Lilou's new French restaurant: traveling through time and space in Knoxville

The couple behind Sapphire Bar are almost back in business at the bar's former Gay Street location - this time with a new French bar and restaurant that will complement a hotel opening in the building. Aaron Thompson and Jessica King are putting the finishing touches on Lilou, first reported by Knox News in October 2021. It is scheduled to open in January at 428 S. Gay St., and as a follow-up to the success of Brother Wolf in Old Town, which was recognized by Esquire magazine as one of the best bars in the country and is part of their Italian restaurant Osteria Stella.

With Lilou, the couple takes a similar approach to their Italian concepts. Like at Osteria Stella, where they hired a chef fromMilan for originality, Lilou's chef Benjamin Tilatti was born and''grew up in southwestern France.

"If you've ever eaten at Osteria Stella, you know you'll be presented with a course menu and the waiter will introduce you to it if you have questions," Thompson told Knox News. "It literally happens in a 'pinned menu' style, but you choose your own path ... It's my favorite kind of experience because everything goes smoothly and you feel like you're taken care of. "

Waiters will "disarm" diners of any preconceptions that the French experience is too luxurious for them, Thompson said. There's nothing pretentious about the space ... except for a few chandeliers designed by local company Pretentious Glass Co.

Lilou is a new downtown space that "feels a hundred years old".

Thompson'. 'said the entrance to Lilou is like entering an art gallery, although to be fair, the collection of framed paintings on the wall includes many pieces from estate sales and Facebook Marketplace.

King told Knox News that finding these pieces became her obsession, and Parisian streetlights turned into chandeliers helped define their vision for Lilou - a name that means "lily" in French and is easy to pronounce, Thompson said.

"Our goal was to create a space that already looks and feels a century old," King said.

This means no white tablecloths, but instead 'old' tables,''Which "felt like someone had touched them a thousand times," Thompson said. While they're at it, they'll add pressed velvet to the seats to "soften the room" with comfort while maintaining luxury.

The bar seats about 17 people. The entire room seats about 100 people. While it's "bittersweet" for Thompson to no longer have room for Sapphire, which planned to close temporarily in 2021 but never opened, he's happy to welcome customers to the new concept.

"If COVID has taught us anything, it's that you have to be flexible," he said. "Look at what came out of (closing Sapphire). We opened Brother Wolf and Stella, which turned out to be huge successes ... It allowed us to realize that project. And it made us take the restaurant business even more seriously.".

French chef'. 'brings culture and cuisine to downtown Knoxville

Since Tilatti lives in Knoxville, he'll be representing his native country downtown, even his heritage foie gras (again, don't worry: waiters will help you with your choices).