Instagram story viewer> @jcholdway> Posts

J.C. Holdway Restaurant

@jcholdway

14.6K

followers

811

following

Chef Joseph Lenn • James Beard Award
@nytimes 50 Best Restaurants
@michelinguide 2025
Wood-Fired Southern Cuisine • Dinner 5 PM

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Knoxville is home.

We are deeply honored to be included in the inaugural @michelinguide for the American South.

For Chef Joseph Lenn, who was born and raised here, the dream was always to open a restaurant in his hometown, to cook for this community, and to celebrate the ingredients of East Tennessee. His culinary journey through Charleston, Nashville, and Walland eventually led him back home to do just that.

Endless gratitude to our incredible team for your heart, hustle, and dedication every single day. To our farmers and purveyors who keep us inspired, and to our guests who fill our dining room with warmth and support, thank you.

Congratulations to our neighbors @potchke and @rtlodge on your well-deserved recognition.

Knoxville, this one is for you. 💛 taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

58

a year ago

What a way to turn nine! 🎈

Some kids get a bike. Some get a party. We landed a spot on The New York Times 2025 Restaurant List, naming us one of the 50 best restaurants in America.

Feeling honored is an understatement. To hit this milestone as we celebrate our 9th anniversary is surreal. It’s a testament to our team’s passion, the dedication of local farmers and purveyors, and the support of guests from the beginning and those discovering us for the first time. THANK YOU.

Happy Birthday to us, and cheers to you all for being the heart of our story 🥂

#JCHoldway #JosephLenn #WoodFiredSouthernCuisine
#NYTRestaurantList #BestRestaurants2025 #JamesBeardAward
#KnoxvilleEats #KnoxvilleRestaurants #LoveDowntownKnox #KnoxRocks taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

1k

140

a year ago

Honored to be featured in the @nytimes today! #knoxrocks #jcholdway #knoxvillefood taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

31

9 years ago

It’s Basic Witch season. 🎃🖤

Our new fall cocktail brings together roasted pumpkin-infused vodka, Borghetti coffee liqueur, and Amaro Averna, topped with whipped pumpkin.

A little autumn magic from our bar.

#JCHoldway #BasicWitch #FallCocktails #Knoxville taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

3

12 days ago

2 Class Drop! October and November are locked in! Hope to see you there! 🥂

LINK IN BIO!!!!!

#wine #sommelier #wineclass #knoxville #fun taken in Knoxville, Tennessee by @jcholdway

23

2

18 days ago

POV: you dine out at one of Knoxville’s Michelin Guide recommended restaurant & it does NOT disappoint!

Not only did @jcholdway make it to the guide for a second year in a row, but they are celebrating 10 years in Downtown Knoxville in 2026.

The trio of desserts we tried…& each one surpassed the last. J.C. Holdway specializes in wood-fired food, but goodness, they know how to bring unique flavors together for the perfect ending—dessert!

Take us back 🫶

J.C. Holdway is located at 501 Union Ave, Knoxville, TN 37902. taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

1k

18

19 days ago

Cornbread counts as Friday plans.

We’re opening additional reservations for this Friday, September 25, in the dining room, at the chef’s counter, in the lounge, and on the covered patio.

Reservations go live tomorrow, Thursday, September 24, at noon ET on Resy.

If you don’t see your preferred time, add yourself to the NOTIFY list on Resy to be alerted when a table opens up.

And a reminder: the bar welcomes walk-ins.

📷: Jared Worsham taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

0

a month ago

Today, Chef Joseph Lenn turns 50. This week, the restaurant he built turned 10. One year ago today, we learned that we had been named to The New York Times’ Restaurant List 2025. 🎂🔥

This photo captures Chef with the print edition of the list, quietly taking in a moment none of us will forget. Naturally, because restaurant life has a sense of humor, a maintenance issue in the historic Daylight Building required us to close the same day we learned the news. The celebration had to wait.

This week, @nytimes released The Restaurant List 2026, and we were thrilled to see Tennessee represented by Junior and Cauponor, both in Nashville. Congratulations to their teams! We remember what that moment felt like, and we are cheering for you.👏

That recognition began an extraordinary year. We were named a MICHELIN Recommended restaurant in the inaugural 2025 MICHELIN Guide American South. Chef Lenn was named a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, and we were named one of USA TODAY’s 2026 Restaurants of the Year.

Anyone who knows Chef Lenn knows this is an uncomfortable amount of attention for one post. He would redirect every honor to the team, and he would be right. Every recognition reflects the people who have built this restaurant with him, one service at a time.🤍

At 50, what comes next? More cooking, more learning, more nights at the fire, and the same care for the people on both sides of the kitchen door.

