Behind the scenes of a new upscale restaurant in Sewanee

Chloe Wright

Junior Editor

Sewanee’s newest restaurant, Judith Tavern, will continue to cultivate its deep roots at the University of the South—from its name, which belongs to the first woman to attend Sewanee, to what inspired its chef to open the restaurant—all with students in mind.

Nestled on the edge of the woods at 36 Ball Park Road, the Judith Tavern location has been buzzing in recent weeks as builders and planners have been renovating the building. Its creator, chef Julia Sullivan, outlined her vision for the restaurant: a bar area next to a dining room with vegan leather benches, all contributing to a warm, welcoming environment. “One of the things I love about this old building is these big, beautiful, open windows,” she said, leading me into the dining room. The windows have been left intact, giving the dining room a natural glow. “Trying to preserve as much of the original character of the building as possible is an interesting, fun part of Sewanee’s history.”

The Nashville native’s path to a remote village like Sewanee may seem unlikely. Trained at the renowned Culinary Institute of America, she worked at prestigious restaurants on the East Coast before opening her Nashville restaurant in 2017. She quickly racked up accolades, with her Henrietta Red being named one of the 50 Best New Restaurants in America by Bon Appetit in 2017 and one of the Best New Restaurants in America in 2018 by GQ magazine. Also in 2018, Food and Wine named Sullivan one of the best new chefs in the country, and she was named a 2019 semifinalist and 2020 finalist for Best Chef: Southeast at the James Beard Foundation Awards.

But Sullivan told me that coming to Sewanee was a no-brainer for her. The restaurant industry in Nashville had become saturated, and Mountain appealed to her because it was a place she had known since she was a child.

“Since the pandemic, I’ve been really thinking a lot about where I want to go next. If I was going to take another opportunity, it had to be the right one,” she said. “Sewanee is an area I’ve loved for a long time. My dad was in the class of ’69.”

As children, the Sullivans visited friends and family. Her godfather was Sewanee Professor Andrew Lytle, a famous writer and editor Sewanee Review“It became a special place for me as a child, but we lost touch with it as we got older. Sewanee was always a place I would go on weekends and take my dogs for hikes.”

When a friend sent her information about the vacant building that was being built as Judith Tavern — originally a laundromat and more recently a series of beloved restaurants — Sullivan said it felt like a stroke of fate. “Just connecting with the University, their interest in having a restaurant and my interest in opening one there, both came from the heart. I decided to do it.”

From the beginning, Sullivan said, creating a menu that would appeal to Sewanee students was an important goal. She hopes the restaurant will not only be a gathering place for alumni or prospective students and their families, but also a place where students will feel comfortable. “We’ll do that on the affordable spectrum by creating a nice, hearty menu of appetizers and shareables that you can enjoy if you don’t plan on having a three-course, sit-down dinner.”

“In addition to our appetizers, main courses and desserts, we’ll also be leaning towards more classic, tavern-style dishes like burgers,” she said. “We’d like to make our desserts available for curbside pickup, so if you’re a student who’s studying or needs a break or an outing with friends and don’t want to invest an entire evening or a certain amount of money, you can come in, buy some ice cream and walk back to campus.”

To further support the student and faculty community, Sullivan and her team have set up a section of the building to house weddings, galleries and student events. “We plan on making this space a white box, so if you rent it for an event, you can do whatever you want with it,” she said. “The restaurant and bar will provide catering.”

What does the woman who started it all think? Judith “Judy” Lineback (C’73) spoke with Purple about her reaction to Sullivan’s team asking to use her last name. “I was very surprised, but also honored,” she said. “Sullivan found out I was the first woman to start at Sewanee, so she reached out to me via email and we chatted for a while.”

Her classmates were just as excited to hear the news. “A few of my friends from Sewanee texted right away,” she said. The linebacker plans to attend the restaurant’s grand opening.

While Sullivan and her team haven’t announced an opening date, she said Judith Tavern is slated to debut in November. Follow the Instagram account @judith.tavern for updates.