Father’s Day on the Rocks at Bourbon Steak Nashville, JW Marriott Nashville

Father’s Day on the Rocks at Bourbon Steak Nashville, JW Marriott Nashville
Join JW Marriott Nashville and Bourbon Steak Nashville on Sunday, June 16 in celebration of Father’s Day and revel in stunning panoramic views of downtown Nashville while sipping exquisite Bourbons and savoring light snacks and canapes prepared by Executive Chef Travis Tanner. Lead Bartender Dustin Segenian will lead a lesson in preparing the famous smoked A5 Old Fashioned, which guests will be able to imitate at home with a copy of the recipe and their very own branded Bourbon Steak Glencairn glass.

Executive Chef Travis Tanner

For this special event, guests will be granted exclusive access to the Bourbon Sky Terrace and Cocktail Lounge ahead of the public opening. Please note, guests must be 21+ to attend. Valet parking will be complimentary, though rideshare is highly encouraged. Tickets are priced at $175 (booking link here).

Sip & Savor: Exploring the Flavors of Nashville's 2024 Wine and Food Festival

Story by Pam Windsor

It’s become an annual favorite for those who love wine and want to learn more about it. More than 200 wines from around the world were available for sampling at this year’s Nashville Wine & Food Festival held at the downtown Omni Hotel. Festival attendees walked from table to table tasting wines from California, Washington, Spain, France, New Zealand and elsewhere, while listening to live music and dining on small bites from local restaurants and businesses.

“This is so well-done with a wide variety of different winemakers,” noted Alice Hendry. “And they have it set up by region, so you can go to the French area or Sonoma area or wherever which makes it a lot of fun. And you get to learn about what you’re tasting and how each one was made.”

Attendees enjoyed pours from over 200 wines from around the world.

It’s the opportunity to learn about the wine as you go, that sets this festival apart. While sampling such a large number of wines in one location is always a big draw, the key component here is education.

“We don’t want vendors just coming here and pouring wine,” said Paul Patel, owner of CorkDorks the Nashville-based wine and spirits store behind the event. “We have somebody at every table who knows about the wine and can talk about how it’s made. These are winemakers and industry experts, and this is vital to what we do.”

Those behind the tables, like Ryan Martin with Hedges Family Estate Winery in Washington, get to share their knowledge and delve into what goes into making each bottle of wine.

“We’re giving people a taste of what Washington state wine is all about,” he said. “Most people know California wines, but in Washington we have different flavor profiles. For example, we get two hours more sunlight a day than Napa does, so typically our wines use smaller grapes with a little bit more concentrated fruit.”

Jordan Heim from Delicato Family Wines shared what makes his company’s imported Stoneleigh wine unique.

“It’s the No. 1 selling wine in New Zealand, so locals drink it,” he said. “But one cool thing about the winery itself is each vineyard, or row of vines, has river rocks sitting below it. So, throughout the day, they heat up and once the sun sets and the evening cools down, those river rocks radiate some of the heat collected earlier, and create kind of an even temperature through the night. So, it’s a very interesting winery in that regard.”

Wine enthusiasts walked from table to table tasting wines from California, Washington, Spain, France, New Zealand and elsewhere, while listening to live music and dining on small bites from local restaurants and businesses.

For so many wineries, it’s the stories behind the vineyards themselves that make the wine special.

“Lux Wines is a small boutique division with E&J Gallo and we’re the tip of the sword with interesting new items,” noted representative Jeff Adler. “Our wines have either a philosophy or an estate or a winemaker that makes them who they are. It’s a co-op, so we help them, and they help us. Frankly, it’s about legacy and doing the right thing. And it’s great for me to be able to interact with a crowd who may not have seen these wines before.”

The festival’s goal of teaching people about wine began earlier in the day with a series of seminars leading up to the wine-tasting portion of the event. Topics included “Hidden Villages of Burgundy,” “Fresh Faces of California,” “How to Drink Australian,” and others.

“We had a seminar on Burgundy that included Burgundy tasting and education,” Patel explained. “We had one on Australian wine, another with a winemaker from Spain, one that involved a Cabernet face-off between Napa and Sonoma, and others. We do new and different wine seminars every year.”

Those teaching opportunities are an extension of the mini seminars he does on a regular basis in his Nashville store. It’s something he’s done since he first began selling wine and spirits two decades ago. He takes the same approach with his companion Nashville Whiskey Festival in October.

He believes people, young and old, want to learn more about the art of making wine and spirits, and the stories behind their favorite brands, even as they learn about new ones. And given this year’s turnout, he’s right on the mark.

For more information and to stay up to date for next year’s Nashville Wine and Food Festival, please visit www.nashvillewineandfoodfestival.com

Peg Leg Porker Story

Peg Leg Porker

Oasis

Carey Bringle’s love of barbecue began as a young boy growing up in Nashville. Back when he spent year after year with his grandfather and uncle, learning the art of making great barbecue, he never dreamed he’d one day turn his passion into a business. Bringle, who sharpened his skills and expertise at the world-renowned Memphis in May World Championship of BBQ (he’s competed thirty-one times), eventually opened Peg Leg Porker in 2013. (The restaurant’s name refers to Bringle himself who lost his right leg to bone cancer at the age of seventeen.)

Carey Bringle

Situated in downtown Nashville’s Gulch area, Peg Leg Porker serves West Tennessee barbecue which means pulled pork, smoked chicken, and Bringle’s signature style dry-rubbed ribs. Staying true to tradition, there is no beef on the menu, and the ribs are cooked a specific way.

“We smoke our ribs with hickory smoke, then add our signature barbecue seasoning,” Bringle explains.

“A lot of people will pre-rub a rib and serve it to you with no sauce and call it a dry rib. And that might be a great rib, but it’s not a West Tennessee dry rib. A West Tennessee dry rib has barbecue seasoning that goes on at the end the process.”

His award-winning barbecue (ranked the top barbecue in Tennessee by Southern Living Magazine for five of the past ten years) is served alongside popular sides like barbecue beans, smoked green beans with onion and bacon, creamy shells, and capped off by hot fried pies for dessert.

And Bringle has not only been successful with his barbecue, he also quickly followed it with an award-winning spirit: Peg Leg Porker Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

He doesn’t own a distillery but was able to source some quality bourbon and create his own filtering process, tied to his much-loved barbecue brand.

“We found some aged product, and then experimented and tested around on our flavor profile,” Bringle says.

“What I landed on was a hickory charcoal filtering process. We use hickory in our cooking process, so it was natural to use hickory charcoal. Unlike the Lincoln Country process (the usual process for Tennessee whiskey) where you distill it, then run it through sugar maple charcoal before it goes into the barrel, we run it through hickory charcoal as a finishing process before we bottle it.”

It’s given it a signature flavor that pairs perfectly with barbecue and has won the prestigious Gold Medal at the San Francisco World Spirits competition.

Bringle created Peg Leg Porker as a single, family-owned legacy restaurant with no plans to open any others or expand into a chain of Peg Leg Porkers. But he has opened other barbecue restaurants like his Bringle’s Smoking Oasis in the Nations neighborhood of Nashville.

“I wanted this to be completely different and have its own identity from Peg Leg Porker. So, Bringle’s Smoking Oasis is Texas-style. It’s brisket, smoked pastrami, smoked turkey, and salt-and-pepper ribs.”

The menu allows for more creativity, too, in terms of side dishes. Bringle’s is also much bigger than Peg Leg Porker, has outdoor space where people can bring their dogs and children, and includes big screen TVs where people can watch games. 

“It’s cool atmosphere, but totally different than the cinder block and concrete of Peg Leg Porker.”

While Bringle is sole owner of Peg Leg Porker and Bringle’s Smoking Oasis, he’s partnered with others for two additional Nashville-area barbecue restaurants: Fatbelly Pretzel in East Nashville which serves as a bakery and a deli (run by Levon and Kim Wallace), and Pig Star at the Nashville International Airport (operated by Delaware North).

Bringle says he’s happy to share his love and expertise for barbecue in so many ways. (He also wrote the book “BBQ for Dummies.”) And he’s grateful for the success, the friendships, and camaraderie the barbecue world has given him.

“You know, I love it because of the people. Those in the barbecue community who do this for a living are wonderful people, very charitable and very giving. And the people who are barbecue fans, they’re great, too! They come in from all over the country and all over the world, and many have traveled from very far distances specifically to eat at our restaurant. It’s very flattering and humbling, and I want to do a good job for them and make sure they have an amazing experience.”

For more on Peg Leg Porker visit https://peglegporker.com/

Chef Trey Cioccia - The Farm House and Black Rabbit

The Farm House

The Black Rabbit

Nashville’s culinary scene has grown extensively over the past decade with new restaurants opening on a regular basis, adding a wide variety to the mix of dining options available.

