LA COSTA
GREG WHITE’S GREEN DREAM
La Costa on Market Square. La Costa should have stayed. I viewed it as the beginning of our new downtown. It was in the Latin style, so popular in Knoxville, featuring young chefs full of fresh new ideas. The new Market Square parking garage was finished, and you could come out of the garage right near the restaurant, providing a solution to any West Knoxvillians’ apprehensions about dining downtown. I still remember the first time a friend said to me, “Oh, I think we can just park at the garage, at Market Square.” Park at the garage at Market Square? We were all trying to grasp this new concept.
Greg White had opened his groundbreaking Nama Sushi Bar downtown in 2004, on the 100 block of Gay Street. He was later inspired by his two-year-old daughter, Emma Claire, to set a good example for her by living environmentally consciously. This inspiration resulted in White opening his second restaurant in 2006, which became the eco-friendly eatery La Costa at 31 Market Square.
In 2007, La Costa received a Green Certification from the Green Restaurant Association. It was only the second restaurant in Tennessee to earn the honor. Many steps went into being a green restaurant, including using a comprehensive recycling system for waste products, using products free of Styrofoam and a commitment to completing four environmentally friendly steps every year.
White invested in a truck and trailer to take glass, paper, metal, aluminum and plastic to the recycling center every week. All paper products such as menus, paper towels, take-out containers and office paper were either biodegradable, compostable or made from other recycled products. Compact fluorescent lighting, which could last twelve times longer, was used rather than ordinary bulbs. All cleaning supplies were non-toxic and chlorine free, and low-flow aerators were used on the sinks to conserve water. Cooking oil was recycled, and locally grown, organic vegetables were primarily used. The beef and chicken were free-range, the seafood was non-farmed and even the wine offered at La Costa was organic and from 100 percent self-sustaining vineyards. Going green caused a 4 to 6 percent increase in operating costs, but White expected to save money on water and utilities. With his staff dedicated to the idea as well, White related that La Costa had become “greener than I thought we could ever achieve.”
The food at La Costa was to be nuevo-latino cuisine with a fresh twist. It was described as “a fun new place to eat on Market Square.” The atmosphere was simple and sleek. Walls and the ceiling were washed in shades of soft blue, green and brown. Wooden tables and slatted-back chairs followed by booths lined the left of the space along a natural brick wall, while a bar with a long wine rack was immediately to the right. Paintings from local artists hung on the walls.
White and Chef Brandon Cruze developed a menu committed to natural, organic, fresh, seasonal and local ingredients. Early menu items included small plates of grilled flank steak or fish tacos and entrées such as tempura eggplant napoleon; braised short rib of beef on plantain blini with buffalo oysters and cucumber salsa; goat cheese and roasted red pepper quesadilla; red curry with tofu; and jerk-rubbed salmon with roasted corn and mashed potatoes with a sweet pea coulis. With the first bite, I proclaimed it my new favorite restaurant.
La Costa was a small restaurant with no walk-in cooler, only a three-door cooler. There was no space to make big batches or to store premade items, guaranteeing the consumer their product would be made fresh. The menu only continued to evolve and later featured starters of a salad of orange supremes, julienned fennel and shaved radishes with an orange cumin vinaigrette; brie en croute with citrus marmalade, chipotle candied pecans and tortilla points; and scallop and shrimp ceviche with tomatillos, red onion, corn, sherry vinegar and blackened tortilla points. Entrées included roast bone-in pork chops with Benton’s bacon corn pudding and sautéed Brussels sprouts; beef culotte with peppered fig sauce, blue cheese Yukon mashed potatoes and pan-roasted broccolini; and pan-seared grouper with Spanish rice, braised Swiss chard and a blood orange coulis. Desserts were a phyllo-wrapped banana with walnuts, chocolate and coconut Chantilly; ginger panna cotta with raspberry gelée and white chocolate crème Anglaise; and the unforgettable white chocolate Blondie with pumpkin ice cream.
In 2008, White sold La Costa to Ken and Mary Carol Eddleman of Atlanta in order to return his focus to Nama. That same year, he opened the second location of Nama at 5130 Kingston Pike in Bearden, along with Emma’s at Choto Marina. White’s idea was to take the concept of Nama to hotels, and he planned to open one in the Westin north of Orlando, Florida. In 2011, he planned a new restaurant and bar at the corner of Jackson Avenue and Broadway, to be called the Corner BP. Those projects did not work out, and White eventually sold Nama and moved on to other interests.
Although La Costa closed in 2011, Greg White’s eclectic eatery played a major role in drawing more of the Knoxville population downtown. White’s advice to restaurateurs wanting to be environmentally friendly was to be “100 percent dedicated to the cause. You have to think about it daily. You have to plan. You have to seek out ways. You have to be creative, and you have to have above all else a staff that believe in the same things you do.” La Costa, on Market Square.
Greg White, along with the many other past restaurateurs of Knoxville, was not out for riches or fame but to bring something new, creative and of quality to his city. It has been a pleasure and honor learning and preserving their stories.