Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Step Back with Stevan Steinhart: Nashville's Restaurant Scene 20 Years Ago
Posted by Jim Ridley on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 3:26 PM
At 24 years and counting, senior account executive Stevan Steinhart has the longest tenure of anyone at the Nashville Scene--and a long memory for what Nashville restaurants were like back in the day. With Carrington Fox ably covering the changes over the past two decades in the Scene's 20th anniversary issue this week, we asked Stevan some questions about the other side of the story: the way things were back then.
Buckle up, folks--you're going back in time.
What was the place you'd go 20 years ago for a special occasion?
SS: For a special occasion (anniversary, etc.) dinner at Arthur's in Union Station was deliciously romantic. They had a "Caffe Diablo" coffee service that was really fun--you were sitting in a semi-circular loveseat while you ate, with classical music playing. For the family, a visit to Fountain Square and a meal at The Heartthrob Café was totally fun.
How about a date?
My idea of the perfect (and totally impressive) date: drinks at Marty's, dinner at The Third Coast and coffee/dessert plus a turn around Music City at the Pinnacle on top of The Crown Plaza Hotel.
What do you miss most?
I miss Faison's...it was unique. I wrote a lot of business there and Jody was fun to work with. I miss Laurell's and the energy that was there...downtown was taking shape during those years. I miss 101st Airborne...we used to take the entire family for Sunday brunch and listen to the gunfire and the '40's music. I miss Slice of Life...Heyung Popkin was a visionary...Sunday brunch was special. (She made whole-wheat Danish.) I miss Panama Red's...the conch fritters and the fish tanks.
What was that great barbecue place that was open on the hill off Murfreesboro Road? Later on it turned into Shell's, with the giant plastic crab and claws. What was the name of that place?
What are some other places you remember over the years that aren't around anymore?
Gone but not forgotten, by alphabet:
5th Quarter, 106 Club, 101st Airborne, 32nd Ave.
Arthur's, Atlantis, Arirang, Americana Buffet
Basante's, Box Seat, Briley's, Brothers, Boardwalk Café, Belle Meade Cafeteria, Belle Meade Brasserie, Brass Rail, Broadway Dinner Train, Belle Carol Riverboat
Ciraco's, Chef Sigi's, Chevy's (Happy Hour), Cakewalk, Cruiser's, Cockeyed Camel, Cajun Deli, Captain's Table, Crawdaddy's, Captain Bilbo's, Coyote's, Caffe Milano, Café 1 2 3, Clayton-Blackmon, Café Flamingo
Diamond Head Royal Luau, Dunham Station, Danzo's
East India Club, East Ocean
Fat Tuesday, Faison's
Giuseppe's, Goldie's Deli, Granite Falls
Heartthrob Café, Houston's, Hakka
Iguana, Ireland's, Ivorie's, Italo To Go
Jamaica, Julian's, Jack Russell's, JD's/ Regal Maxwell House, Joe D's Hot Chicken Club
King and I
Laurell's, Los Cunados, Le Cou Rouge, Loco Lupe's
Miss Daisy's, Mario's, Michaels, Marty's, Multi Bob, Major Wallaby's, Maude's Courtyard, Mr. Teriaki
New Orleans Manor (?), Nathan's Courtyard, Nashville Country Club, Nashville Bagel, New Asia
The Orchid, Old Heidelberg
Peaceful Planet, Polaris, Prime Cut, Pinnacle/Crown Plaza, Panama Red's, Peddler, Pizzeria Uno, Prime Cut, Playoff's
Rose Room, Rainbow Key, Rosario's (!)
Slice of Life, Starlite(?), Stash 'n Stella's, Stockyard/Bull Pen Lounge (it's not the same), Satsuma, Silver Wings, Sailmaker, Stage Deli, The Sutler, Schwartz's Deli, Shell's
Third Coast, Tokyo, The Trace, Toucan
Ultraviolet Diner, Uncle Bud's
Villa Romano
Wild Boar
Zodiac's
So how do you think the restaurant scene has changed?
The dining landscape has evolved from rural to urban with local and regional flavors intact. At first, hotel dining was the easiest fine-dining experience to find. Hotels brought in trained and certified chefs to manage large kitchens and keep sophisticated visiting diners appeased. Four-star dining in the late 80's/early 90's included Julian's, Mario's and Arthur's.
Over the past 20 years Nashville has nurtured a unique dining culture. While local operators expanded their menus and wine cellars, ethnic restaurants arrived offering tasty and adventurous alternatives to meat-and-three. In the past five years we've seen the "burrito to go" phenomenon and the rise of big-box restaurants that offer a competitive fine-dining experience with value, tasty food and atmosphere. (Maggiano's and P.F. Chang's come to mind.)
