Joseph Lenn

Joseph Lenn is an American chef and restaurateur. He is the chef and owner of J.C. Holdway, a restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee, named after his great-uncle. Lenn is the first chef from Tennessee to receive the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast, which he won in 2013 for his work at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee.[1]

Career

Lenn worked at Blackberry Farm for ten years and served as Executive Chef for five of those years.[1] In 2016, he opened J.C. Holdway, a wood-fire restaurant in downtown Knoxville focused on Appalachian ingredients and Southern cooking traditions.[2] The restaurant is located in the historic Daylight Building on Union Avenue.[3] Lenn was featured in the PBS television series The Mind of a Chef (Season 2, “Roots”), where he appeared alongside Sean Brock and Anthony Bourdain in a segment filmed at Blackberry Farm.[4]

His work and culinary approach have been profiled by national outlets including The New York Times, Eater, Esquire, and Forbes Travel Guide.[1][5][6]

He has also contributed original recipes to The Wall Street Journal, including features on grilled lamb chops with eggplant tapenade, wax bean salad with cucumber, blackberries, and mint, pancetta-wrapped quail with tomato-pesto salad, and grilled shrimp with watermelon, basil, corn, and burrata.[7][8][9][10] His recipe for gochujang barbecue ribs with peanuts and scallions was also published in The New York Times.[11]

Awards and honors

James Beard Foundation Awards

  • 2013 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast[1]

Restaurant recognition

  • Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America (2017)[12]
  • Eater’s 12 Best New Restaurants in America (2017)[13]
  • Garden & Gun’s The Year in Southern Restaurants (2016)[14]
  • Wine Spectator Award of Excellence (2025)[15]

Personal life

Lenn was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee.[1][6] He continues to live and work in East Tennessee and is known for emphasizing local sourcing and seasonal Southern cuisine in his cooking.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Black, Jane (June 20, 2017). "A Blackberry Farm Chef Goes for a Broader Audience". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  2. ^ Canavan, Hillary Dixler (September 29, 2016). "How a Beard Award Winner Is Heating Up Knoxville's Dining Scene". Eater. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  3. ^ "Daylight Building". National Park Service. National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  4. ^ "The Mind of a Chef – Roots". PBS. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  5. ^ Canavan, Hillary Dixon (December 21, 2016). "The Most Beautiful Restaurants of 2016". Eater. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Gibson, Claire (June 17, 2013). "Talking Tennessee Cuisine With A Four-Star Chef". Forbes Travel Guide. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  7. ^ Greenwald, Kitty (August 9, 2013). "Joseph Lenn's Recipe for Grilled Lamb Chops With Eggplant Tapenade". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  8. ^ Greenwald, Kitty (July 26, 2013). "Chef Joseph Lenn's Recipe for Wax Bean Salad With Cucumber, Blackberries and Mint". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  9. ^ Greenwald, Kitty (August 2, 2013). "Chef Joseph Lenn's Recipe for Pancetta-Wrapped Quail With Tomato-Pesto Salad". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  10. ^ Greenwald, Kitty (July 19, 2013). "Chef Joseph Lenn's Recipe for Grilled Shrimp With Watermelon, Basil, Corn and Burrata". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  11. ^ Lenn, Joseph; Jane Black (June 23, 2023). "Gochujang BBQ Ribs With Peanuts and Scallions". The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2025. The simplest dishes are the hardest to get right, and barbecue ribs are no exception...
  12. ^ Gordinier, Jeff (October 18, 2017). "The Best New Restaurants in America 2017". Esquire. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  13. ^ Addison, Bill (July 26, 2017). "The Best New Restaurants in America 2017". Eater. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  14. ^ Portman, Jed (December 29, 2016). "2016 in Southern Restaurants". Garden & Gun. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  15. ^ Hayes, Joanna (July 11, 2025). "Downtown restaurant earns first Wine Spectator award, joining repeat Knoxville winners". Knoxville News Sentinel. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
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