Bristol’s three-day music festival, Rhythm and Roots, begins September 8.
32,000 people visited last year. Even during non-festival times, downtown Bristol is seeing a steady increase in new businesses, including a restaurant called Union 41, located inside a historic greyhound bus station. Fans of the reality cooking show “Hell’s Kitchen” might recall the owner, Chef T.
The kitchen is in the center of Union 41. Countertop seats surround the cooks as steam rises from pans, ice cream is scooped, and oysters are tossed on the grill.
“We know to come early enough to sit here at the counter, where we can watch all the magic happen,” said Larry Kirksey, who was with his wife and granddaughters, sitting along the coveted counter seats, eating crab beignets and red snapper.
“We’ve been here several times. We live in Bristol,” Kirksey said. “You know, we were watching to see what this was all about. Cause the chef has a terrific reputation, but she’s not from here.”
Torrece Gregoire, who goes by Chef T, earned celebrity fame during repeated appearances on Hell’s Kitchen. Then, she moved southwest Virginia, on “accident on purpose” as she likes to tell people.
“This was nowhere in my plans, I was actually going north to take a job,” said Gregoire.
A friend invited her to make a short stop in Pulaski County.
“When I got to the rolling hills of Virginia, there was just something about it that just drew me in,” Gregoire said. “Some of the best sleep of my life. There was this clarity.”
After that stop, she made the decision to move to Virginia.
A native of the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Gregoire grew up watching her grandmother cook.
“She had a very commanding presence. But it was rounded out with just this love,” Gregoire said. Those memories drew her to become a chef.
“When I think about removing myself from this industry, I just like, I can’t because I feel like she passed something on to me that if I let it go it will almost be like dishonor to her,” Gregoire said.
At Union 41 she cooks food she grew up eating in St. Vincent, but also draws on recipes from all over the world, like oxtail ramen from Japan, jerk chicken from Jamaica.
Another dish with braised pork belly was influenced by Appalachian cuisine, and food that was eaten by people who were enslaved. “A pig and three sisters” is served with pinto bean stew, and squash. Gregoire buys as much as she can from local growers and changes the dish to match the seasons (squash blossoms in spring, summer squash, and butternut squash).
Gregoire opened her first restaurant in Wise County in early 2020, three months before COVID hit. She closed in the middle of her first year of opening.
“I felt like I was like giving up on my grandmother’s legacy and the things that she taught me. And it was tough,” Gregoire said.
Fast forward to 2023. When she decided to open her second restaurant, this time she landed in Bristol, because she was drawn to the mixture of city and country. And because it’s within a few hours’ drive of cities like Asheville, Knoxville, and Charlotte.
“And I feel like Bristol is on the cusp of this economic boom,” Gregoire said.
Downtown Bristol is filled with new businesses. According to Beth Rhinehart, CEO of Bristol Chamber of Commerce, there’s been a steady increase of shops and restaurants over the past decade, including hotels, coffee shops, a distillery and several restaurants.
“And Union 41 has added an amazing new and unique layer of dining and entertainment to our downtown vibe,” Rhinehart said.
Union 41 has been able to cultivate a local following, and steady visitors from out of town. On a recent weeknight, the restaurant was filled to capacity. A country singer played in the background, and customers craned their necks as a gorgeous chiffon cake decorated with berries made its appearance in the open-air kitchen.
Two sisters from San Antonio, Texas were eating oxtail ramen, a dish they’d never tasted before tonight.
“The food here is absolutely awesome. And it lives up to its expectations,” said Paulette Hall. She and her sister Lutricia Zavala knew of Chef T from Hell’s Kitchen.
As Gregoire made her rounds to check on customers, the two Texas sisters asked if she’ll pose with them for a photo.
Union 41 is open Tuesday-Saturday for dinner 5-8. On Sundays they serve brunch from 10:30-2, and dinner from 5-8. Reservations are recommended. During Rhythm and Roots, the restaurant will be open first come, first serve, and they are not accepting reservations this weekend.