Happy birthday, Chef. 🥂

#JCHoldway #TenYearsAtTheFire #ChefJosephLenn #DowntownKnoxville Chef Joseph Lenn sits inside J.C. Holdway reading the print edition of The New York Times Restaurant List. Text reads, ‘50 Today. 10 Years This Week. taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

38

a month ago

Pâté is not for everyone. Chef Joseph Lenn knows that. But for those who love it, this anniversary return has been a long time coming. ✨

Joseph had been making chicken liver pâté for years when he fine-tuned this version at Blackberry Farm in 2013. What makes it distinctly his is Benton’s bacon fat, which adds a subtle layer of smoke and roots the dish in East Tennessee.

When J.C. Holdway opened in 2016, the pâté came with him, taking its place on Uncle Joe’s Charcuterie Party Plate.

Ten years later, Joseph decided it was time to bring it back.

Chicken liver pâté with figs, arugula, cornichons, sourdough, and basil vinaigrette. Rich, smoky, bright, and sharp in all the right places.

For the pâté people, this one has history. 🥂

#JCHoldway #TenYearsAtTheFire #KnoxvilleEats #DowntownKnoxville Chicken liver pâté finished with flaky salt and served with figs, dressed arugula, cornichons, mustard, and toasted sourdough at J.C. Holdway. taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

8

a month ago

Make A Phone Call. 📞🍸

Our premium martini experience has a name with more than one story behind it.

“Uncle Joe” Holdway was Chef Joseph Lenn’s great-uncle and the man for whom J.C. Holdway is named. An Army veteran and University of Tennessee graduate, he spent his career as an accountant in the telephone business with AT&T and South Central Bell.

He also loved a good martini.

Standing 6’4”, Uncle Joe was hard to miss. He dined out for nearly every meal and returned faithfully to the restaurants that treated him well and delivered the consistency he valued. Family and friends could count on a joke and a guaranteed good time.

So when we created our premium martini experience, the name came naturally.

“Make A Phone Call” nods to Uncle Joe’s career in the telephone business and winks at an old excuse. If someone asked where you had slipped away to, you were simply making a phone call. Perhaps it ran a little long. Perhaps there was a martini involved. 😉

As we approach our 10th anniversary on September 13, we’re looking back at the people and stories that shaped us from the beginning. Uncle Joe’s belief in loyalty, consistency, and the pleasure of being well cared for remains at the heart of what we hope every visit feels like.

Cheers to Uncle Joe. Join us in raising a glass to him. 🍸

#JCHoldway #MakeAPhoneCall #KnoxvilleEats #DowntownKnoxville Make A Phone Call martini service at J.C. Holdway, featuring a pink telephone cocktail pick beside a martini glass. taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

6

a month ago

Perusing through Piedmont

Explore one of Italy’s iconic wine regions from Alba to Asti!

📅 Sunday, September 27
🕟 4:00–6:00 PM

You’ll Enjoy:
• Taste five wines
• Learn the regions
• Take-home tasting notes

J.C. Holdway
501 Union Ave
Knoxville

Link in BIO

Reserve Your Seat Today

What area do you want to learn the most about?

#wine #sommelier #class #knoxville #italy taken in Knoxville, Tennessee by @jcholdway

23

2

2 months ago

Tennessee pink marble. Sometimes even the plate has a past. ♻️

Before it held hushpuppies, this serving piece was part of an old window slab at The Pembroke, the historic building Chef Joseph Lenn calls home. Built in 1929 as the New Sprankle Building, The Pembroke served as TVA’s original headquarters beginning in 1933. Directly across Union Avenue stands the Daylight Building, home of J.C. Holdway.

The stone belongs to an even older local story. East Tennessee marble helped earn Knoxville its name as the Marble City.

We saved the window slab and asked a specialty tile maker to cut and finish it for the table. We reuse and repurpose whenever we can, especially when a material carries a story worth preserving.

🌽 On it sit Chef Lenn’s hushpuppies, a signature dish that has been on the J.C. Holdway menu since the day we opened.

Chef Lenn has been making hushpuppies for more than 25 years, nearly as long as he has been cooking professionally. A 5th-generation Tennessean, Joseph grew up cooking cornmeal dishes beside his mother, including her hoe cakes. He carried those memories and flavors with him, gradually refining the hushpuppies into the version we serve today.

They are not an anniversary comeback. They have been here from the beginning.

🔥 Starting Tuesday, September 1, our 10th-anniversary celebration comes to the table. Across 10 dinner services, Tuesday through Saturday, September 1 through 12, the hushpuppies will remain among the snack options on Chef’s Classics.

Then comes the surprise. Each of the five courses will also feature an anniversary addition: one of Joseph’s most-requested dishes from years past, returning for these 10 special services.

Every table, at either of our nightly seatings, may choose after arrival between the anniversary Chef’s Classics and our à la carte menu. If Chef’s Classics is selected, it must be enjoyed by the entire table.

Which old favorite of Joseph’s would you most like to see return? ✨

#JCHoldway #TenYearsAtTheFire #TennesseeMarble #KnoxvilleEats Two golden hushpuppies with green herb sauce served on a rectangular piece of salvaged Tennessee pink marble at J.C. Holdway. taken in J.C. Holdway by @jcholdway

3

3

2 months ago