Chef Trey Cioccia

And yet, when it comes to exceptional Southern cuisine with fresh ingredients sourced from local farmers, Chef Trey Cioccia’s two downtown restaurants still end up on the list of favorites with both locals and out-of-town visitors alike.

He owns The Farm House in the SoBro section of downtown (south of Lower Broadway) and Black Rabbit in Printer’s Alley, both within walking distance of each other.

“It’s interesting,” Cioccia says, “we get so many people who discover us on the last day of their visit who say, ‘We wish we would have found you sooner!’”

Cioccia is a Nashville-native who grew up with a love of the land and a deep appreciation for those who work it, thanks to his grandfather, a Middle Tennessee farmer. Early on, Cioccia discovered a personal knack for cooking, so after high school, he decided to go to culinary school in Birmingham, Alabama.

“It was the first time in my life I got straight A’s,” he says with a laugh. “I loved it!”

After leaving Birmingham, Cicoccia spent some time in Italy becoming familiar with Italian cuisine before returning home to Nashville. He worked for some other area kitchens, including the prestigious Hermitage Hotel, before deciding to open The Farm House in 2013.

Over the past decade, The Farm House has made a name for itself for its food, warm, cozy environment, and stellar cocktails. Popular dishes include pimento cheese beignets, homemade cornbread, and pig ears, just to name a few. And for a main dish, try the lamb ragu. It’s a personal favorite of the owner.

“It’s super simple braised lamb, it’s got a little fig in it, mushrooms cooked down, and then it’s got parmesan polenta,” ‘Cioccia says. “My wife and I had dinner there recently. Isn’t that funny, I had dinner at my own restaurant. But it was amazing, absolutely amazing.”

In 2017, Cioccia decided to open a second restaurant about four blocks away called the Black Rabbit.  The dishes here are also made-from-scratch, using locally sourced ingredients, but the overall approach is a little different.

“We wanted it to be open kitchen and we wanted it to be very social,” Cioccia says. “We wanted people to put their phones away, share food, talk to each other, have cocktails, and listen to some good blues and jazz.”

Black Rabbit is housed in an old building with some unique history. A former attorney for Jimmy Hoffa once had his office here. In the early 1960’s, that attorney later accused the FBI of bugging his office to get incriminating evidence on the infamous labor union leader. 

“There’s so much history in that building including it being Jimmy Hoffa’s lawyer’s office,” Cioccia says. “Built in 1891, it’s a beautiful place, and we didn’t want to take any of that away when we built it out. We wanted to leave everything as original as we could.”

The layout provides a relaxed setting to sample items like Cioccia’s famous rabbit rolls.

“It’s served on a Hawaiian roll we make in house, then we do a mixture of Swiss cheese, poppy seed, grated onion, and mustard. Then our rabbit spam is rabbit and pork, cooked like a pate, and that’s taken out, smoked, sliced, and roasted in our woodburning oven.”

A rabbit roll pairs nicely with the restaurant’s signature cocktail called the Devil’s Temptation (made with gin, hibiscus, thyme, and lemon).

And while Black Rabbit and The Farm House are well-known for exquisite southern faire later in the day, both have become hot spots for brunch on the weekends.

“Nashville’s a big brunch city, but if you think about downtown,” Cioccia says, “most of your brunches are in hotels. So, we serve brunch because people love to eat breakfast.”

For more information on The Farm House visit: https://www.thefarmhousetn.com/  

For Black Rabbit visit: https://www.blackrabbittn.com/

Both restaurants are closed on Mondays.

Nashville Whiskey Festival: A toast to 10 years

Spirits enthusiasts sample their way through the Omni

By Pam Windsor

It has become an annual tradition for whiskey enthusiasts – whether beginners or connoisseurs – to try different whiskeys and bourbons, and learn what goes into making their favorite spirit at the Nashville Whiskey Festival.

“We’ve been doing this for 10 years,” explained Paul Patel, owner of Corkdorks Wine Spirits and Beer which sponsors the event. “We missed two years due to the pandemic, but even then, did the festival virtually. We sent people samples, then had a distiller available via Zoom, so they could interact and ask all the questions they wanted.”

The two-day festival, held Oct. 5 and 7 at the Omni Hotel Broadway Ballroom downtown, featured seminars and panels with industry leaders, then capped things off with a Grand Tasting Event Saturday night. This year’s tasting featured 60 different distilleries, each showcasing a select group of spirits at every table. 

Those represented included well-known global brands like Jack Daniels, Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, Knob Creek, Buffalo Trace; Nashville-based companies like Nelson’s Green Brier and Corsair Distillery; and newer companies like Three Chord Bourbon, started by musician Neil Giraldo in 2018, and Four Branches which is owned by military veterans and just released its first product this year. There were also Japanese and Irish whiskeys on hand, all with representatives sharing information. 

“The idea behind the festival is education,” said Patel. “We expect every table to have someone from the distillery here so they can speak about the product. We want to know the passion behind it.”

A representative from the Uncle Nearest Distillery in Shelbyville, Tennessee, shared the story of the whiskey named after the formerly enslaved Nathan “Nearest” Green. It was Green who taught Jack Daniels the art of distilling whiskey. 

Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery has a unique history, as well. The Tennessee distillery, started in the 1800s, was forced to close during prohibition and was all but forgotten. But the great, great, great grandsons of the original distiller came across an old sign and have brought it back to life. 

The tasting event stretches over three hours so guests can take their time. There are buffet tables with hot food available, as well as water stands positioned throughout the room.

“People are pacing themselves,” Patel noted. “This is not a drunkfest by any means. They wait for a few minutes, then go try other things.”

The festival gets consistently bigger every year, drawing attendees far beyond Nashville.

“We actually had a couple of Canadians fly in for the event this weekend,” Patel said. “They’ve been planning the trip since April. They walked in and were blown away by the selection.”

Guests go from table to table, sampling different spirits, asking questions and getting detailed answers on everything from how each company got started, the grains, barrels, and aging process used, to what new products are in the works. It’s also an opportunity to learn what’s trending. 

“One of the things that’s new in the industry is how they’re using different types of barrels in aging, and then with blending, how they’re creating new blends,” Patel said. 

“They’re using different terms like Amburana wood (also called Brazilian Oak), or they’re using cabernet casks to age, or toasting barrels to create more flavor.

Eddy Gonzales with Wolves Whiskey out of California was happy to explain how his company is experimenting with different toast levels. 

“This is one of my personal favorites,” he said, pouring a sample. “The Hungarian oak really brings out beautiful chocolate notes.”

Gonzales, who travels across the U.S. frequently, described Nashville as a great city for a whiskey festival and noted the large number of distilleries represented at this one, makes it special. 

“The selection is fantastic. And having it here, there’s such an energy in Nashville, and the music is incredible.”

With the Omni situated just a couple of blocks away from the downtown honky tonk strip, there is plenty of live music nearby, but festival organizers bring in local singers and musicians to perform throughout the festival. It helps add to that Nashville touch.

Thursday evening also included a Women In Whiskey seminar, with a panel discussing the growing contributions women have made in the historically male-dominated whiskey industry of late.

Patel and his family not only organize the Nashville Whiskey Festival each fall, but they also do a food and wine festival in April. His two Nashville area retail stores maintain an expansive selection of both wine and spirits, so for Patel, it’s not only a business, but a passion that keeps him busy year-round.

Women in Whiskey

A toast to the women behind the whiskey

Nashville Whiskey Festival seminar celebrates those making their mark in the industry

By Pam Windsor

It’s an industry long dominated by men, but women have made great strides in the distilling industry in recent years. Today there are more women distillers and more female-owned companies than a decade ago, and this year’s Nashville Whiskey Festival had some of those industry leaders come together to talk about their work and their accomplishments. 

“We had our first Women In Whiskey event the third year of our festival,” said Paul Patel, owner of Corkdorks Wine Spirits Beer. “We were way ahead of our time. We stopped it for a few years and then brought it back.”

Allisa Henley, who started at George Dickel two decades ago, is now the distiller and general manager at Sazerac and spent the past seven years working on that company’s first Tennessee whiskey, which should hit the market next year. 

“Twenty years ago, when I started, I was the only female in the distillery,” Henley said. “That’s not the case now. I think it’s an industry still behind the times in terms of female/male ratios in the workplace, but it’s getting better. I still don’t think we’re where we should be, I still sit in a room with all men most of the time. But it’s changed a lot over the long time I’ve been working.”

Molly Troupe is a partner and master distiller at Freeland Spirits, a small batch gin and whiskey company based in Portland. It’s female-funded, female-crafted, and Troupe is one of the youngest female distillers in the U.S. 

“I was working at a different distiller and was approached about starting a women-owned, women-operated distiller and said of course,” Troupe recalled. “This was an opportunity to start my own program, to make something from scratch. We started quickly working on our gin which is Blue Bottle Gin. And we just released our rye whiskey. I have a lot of creative freedom and really focus on having women in positions in power. We work with grain growers that are women and do that when we can all along the line. I think we have about 98 percent women on staff.”

