so slightly curved, evoking the shape of a hull. The clerestory windows at the roof's apex seem to resemble boat hatches. It's a clever design, light, airy, and friendly. It was something decidedly new for both the Regas family and for downtown Knoxville.
Over time, the restaurant became distinctly more corporate: the menu became pedestrian and banal, and the service began to slide somewhat. The quality of the food never suffered, but the imagination behind it certainly did. Still, Riverside has remained busy and successful ever since it opened.
Recently, it was bought out and will soon become a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.
Yay. We lose a local restaurant, owned by a local restaurant family, in favor of yet another overpriced steakhouse chain. Just what we need.
I've been to two different Ruth's Chris in two different cities, and I've drawn the same conclusion both times: the food is good, but not great, and it is certainly not worth the exorbitant premium charged. It's overpriced grain-fed (not grass-fed) beef, no better than the steaks available at Connor's, The Chop House, Edison Park, or Copper Cellar (all of which are locally owned).
We in Knoxville are lucky -- few cities this size have so many locally owned restaurants and so many local families involved in the restaurant business. We're a little spoiled in that regard, and I think the Ruth's Chris people might be in for a surprise when they realize just how much competition they're going to see here.
As I mentioned above, tonight's meal at Riverside was decent, but not extraordinary. Everything was well-prepared, though a bit on the pedestrian side. I met a couple of friends there for dinner, one of whom I hadn't seen in quite some time. It was one of those conversations that flowed from one random subject to another, bouncing back and forth in that comfortable, laid-back dynamic of familiar, intimate friends. Riverside is the perfect setting for such an evening, and that's primarily why I hate to see it go.