Dave Cuomo and Emma Berkey jumped at the chance to open a small restaurant in the space, and started to work on creating Bella Nashville. You might recognize those names from their accordion/guitar combo Chicken Little which they describe as a “half-pint-folk-punk band.” You can check out some of their music and videos here on Reverb Nation.

Fitting right in with the market's commitment to sustainable practices, they built out the space with old barn wood and built a granite counter out of recovered sample tile for diners at enjoy their personal-size pizzas.

Cuomo is the head pizzaiolo at Bella Nashville and makes each pie to order before running it quickly through the infernal oven made from organic Terre Blanche white clay, which was imported from France. His experience cooking at Patterson House prepared him well for this venture, as his speed at making and dressing the individual pizzas kept up with a clamoring crowd the day I went to visit during their first week of operation. The fact that the pies only need to spend scant minutes in the intense 900-degree heat of the oven doesn't hurt efficiency either.

Outside of Nick & Rudy's, the other restaurants have been similar incarnations of a sports bar/music club catering to Vandy students and featuring live music, canned beers and shots. There are plenty of options for that sort of recreation in the area, and Winners, Losers and the Red Bar seem to have that market in Midtown covered, though their locations are a little more hidden than Benchmark's prominent spot on 21st Avenue.

Maybe Benchmark can make a better run at it with their complete lunch, dinner and bar menu, elevated cocktail creations, local beers and their "Famous Nashville Bushwhacker." Having already endangered my eyesight more than once dining at their Second Avenue location, I can attest that Benchmark makes some pretty solid food and that their service and drink selections makes them a good option for downtown pregame or concert night dining and drinking.

Still, it takes guts to open a college bar two weeks before graduation, so hopefully some locals will discover the new location and help them make it through the Vandyless summer. Midtown can always use some new lunchtime choices, especially with parking, so give them a try and report back here what you think.

• The crushed oyster shell and blue glass bar at Urban Grub on 12th South

That's what I learned when by stopping by early in the morning and receiving an impromptu tour of the Jay Pennington-William Inman restaurant.

I snapped some pictures that don't quite do it justice, but if you're familiar with Pennington's restaurants, you'll believe that it's all custom, all premium and just gorgeous, with something new and beautiful to discover around each curve and corner.

The interior is divided into lots of diverse areas: quiet corners, booths that shield your party and keep out noise, some traditional four-tops, and wide-open party spaces and a gemutlich curved bar. There's an emphasis on outdoorsy spaces, with lots of roll-up walls, fireplaces, fire pits, patios and such.

The bars are made from glass and crushed oyster shells and other material bound in a two-part resin that's not a resin. Curly maple makes up part of the custom woodwork, and there's a an open-flame brick oven. The bathrooms have high windows for natural light, and there are spectacular mosaics on the walls.

A centerpiece in the new SoBro, restaurateur Tom Morales' ambitious The Southern Steak & Oyster, is gearing up to launch later this month in the base of the Pinnacle tower, as I report in this week's Food Biz column in the Nashville Post section of the print edition of The City Paper.

Morales is known for many projects around town, including Saffire restaurant in Franklin and TomKats movie catering. I got to take a look around the space last week, and it's shaping up to be pretty spectacular.

As an old daily journalist, I was pleased to run into Bill Thorup checking out the site. He's a former photographer for the late lamented Nashville Banner, and the restaurant plans to use some of his amazing historic photos of Nashville as part of the restaurant decor.

Morales is hoping for a soft opening in about two weeks. Read my full story after the jump.

• seemidtn.com

The Gray’s Drugstore building at 332 Main St. is known for its iconic neon sign, but the space has been vacant for a while, and Marshall said that bothered him. “As vibrant as downtown Franklin is, it’s been a shame to see it empty,” Marshall told me in this week's Food Biz column in the Nashville Post section of The City Paper.

Marshall's a busy guy. He and his team are also expanding the Puckett's brand, with a new location coming to Columbia this fall and a new Puckett's Trolley already being deployed to festivals and private events.

The new restaurant in Franklin is a different concept, which Marshall is calling Gray’s on Main. His operating partners in the project are Joni and Michael Cole.

The menu at Gray’s on Main will take inspiration from Southern foodways, Marshall said, including the cuisine of the Carolinas and the Low Country, with lots of seafood. There will be an emphasis on shared plates, with “appetizers for people to sit down and enjoy together, as family or friends.”