Nic Christiansen is blender and manager of blending operations at Barrell Craft Spirits, and has been with the company for four years.

“We’re blenders, we source bourbon and whiskey from distillers across the country and create unique blends,” Christiansen explained, adding it’s an exciting time to be in this business. “There’s a lot of room for creativity and experimentation. I think around the country and the world there are so many different small craft and big distilleries doing different things. And we all learn from each other and take note from what other people are doing.”

Beth Buckner is senior manager of innovation at Maker’s Mark. Maker’s Mark is the iconic Kentucky bourbon brand started by Bill Samuels, but it was his wife Margie that handled marketing, branding, and paved the way for what would become the state’s famous Bourbon Trail. 

“Bill was the brains behind the whiskey, but Margie was the brain behind the brand,” Buckner said. She came in and said this is what your bottle’s going to look like, this is going to be the name of it, and you’re going to dip it in wax, and this is why. So, you buy your first bottle because of Margie and your second because of Bill Sr. But what I love about Margie is she made it a business. She made the distiller a national historic landmark and really brought tourism to the bourbon industry. 

Sherrie Moore started with Jack Daniels in 1975 and became its director of whiskey operations. She retired after 35 years and has helped guide others in the industry, including the female-owned and operated Uncle Nearest Distillery. She said one of the things she’s enjoyed most through the years is tackling new challenges, overcoming obstacles, and that no two days are the same.

“When I was at Jack Daniels, every day was different,” Moore said. “You come in every day and make adjustments. Something happens and you go 'OK, how do we regroup? What are we going to do about this? How do we make quality the same?' Every day is a problem-solving day and you can be overwhelmed with it or energized. And I was lucky I was energized.”

The others agreed, it’s one of the things they love about the industry: not knowing what to expect on a daily basis, but standing ready to handle it. 

“You never know what you’re going to walk into, what’s going to go wrong. There’s always something breaking on the production side. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are, you’ve got a mess somewhere, I promise you. You have to get used to it and be willing to think on your feet. And that always makes things interesting.”

Southern Grist Brewing Company: Pushing the boundaries of craft beer

Home brew hobby turns into pair of neighborhood taprooms

By Pam Windsor

NASHVILLE – Locals and visitors alike are fans of the Southern Grist Brewing Company, with locations in East Nashville and the Nations. Both have a neighborhood bar-type feel, each with a full restaurant and 20 to 25 beers on tap daily.

The company has come a long way since opening its first small taproom more than seven years ago. With a motto of “pushing the boundaries of craft beer,” the business that started off as a side project for three men who worked together and shared a passion for home brewing, has grown more quickly than any of them ever imagined.

Jessica Gonzales worked for Southern Grist as a bartender and now serves as its marketing director.

“When Kevin Antoon, Jamie Lee, and Jared Welch started in East Nashville in 2016, they anticipated keeping their full-time jobs, but business increased so quickly,” she said.

Things moved so fast, they outgrew their small production space, and had to open a new production facility in the Nations. That facility is right by the Southern Grist tavern that now serves that community. They closed the original East Nashville taproom at Porter and Greenwood, opening a new location in a bigger building on Douglas Avenue.

“I think things really took off for us because East Nashville was such a welcoming community and it was like that neighborhood bar where everyone would run into friends and have a great time,” Gonzales said. “But it was coupled with what we do with our beer. We’re committed to using quality ingredients. We use real fruit purees in our beer, so anything with raspberries is going to be that bright color. We’re not afraid to go for it.”

The Southern Grist team is definitely “not afraid to go for it.” In just seven years, they’ve created more than 1,100 different beers. Loyal customers look forward to coming in and trying something new.

“Yes, these are 1,100 unique recipes,” Gonzales said. “We love experimenting and trying something new. We’re always rotating and turning things over and it’s a lot of fun. And people have come to trust us with that. If they see we’re doing something ‘off the wall,’ they’re going to be like, OK, I know they’re going to nail it. And they enjoy going with us on that journey.”

On any given day, visitors can sample some 30 to 35 beers from nearly two-dozen on tap, and others available in cans. In addition to rotating beers, there are some that are seasonal and come back year after year. 

“There are some like Southern Fest that come around every September or October. And every March we do one for St. Patrick’s Day. That one’s called Marbitz and it’s a Hazy IPA that has Lucky Charms marshmallows in it. So, we have beers that have a following and people look forward to them every year.”

In the early years, Southern Grist simply rotated their beers without having any that served to represent the company as a brand. But that changed in 2020.

“A lot of breweries have beers that stay on the menu throughout the year, but we didn’t have any flagship beers,” Gonzales explains. “But then Covid hit, and we wanted to give people what they wanted. We realized very quickly that in order for us to grow the way we wanted to grow and have our beer in grocery stores and in bars and restaurants, we had to offer something more stable. So, we started our flagship program.”

As part of that program, they now produce three beers available all year: Teal, a New England IPA; Southern Grist, which is their Pilsner; and 'Mosa, a fruited sour inspired by mimosas.

Adding bites

Given their reputation for unique style beers, when Southern Grist added a kitchen, the owners wanted the food to stand out, as well.

“We partnered with Andrew Coins, who is our executive chef, and he brought along Kenji Nakagawa, who is our chef de cuisine. They are an amazing pair and it’s been exciting to see their creativity.”

There’s a focus on seasonal and fresh ingredients, working with local vendors, and creating menu items that aren’t necessarily what one might consider typical bar food.

“We wanted something that would stand up to the flavors we get from our beer,” Gonzales said. “So, the menu is rotating just as often as our beers.”

And yet, she said, restaurants at both locations do offer items like burgers and potatoes, as well.

“The burgers are different, but both great. Both use Bear Creek Farm beef. The one at the East Nashville location is more of a traditional burger with pickles and burger sauce. The one at the Nations is modeled around a BLT. So, it’s got ground bacon in the patties, and served with lettuce, tomato, and mozzarella.”

As the craft beer scene continues to evolve in Nashville, it’s proven there is room for a variety of different breweries, with each carving out its own place in the market. For Southern Grist, the goal is to continue creating small batch, experimental beers that entice customers and keep it fun. It’s the reason the three founding members got into the business in the first place.

“We are constantly pushing the envelope and coming up with something new and innovative,” Gonzales said. “But it’s awesome to see the beer scene growing here because more breweries are good for everyone. It raises the bar and challenges all of us.”

The East Nashville Taproom is located at 754 Douglas Ave., while The Nations Taproom can be found at 5012 Centennial Blvd. Both locations are open noon to 10 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. 

Sumner Food & Wine Festival

Inaugural guests choose from 80 wines, spirits and mocktails

Sumner Food & Wine Festival: Popping the cork on a new tradition

HENDERSONVILLE – Any way you measure it, this year’s inaugural Sumner Food & Wine Festival in Hendersonville (20 minutes north of Nashville) was a big success. The two-day event was organized by Jon and Lindsay Yeager, who run the annual Nashville Cocktail Festival and own the Edit cocktail bar in Hendersonville. Nearly 700 people turned out, which is a strong show of support for a first-year event.

“We are so happy,” Lindsay said. “Hendersonville really showed up!”

Held in Sanders Ferry Park, with its picturesque view of Old Hickory Lake, the festival kicked off Friday, Sept. 22 with a 100-seat Chef’s Dinner. It featured a five-course meal with wine pairings and specialty dishes prepared by local chefs, along with a cocktail hour and live entertainment.

Then on Saturday, the 4 p.m. Grand Tasting offered unlimited samplings of more than 80 different wines, several different whiskeys, brandy, and some non-alcoholic beverages as well. There was a variety of wines from California, Oregon, and elsewhere, with familiar names like Francis Coppola, Oak Ridge, Bread and Butter, and many others. And one California bottle had an interesting Tennessee connection.

“This is 'MyStory Wine' which is out of Paso Robles,” Alexei Khimenko explained. “I live in Nashville, but I make wine in California. We’re a very small producer, and all of the fruit for the wine comes from one estate. We make it where we grow it.”

Khimenko had five types of wines available for tasting.

Riboli Family Wines, which launched its Stella Rosa Brandy in the summer of 2022, offered brandy-based cocktails to festival-goers.

“We have about 20 states now carrying the brandy and just brought it to Tennessee this year,” said Tracy Schorp, district manager for Tennessee and Kentucky. “So, it’s very new to this market. This is the perfect time of year to start drinking brandy, with the temperature cooling down, and we wanted to showcase how mixable it is with different cocktails.”

With each tasting there was an opportunity to ask questions about things like flavor profiles.

“This is from the Jim Beam Distillery,” noted Mark Eber, who was offering samples of Maker’s Mark and Legent. Referring to Legent, he said, “This is 100-percent American whiskey. It’s blended by our master distiller from Japan, Suntory, and aged in red wine casks and sherry casks.”

