Friday, January 22, 2010
News / Restaurants Bid on Some of the Secrets of Zola's Pizzazz
Posted by Dana Kopp Franklin on Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 4:14 PM
- Glassware from Zola is one of the lots being auctioned online now that Chef Deb Paquette has closed the beloved restaurant.
One of Nashville's best-loved restaurants served its final meal last weekend, and all the kitchen equipment, dishes, chairs and precious professional gear collected over 23 years is being sold online by McLemore Auction Co.
Chef Deb Paquette's restaurant Zola had a lively and sweetly satisfying final night on Saturday, says restaurateur Rick Bolsom, a founder and partner in the 13-year-old restaurant, with friends and regular customers dining and reminiscing until well past midnight.
The closing is the end of a two-decade run of fine dining. For 10 years before Zola, Bolsom and wife Vicki had a pioneering dining spot, Cakewalk Cafe, in the same space, 3001 West End Ave. Bolsom says the reason for Zola's demise is not the economy (the restaurant remained successful to the end), but because Paquette and her husband Ernie, the restaurant's general manager, want to fulfill their dream of moving to a tropical island and running a fishing resort. (Ernie Paquette was a veteran fishing guide in Florida when Deb met him, and for 22 years he's owned South Harpeth Outfitters, which caters to local fishing enthusiasts.)
The couple has had several offers from exotic climes, and they're getting ready to visit various potential new homes, including a place in Turks & Caicos, Bolsom says. They are keeping their Nashville home, though, and Deb Paquette will make guest appearances in the kitchen at Bolsom's restaurant Tin Angel. She also teaches an occasional cooking class.
Paquette has long been considered one of Nashville's best chefs, and Zola remained a celebrated dining spot, winning best restaurant in 2009 Best of Nashville issue in the Nashville Scene. Paquette has worked with or mentored dozens of fine chefs in her years in Nashville.
Meanwhile, the online auction of goods, which will help finance the Paquettes' travels, is a fascinating site to pore over. It includes everything from elegant stemware to a five-gallon professional salad spinner to a pair steel bullet-style trash cans. (At press time the garbage cans were bid up to $52.50.)
Even if you don't plan to bid, it's fun to see what an eight-burner double oven stainless steel range by Vulcan looks like. And if 82 solid wood upholstered chairs are a bit too many for your bungalow, the chairs are helpfully broken up into smaller lots of 14 to 22.
Check out the auction here. On Monday, Jan. 25, the goods will be open for inspection at the restaurant 9 a.m. to noon. Bidding ends Tuesday, Jan. 26, beginning at 2 p.m. (Ongoing "last-minute") bidding on an item may extend the auction for that item in five-minute increments.)
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I left at 2:00 am. At that point, it had kind of turned into the bridge scene from Apocalypse Now.
It was a great night.
I left at 2, but left without my phone. which should give an indication.
I was there on the last night. It was wonderful and sad all at the same time. You could tell the servers were all sad. Deb and Ernie both came around personally to speak to all the tables, which was a nice touch. I will definitely miss the great food and ambiance.
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