I am amazed at the skill, perseverance and imagination of Nashville's boutique restaurateurs. With food costs spiking, demand weakened, perishable product, labor challenges, etc. the restaurant business has to be the toughest business to manage, refine and maintain. This year we've seen a lot of creativity, menu and price juggling, special promotions, etc. with some players closing their doors or filing for protection. Amazingly, new options are putting down roots. Some offer a limited menu done very well: Gabby's Burgers and Fries, Satay's Fast Thai, Local Taco, Italian Market, Zavos. It is now easy to find healthy food that is tasty and creatively combined.
What kind of restaurants would you like to see come to town?
I came up from a Big Apple dining background. So I have a penchant for ethnic food. My choices include: a Portuguese restaurant with a good paella; an Argentinean spot with short ribs roasting on a charcoal grate; and my personal favorite, Cuban-Chinese. Fried plantains go real well with fried rice!
Comments (137)
Showing 1-50 of 137
cool piece - reading that restaurant list was truly like a stroll down memory lane...
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Were you here already in '89, Claudia? If so, I'd love to know where you were hanging out.
Was the Maharajah around at this time? And did the Flying Fish come before or after Multi Bob? I loved Multi Bob—it was probably my favorite place in town.
Fluff, if you're out there: What was the name of the pizza place where we used to hold the Fireplace Whiskey Journal's "editorial meetings"? It was right across from Vanderbilt.
Was The Laughing Man still around by '89? I ate there pretty often freshman year. And when was Garden Allegro?
Multi Bob came to mind during a recent visit to Bosco's, which led me to try to explain, without an iota of success, to my dining companion what Multi Bob was. Help me out for the next time that happens, Pink: how would you label or describe it?
Stevan, what a fantastic bunch of memories this list brings up. You were there for all of it -- wow.
Multi-bob -- spent New Year's Eve there two years running. Great place. Still can't replicate the red pepper rouille they served with their crawfish hushpuppies.
Jim, I think that pizza place must be Bobbie's -- we had an unlimited credit there. Everything free, so long as it was pizza or beer.
What was the name of the pizza place that was in the same strip mall as Montana Ted's? I think it was either where Nashville Bicycle or Honey Baked Ham is now.
Also, there used to be a cookie store in the building in front of Zola's. Peter's, Paul's? I still remember their cookies. Haagan Daaz was also here.
Multi Bob had this weird "ironic" Church of the SubGenius vibe down to its Bob Dobbs-style cartoon mascot, a leering wide-eyed face. I remember it being the first place in town that served crisp little pizzas with items like crawfish and pine nuts. I remember Flying Fish keeping a similar menu but toning down the eccentricity. It was where Bosco's is now in Hillsboro Village.
The cookie store was "David's" and it had a Haagan Das next to it;;;Nashville Bagel across the street and Cakewalk at the back where Zola is now.
Quite a corner
Nashville Bagel actually used to make bialys, which you can't find anywhere in town anymore. (I would love for someone to prove me wrong.) They were not very good, sometimes burned on the top and edges and raw in the middle,but I appreciated the effort. That was the first place I ever tried lox.
I believe the pizza place was J.D.'s Double-Stuf Crust. That's where I took my Parisian pen pal Lisa Shouse on a date-that-never-was circa 1984. When you speak of this, Lisa—and you will—be kind.
Has anyone here ever actually been to the Stockyard? When I was growing up, it was a really big deal: the Tennessean used to publish a list of who'd been seen there. "Wow—Burt Reynolds was there!"
I am the only one that will go eat ethnic food with dad, mom doesn't really care for it... good father-daughter time. Great piece Ridley! Go dad!
Woo
Nashville Bagel also made "raisin sticks". They were cinnamon raisin bagels shaped like breadsticks dusted in cinnamon sugar. I drooling just thinking about them!
David's cookies - was this owned b a local person, or a franchise. I think it was the oatmeal raisin cookies I liked so much.
Second that emotion on the bialys at Nashville Bagels. As for Multi Bob, it was in early on the squid ink pasta trendlet, as I recall, and on the servers-with-attitude-serving-squid-ink-pasta trend as well.
David's Cookies was a franchise that was owned, I think, by a local person.
but the cookies etc were dictated by corporate.
I remember eating with big brother Steve at Sonny's during one of my visits from up north. Mmmm.
Gone, same building: Guido's and then Crescent Cafe/Oyster Bar (if that was its name). For a time Guido's did NYC-style rubbery pizza nonpareil.
Also gone from VU-land, among best named restaurants ever: Zorba the Greek Chef.
I loved Guido's. Grease puddled and dripped from every blessed triangle.
I remember when Obie's had the best pizza in town. The last time I tried the original outpost on Elliston, it was absolutely bizarre.
Another long-gone Vandy-area restaurant: Helga's Soupkettle. Also, Mack's Country Kitchen, home of the three-dollar 3 a.m. meat-and-three special, was around back then too.