There were different non-alcoholic options, as well. Hayley Harris owns Like A Virgin Sober Bar, a local Hendersonville company that launched earlier this year.

“We offer mainly mocktails,” she said. “So, I do zero proof non-alcoholic tequila, whiskey, and gin. I can make a Cosmo or different kind of whiskey drink you like without any alcohol in it. I also have beer, wine, and seltzers, all that fun stuff.”

There were some food tastings, as well. The Nashville-based Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Company offered samples of some of its candies.

“We do everything in-house from roasting the beans all the way up to packing every single product by hand,” said Sammy Walsh, as he explained the different types of caramels and chocolate on display, including one type of caramel made with duck fat. “Using duck fat instead of butter gives it a richer, more savory flavor.”

While the tastings under the big tent were the main event, there was also a cigar bar and lounge, food trucks, art and jewelry vendors, and much more. There were also play areas for the kids. From the beginning, the Yeagers wanted the festival geared toward families.

“Hendersonville is extremely family-friendly,” Jon said. “I don’t think anything here would succeed in this environment if it wasn’t family-friendly. I mean, we have two little girls and we want everyone to be here.”

The couple said they are pleased with the crowd, the many vendors who took part, and the way everything turned out, but admit the first year is always a learning curve.

“I think it went great, but we’re already taking notes on how things were set up and different ways we can improve next year,” Jon said.

He and Lindsay say one thing they’ve learned after nine years of running the Nashville Cocktail Festival is every year is an opportunity to get even better.

“It’s always a mixture,” Lindsay added. “So, every year looks a little bit different and that’s what makes it fun.”

Sinatra Bar & Grill

Sinatra Bar & Grill: Dining with Ol' Blue Eyes

Frank Sinatra-inspired restaurant jazzes up 4th Avenue

By Pam Windsor

NASHVILLE – The atmosphere at Sinatra Bar & Grill is warm and intimate, with the menu, décor, and music all designed to honor the legendary Frank Sinatra. The walls are lined with pictures of Ol’ Blue Eyes, reflecting on the man and his music, as well as images with friends, family, and life away from the limelight.

The menu offers many of the Chairman of the Board’s favorite dishes, from steaks to traditional Italian entrees, and the bar reflects his personal tastes as well.

Owner Bill Miller, who created the restaurant in partnership with Sinatra’s family (Frank Sinatra Enterprises), wanted it to reflect the two parts of the country where Sinatra spent so much of his time: New York and Palm Springs, California.

“Fashion and style are relevant anywhere and everywhere,” Miller said. “And in terms of food and beverage, this is something Nashville needs and wants right now. The response has been nothing short of phenomenal.”

Located in historic Printer’s Alley downtown, Sinatra Bar & Lounge has welcomed a steady stream of customers for both lunch and dinner since opening earlier this year.

An expansive dinner menu features an array of appetizers to include calamari, burrata and ham, royal Osetra caviar, poached pears and more.

Entrees include filet mignon, porterhouse and other prime steaks, scallops, chicken Parmesan, and additional Italian dishes, all under the direction of Chef Lorenzo Reyes.

“Lorenzo has this uncanny ability to combine flavors and create things that are just unbelievable,” noted Miller. “There are traditional dishes like meatballs and fettuccine, and then there’s Lorenzo’s take on different pastas. So, we have veal piccata, chicken marsala, and a lot of standards, and then you have slow-braised rabbit, which is delicious!”

There’s also a raw bar, something rare for Nashville restaurants.

“There’s seating there, so people can watch the preparation of their oysters, lobster, and seafood,” Miller said.

Photos by Icon Entertainment Group

When it comes to beverages, there are a host of Sinatra-influenced cocktails available such as Chairman of the Board, featuring Macallan 25 Year; New York, New York; The News, and others. The singer was also known for his devotion to Jack Daniels. In fact, a mere mention of it during one of his shows in 1956 caused sales to double.

“Frank loved Jack Daniels No. 7, that was his preferred drink,” said Miller. “The formula was 3-2-1 of booze, then ice, then a little splash of water.” The drink also appears on the cocktail menu.

Sinatra was more apt to drink regular Jack, but on his 100th birthday, the distillery produced a limited 100-proof 100 barrels of Jack Daniels Sinatra Century. It became quickly sought after as a collector’s item. Before opening Sinatra’s Bar & Lounge, Miller launched a worldwide search and successfully located and purchased a limited number of bottles. He continues searching for more. Currently, as long as the supply lists it, it’s available by the drink at Sinatra Bar & Lounge.

Frank Sinatra’s music, with songs like “New York, New York,” “My Way,” and “Fly Me to the Moon” continue to appeal to younger generations of fans. Diners can enjoy live entertainers playing those familiar tunes, along with those from fellow Rat Pack members Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and others.

Miller is proud his bar and lounge can offer a memorable dining experience on every level possible, while also honoring a performer who came from humble beginnings, had a career that spanned decades, and absolutely loved and appreciated his fans.

“One thing that was particularly inspiring to us is that we’re dealing with somebody who is one of the all-time icons, but also a very down-to-earth human being. Frank Sinatra never forgot where he came from.”

Sinatra's Bar & Lounge is located at 222 4th Ave. N., Nashville, and is open for lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, and 5 p.m. to midnight daily for dinner service. The kitchen closes at 10:30 p.m. Visit them online at www.sinatranashville.com or call 615-866-2224 to make a reservation.

Biscuit Love

Biscuit Love: From food truck to breakfast empire

Menu item was named 'Best Sandwich' by Bon Appetit

By Pam Windsor

NASHVILLE – Biscuit Love has been a local favorite for years, even before owners Karl and Sarah Worley opened their first brick and mortar restaurant. The two began serving their scratch biscuits and biscuit sandwiches “made with love” from a single food truck a little over a decade ago. Now they have two locations in Nashville, one in nearby Berry Farms, another in downtown Franklin, Tennessee, and one in Birmingham, Alabama.

People come for their big, fluffy buttermilk biscuits and signature menu items like their East Nasty (a biscuit topped with a fried, boneless “hot chicken,” aged cheddar, and sausage gravy), Bonuts (fried biscuit dough topped with lemon mascarpone and served over blueberry compote) or the B-roll (a biscuit cinnamon roll topped with sticky bun sauce and cream cheese icing). The menu offers a wide range of other breakfast and brunch items, such as egg plates, shrimp & grits, bubble waffles, oatmeal, granola, and much more.

The Worleys say from the earliest stages the goal has been to create food that brings people together.

“We always approached the food from a heart space place,” Sarah Worley explained.

Not only did that mean making sure their food was prepared with a lot of love, but also with fresh, locally sourced ingredients from purveyors they trust.

“We were so lucky because when we started the food truck, we were part of the Franklin Farmers Market,” Worley recalled. “So, from the very beginning we were able to work with incredible farms in our area.”

Sarah and Karl attended culinary school together in Colorado, but when they moved to Nashville and launched Biscuit Love, it was a challenging new venture. They never dreamed how far it would take them. She said it’s been an amazing journey with a lot of support from others, including a Franklin restaurant owner who let them borrow his food truck for free. They remain grateful to a very giving community.

“I think the plan was to hopefully have a brunch restaurant at some point, but, especially in the food truck days, we were barely looking past the week at hand, let alone into the future. But I don’t think I ever could have envisioned what it’s become and where it’s headed. It’s taken so many people to be part of it and make it sustainable.”

Since opening their first location in the Gulch in 2015, Biscuit Love’s popularity grew through word-of-mouth and a lot of national publicity. That same year their East Nasty sandwich was named the best sandwich in the country by the editors of Bon Appetit.

As the business continued to expand, the Worleys brought on acclaimed pastry chef, Lisa Marie White, a 2019 James Beard Award semifinalist. As culinary director, White oversees all Biscuit Love kitchens. They say she’s already helped take their vision to the next level in “incredible and wonderful” ways.

While the added locations are taking their menu to more people, they’ve found another way to spread some of their “biscuit love” beyond their physical restaurants. They recently partnered with Goldbelly which now ships their famous biscuits, jams, and more nationwide.

All Biscuit Love restaurants are open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and in addition to food items, serve breakfast cocktails and beverages, and take-home biscuit packs. A children's menu is also available. The two Nashville restaurants are located in the Gulch, 316 11th Ave. S, Nashville; and Hillsboro Village, 2001 Belcourt Ave., Nashville. For more, visit: www.biscuitlove.com

Uncorking the Sumner Food + Wine Festival

Inaugural two-night event promises elevated experience in Hendersonville

By Michelle Farnham

September 2023

HENDERSONVILLE – Sumner County has seen an upward trend in its local food and wine industry, motivating the folks behind the Nashville Cocktail Festival to set their sites on Hendersonville for their next project, the Sumner Food + Wine Festival.

Organized by Jon and Lindsay Yeager of PourTaste and Edit Tropical Cafe and Cocktail Bar, the two-night event is scheduled for Sept. 22 and 23 at Sanders Ferry Park in Hendersonville.

