Cover Stories: Behind the Scenes

Behind Closed Doors: The Orangery

Knoxville Museum of Art
New Knoxville Brewing Company
Tennessee Theater
Waste Water Treatment Plant

This is just one example of what many people envision when they think of the Orangery, Knoxville's "poshest" restaurant: grilled buffalo filet with seared foie gras and pear red wine reduction. And this one's just for looks--the Orangery often prepares examples of its specials for the servers to see, so they can better describe them to the customers.

So our attention is on the food and few of us ponder what happens behind the scenes at the Orangery. If we did, we probably wouldn't guess what sort of work actually goes into the smooth handling of the restaurant. A great deal of time is spent in preparation before each shift. For instance, all of the silverware is hand-polished before being set on the table.

There's a briefing before the lunch or dinner hour begins; the chef, David Pinckney, and manager, Karen Kendrick, have the specials printed and the staff goes over them and other various restaurant things for 15 or 20 minutes. And of course, they're also encouraged to taste-test the wines on the list (they have plenty to spare; a lot of money and organization goes into the upkeep of their wine cellar, which numbers between four and five thousand bottles).

Lauren Miller, Kathleen Anderson, and Alisha McCloud have found another perk of their job: when chefs David Pinckney and Chris Saffles create a new delicacy like this whale-sized soft-shell crab, guess who gets to be the focus group?

This is just one example of what many people envision when they think of the Orangery, Knoxville's "poshest" restaurant: grilled buffalo filet with seared foie gras and pear red wine reduction. And this one's just for looks--the Orangery often prepares examples of its specials for the servers to see, so they can better describe them to the customers.	So our attention is on the food and few of us ponder what happens behind the scenes at the Orangery. If we did, we probably wouldn't guess what sort of work actually goes into the smooth handling of the restaurant. A great deal of time is spent in preparation before each shift. For instance, all of the silverware is hand-polished before being set on the table.	There's a briefing before the lunch or dinner hour begins; the chef, David Pinckney, and manager, Karen Kendrick, have the specials printed and the staff goes over them and other various restaurant things for 15 or 20 minutes. And of course, they're also encouraged to taste-test the wines on the list (they have plenty to spare; a lot of money and organization goes into the upkeep of their wine cellar, which numbers between four and five thousand bottles).
		Lauren Miller, Kathleen Anderson, and Alisha McCloud have found another perk of their job: when chefs David Pinckney and Chris Saffles create a new delicacy like this whale-sized soft-shell crab, guess who gets to be the focus group?