Allan Benton - Benton’s Smokey Mountain Country Hams - Recommendations - Find. Eat. Drink.
Benton’s Smokey Mountain Country Hams, Allan Benton, Country Bacon, Country Ham, Prosciutto, Hickory Smoked, Madisonville, TN, Tennessee, Food Purveyor, Recommended, Chef Recommendation, Artisanal, Smoked, Unsmoked, Aged, Slow Cured, salt, brown sugar, sodium nitrite, Albert H. Hicks, Recommendations, Where to eat in Tennessee, What to buy, Food Purveyors,
Find | Food Purveyors - Ham
EDWARDS HAM
I think he’s doing a fabulous job.
Virginia Country Hams
COL. BILL NEWSOM’S AGED KENTUCKY COUNTRY HAMS
Nancy Newsom is doing a great job.
Country Ham
Eat | Restaurants - Eastern Tennessee
BLACKBERRY FARM
You just don’t improve upon it. I’m going to tell you that Blackberry Farm has got to be one of the best places, without a doubt.
Walland
American
FOOTHILLS MILLING COMPANY
www.foothillsmillingcompany.com
315 Washington Street South, Maryville, TN 37804 (view map)
T: 865.977.8434
I’m a sucker for their their short ribs and the lamb chops. The also have great seafood items. Their desserts may be the best desserts on earth. It’s a husband and wife team and she’s the baker and does an incredible job.
Maryville
American
RIDGEWOOD BARBECUE
900 Elizabethtown Highway, Bluff City, TN 37620 (view map)
T: 423.538.7543
Fabulous barbecue. It’s between Bristol and Johnson City. They have a cult following and it’s always busy. Some of the waitresses who work there are stereotypes, these gals have been there, some of them for 40 years, and look like they’ve eaten that stuff way too many times!
Bluff City
Barbecue
Eat | Restaurants - Knoxville, TN
NORTH SHORE BRASSERIE
9430 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37922 (view map)
T: 865.539.5188
It’s a great little restaurant. I like a lot of the pasta dishes that they serve.
Knoxville
French / Belgian
Eat | Restaurants - New York, NY
CRAFT
43 East 19th Street, New York, NY 10003 (view map)
T: 212.780.0880 (make a reservation)
I have to tell you that one of the most memorable meals of my life had to be the meal at Craft Restaurant. I’ve had 3 or 4 meals that stand out in my mind as the best meals I’ve ever had and that meal at Craft had to be on of them. Executive chef Damon Wise served me scallops in a bacon consume and when I close my eyes I can still remember the texture and the flavor of that product. It was amazing.
Gramercy / Flatiron
American
MOMOFUKU NOODLE BAR
I thought I had actually gone to heaven. That pork bun that he does over there.
East Village
Asian
Drink | Cocktails - New York, NY
For the Benton’s Old Fashion. Those guys are so talented. They infuse that bourbon with our smoked bacon, the grease of that bacon and it’s pretty incredible. When I first heard about it, I was skeptical, but when I had it, it changed my mind. It's a great drink. It’s the creativity of that great mixologist - Jim Meehan
East Village
Cocktails / Hot Dogs
Drink | Bourbon
PAPPY VAN WINKLE
Family Reserve 20 Year Old is available at these retailers.
Van Winkle Family Reserve Rye available at these retailers.
It’s my favorite. It was that kind of an epiphany moment. I was never a bourbon drinker until I tasted Pappy Van Winkle for the first time. I love Julian’s rye whiskey and their 20 year old bourbon.
Whiskey
Drink | Beer
Garrett Oliver is a magician! Once I had his beer, it blew me away. It was like I had never had beer before! It may be my favorite beer on this earth.
Beer
ROUXBARB
I like everything, but I really like chef Bruce Bogartz’s great appetizers. He does an incredible job with his chicken livers and mussels. I may be biased, since I think he flavors it with some of my smoked bacon.
Knoxville
Southern
THE TOMATO HEAD
One of my favorite places to have lunch. They have two restaurants and everything is fresh and organic. The quality is unbelievable.
Multiple Locations
American
Cookbooks
The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good Life.
It’s the prettiest cookbook. Great photography in that book. Just a gorgeous cookbook.
Purchase at: Amazon.com
Author: Sam Beall
Momofuku
David Chang is pretty amazing.
Purchase at: Amazon.com
Author: David Chang / Peter Meehan
PIG PERFECT: Encounters with Remarkable Swine and Some Great Ways to Cook Them
I met Peter when we were on a panel together. He pointed out how important it was to find these older breeds of hogs, not the modern stuff but the old traditional breeds. He said they need to be raised on pasture, no antibiotics. I bit hook, line and sink.
Purchase at: Amazon.com
Author: Peter Kaminsky
BOOKS BY: ROBERT ST. JOHN
Robert St. John, down in Mississippi, writes a syndicated column for some newspapers and he owns some restaurants. I think I have just about every cookbook he’s done, they are entertaining, they are practical and they are wonderful.
Purchase at: Amazon.com
Author: Robert St. John
SOUTHERN LIVING COOKBOOKS
My wife has a passion for cookbooks. We love the Southern Living cookbooks.
Purchase at: Amazon.com
Author: Various
SALUMERIA BIELLESE
They make wonderful sausages and charcuterie items and have a restaurant next door. He did an amazing job.
Midtown West / Chelsea
Charcuterie
Madisonville, TN
Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams
Recommended By
- Chef Sean Brock (McCrady’s & Husk Restaurants)
- Chef Matt Jennings (Farmstead)
- Chef Jose Garces (Garces Restaurant Group)
- Chef George Mendes (Aldea Restaurant)
- Scott Witherow (Olive and Sinclair)
Recommendations
Allan Benton’s recommendations for restaurants, ham, bourbon, beer, and cookbooks.
Who
Allan Benton, owner of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams.
Why
Allan Benton’s slow cured and smoky hams have achieved celebrity status with many of the top chefs in the country. They love his products so much, they specify on their menus that they are using Benton’s.
February 17, 2011
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