Also near Vanderbilt, closer to Baptist Hospital was a sandwich shop in a red caboose in the spot where Checker's is now. After the first incarnation closed, someone reopened under a new name. I loved this place. Anyone remember the first incarnation's name, or any info on what happened?
Pink, I think you're the only blogger in nashville to drop "church of the sub-genius vibe" in a post. The head must be launched.
You're done Bob Dobbs proud.
Apropos the Sub-Genius vibe, the church's website is a pretty entertaining browse, and there is a semi-active blog going. Also worth a look in that 'get a life' sort of way is a Wikipedia entry reminding us that the church is "dedicated to Total Slack, delving into Mockery Science, Sadofuturistics, Megaphysics, Scatalography, Schizophreniatrics, Morealism, Sarcastrophy, Cynisacreligion, Apocolyptionomy, ESPectorationalism, Hypno-Pediatrics, Subliminalism, Satyriology, Disto-Utopianity, Sardonicology, Fascetiouism, Ridiculophagy, and Miscellatheistic Theology."
But I digress.
bendovertonto, that would have been Deli Junction, my preferred study location through some part of my collegiate career -- the hubbub all around made it somehow easier to concentrate.
A friend, now a very senior Nashville banker, took a job there for what I recall as a sadly brief tenure. When asked to put something on the marquee fronting West End that would highlight the quality of the products going into DJ's sandwiches, he composed the following slogan:
DELI JUNCTION
YOU CAN'T BEAT OUR MEATS
Cake Walk's Shrimp Salad, Clayton Blackmon's Salad Sampler, Slice of Life's Tofu Pita, Miss Daisy's with my God Mother, Basante's Gnocci, 12th and Porter's Hoe Cakes w/ Caviar & Boursin, Cafe 123 and my first Ostrich, Bonanza! and the Salad Bar, The Cooker's Squash Casserole, Belle Meade Brasserie, Sala Thai's Drive Trough, Nashville Bagel Company. And if we are getting nostalgic...as a child, I remember the first time I had The Corner Market's Signature Salad, Strawberries, Blue Cheese, Greens, Almonds?, and Sesame Dressing!!! and The Picnic's Egg Salad and Fruit Tea. I mean Yum! My world changed from the day these concoctions touched my lips.
www.hintofmyint.com
I also miss the infamous parking lot Nazi: Burger King Betty (by U.S.N.)
....Satsuma?
Steven, Good Show! Thanks for the kind words, and I miss working with you too, especially the tips on action flicks. But who remembers the important places - B. Palola's, Sherry's, Hoppers, Low Riders, The Zebra Club, The World's End- I sure don't...
Way to go Jody..and here's one more that was a late night great, where Rumba is now, before it became Nashville Bagel...it was Tiny Tim's. Miss Hattie cooked at night and it was where you'd see the goodd guys (in uniform) and the bad guys, at the pinball machine. Looks were exchanged but i don't remember any gunfire.
And Peaches and Elizabeth at Bishop's Pub, peanuts on the floor and all kinds of stars to be singing for a beer and a burger.
Arnold, I can't believe you and I just met in the last few years, because we've been eating in all the same places for two decades. Where have you been all my life?
Nashville Bagel was actually really good. Certainly not the "rolls with holes" that were all you could get. Honestly, I think Star's bagels have fluffed up over the years (in their original location on Davidson near Charlotte, the bagels were smaller and denser).
I actually also thought Nashville Bagel's bialys were alright, too. Correctly salty, and the little onion/oil mix on top was just right.
I LOVED Schwartz's. The menu was good, but in particular I remember the little shelves with the boxes of sweets and the cooler with spreads, lox, and halvah, over there in Belle Meade Plaza.
Wonderful list, by the way. I'm too young to have gone to the bars or sophisticated places. But I remember Laughing Man and Slice of Life well... shopping for records then getting a sandwich with sprouts and cheese, back in high school.
Nashville Bagel was actually really good. Certainly not the "rolls with holes" that were all you could get. Honestly, I think Star's bagels have fluffed up over the years (in their original location on Davidson near Charlotte, the bagels were smaller and denser).
I actually also thought Nashville Bagel's bialys were alright, too. Correctly salty, and the little onion/oil mix on top was just right.
I LOVED Schwartz's. The menu was good, but in particular I remember the little shelves with the boxes of sweets and the cooler with spreads, lox, and halvah, over there in Belle Meade Plaza.
Wonderful list, by the way. I'm too young to have gone to the bars or sophisticated places. But I remember Laughing Man and Slice of Life well... shopping for records then getting a sandwich with sprouts and cheese, back in high school.
