On Day 17 of our airstream adventure, we parked the trailer at a nice RV park just outside of Gatlinburg, TN, adjacent to the Greak Smoky Mountains National Park. We quickly cleaned up and drove around an hour to the fabulous Blackberry Farm, for a dinner that our friends Dee and Jimmy Haslam had set up for us.

I can’t even come up with the words to describe how fabulous our evening was. First – the location. On the Farm they serve dinner in what they call the “Barn”. It has to be the most beautiful barn I’ve ever seen!

 

blackberry-farm-dining-room-2

The kitchen is open where you can watch the chefs in action. They really use the copper pots – they aren’t just for show!

blackberry-farm-kitchen

 

blackberry-farm-kitchen-2

Even the hallway to the bathroom is nicely decorated – in the photo below I am in the hallway, wearing the jacket the restaurant “loaned” Robert since he wasn’t wearing one (we didn’t realize they had a dress code!):

bathroom-hallway

It wasn’t very crowded, as a number of guests were attending the Emmy Lou Harris concert/dinner at the Main House of the farm. So, we had lots of attentive servers – the sommelier took this photo of us:

 lee-and-robert

We opted for the 7-course tasting menu (note our names printed on the top!):

Blackberry-farm-menu

Absolutely every single dish was delicious. It’s hard to say which was our favorite! There is definitely a Southern influence in the various dishes, which I love. After all, I was raised by a Southerner! The chef strives for a local/regional flair to the food, describing it as “Foothills Cuisine”. And, as you can see from the photos below, the presentation is beautiful.

Our first course was a beet and blue cheese salad, which Robert enjoyed:

beet-goat-cheese

Since I am allergic to blue cheese, they substituted the Roasted Fig and Country Ham salad for me:

country-ham-fig

Second course was the roasted shrimp with corn and butter bean succotash: grilled-shrimp

Third course was the most unusual, and perhaps the most delicious – smoked trout, a poached egg, beurre blanc sauce and super thin crispy potatoes on the top:

smoked-trout

Fourth course was mushroom-stuffed chicken with a super yummy cheesy grits custard on the side (in the back of the photo):

 

mushroom-stuffed-chicken

 

Fifth course (urp!) was pork loin and shoulder with black rice:

pork-and-black-riceSixth course (we’re almost done, but still savoring every bite!) was a thin slice of Baserri Cheese (first time for me) with cherry preserves. The cheese and cherry flavors blended together perfectly:

cheese-courseAnd, for the seventh and last course – coconut pot de crème with lime-pistacio shortbread:

coconut-peau-de-cremeBut wait – that’s not all! I had asked to see the dessert wine list, and they forgot to come back to take my order, so they gave us a complimentary eighth course in the “library” – homemade chocolates and port! Perfect ending to a perfect evening:

 

chocolates-and-port

Look for my next post about our further adventures in the Smokies, including an encounter with a black bear!

 

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About the author

Hi, I'm Lee.

I am inspired by my mother, Sally’s, love of cooking and entertaining to gather friends and family together over great meals and conversation. In fact, I held my first dinner party at the age of 16. Throughout the years, I’ve provided recipes, menu advice and cooking tips to friends seeking uncomplicated and delicious ideas for home entertaining.


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