Chattanooga Pulse

Just a little over a week ago marked the first anniversary of a restaurant in a local hotel.  I am hesitant to use that terminology…hotel restaurant evokes images of Howard Johnson’s and Denny’s. ELEVEN is anything but.

On October 8, 2008, Vision Hospitality Group opened the Doubletree Hotel on Chestnut Street after months of renovations, repositioning themselves as an upscale, full-service hotel.  The property underwent a vast number of changes; updating the rooms and meeting space to have a more modern and stylish appearance and adding a new heated, outdoor saltwater pool.  But perhaps the most notable change was the addition of a new second-floor restaurant, ELEVEN.

During the planning stages of the restaurant, the owners of Vision Hospitality Group decided they wanted a fresh look at what a hotel restaurant could be.  The restaurant needed to match the contemporary design schemes and warm, vibrant colors of the hotel.  Says Chef Joe Fidelibus, who joined Vision Hospitality Group a year before the opening of ELEVEN, “The atmosphere matches the clean lines and freshness of the hotel. It’s naturally lighted, comfortable seating with plenty of elbow room, very unpretentious with colors that brighten your day. In the evening, we drape our tables with linen and dim the lighting to offer a relaxing end-of-the-day mode.”

When asked what has made ELEVEN successful, Chef Fidelibus says, “Some venues give up, offering mundane menu items and some go over the top with high prices that drive guests outside the facility. Our thoughts were to offer traditional/local and regional favorites with some twists.”  The culinary team at ELEVEN does just this with items such as their fried green tomatoes appetizer.  They’ve taken mama’s recipe and tweaked it, adding a pimento cheese topping and balsamic reduction as an accent sauce.  Says Chef Fidelibus, “Visitors to our region expect some of the ‘flavors’ they have heard about and this is one way to give them a taste of the New South.”

Another explanation for the success of ELEVEN is that the staff of the restaurant went to the visitors for ideas.  They spoke with guests; either in person, via e-mail, or through notes left at the restaurant, and found that overwhelmingly, what people wanted was comfort food.  In the beginning, ELEVEN offered heavier meals like steaks and chops.  Once the guests had spoken, Chef Fidelibus and his culinary crew made some modifications to the menu.  A Hanger Steak was added to replace some of the heavier offerings.  Served with merlot reduction gravy, the Hanger Steak flies out of the kitchen.  The staff also found that guests of the hotel were leaving the facility for the day, either attending business meetings or visiting local tourist attractions, so they took to the streets—they went into the business community and invited them in for lunch.

Chef Fidelibus and his staff asked them what they would like to see in a restaurant, and asked them to forget that ELEVEN was located in a hotel.  Again, the people responded with a cry for comfort—comfort food, that is—as well as reasonable prices and fresh offerings.  From this, a lunch buffet was created.  Monday through Friday, ELEVEN offers a lunch buffet with a bountiful salad buffet, freshly baked yeast rolls, homemade soups, three entrees, three vegetables, pastas, pilafs, potatoes and a dessert buffet lovingly created by their baker, Donna. “All of this including your beverage for $8.95,” says Chef Fidelibus, “and you eat on china, not out of a paper bag.”

Since ELEVEN’s lunch buffet had been such a hit, Chef Fidelibus and staff decided, two weeks prior to the holiday, to host an Easter dinner.  To their surprise, 450 people showed up.  The same thing happened on Mother’s Day.  Now the staff at ELEVEN is offering a lavish buffet on Thanksgiving as well.

Hotel restaurants are often viewed by locals as a place for out of town guests to grab a quick bite before heading out for the day or turning in for the night.  Since its opening, the staff at ELEVEN has made it a mission to change the way Chattanooga thinks when it comes to hotel dining.

ELEVEN is located on the second floor of the Doubletree Hotel at 407 Chestnut Street, in downtown Chattanooga. (423) 756-5150.