I remember Mr Gatti's (Murphy and Green Hills), Pargo's, TGIF and Tony Roma's on Elliston, IHOP on 21st, and Bienvenidos downtown
I love this post and I really love that The Bob got so many comments. I spent every Friday through college at The Bob/Fish. I actually went to a candle light vigil there the day it closed. Every new keg of Gerst always tasted a bit different than the one before it. Tear, tear...
Sunday's champagne brunches at Faison's followed by happy hour at World's End make me wonder how I can even remember the Sundays of the past.
For the longest time, as a wee restaurant tot, Jody and Randy were THE employers to work for. I think that is why there are still so many talented people scattered throughout the city today.
Jay worked at Marty's for awhile back in the day. Oh, the stories he can tell...
Wow! Thanks for the memories!
Question: What was the restaurant, circa 1986, located where the Vanderbilt Plaza/Caterpillar building is now? It was a free standing 2 story home, limited seating, menu-of-the-moment run by a culinary couple.
Jay worked at Marty's for awhile back in the day. Oh, the stories he can tell...
Please, get him to come by and tell them! I'd love for people to fill this thread with memories of what these places were really like.
In addition to Slice of Life and Laughing Man, there was Garden Allegro where Jerusalem is now on Church. Anybody remember Country Life, the vegetarian place run by Seventh-Day Adventists on Division? I think that was the place where you heaped food on a tray from a buffet line and paid by the pound. I think if more restaurants did that, we wouldn't have an obesity problem. I know I always felt self-conscious as hell.
Carrington, if you're in the house: What was the name of that salad you were talking about at Houston's? I used to work in an office nearby where I was the only guy on staff, and whenever we went to lunch there the women would all order that salad. I always got chicken fingers.
Hey, Jody, thanks for all the memories!!! Those were some wild nights in the Gulch. The stories I could tell about 12th & Porter. We used to call it 12th & Snorter.
There was also a place called The Grateful Breadbox, although I spent most of my veggie years at the Laughing Man steam table...
SS - My sources tell me the restaurant located where Caterpillar currently is was called "The Upper Crust." Does that sound right?
And oh - I had forgotten J.D. Double-Stuf Crust. That was a hot date night back in 1985.
And for whatever reason we used to love to go to that nasty Fuddruckers that was where TGI Fridays/Jason's Deli is now. I guess we just wanted to hear them say our names (or whatever ridiculous names we gave them) through the microphone. My only shot at fame.
Tony Roma's on Elliston was my FAVORITE restaurant growing up. Many a birthday dinner was spent there during my youth. I loved looking through those big mirrors on all the walls to see what everyone else was eating.
The new version of TR at Opry Mills is an embaressment to my fond memories.
As a kid I loved the Ultraviolet Diner! I wore my Ultraviolet Diner t-shirt on the first day back to school.
Those cow-hide bar stools were awesome!
Out at Hickory Hollow there was a Rax's Roast Beef. I used to get my parachute pants at the mall and have a sandwich there.
As a kid in the late 80s/early 90s, I loved going to Daryl's on Citgo just off Trousdale. They served kids meals in dump trucks and had great virgin Strawberry Daiquiris! I always wanted to eat upstairs at one of those tables that extended out over the bar area.
My parents took me to the rotating restaurant downtown a few times and that was awesome! Is there anything up there any more??
Also, the dolls at Pargo's in Brentwood used to creep me out!!
Thanks Nicki and Apostrophe! We had some fun huh? 12th and Snorter - love it.
But yes, Steven, I'm pretty sure that Stepford Wife is correct - The Upper Crust. Run by two ex-Arthur's employees who were fired for wearing blue jeans into work, with tuxes in hand. Their policy was a customer might show up any time, even when restaurant was closed, thus employees must always be in uniform... Oh Walter, rest in peace. And Chris L. you thought I was a hard ass.
This isn't restaurant related, but the Sunshine Grocery moved to Belmont 20 years ago this summer... before that, it was in that little storefront adjacent to JJ's (which was a beer deli). I remember a looong way back, probably the late 70s, being in the old store while my mother shopped for whole grains and tofu and such, chatting with a nun. That Whole Earth catalog/granola/VW Beetle vibe that permeated the area from Belmont to Sunshine/Laughing Man area north of Vandy got crushed by property values and better hygeine, but it made such an impression on me as a kid that I can almost smell the dirt, diesel, and patchouli now.
Jody- I never thought of you as a hard ass, that was Rayburn. After all, my lights, music levels and ceiling fans were always spot on. Alternatively, yes, I am a total hard ass when my crew dictates it but I learned that skill from John Petrucelli. Hi to Lois...
Looking at the Scene article about the closing of the Sunshine now, and Laughing Man and Slice of Life get a mention...
... along with a place called "Everybody's." What was that?
Also, the Rev. Keith Gordon and the oldsters in my teen punk years waxed nostalgic about Phrank N Steins. Was it just a disgusting weiner and beer joint with music, or did it have anything to recommend it other than its place in history?
