He remembers eating radishes for breakfast. Joe Cunningham, chef at Northshore Brasserie in West Knoxville, was a 13-year-old American boy in a small town in Provence, France. “My mother and I went there for a summer,” he says.“We were in a small town. We got our food every single day—the boulangerie getting fresh bread, shops that had one thing, as opposed to having a big grocery store. If you wanted cheese, you got your fromage somewhere else. "I remember eating radishes with butter and fresh bread for breakfast,” he says. The radishes were not cooked in butter. They were raw. “It’s all about the flavor," he says. “I kind of liked being able to eat a croissant or having fresh fruit available—things I probably wouldn’t have snacked on if we were back here." Cunningham’s French experience, coupled with his formal training as a chef at the French Culinary Institute in New York, make him the perfect chef for Brian and Stephanie Balest, owners of the Brasserie. “I was the food and beverage director for a luxury hotel in Charleston, South Carolina,” Brian Balest says. “When Stephanie and her husband moved back to the States from Belgium, they ended up in Knoxville. We always talked about a restaurant growing up, and she said, ‘Hey let’s open a traditional brasserie like we always went to in Europe.’ We decided to go for it. It’s been wonderful. A lot of our bar guests say ‘This is our Cheers.’” The Brasserie serves a lot of steak frites, as well as fish, rabbit, French onion soup, profiteroles and crème brulee. Stephanie likes the Belgian tradition of a tablecloth (a sign of cleanliness) and the moules frites. “We have mussels four different ways served with our fresh-cut pommes frites," she says. "That was a classic Belgian dish I loved.” She may have influenced the menu, but she says her brother is “the driving force” behind the restaurant. “Make no mistake. I never would have done it on my own.” The hours at Northshore Brasserie, 9430 S. Northshore Drive, are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday–Saturday and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday with the bar opening at 3 p.m. For more information, call 865.539.5188 or go to NorthshoreBrasserie.com. CONTINUED >
Joe Cunningham NORTHSHORE BRAS SERIE
November 2017 | West Knoxville Lifestyle
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