Weekend Bites
Monday, August 3, 2009
Events / Weekend Bites / Wine Wine Chap and Miel Host Tasting Aug. 9
Posted by Carrington Fox on Mon, Aug 3, 2009 at 6:19 AM
Wine Chap Richard Payne is teaming up with Miel chef Jimmy Philips (Can we call him French Food Dude?) for a tasting of wines from importer Kermit Lynch.
The casual event, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9, will take place in the dining room and on the patio at Miel.
The $30 admission includes Madagascar prawns with lavender-lemon cocktail sauce, herb blinis with goat cheese, summer succotash with black bass and corn sauce, and flat iron steak with haricots verts in Dijon aioli.
The following wines will be sampled (retail prices listed):
2006 Joncier Lirac Rouge $22.99
2006 Domaine Gachot-Monot Côtes de Nuits Villages $27.99
2007 Domaine des Grande Perrieres Vieilles Vignes $29.99
2007 Domaine Patrick Bottex Vin du Bugey Cerdon Rose La Cueille $20.99
2006 Domaine Ostertag Riesling $19.99
2007 Domaine A&P De Villaine "Bouzeron" Aligote $24.99
Call 298-3663 for reservations.
Friday, July 24, 2009
CSA / Events / Weekend Bites Provence Hosting Local Food Fête July 25
Posted by Carrington Fox on Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 1:43 PM
In celebration of summer, Provence in Hillsboro Village is hosting a Local Food Fête, showcasing seasonal produce from Farmer Dave and offering a chance to chat with owner Terry Carr-Hall and chef Dustin Pritchett. If you made it to Provence's recent bread fête, then you'll know what to expect--but with an emphasis on seasonal produce. If you get to the 21st Avenue store between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, please report back if you discover any particularly clever uses for seasonal CSA booty.
Happy Hour / Weekend Bites DaVinci's Half-Price Friday Dinner Is Genius
Posted by Carrington Fox on Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 6:07 AM
I'd been hearing that the best-kept secret in town was Friday night dinner at DaVinci's Pizza, where from 4 to 6 p.m. your dinner bill gets cut in half. Of course, I took that with the airline-style-black-out-date grain of salt, expecting it to mean "cut in half EXCEPT FOR beer, sodas and virtually anything else my family would order." But what the hell, it's just pizza, so even if they weaseled out of the promotion somehow, how bad could the bill be? I guess I'm an optimist that way.
So imagine my surprise when the bill for my family of five--which had just enjoyed two gourmet pizzas, three sodas, two Yazoos and more than an hour of balmy dusk on the festive family-friendly patio--came back at $20. That's right, $20.
In the end, the only grain of salt I needed was for the part about the "best-kept secret in town." Actually, by 5:30 the Hayes Street eatery was packed, as well it should have been with a dinner deal like that.
Monday, July 13, 2009
People / Weekend Bites Sleepover and Pancake Breakfast in Green Hills!
Posted by Nicki Wood on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 9:21 AM
So many things about Noshville are lovable. The cheery, functional retro interior. The great smells coming from the kitchen. The generous portions. The potato pancakes, the nova, the Reuben, the chicken soup with the giant matzo ball. They get it right pretty much every time, and I don't really know how they are so consistently good.
One other endearing quality of the Green Hills location: on weekends, the tables are full of scruffy, puffy-faced affluent West Nashvillians who look as if they just rolled out of bed. Dirty hair, bed hair, flip-flops, mingy teeth, sweats, gym shorts. I can't think of anywhere else where you'll see this many rumpled adult bourgeoisie. Okay, maybe Starbucks. Also Bread & Company. Where else?
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Events / Farmers' Markets / Retail / Weekend Bites Slow Food's Professional Bake Sale on Saturday
Posted by Nicki Wood on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Forget faux-made treats like Duncan Hines brownies and repackaged Archway cookies -- come Saturday, some of the city's best bakers sell their wares for charity at Slow Food Nashville's Slow Bake Sale.
Participating will be a who's who of Nashville names, including Bacon & Caviar (pleaseletitbetheirpizzadip), Flyte, Provence, Marché, Fido, Patterson House, Martha Stamps Catering, F. Scott's, Capitol Grille, Drink Haus, Prime 108, Marmellata Bakery, and more
Nashville is just one of thhe cities taking part in this effort, all to benefit Share Our Strength's "No Kid Hungry" Great American Bake Sale. Money raised through these nationwide bake sales fund grants that support the Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Program, both of which serve vulnerable people during difficult times.