“We live in Hendersonville and the demographic here is changing – this is a growing part of town – and that inspired us to use our festival experience and experience with all the brands that love us,” Jon said of the motivation behind this inaugural event.

Friday night’s 100-seat Chefs Dinner promises to be an elegant evening, starting with a 6 p.m. cocktail hour and live entertainment.

The five-course meal with wine pairings starts with a Moroccan roasted carrot salad from Skylar Bush of Edible Magazine. Move on to sweet corn soup with smoked trout by Chris Crary of 1 Hotel and a deconstructed scallop BLT with pork belly from Erik Kohl. Chef Joey Molteni presents rabbit two ways, while Pastry Chef Jessica Collins offers her panna cotta with blueberry and corn ganache.

After a good night’s sleep, take on Saturday’s Grand Tasting from 4 to 10 p.m., to enjoy “an elevated food and wine showcase” including unlimited tastings of over 80 wines from around the world.

“We're expecting 800 to 1,000 people,” Jon explained. “Participating restaurants and chefs will have complimentary bites, but then there’s going to be sales opportunities, so guests will be able to purchase maybe a larger portion or a retail item to go. Some of these guys might have their own condiments that you can retail to take home.”

The Yeagers were able to preview food coming in from regional farmers and purveyors who will also be on hand.

“We have a lamb farm from Southern Kentucky, a beef dealer, some local people in addition to the local restaurants. The quality of this meat, the cheese, the vegetables, is just mind-blowing. We are excited about showcasing high quality items that are starting to come into our market.”

At press time, food and beverage vendors included Bread & Butter Wines, Folktale Winery & Vineyards, Lulu, Maker’s Mark, Simply…, Retrograde, Edible Nashville, Washington Wine Group, Kayak Jamaican Patties, Slow Burn Hot Chicken, Edit, My Story Wine Co., 1 Hotel Nashville, Beatbox, Newman Family BBQ, Better Than Booze, Tea Tree Co., Kandy Kreations, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, WCW, Olive and Sinclair Chocolate Co., Oak Ridge Winery, Stella Rosa, Francis Coppola Diamond Collections, The Pasta Bar Company, Cancun Lagoon, Hearst Ranch Winery, Like A Virgin Sober Bar, Poké Nash, Underwood and Urban Grub.

There are a number of ticket options available for those 21 and older: Friday’s Chefs Dinner, Saturday’s Grand Tasting, a 2-event weekend pass, or while quantities last, select a ticket that includes a 12-ounce ORCA Sumner festival-branded mug to pick up at the front gate.

Don’t forget your ID, but ticket-holders who aren’t interested in wine can enjoy tea and coffee, or visit some of the non-alcoholic vendors. Bring the kiddos, too. Young adults ages 14 to 20 can purchase a special wristband that only excludes them from the alcohol sampling, and kids 13 and under are admitted for free.

“Saturday is family-appropriate,” Jon assured. “I feel like my wife and I and our two little girls are our demographic. There will be plenty of food. Whether it be sweets or something else, there will be plenty of things to snack on and there will be non-alcoholic vendors, too. We’ll have a mocktail bar, so there’s something for everyone.”

Everyone includes even toddlers, as the festival will host a children's area by Tots Aloud, offering wine fest chic soft play areas.

“We encourage people to bring their picnic blankets and their lawn chairs and just enjoy an evening under the stars with us,” Jon said.

All this merriment delights more than just the palate. A portion of proceeds benefit HolidayFest, a community-focused nonprofit that has earmarked the funds for Gallatin Shalom Zone.

For more information and to purchase tickets,

find Sumner Food + Wine Festival online at www.sumnerfoodandwine.com or get tickets below.

St. Vito Focacceria

St. Vito Focacceria: Old-world recipe turned pandemic success story

Photo by Nigel Dennis

Pizzeria serving up Sicilian sfincione with a Southern twist

By Pam Windsor

NASHVILLE – Tucked away on a side street in the Gulch area of downtown, St. Vito Focacceria offers a warm and cozy atmosphere, and food unlike anything you’ll find anywhere else in Nashville. It’s exactly the way Chef Michael Hanna intended it.

Here, the Memphis-born chef with the Italian family (on his mother’s side), serves sfincione, traditional Sicilian-style pizza, and a collection of other Sicilian-inspired dishes that may have a bit of a Southern influence.

The sfincione, however, serves as the main attraction. First-timers who arrive to experience St. Vito’s unique style of pizza aren’t always sure what to expect in the beginning, but end up pleasantly surprised once their entrée arrives.

Hanna’s sfincione is cooked in a rectangle pan with a Focaccia dough that bakes up high and thick with a crusty outside, soft, fluffy inside, chunks of Fontina cheese embedded throughout, and topped with seasoned breadcrumbs and pecorino.

Favorites include the Classic Vito, which is layered with milled tomato and oregano, and the Potato Sfincione with roasted potatoes, a special potato cream, and lemon.

How Hanna ended up introducing Nashville to Sicilian street food is a pandemic success story. The longtime chef was working at another local restaurant and when Covid hit in 2020, he lost his job. During his downtime he began experimenting with the bread he remembered his grandmother making during his childhood.

Photos by Kayla Cook

“I began making this dough in kind of a different fashion in bowls and batards and I was reading this book that had a chapter on sfincione and was remembering eating this tomato-type bread as a child. And I thought, I wonder how it would come out if we baked it on a sheet tray. That’s how it all started.”

He created a name and a logo and started selling pizzas from his house. As interest grew, another restaurant, The Grilled Cheeserie, allowed him kitchen space where he was able to make his sfinciones in greater quantities.

After a couple of years of operating as a pop-up and in other kitchens, Hanna opened his own brick and mortar restaurant earlier this year.

In addition to the type of dough, there are other ways his sfinciones differ from traditional pizza.

“Right before it goes into the oven,” he explained, “we add fontina cheese and it kind of swells up around the cheese cube when it bakes, baking into the dough as one. It’s kind of hidden, so when we go to serve you, you bite into this pizza and there’s a big ole chunk of cheese in the middle of the dough.”

He also parbakes his pizzas. The dough is partially cooked initially, pulled from the oven, then later added back, and baked some more before it’s served.

Photos by Emily Dorio

“I wasn’t a believer in parbaking until we opened this restaurant, but believe it or not, if you parbake the pizzas, let them sit, then pop them back in the oven, they slowly come back to life and you get a crispier product (on the outside), while the inside remains very, very fluffy.”

Hanna sources his ingredients from local and regional farms, so while pizza remains on the menu year-round, some of his other dishes and salad options change depending on what’s in season.

One of his popular side items this summer is a roasted pepper dish using a variety of sweet Italian peppers, and a lengthy preparation process involving roasting, peeling, and marinating the peppers, then adding a variety of different seasonings.

“This was on the menu throughout our pop-ups, and we serve it when peppers are available. It’s a small plate that’s meant to be an accoutrement to your pizza. You can take the peppers and add them on top.”

Although the restaurant is in the Gulch, a popular area for tourists, it sits on a side street offering easy access whether you’re dining in or dropping by to pick up carry-out. Inside, the setting is intimate with just 43 seats, 13 of which are set up like a chef’s counter, allowing diners to look directly into the kitchen and interact with the staff.

Hanna’s goal is to offer one-of-a-kind pizza you can only get here, in Nashville, at this location.

“We’re not a chain, we’re local. We’re a small, independent restaurant and we want to be that special pizza spot in Nashville.”

Dinner is served Wednesday through Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m. with lunch available Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. St. Vito Focacceria is located at 605 Mansion Street, Nashville (the former location of Colt’s Chocolates). Find them online at www.stvitonashville.com for more information or to book a reservation.

Chef Deb Paquette and etch: The art is on the plate

By Jennifer Thompson

Located in bustling downtown Nashville, etch is minimal in design and materials, utilizing steel, wood, and concrete. There are two private dining rooms and a large bar. This is deliberate. Here, the focus is entirely on the food and drink. As Paquette says, “The art is on the plate.”

etch’s centerpiece is the chef’s bar and open kitchen where patrons can watch Paquette’s culinary prowess and the magic of food preparation. Paquette is known for bringing fresh, layered, and bold flavors to create what she describes as elevated Southern dining.

Seasonally inspired and internationally influenced, dishes from the current menu include Moroccan bastilla with saffron eggplant and halloumi-stuffed pastry, harissa carrot ribbons, almond fennel orange pesto, pomegranate walnut purée, mushroom jus, and sugar dust; as well as pan-seared scallops with shiitake edamame risotto, chili honey carrots, pickled sprout slaw, truffle pea purée, miso hollandaise, and tempura nori. The roasted cauliflower with truffled pea purée, salted almonds, feta crema, and red bell essence is so popular that it is a menu fixture. A wine list with over 80 choices is available, along with high-gravity local beers and hand-crafted signature cocktails.

