Lilou Brings French Fine Dining to Knoxville with Help from KaTom

A gap existed in the Knoxville, Tenn., dining market. While patrons could venture downtown to find everything from seafood to classic Southern fare to modern barbecue, Jessica King and Aaron Thompson noticed something was missing.

What hasn't been available is a restaurant specializing in fine French dining. After two years of planning, renovations, and design, Lilou officially opened its doors on Jan. 4, 2024, to fill that gap and offer Knoxville residents a modern French cuisine experience in an elegant atmosphere.

Lilou opened shop with two kitchens and a bar stocked and outfitted by KaTom Restaurant Supply, furthering an already-established relationship that has helped King and Thompson shape the Knoxville dining scene for more than a decade.

From Sapphire to Lilou and several in between

Thompson and King's first foray into business together was with downtown mainstay Sapphire, a bar and eatery the pair turned into one of Knoxville's premier nightlife locations. Sapphire operated in space Lilou now fills —albeit with a different layout— in the first floor of the historic 1897 Hope Building. The popular location closed in 2021 to make way for redevelopment of the upper floors of the building into boutique Hotel Cleo.

That same year the duo opened Brother Wolf and Osteria Stella, companion projects comprising an aperitivo bar and a fine dining Italian concept in the Old City that helped to further transform the culinary options in Knoxville.

After closing Sapphire, King and Thompson began exploring the concept of a French restaurant centered around fine dining, something a few have tried over the years in Knoxville with mixed results. The two studied what worked and what didn't at those early attempts, using all the information at their disposal to ensure they put together the best possible plan.

"With The Orangery gone and having been gone for as long as it has been, it was such a staple of Knoxville for so long," King told KaTom referring to a fine-dining restaurant called the "grande dame of Knoxville's culinary scene" by city's newspaper. "It was operated and owned by the Kendrick family for decades. I think Knoxville sort of felt the loss of it since its closure. So I think we knew the demand was there, we just had to confidently fill that gap."

"There were others who tried," Thompson added. "There were a few different great interpretations of French along the way. It's a very risky business for people. If the timing isn't right and every aspect isn't right, it's tough. We're grateful that those entrepreneurs tried. They're kind of the forebears in that way. We learned from the path of others."

Overcoming Perception

Part of the challenges that come with opening a French restaurant revolve around the perception some have that French cuisine is pretentious or snooty. That's not lost on King and Thompson.

Knoxville itself fights its own perceptions. Many see Knoxville as an area that can't support fine dining, let alone an elegant French restaurant. After all, this is the football-crazy college town once dubbed a "scruffy little city" by a Wall Street Journal reporter.

"People have a habit of sort of dumbing down what they think Knoxville wants," King said. "It's just chicken wings and beer and country music. And those things are great, just 100-percent great and fantastic things, but we have a lot of those concepts in Knoxville already. This city gets pigeonholed, and I think there's this big perception about this city that you can't do nice things here because people won't come out for that. They won't pay the money for it. But we believe in Knoxville."

King is a third-generation Knoxville resident and Thompson has spent the majority of his life in the town, giving the two unique perspectives on the city and an idea of the type of restaurant the city is capable of supporting.

In addition to the case studies put out by other attempts at French concepts, King and Thompson had proof that came a little closer to home. The duo’s restaurant Osteria Stella opened in 2021, and it’s popularity has shown that Knoxville has a clearly defined market for fine dining.

"We have an excellent case study of this at (Osteria Stella),” Thompson said. “We've proven there is a market for fine dining, even in a category like Italian, which is perceived as more of a humble food or family-style food. The time is right for French, and we went to great lengths to make it happen."

Patience and Perseverance

Given the Hope Building's over 100-year age, there were challenges when bringing it up to code while still maintaining the antique feel and atmosphere.

Almost every surface in the building had to be redone. Floors were ripped out and replaced, and structural issues were addressed before equipment was brought in and interior decorating was done.

Thompson and King made their initial order for equipment for Lilou with KaTom in 2021, but the renovations left them with nowhere to put the equipment, so the package had to be stored offsite.

KaTom outfitted the majority of Lilou’s main kitchen, pastry kitchen, and stocked all the back-bar equipment, such as sliding door back-bar coolers and a tap system. But when this order was fulfilled and couldn’t be delivered, KaTom’s customer service and staging capabilities came into play.

"The logistical challenges, there were a lot," Thompson said. "Those, along with supply chain issues, led to so many delays on this project as far as the restaurant itself and the hotel itself. We bought our equipment from KaTom two years before it got installed. It was sitting in the warehouse for two years. A lot of it arrived and we were just kind of like 'well we can't take it yet,' but they were just really patient about it, as patient as they could be."

Customer service is the foundation of KaTom's business, but it's up to the sales team to communicate that value to the customer. For Lilou, KaTom Regional Sales Manager Harrison Genseal was responsible for ensuring every kitchen need was met. When it came to a relationship with a supplier, King and Thompson valued Genseal's dedication to communication and honesty.

KaTom's decades-long relationship with hundreds of vendors means there's no shortage of options when it comes to any piece of equipment a restaurant may need, but not every piece fits into every kitchen. This is where Genseal's earnestness came into play.

"Harrison is a go-getter," King said. "He follows through, he's not afraid to take the extra time to meet onsite or to meet in person. He's just the kind of person who's not afraid to put in the work, especially when you've established a good relationship with him over time. He's a goody and he follows through.

"He's also honest, and that's huge. You can just tell when he says 'Hey, I don't think this is the right product for you, I might suggest this,' that he's saying it for the right reasons. You know he's telling you the truth."

A Local Flavor

In addition to KaTom's vendor relationships and customer service, the opportunity to support a local business also originally drew Thompson and King to the East Tennessee-based company.

As the two have continued to support the Knoxville dining market, working with local businesses has become a habit not just because of the convenience, but because of the opportunity to return the favor to folks who come out and support them.

For example, a stained glass window overlooking the bar was built locally, and the bar itself was designed and crafted entirely by hand by an area woodworker using wood sourced from the region. So when it comes to supporting a business like KaTom that shares the two owners' passion for giving back to the community, the choice was easy.

"We've worked with KaTom for many years on many different projects," King said. "The concept of working with local companies not just because it's more convenient but because it contributes to the local economy. They have a large staff at KaTom, and they pay it forward as well. They come back and support us just like we support them with our business."

King and Thompson also brought their own flavor to Lilou's atmosphere. While the bones of the design were done by an outside firm, the heart of the interior – the artwork covering the walls – was picked out by King.

That atmosphere was front and center during Lilou's opening night. Though Thompson was under the weather and not able to make the event, everything went without a hitch.

"We were told by a number of guests that it seems like we've been open for a year or more, which is exactly what you want to hear," King said. "You couldn't really ask for more than that. We want this space to feel homey, well used, and well-loved already, so if we are able to convey that then we've done our job. So it went really well, and we can't wait to do it again and again and again."