Extreme Makeover

The great sucking sound heard through Nashville's restaurant industry this winter came with the closing of Chu, the Asian-inspired restaurant sandwiched between Bound'ry and South Street, its enduringly successful siblings on 20th Avenue South. The pet project of Midas-touched restaurateur Jay Pennington, six years and more than $1 million in the making, Chu was a multisensory extravaganza of sight, sound, touch and taste conceived to lure the city's hip young scene-makers. Curiously, its overtures were rebuffed, and amid squabbling between Pennington and his landlord Jimmy Lewis, the imported teak front door was shuttered less than one year after its splashy premiere. The principals embarked on a contentious, litigious battle that has yet to be resolved, though Bound'ry and South Street continue to pack in their respective crowds, thanks to consistently reliable food and service, as well as some fresh faces and new ideas.

Nature abhors a vacuum, and the building with the two-story sandstone relief of a topless mermaid—one of Nashville's most curious pieces of public art—is pumping with new energy from a partnership between Chris Hyndman, creator and owner of Virago, and chef Scott Alderson, who first made his name in Nashville with 6°.

Five years ago, Virago was the electrifying catalyst for the development of the Broadway-Division-Demonbreun Corridor into an epicenter of dining, drinking and entertainment. Under Hyndman's visionary style and steady hand, the restaurant set a new standard for cool while maintaining a steady burn, thanks in part to a total design reinvention a year ago. At about the same time, the nearby Gulch area was counting on 6° to jump-start a similar evolution; unfortunately, nine months after opening to swarms of trendy cosmopolitans six deep at the door, 6° simply burned out. Chef Alderson's food earned rave reviews from critics, but his menu was sadly overlooked by the teeming masses at the bar. From there, he moved to Saffire in Franklin, running the kitchen and a talented staff before taking a sabbatical to tend to family matters back home in North Carolina. Nashville can thank his girlfriend, a student at MTSU, for providing reason for him to return a few months ago. First to snag him was B.B. King's on Second Avenue, which retained him as a consultant to overhaul its kitchen and menu. He installed a raw bar, buried most of the pitiful menu, and crafted a tight repertoire of coastal and Southern-inspired bar food that's several notches above the bar.

When Hyndman was first approached by the new investors in the building at 909 20th Ave. S., they proposed an '80s music club—a notion he immediately rejected. Instead, he countered, "Let's do something bold, something completely new and unlike anything else in Nashville."

With reckless abandon, he threw around buzz words like "Ultra Lounge" and "boutique restaurant," which piqued the interest and opened the checkbook of said investors (who prefer to remain behind-the-scene scenesters). Thinking bold—and savvy—he called Alderson, and the two are now deep into the planning of Layl'a Rul, and a complex plan it is. The interior has been stripped of all Asian artifacts and is being transformed into a sensual Moroccan hideaway. The bars on both levels remain, though they are being totally redesigned. All furnishings have been removed; instead, customers will loll about on custom-built upholstered settees and sofas, fronting low tables. (Forget about pulling up a chair—they're banished from Layl'a.) There will be seating—or lounging—for 30 downstairs, 40 up.

Alderson is now in the process of creating a menu that will dip into the Mediterranean and traverse North Africa and the Middle East. By his side in the kitchen is his former sous chef and rising talent Kristen Gregory, who was most recently at Margot Café in East Nashville. The dining concept is at once old and brand-new. Hyndman and Alderson will offer a five-course prix fixe menu that changes nightly. Though the first three courses will be set, the fourth and fifth will offer diners a couple of choices; desserts will be light and are not counted among the quintet. There will be three staggered seatings; times are not yet set, but may begin as early as 6, with the third planned to be clearing by 11, when the Ultra Lounge portion of the program takes over. "We only plan to do about 100 covers a night," Hyndman says—a statement that would make most of his colleagues choke on their tenderloin.

Since the building was already fitted as a restaurant, the work is all cosmetic; if you want one last gander at the mermaid, do it now, because she is history. Hyndman's goal is to be open by the end of June. Now, that's bold thinking.

Still smokin'

South Street Smokehouse, the scruffy joint popular among Music Row denizens and motorcyclists, is going to be kickin' it to the curb by mid-June with a new service that will appeal to those with big appetites but little time. South Street Curbside Pick-Up is an online order-and-pay system accessible on the restaurant's website, at www.southstreettogo.com. Log on for a complete lunch or dinner menu that includes all the faves, like the Diver Dillas, Steam Pot, po'boys, enchiladas, blue crab-cake sandwich, and stuffed filet. Order online, pay online, pull up to the pick-up zone in front of the restaurant, and a runner will bring the order to your car or your Harley. Curbside can also be ordered by phone, at 320-5555.