What’s New?

“What’s new?” is a common greeting when two people run into each other, particularly when some time has passed since the last meeting. It’s more conversational than “How are you?”—a question that’s not really asking for an honest or detailed response. When someone asks “How are you?,” what he or she means is, “Please don’t tell me about your gall bladder surgery or traumatic discovery of your spouse’s infidelity.” The polite and expected response is simply, “Just fine, thanks. And you?”

On the other hand, “What’s new?” can generally be regarded as an indication of some interest from the asker—what’s new in your life, your studies, your job, your home, with your kids? When someone asks me this, I might respond with a brief and hopefully entertaining summary of my vacation in Colorado, my son Harry’s baseball tournament, my daughter Joy’s basketball season or the potential addition of a dog to our family. I prattle on until the asker impatiently interrupts to reveal the true nature of his or her query. “That’s very nice, Kay. But what’s new?”

Ahhh, I realize. What they really meant was not what’s new with me, but what’s new in the restaurant world. Not everyone reads books, is interested in politics, goes to movies or watches sports, but everybody has to eat, and people want to know what I know in my little corner of the culinary world. They want the scoop. While it hasn’t always been the case, there is a lot to talk about these days; here’s what’s new in Nashville’s surprisingly robust dining portfolio.

Basante’s at Green Hills A little more than five years ago, Luis Fonseca moved to Nashville from the West Coast and opened Basante’s on a wing and a prayer. The rather unlikely location—adjoining the lobby of the Days Inn motel on West End Avenue—caused Fonseca and his wife Michelle some anxious moments. But once word got out about their fresh and comforting contemporary Californian-Italian cuisine, Nashvillians beat a path to the door, and Basante’s became one of the city’s popular and consistently reliable choices for lunch and dinner.

With Basante’s on West End firmly established, Fonseca had his eye out for another location, ideally in Green Hills. When Cafe Lylla vacated its store in the Mall at Green Hills’ upper strip, he pounced on the opportunity to open a second restaurant there, with a simpler but more upscale menu. The space was transformed with an extremely modern design of mixed textures, ambient lighting and tall Plexiglas dividers on rolling wheels. Though some customers have complained that the sign outside is difficult to read, it certainly hasn’t affected business, which has been booming since opening nearly three months ago.

As promised, the menu here is markedly different than at the original location, and a tad pricier, though nothing startling for this neighborhood. Among the appetizers are eggplant fritters with fresh tomato puree, goat cheese and roasted red pepper aioli, and blue crab cakes with toasted corn and black bean relish served with a lemon-ginger sauce. Entrée choices include cioppino with shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and fresh fish in a tomato broth; veal tenderloin with chive au jus and grilled vegetable ravioli; black bean-crusted fish of the day served with shrimp and avocado cocktail with green onion aioli and lemon sauce; and pappardelle pasta with artichokes, Vidalia onions and grilled duck breast in a duck confit demi. Fonseca splits his time between the two places, though for the time being he can often be found in Green Hills, where the executive chef position has been filled by Jared Hutto, a Nashville native who spent the last eight years cooking in New Orleans.

Basante’s at Green Hills seats 76 in the dining room, with a snazzy bar at the entrance. There are separate lunch and dinner menus, though food is served all day between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and from 5 to 11 p.m. Sat. 2114 Green Hills Village Drive (next door to Ruby Tuesday). 297-9710.

The Acorn Nashville restaurateur Rick Bolsom has a joke about the restaurant industry I like to repeat when people ask my advice on opening a little place of their own. How do you make a small fortune in the restaurant industry? Start with a large fortune.

The humorous warning probably wouldn’t have deterred John Leonard, whose industry experience is limited to a stint as assistant manager at The Trace after he graduated from Vanderbilt in 2000. Youthful enthusiasm, a head for figures (his résumé includes a year as a stockbroker) and some supportive investors inspired Leonard to open The Acorn in a two-story building on 28th Avenue North just off of West End Avenue, an area that includes Houston’s, the new Ted’s Montana Grill, a soon-to-open Japanese restaurant and a recently announced Mexican restaurant.