Paquette’s partners brought her in to open etch in 2012, where she was given the equipment and freedom to build her vision. Bringing in global flavors was a gamble at the time and Paquette was eager to see what she could get away with.

“People who travel were attracted to it. The challenge was winning over the rest.” Nashville knew her from Zola, where she was chef/owner for 13 years (she closed it in 2010 to travel with her husband). Zola had been named one of the 60 best restaurants in the country by Gourmet, so she rolled the dice that people would come in. At etch, her careful balance of familiar with the unexpected worked and she is now considered by many the best chef in Nashville.

While she uses spices and influences from around the world, she does not try to recreate a country’s dish, but instead fuse the flavors into a new spin on local cuisine.

“I don’t want customers to go home saying ‘Oh I had the best Mexican dish ever at etch,’” Paquette explained. But they can and do go home saying they never thought of combining a spice from across the globe with a local flavor and it was fabulous.

Paquette speaks often of creating surprises, her ongoing challenge and highest reward. She reads lots of books, talks to other chefs, eats at many restaurants. Detail-oriented and a bit analytical, she considers the food and its effects, such as how food can warm or cool the body. A new dish is eaten as a family meal by the team and dissected (and enjoyed). Unlike many chefs, Paquette acts as a mentor and teacher, guiding her “kids” to find balance and consider every aspect of a plate.

“My gift is my palate,” Paquette said. “Does a flavor work with each item on the plate; and then does it taste good on its own?”

When building the menu, she then asks if that dish is cohesive with the others? Like an editor, the last test is ensuring that cohesiveness between dishes is not reiteration.

“I have to be careful not to put ginger in everything,” she laughed.

Paquette sees beyond the norms in other ways. When asked what in her career she is most proud of, she had to think a while. She does not look back often, but finally said it is her influence on bringing women into the hallowed field of chefs. Throughout her career she has experienced the brunt of and pushed back against the male-dominated kitchen culture.

“In school, I was one girl to 17 guys,” she said. Recognizing her headwinds, she worked extra hard and longer hours to succeed in her chosen career. She didn’t think of it as a choice but a requirement. Along the way were hard choices and some losses, but with this also came women now receiving recognition in the industry.

Describing her journey, Paquette said she survived, but by any measure it is more accurate to say she thrived. She and etch have received numerous awards. Her staff is women-run. Her work culture prioritizes work-life balance. Finally, in a city becoming as renowned for its cuisine as its music, Paquette and etch helped promote and grow the Nashville scene with a globally inspired menu and unique dishes you won’t find anywhere else.

etch is located at 303 Demonbreun St. in Nashville. Lunch is served Monday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner service runs Monday to Thursday 4:30 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. The Bar opens at 4 p.m. daily. Visit etch online at etchrestaurant.com; call 615-522-0685 or for private dining: 615-626-6446.

Nashville Food & Wine launches new website, preps for upcoming culinary magazine

PRESS RELEASE

NASHVILLE, TN, Aug. 9, 2023 – Nashville Food & Wine today announced the launch of its media venture focusing on the eats, drinks, and venues that flavor the Music City.

In addition to a robust online and social media presence, a quarterly full-color print publication will drop early next year, available for free on newsstands around the city, targeting tourists and locals alike.

“We are thrilled to enter the Nashville culinary scene with our latest print publication, the Food & Wine Guide for Nashville, that will be out in the spring of 2024,” said Publisher Phil Heppding. “Nashville is a natural next progression for HNH Media Holdings. While the Music City has long been known for great artists and musicians, it also has risen to be a world-class culinary destination.”

Readers will get the inside scoop on all aspects of the local food and beverage industry, from restaurant features to chef profiles, restaurant listings, spotlights on the hottest menu items and drinks, as well as upcoming events.

“We want to highlight and share with our audience the unique dishes, cocktails, and the people who create them,” Heppding explained.

Visit the website NashvilleFoodAndWine.com to sign up for the newsletter and submit an upcoming event. Follow along on Facebook at @FoodAndWineNashville and Instagram @NashvilleFoodAndWine. Advertising opportunities are also available; email info@nashvillefoodandwine.com to receive a media kit.

Parent company HNH Media Holdings, LLC, specializes in niche publications, putting  relevant content and advertising in the hands of motivated readers since 2016.

Streetcar Taps and Garden: Bringing history along for the ride

By Pam Windsor

Since opening earlier this year, Streetcar Taps and Garden on Charlotte Pike has quickly become a local favorite. It’s a neighborhood gastropub with a warm, welcoming atmosphere and a menu crafted by Executive Chef Carter Hach that reflects a blend of influences from his Tennessee upbringing and family’s German heritage.

"We're a marriage of fun, kind of bar food takes on the comfort food of the American South and Germany, with a menu built to please beer-drinkers and families alike," he said.

Hach has a rich and expansive culinary background. He grew up cooking with his grandmother, noted Chef Phila Hach, herself a cookbook author, TV show host, and chef/owner of Hachland Hill Inn (her grandson later became the chef there.) He’s worked with and studied under other chefs, as well, and is also a cookbook author in his own right. “The Hachland Hill Cookbook,” published in late 2022, features stories about his grandmother and a collection of different recipes.

When he and best friend, Henry Beveridge, decided to open Streetcar Taps and Garden, it was an opportunity for Hach to create his own menu entirely from scratch. Nearly everything is made using ingredients from local farms and purveyors and cooked in Streetcar’s kitchen or in the smoker out back.

“The whole menu is very smoke-driven,” Hach explained. “Aside from the sliders and mushrooms and salads, most everything is touched by smoke, like the wings, the trout cakes, and the chicken.”

The smoke-driven approach to cooking comes, in part, from what he learned watching his grandmother.

“She wasn’t a pitmaster by any means, but the old Appalachian method of real wood-fire cooking and not cutting corners was something she instilled in me.”

Those smoked trout cakes he mentioned are one of his own original recipes. They’re listed as End of the Rainbow Bites on the menu.

“I developed the trout cakes, and the recipe’s in my book, because I love seafood but I wanted to create something using Tennessee ingredients,” he said. “I wanted to make something similar to crab cakes using local trout from Bucksnort (a spring in Hickman County, Tennessee.) We smoke the trout and make the cakes, then they’re seared on the flattop. That’s something special and very different, for sure.”

Other menu items worth noting are the Vegan Cowboy (a Frito pie), the Smashville Sliders, TN Mushroom, the Back Yardbird, Taproom Toast Points with jalapeño pimento cheese, specialty sandwiches, and a couple of German items such as the Berliner BBQ Plate featuring currywurst.”

“We have some German beers, too,” Hach said. “We have imports as well as domestics and a pretty good selection of tap beers from around the country, too.”

Wine is also available, along with specialty cocktails like the Hachland Hugo, which is a German cocktail with prosecco, St. Germaine, mint and Topo Chico; or the Spring Creek with Tanqueray London Dry Gin, green chartreuse, cucumber, and lime.

Streetcar Taps and Garden has both inside and outside dining with the beer garden in the back, a big draw. The building itself has a lot of history with strong ties to the local community.

“This space housed the oldest grocery in West Nashville,” Hach said. “And we named the restaurant 'Streetcar' because there used to be a streetcar line that went through Nashville, and this was the last stop before leaving town and heading out to the old state prison. We wanted to create something that honored the history, so we kept the old brick and rafters.”

It’s a perfect fit for the gathering spot he and Beveridge wanted Streetcar to become.

“I want people who come here to feel a sense of being well taken care of,” Hach said. “I want people to feel warmth and hospitality at the core.”

In addition to great food and drink, there’s also live music during the summer on Monday, Tuesday, and Saturday evenings. Streetcar Taps and Garden is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, located at 4916 Charlotte Pike, Nashville, and online at streetcartaps.com.

Midtown Café: Staying True to Nashville

By Jennifer Thompson

Nashville is made of many neighborhoods, each with a unique character to meet different needs, including celebrities, families, up and coming artists, students, visitors, and everything in between. But it’s the Broadway/West End area that personifies our city as the place to find Nashville’s calling card. Here you can walk to Music Row, Midtown, Vanderbilt, and numerous eateries and bars. There are hotel options to meet any desired accommodation, a medical center, universities, music, and the Nashvegas style we have come to know and love.

Midtown Café is found in the heart of this. Located between West End and Broadway at 102 19th Ave S in the West End/Vanderbilt/Music Row/Midtown/Medical Center neighborhoods, this one-story restaurant has provided casual fine dining since 1987. Originally offering family recipes, the Café was purchased by restaurateur Randy Rayburn from John Petrocelli in 1997.

“I tell people I loved it so much I had to buy it,”

Rayburn laughs. It was also the Café’s size that appealed, as it was similar in footprint to another of Rayburn’s restaurants, Hillsboro Village’s landmark Sunset Grill. Holding only around 17 tables, Rayburn loved the intimacy and concept.

