Bleu Hound Grille- Oak Ridge, Tennessee

[Mezzaluna]

Please forgive me if I posted this in the wrong region, but I'm not sure where to put Tennessee! We just had a great dinner last night and I wanted to post it.

Oak Ridge is a small city in eastern Tennessee, about 20 miles west of Knoxville. My husband's sister and brother-in-law live there, and we just had a visit with them. We were delighted with our dinner at the Bleu Hound Grille, a welcoming and informal restaurant in Oak Ridge.

The place was an auto showroom or repair shop at one time, but it's been transformed into a bistro-style restaurant that's popular with locals for both lunch and dinner. You can see Chef Tyge at work in the partly-open kitchen.

The dinner menu was quite eclectic. The goal of the house is to use fresh, seasonal ingredients from local farmers and suppliers, adding a Southern twist now and then, as you'll see from our entrees.

The special on the Thursday evening we visited was grilled pork chops. We perused the menu and had a hard time choosing. Some of the dishes included teriyaki salmon, New York Strip, rack of lamb and roasted chicken breast. It was the accompaniments and sides that acted as perfect frameworks for the carefully prepared meat, poultry and fish.

My husband, SIL and BIL all chose the pork chop special. Three beautiful, boneless loin chops were perfectly grilled and tender, and had been brushed with a very light, slightly sweet glaze. The chops sat atop a good portion of creamy scalloped potatoes. The plate was brightened by a vegetable medley of summer squash, green beans and bell peppers- all cooked to the right degree of tenderness for each.

My tenderloin filet was served atop excellent mashed potatoes which had been laced with crisped pancetta. The veg was roasted, halved fresh brussels sprouts with onions in a light balsamic glaze. The meat was exactly what my palate had in mind when I ordered it: tender, juicy and flavorful. Since I rarely get a chance to have a dish of collard greens where I live, I ordered some and enjoyed that as well.

The waitstaff was knowledgeable and accommodating of our few requests. My SIL requested a garlic spinach sub for the veg medley and they did so without a hitch.

I couldn't get a copy of the dinner menu, but the lunch menu has sandwiches from reubens to crab cakes, salads and soups; there are vegetarian options on both lunch and dinner menus.

The meal for four came to about $80 without wine.

I'd recommend this place to anyone who finds him/herself in Oak Ridge.

[KnoxvilleRes]

I saw your post and thought this might be an apprpriate place to suggest a website for anyone in or traveling through Knoxville. The website is http://www.knoxmenus.com and it is a guide to Knoxville Restaurants in the area.

[Mezzaluna]

Thanks! The site will be useful for our next visit.

[Mezzaluna]

Here's an update: The Bleu Hound Grille closed and the property is now under new ownership with a different name.