Sunspot

I love food and I love America. However, in my travels across this country I am usually disappointed in the sameness of it all. Mall Road in Florence Kentucky has the same restaurants as North Fairfield Road in Dayton which has the same restaurants as Kingston Pike in Knoxville which… well you get the idea.

Of course, the problem is that I just don’t know where to look. Or I’m worried that if I choose one of the local places it will suck. One of the things you know about a place like Red Lobster or the Olive Garden is that even though it won’t be anything to write home about, it probably won’t suck. However, I’m a firm believer in the whole variety is the spice of life thing so whenever I’m staying out of town the first thing I do is hit up the concierge and ask them, “I might only be here once. Where should I go and have a great meal?”

Usually that works wonders. However, another method I’ve used to some degree of success is to pick up the local city paper (like Cincinnati’s CityBeat) and check out the ads. Recently my wife found an ad in Knoxville’s Metro Pulse for a restaurant called Sunspot. Every Sunday Sunspot has a different brunch menu and well with a menu that promised “Our famous poached eggs over prosciutto ham and sauteed onions atop a lightly toasted foccacia bun. Finished with cracked black pepper hollandaise and served with zesty potatoes and a fresh fruit garnish” we knew we had to give it a shot.

We arrived at Sunspot around 10:30AM and were pleasantly surprised that we were seated immediately as my experience with restaurants on Sunday mornings usually involves a 45 minute wait amongst a crowd of churchgoers. The first thing we noticed was how cool the décor was. Each table had a plexiglass covering under which were a variety of themes. Our table had pictures of what appeared to be a beard and moustache contest. The winner of the contest had carved his muttonchops into something vaguely resembling the naked lady mudflaps seen on 18 wheelers. Awesome.

The waiter quickly came over and brought us some nachos, which were fantastic. The nachos themselves were great (just the right amount of saltiness and crispiness) but the salsa was outstanding. It was a green tomatilla salsa that I had never tasted before, but it was perfect. We easily pounded the first batch of nachos and were on our way through a second when our meal arrived.

The Eggs Sunspot (the meal I described above) was excellent. Not only was the presentation exquisite for the prices we were paying but the food was truly outstanding. My wife’s Pint’s Pumpkin Pancakes (“Three fluffy, golden brown pumpkin pancakes filled with butterscotch chips and topped with cinnamon sugar”) were great as well. They almost tasted like candy.

So of course this Sunday morning we check out the old Metro Pulse to see what Sunspot has on the menu this time. “Texas toast stuffed with a fried egg and topped with sautéed tomatoes, onions, spinach and prosciutto. Garnished with a jalapeno hollandaise and served with zesty potatoes and a fruit salad.” And let me tell you something. This was just as delicious as it sounded. If you know me, you know that I scarf down my food very quickly. About my 5th or 6th bite in I stopped and paused because the bite I had just taken was absolutely perfect. All the flavors present on the dish had come together wonderfully. I finished the meal around noon this time and I felt full until early evening. The meal was everything you could want in a Sunday Brunch.

So if you’re ever in Knoxville, be sure to stop in at Sunspot at 1909 Cumberland Ave. There phone number is 865-637-GOOD, and I assure you they are not lying.