He also saw the potential of elevating the menu; but all in due time. Rayburn did not buy Midtown Café to reconceive it but to help it grow. Indeed, a requirement of the sale was the lemon artichoke soup family recipe had to be included. To this day it remains one of the signature dishes of Nashville, and the recipe was pointedly omitted from the book published by the Café in October of 2022. “People have to come in to get it,” Rayburn says.

Grow the Café has from its original family recipe foundations. Midtown Café now has 22 tables and 6 bar stools with a total of 80 seats. Though small, it is mighty and served 110,000 guests in 2022, with a mix of first timers, tourists, and local regulars depending on the day and meal.

In 2018, Food and Wine magazine noted the consumer app Open Table TOP voted Midtown Café one of the top 50 Southern restaurants in the US. The Cafe garnered a Traveler’s Choice from TripAdvisor in 2022 and currently is ranked as Nashville’s fifth best overall restaurant, fifth best in food, and third best in service on Open Table.

It’s easy to see how these accolades were earned. Rayburn’s staff has been with him for decades, unheard of in the food industry. GM Doug Stevenson and head server Dale King have been on board 27 years. Chef Max Pastor started as a sous-chef at Sunset Grill and Cabana, another of Rayburn’s restaurants, before coming to Midtown Café. Rayburn credits the team for Midtown’s longevity, saying a bottom-up approach empowers the staff and gives them a sense of ownership. The result is intangible to the spreadsheet but unmistakable in the diner experience.

But it’s also the food. The menu has organically expanded over the years. In addition to the Maryland-style crab cakes that remains from the original menu, favorites include a Creole-style shrimp and grits and an amazing sea scallop with lobster mac and cheese. The latter is so good it is featured in the New York Time’s Nashville in 36 Hours story (along with the lemon artichoke soup of course!). New dishes are offered as specials and if popular enough, stay on. For example, a current off menu creation is a pan-seared sea bass with lobster risotto and champagne Beurre Blanc. The Café also offers 40 wines by the glass and 150 selections.

There have been service changes as well. Breakfast/brunch has been added 7 days a week. And taking advantage of the prime location, Midtown Café offers customers a free shuttle service to events at TPAC, Ryman, the Symphony, and Bridgestone. The convenience of starting and ending the evening at Midtown and avoiding the parking and fees associated with special events make this a must for everyone. (Note you must call the Café directly to reserve the shuttle; Open Table cannot guarantee this due to limited space and there is a $40 check minimum.)

We have seen Nashville’s evolution, a pandemic, the rapid fall and slow rise of tourism and business travel. Through it all, for 35 years and counting, Midtown Café has adapted but also remains unchanged at heart, providing a taste of old Nashville. Restaurants come and go but it’s a good bet that Midtown Café is here to stay with Nashville’s dean restaurateur Randy Rayburn at the helm.

Hours: Breakfast/brunch 8 am – 2pm 7 days a week. Lunch 10:30 am to 2 pm. Dinner 4:30-8:30 pm Mon-Wed., 4:30-9 pm Thurs-Sat. No dinner on Sunday. Call 615.320.7176 or go to https://www.midtowncafe.com/ to make a reservation.

Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery

Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery: From Prohibition to production

Grandsons resurrect family distillery, adding restaurant and bar

By Pam Windsor

A tour and tasting at Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery offers much more than a sampling of fine Tennessee whiskey. It’s a celebration of history, family legacy, and the rebirth of a long-lost business.

Brothers Andy and Charlie Nelson own the distillery, where they make a spirit based on a recipe for Tennessee’s oldest whiskey. It was a whiskey their great, great, great grandfather began making in Greenbrier, Tenn., back in the 1800s, and shipped around the world. He was one of the first to sell whiskey in a bottle instead of a jug or barrel. But Prohibition during the early 1900s caused production to cease, the operation dismantled, and the once-popular whiskey all but forgotten.

Then in 2006, the brothers visited that small Tennessee town and by chance, came across mention of the whiskey and their family connection. They began researching everything they could about the original whiskey. They studied the spirits industry, learned what it takes to start and run a business, and have successfully brought that whiskey back to life.

“Our whole business is grounded in the traditional, original Tennessee whiskey,” Andy Nelson explained.

“That’s a legitimate claim. It’s Old No. 5, registered distillery No. 5, and it dates back to earlier than any other whiskey on the market today.”

Visitors taking a regular tour can sample Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey, Nelson Bros. Whiskey Classic, Nelson Bros. Reserve, and Louisa’s Liqueur (a coffee, caramel, pecan flavored liqueur that honors their great, great, great grandmother).

“The majority of what we make here at the distillery is Nelson’s Green Brier Whiskey,” said Andy. “We found Charles Nelson’s original recipe, and that’s 95 percent of what comes off of our still here.”

The brothers located the instructions by combing through state archives. They came across an old newspaper article where a journalist wrote a story about a big July Fourth picnic at the original distillery in the late 1800s. Charles Nelson had opened it up for tours and the lead distiller shared some critical details about the distilling process.

“The article included things as detailed as the cook time for the mash, the temperatures, the hold times, all of these things that are specific to the recipe. So, that’s kind of how we found it.”

When they first began making whiskey, they didn’t have a distillery yet, so their first product was Belle Meade Bourbon. It, too, had a direct connection to their grandfather.

“We learned about this brand Belle Meade Bourbon that was a brand Charles Nelson produced in conjunction with a third-party contract distillery. It showed us we could get a product to market without the overhead of a physical distillery, and we could do it in a way that was true to the history of the way he did it, with a specific brand.”

Their production of Belle Meade Bourbon helped prove to investors they could make a good quality product which paved the way to getting the funds needed to eventually build their own distillery. Since then, they’ve been so successful, they recently completed a major renovation that also includes the addition of a bar and a restaurant.

“We had tours and tastings, but we didn’t have a proper cocktail bar,” said Andy, “so we didn’t get a lot of locals coming in for drinks after work. We saw mostly tourists and guests from out of town. So, we added the bar, as well as a restaurant, because there’s a need for that in this neighborhood.”

Like the distillery, the restaurant also honors their great, great, great grandfather, who came to America from Germany.

“Half of our DNA comes from Charles Nelson who was German. So, the focus of the cuisine is a mix of German and Southern United States.”

On the distillery side, the Nelson brothers continue to try their hand at creating different products.

“We have elevated tasting experiences where we’ll taste various cask finish products. Some of what we’ve done so far are Sherry, Cognac, and Madeira cask finishes. There have been others, too. And we’re actually going to release a Nelson Bros. Rye Whiskey in the next few months. We’re excited about that.”

Andy says it’s interesting to reflect on what he and his brother have accomplished over the past 17 years. Back when the two graduated college they had little knowledge of whiskey at all, but their discovery of their family’s heritage changed everything. It’s rewarding when visitors come through for tours and get to see the whiskey-making process from start to finish. But what makes it even more meaningful here, is the story behind it.

“When you come to a distillery, at its heart, it’s a factory. You’re making something cool, but it’s a factory nonetheless. But this is also a history museum, too, and I think that’s what people appreciate. People love hearing a good story, and it’s even cooler if it’s true.”

Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery is located at 1414 Clinton St. in Nashville. Open seven days a week, reach them online at greenbrierdistillery.com or call 615-913-8800.

Tennessee Brew Works

Tennessee Brew Works: The perfect combination of brews and bites

By Pam Windsor

Since brewing its first beer a decade ago, Tennessee Brew Works has become a Nashville favorite. Not only for the beer, but the unique approach to crafting it, and an adjoining restaurant (or brewpub) that uses many of the flagship beers in some of the recipes.

Founder and President Christian Spears said creating high-quality craft beer begins with the ingredients. Back in the days when he first became interested in homebrewing, his best friend would make beer with ingredients he got at the local farmer’s market. When Spears opened Tennessee Brew Works, the goal was to brew the beer with natural ingredients and source them from local farms when possible.

“We really want to work with the land and traditions and culture of Tennessee,” he said. “We do farming extremely well here in Tennessee and that translates into beer, in this case.”

So, in 2018, Spears and his entire team were excited when Tennessee Brew Works introduced its first official, commercial-sized brew of an all-Tennessee grain beer. The State Park Blonde Ale, described as “light and crisp with honeysuckle aromas and a subtle biscuit finish,” was innovative in another way, too. It was named the official beer of the Tennessee State Parks.

“It was the first of its kind in the country where a government entity stamped the beer,” he said. “Right here in Tennessee. And the face of the beer is a state naturalist named Randy Hedgepath. He’s an amazing guy. And a portion of the proceeds goes back to the state parks.”

Since then, the brewery has turned out other beers made with all-Tennessee grain including Southern Wit, a Belgian-style white beer, and a lager called Urban Hiker.

When Tennessee Brew Works opened in 2013, there was no plan for a restaurant. But Spears connected with a local chef who offered to help design a kitchen, then came on board to craft the menu. Spears said they worked out an agreement where the chef would be free to create, as long as the menu related to the beer.

