Tuesday, October 27, 2009
First Bite / Restaurants First Bite: The Silly Goose
Posted by Steve Haruch on Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 7:00 AM
The other night I walked into The Silly Goose--the not-even-two-weeks-old restaurant that took Fresh Blends' place adjacent to Ugly Mugs in the Walden complex on Eastland Avenue in East Nashville--and was immediately struck by a few things. First, there was the restaurant's credo--both the fact that it had one, and what it says, which is, in part: "We search for and buy local, organic, sustainably produced, minimally manipulated food." Points for that. And there's a list of local suppliers hand-written on the chalkboard to the left of the cash register.
Then there were the mouth-watering aromas coming from the kitchen--or, more exactly, from directly behind the counter, where food was being minimally manipulated and artfully arranged. I placed my order for a King Kong couscous dish ($9.50), a Saylor wrap ($8) and a Goose Stack salad ($9) and was offered a taste of basil lemonade. Fresh, delicious, and an auspicious first taste, but I opted for a juice of carrot, apple and ginger instead. It arrived with a slice of Granny Smith apple floating on top.
When I got the food home, I found my optimism rewarded. The King Kong is a delicious combination of sesame couscous--spicy, flavorful and rich, tossed with roasted cashews--served with five big, firm shrimp that burst with a nice blend of cumin, spice and citrus-y fresh flavor. The Saylor is a wrap filled with cucumber, red pepper, watercress, avocado, kalamata olive and fresh bits of mint. The wraps and sandwiches come with herbed couscous or greens; we got the couscous, and it was quite good. The Goose Stack is a terrifically tasty heap of fresh greens, goat cheese, mint, basil and that rare salad accessory--big fat slices of blood-red tomato that actually had flavor, all topped with a zesty citrus vinaigrette. A very auspicious first trip, indeed, and I'm looking forward to trying everything else on the menu. (Link here to a PDF of the menu.)
Everything was fresh and made to order, and while I took my food to go, you can eat there and BYOB if you're into that kind of thing. The Silly Goose is open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. As always, let us know in the comments if you've tried it.
Comments (8)
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My inner 12-year old is giggling at wraps named "Hot Johnson" and "Lyle's Surprise." I'm gonna have a tough time ordering those with a straight face.
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LOL!
I was also looking at the menu this morning and thinking the "Hot Johnson" sounds really good but I don't know if I could ever order it without busting out laughing.
I had lunch there today and it was a pretty solid A. Yes, we ordered the Hot Johnson, as well as Lyle's Surprise. The latter is a serious challenger to anything Mitchell Deli's got. But I am not going to rave any more because you'll all go fill it up and I'll never get to eat there again. It's tee-nincy.
the silly goose is the best thing to come to nashville in all of the years i have spent eating my way through this town. not only is the food prepared on-site(patience is a virtue needed), but the quality of ingredients sought by chef roderick bailey are commendable. he shops at the farmer's markets, sources local producers and has a real knack for artful presentation and composition. this is one place you should eat at, at least once a week. support local businesses who support their own community. this is a real local economy.