After a preview or two, the Biscuit Love truck will make its debut April 6 at the Meet ’N Three food truck gathering at the Nashville Farmers’ Market. Here's what I wrote:

Who doesn’t love a scratch biscuit, right? That’s the appealing concept behind the Biscuit Love food truck, which will hit the streets in early April.

The folks behind Biscuit Love are the husband-and-wife team of Karl and Sarah Worley. They’re from here, but they both attended culinary school at Johnson and Wales in Denver and honed their skills in Durham, N.C., before returning home and turning their love of Southern food into a rolling restaurant.

The tagline is “scratch-made gourmet sandwiches,” and Karl Worley said most everything will be made in house, including the biscuits, of course, the gravy and even toppings like pickles and mustard.

Perhaps the most intriguing menu item is the Princess, an homage to Nashville-style hot chicken and a certain famous hot chicken joint. It starts with a biscuit, topped with a spicy fried chicken thigh (boneless, in a concession to biscuit mechanics), plus the aforementioned pickles and mustard and a drizzle of honey.

You can also build your own biscuit with alluring ingredients such as local bacon, country ham, Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheddar, sausage gravy, and most delirious of all … Olive & Sinclair chocolate gravy.

The Worleys plan to unveil the truck April 6 at the Meet ’N Three food truck gathering at the Nashville Farmers’ Market. To check out the menu, visit biscuitlovetruck.com or watch for updates on Facebook and Twitter @BiscuitLuvTruck.

• West End Cafe on Facebook

Archer worked for Bread & Company for 10 years as director of operations before he opened his own place in late January. The West End Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch, and with a full bar, it also targets the after-work and pre-event crowd. There are TVs that can be turned to sports, and Archer said he's already serving folks who stop by before hockey games.

West End Cafe is currently open until 7 p.m. weekdays, and Archer plans to add hot dinner entrees and longer hours soon.)

Click here to read the full column.

Woodbine Coffee Co. is taking over a 1930 retail building at 2519 Nolensville Pike. Owners Eddie Christy (in the picture at right, he's the guy on the right) and Todd Rossbach are doing the work themselves, removing the plaster by hand to expose brick walls and create what Christy calls a “clean, open and comfortable environment.”

Christy is a music business veteran and former marketer; Rossbach owns the popular dive bar Twin Kegs, not far away on Thompson Lane. But don't expect a big food menu, at least not at first. Christy says they'll stick to pastries at first.

Coffee beans will come from several vendors, but the main provider will be Humphreys Street Coffee, a nonprofit roaster that mentors and employs teens in South Nashville.

Christy said the coffeehouse will be “a straightforward place to meet, with free wireless and comfy chairs.” He hopes to have the place open by early March watch the Facebook page for updates.

Chef Willy Thomas and his wife Yvette (Park Cafe, Eastland Cafe) have tapped veteran chef Joe Shaw to be executive chef and manager of their upcoming Italian restaurant, called Pomodoro East. ("Pomodoro" means tomato in Italian.)

Shaw is a chef and manager with 25 years' experience; he’s a veteran of legendary chef Frank Stitt’s operations in Birmingham, Ala., and made his mark in Nashville at various restaurants including Watermark, The Standard and Miro District.

For more details, check out my Food Biz column in the Nashville Post section of today's City Paper.

• Fried spam and bologna "fries" at Lucy's Country Cafe

Lucy Pinson and husband, the extraordinarily prolific songwriter Bobby Pinson, have turned a love of homemade food into a menu of home-cooking favorites from their own repertoire, family recipes and friends' favorites.

Though they're still tweaking the recipes, the food just three days after their debut showed plenty of thought and care. Steak fingers were generously cut and fried crisp, served with a impressive, peppery homemade white gravy. Okra in a cornmeal coating was fried crisp and chewy. Corn muffins have a touch of jalapeno. Sour cream gives the devastatingly rich banana-less banana pudding a meltaway consistency, while crushed vanilla wafers make a crunchy counterpoint.

• Cornmeal-fried okra at Lucy's

The Pinsons have been serving lunch on a smaller scale from a suite on Music Row and saw the need for a straightforward lunch spot in the neighborhood. "There are all these big buildings going up around here, and lots of people, and so many $18 lunches," said Bobby, who does his songwriting in a space above the restaurant.

The food is priced like meat-and-three, with an all-you-can-eat price ($12.99) for that guy in every office who can eat like that and stay thin.

Though the address is 1911 Broadway, the entrance is on Division. Hours are Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and "Sing for Your Supper" on Wednesdays, when Pinson's songwriter friends and colleagues will be performing and the food will be plated and served at the tables. See weekly menus here, and get updates on Twitter, @lunchatlucys