“And he said that’s unbelievable, beer gives me tons of options,” Spears recalled. “Because beer can be an IPA, a wheat beer, a Belgian white beer, a stout, and so forth. You’ve got this huge range of things a chef can do.”

With the beer already in-house, it wouldn’t be as costly to use in recipes as it might be for another restaurant having to buy beer wholesale.

“So, he started replacing the water with beer in the recipes. And suddenly your palate is trying this food and you’re getting something that’s somehow translating to a pairing with the beers we have.”

Today, all of the items on the menu are either made with or inspired by beer. One of the most popular is the Five Beer Burger. True to its name, five different beers are used to create it. It starts with a Creekstone Farms beef patty, then each item – from the bread to the pickles and onions to the sauce and condiments – has the added flavor of an individual beer.

Incorporating beer throughout the menu allows for quite a bit of creativity and some culinary surprises.

“The famous old saying for brewpubs is you come for the beer, you come back for the food,” Spears explained.

“We think if you come here for the beer, you’re going to be very happy. We have a seriously talented team of brewers led by Matt Simpson, who has been brewing professionally since 1994. So, people come for the quality of the beer, but when they try the food, there’s this reaction of ‘Wow, this is a brewery?’ Ours is elevated bar food. It’s the perfect combination.”

Tennessee Brew Works is located at 809 Ewing Ave., Nashville, and open for lunch and dinner seven days a week. Visit them online at tnbrew.com or call 615-436-0050. 

South by South

By Liesel Schmidt

Photography by Don Riddle

South by South: Mimo brings Southern Italian to Nashville

The Four Seasons name is one synonymous with luxury, elegance and impeccable taste. The hotel brand has long been the pinnacle of excellence, and that high standard extends not only to its world-class accommodations, but also to its restaurants.

As the newest of its properties, the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Nashville boasts everything one would expect of the legendary hotel name, including a dining experience that is unforgettable in flavor, presentation and service. As a flagship restaurant to the new hotel, Mimo is the perfect brand representation, offering a menu of luxurious cuisine created by the hands of a master.

Young though he may be, Chef Aniello Turco – or “Nello,” as he’s more commonly known – is something of a prodigy when it comes to food. His love affair with cooking began early, having grown up getting his hands dirty in the kitchen at his parents’ restaurant in Italy. That passion only deepened with time and experience, leading to his foray into the kitchens of Michelin-starred restaurants such as Maison Alain Ducasse in Tuscany, Trussardi Alla Scala in Milan, Apsleys in London and Noma in Copenhagen – all of which gave him the opportunity to hone his skills under the watchful eye of acclaimed chefs.

In 2014, he joined the Four Seasons team as sous chef of Mio at Four Seasons Hotel Beijing, where he reimagined its Southern-inspired Italian concept into one focused on contemporary techniques and presentation. Chef Nello was subsequently named Chef of the Year by Time Out Beijing (2016-19), while Mio was awarded International Hotel Dining of the Year by Time Out Beijing (2016-19) and Three Fork Top Italian Restaurant by Gambero Rosso (2016-19). The restaurant also earned a Michelin star under his leadership.

Chef Nello’s desire to continuously improve and sharpen his technique, combined with his insatiable curiosity for exploring new disciplines, has kept him at the top of his field and expanded his repertoire, which extends across the savory as well as the sweet. In fact, in addition to studying Culinary and Management at IPSSART in Naples, Italy, Nello trained at Valrhona Chocolate Academy in Beijing and Tokyo.

Now, he brings those vast and varied sensibilities to Mimo, a dining concept whose focus combines fresh seafood with a Southern Italian influence that tips its hat to local Southern flavors.

“This is the first of its kind under the Mimo name,” said Robert Chinman, Director of Public Relations and Communications at Four Seasons Hotel Nashville. “This is a totally unique concept.”

And that uniqueness comes with a story. Guided by Chef Nello’s own creativity as well as his personal journey as a chef, the menu at Mimo is like a love story to that journey, blending his Italian heritage with the diverse influences and technical skills he gained during a career that spans from Noma to Mio, and now to Mimo.

Since opening in November of 2022, Mimo is where South meets South, offering the convivial and upbeat atmosphere one would expect to find in Music City – complete with a lively bar scene in the same room and a live music program from Thursday to Sunday – married together with the casual elegance of a starred Southern Italian restaurant.

Even the name itself is referential to that marriage: The Italian word “mimo” translates to mockingbird, the state bird of Tennessee. In a city known for its music scene, the late-night singing mockingbird is the perfect representation of the city’s spirit as well as the welcoming vibrancy of the restaurant, which offers a unique menu of food and drinks from morning until night. 

Beginning with breakfast, brunch and lunch, Mimo presents guests with a bright, social space to connect and enjoy a meal together. As the day winds down and welcomes night, a vibrant atmosphere emerges, energized by the custom cocktails and delicious food of the dinner menu. Among the signature items at Mimo are Mimo’s Caviar Linguine, made with Chef Nello’s signature sauce, topped with Southern fried okra and Osetra caviar, and finished with house-made vinegar that balances the dish and sharpens its flavors.

“It’s been a big hit for us,” said Chinman. “Ours is an elevated version of Italian food. Mimo is unlike the majority of restaurants in Nashville that are rooted in other concepts or offer a more casual style of dining.”

Mimo recently began offering an express-style business lunch special, ideal for downtown locals and professionals, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday. A prix fixe, two-course meal, guests choose from an entrée option that includes a Wagyu burger, avocado salad, beet salad, radiatori pasta or the three tomato spaghetti. Finishing out the meal with Mimo’s updated take on tiramisu or yuzu dessert is the perfect way to spend a weekday lunch.

From 4 to 6 p.m. each Monday through Thursday through August, join Mimo for Aperitivo Hour and enjoy select beers, wines and cocktails for half-price.

Located at 100 Demonbreun Street, Nashville. Open daily 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5 to 11 p.m. For more information, call 615-610-6990 or visit mimorestaurant.com. Reservations accepted.

Monell’s

Monell's: A taste of Southern hospitality in Nashville's Germantown

Nestled in the charming Germantown neighborhood in Nashville, Monell's is a beloved institution that has been delighting locals and visitors alike for over 25 years. With its warm ambiance, communal dining experience, and mouthwatering Southern cuisine, Monell's embodies the true essence of Southern hospitality. Step inside this culinary haven and embark on a journey of comfort food, camaraderie, and unforgettable flavors.

A historic setting

Monell's finds its home in a beautifully restored Victorian mansion, adding to its distinctive charm and character. Located at 1235 6th Ave. North in Nashville, this historic setting provides a cozy and inviting atmosphere for diners to gather and enjoy a memorable meal.

Family-style dining

What sets Monell's apart is its unique approach to dining. The restaurant follows a family-style dining concept, where guests are seated at large communal tables, fostering a sense of togetherness and camaraderie. This style of dining encourages conversation, sharing, and creating new connections, making it a popular choice for groups and families.

Southern comfort food

Monell's is renowned for its exceptional Southern comfort food, prepared with love and care. The menu showcases a wide array of classic Southern dishes that have been passed down through generations. From perfectly seasoned fried chicken to melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk biscuits, each bite transports you to the heart of Southern culinary traditions.

One of the highlights of dining at Monell's is the famous skillet of fluffy, golden cornbread that graces every table. It's a delicious precursor to the main course, which often includes mouthwatering options like savory pot roast, smoky pulled pork, and succulent catfish. Accompaniments range from creamy mashed potatoes and collard greens to creamy macaroni and cheese, ensuring a feast of flavors.

Unforgettable desserts

No Southern meal is complete without indulging in a decadent dessert, and Monell's does not disappoint in this regard. Be sure to save room for their signature homemade banana pudding, a creamy and luscious concoction that will leave you longing for more. Other dessert offerings include traditional pecan pie, fruit cobblers, and creamy chocolate mousse.

Hospitality at its finest

The charm of Monell's extends beyond its delectable cuisine. The staff members at Monell's are known for their warm, genuine hospitality, making every guest feel like a part of the family. The attentive and friendly service adds to the overall dining experience, creating an atmosphere that is second to none.

For those seeking a true taste of Southern hospitality in Nashville, Monell's in Germantown is an absolute must-visit. With its historic setting, family-style dining, and soul-satisfying Southern cuisine, Monell's offers an experience that goes beyond just a meal. It's a place where strangers become friends, laughter echoes through the dining room, and memories are made. So, gather your loved ones, pull up a chair at a communal table, and prepare to embark on a culinary journey that will leave you longing for more. Monell's is a testament to the enduring power of good food, warm hospitality, and the simple joy of coming together over a delicious Southern feast.

Monell’s is located at 1235 6th Ave. North in Nashville. Open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week, they serve dinner from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Reservations are not accepted; visit them online at monellstn.com/nashville.