J.C. Holdway

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Thoughtfully Crafted, Rooted in Season, Southern at Heart

J.C. Holdway takes its name from a man who never cooked a meal. Joseph Charles Holdway — Uncle Joe to his family — dined out for nearly every meal of his adult life, returning only to the places that earned his loyalty through consistent quality and genuine hospitality. His nephew, Chef Joseph Lenn, opened this restaurant in 2016 as a direct expression of that standard: a place worth coming back to, every time.

The setting reinforces that intention. J.C. Holdway occupies a corner storefront in the historic Daylight Building on Union Avenue, a 1927 structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tall windows, original brickwork, and industrial details frame an open kitchen anchored by a live-fire hearth — the physical and philosophical center of everything that comes out of it.

Chef Joseph Lenn and the Wood-Fire Kitchen

A fifth-generation Tennessean, Chef Lenn learned to cook from his mother and grandmother before training at Johnson & Wales University and completing an internship under Chef John Fleer at Blackberry Farm. He eventually became one of only four chefs to serve as Executive Chef of The Barn at Blackberry Farm, and the only one of the four to win the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast. He is also the only one who returned home to Knoxville to open a restaurant rooted in the foodways of the region.

That homecoming is felt in every aspect of the cooking. The menu changes daily, shaped by what is growing on local farms, what is coming out of Chef Lenn's own garden, and what the kitchen judges to be at its best that day. Stocks, breads, pickles, preserves, and sauces are made in house. The wood fire is not a flourish — it is the method, a tribute to old-world technique and the rural traditions of Appalachia that Chef Lenn grew up around.

"Simple food is not always easy food," he has said. "When there are only a few things on the plate, every decision matters."

Recognition That Reflects the Work

In 2025, J.C. Holdway was named one of The New York Times "50 Best Restaurants in America" and was recommended by the MICHELIN Guide — recognition that speaks to years of quiet, consistent refinement rather than any single moment. The restaurant also holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, a fitting complement to a program overseen by Wine Director Andrew Woodland. Chef Lenn was a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Outstanding Chef, extending a record of national attention that began shortly after the restaurant opened and has been sustained by the same approach ever since.

How to Dine

Guests can choose from several formats on any given evening. À la carte dining offers seasonal Southern American dishes prepared over live fire. The Chef's Classics Menu — a five-course dinner priced between $129 and $179 per guest — presents the signature preparations that have come to define the restaurant over more than eight years of service, selected at the table at the start of the meal. For groups of seven to twenty, the Center of the Table Experience offers shared seasonal courses. The most immersive option, the Chef's Tasting Experience, is a private chef's counter buyout prepared personally by Chef Lenn.

The hospitality philosophy is drawn directly from Uncle Joe's example: attentive, sincere, and without pretense. The team at J.C. Holdway aims to create the kind of experience he would have returned to — again and again.