The sale will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday July 11 to at the Farmers Market on Eighth Avenue North.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Foods / News / Travel Advisory / Weekend Bites To the Country! U-Pick Berries at Vine Hill Farm
Posted by Nicki Wood on Fri, May 1, 2009 at 9:37 AM
Each spring, we load up cousins and buckets and spend an afternoon picking strawberries on one of Tennesse's u-pick farms. We choose a different farm in a different county each year. Last year we selected Vine Hill Farm in Williamson county.
The children are veteran pickers, selecting berries carefully. My style is more "bend over once and get as many berries as possible." I get more berries, they get better berries. Toward the end of our picking, a violent Tennessee thunderstorm forced the pickers into the barn for half an hour. We were two Anglo families, a black family, and a possibly Kurdish extended family, blanching at the powerful thunder, shuddering as the wind tore at the corners of the barn.
My wild kids amused themselves by puddle-jumping, daring each other, climbing farm equipment, and when my back was turned, shoving their cheeks full of gritty, insecticide-covered, unpaid-for strawberries.The Kurdish children waited patiently, stood quietly, keeping their clothes clean, and speaking when spoken to. I like to think my kids would behave as well if we moved to Kurdistan.
Vine Hill Farms' strawberry picking begins Saturday at 8 a.m. Make the pretty drive through rolling Tennessee countryside to Vine Hill or any of the area's pick-your-own farms. The farm is at 2088 Lewisburg Pike, Franklin. Email at pjgilliam1(at)bellsouth(dot)net. Call 790-1757 for picking information, or 973-8864, a cell phone at the patch, in case you get lost on the way.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Events / Weekend Bites A Heart-Shaped Box of Valentine Goodness; or, Leftovers Again
Posted by Jim Ridley on Fri, Feb 13, 2009 at 11:00 AM
For Valentine's Day, are you resisting the commercial press of a holiday that's turned into an artificial celebration of romance? Or are you celebrating romance? Are you steeling yourself against Russell Stover samplers and gooey Hallmark commercials, or have you already knuckled under to Big Greeting Card? Or are you somewhere in between?
In this week's Scene, as part of our Valentine's Day Revival Package, we offer a brief guide to some of the restaurant offerings this weekend. (We also recommend you don't read Carrington's guide to Nashville's most sinful cocoas without protection. Seriously. Chocophiles are going to feel like tweens hiding under the covers with Judy Blume.)
One thing we don't have, though, is a section on chocolate and candy gifts. If you're like that old softie Mr. Pink, you'll wait until 8 a.m. Feb. 15 and ransack the Valentine's markdowns at Walgreen's, CVS and Kroger. (Just to prove romance isn't dead, I'll hum a few bars of "Silly Love Songs" while I gobble the entire box in my car.) Or you can try some of these:
• The Cocoa Tree in Germantown offers Valentine gift sacks of peanut butter bites or toffee ($12.99) as well as truffles in flavors ranging from chili pepper to margarita to sweet potato. Let chocolatier Bethany Thouin hook you up with an impressive True Love Tower sampler for $79.99.
• At Cuppycakes Bakery & Confections in Spring Hill--remember, they deliver!--chocolatier Cathy Parsons will be making truffles just like the one in the picture we stole from their website. Typically they need 4 to 7 days to complete an order, but you're welcome to call 474-8697 and throw yourself on her mercy. A ribbon-wrapped six-piece box is $12.95.
• Whole Foods has a six-piece tray of Middle Tennessee raw-food chef Laura Button's Brazilian truffles available for $11.99.
Also, I saw King Size M&M Dark Chocolate Peanut candies at Mapco for $1.79. Splurge and buy two.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Weekend Bites Arnold's Puffs Out Its Chess: New Twist on Chess Pie
Posted by Nicki Wood on Sat, Oct 11, 2008 at 1:00 PM
At Arnold’s last week, we discovered another of the twists that keep the meat-and-three at the top of our list for a good hot lunch.
After our feast of savory, just-tangy-enough greens, crisp fried green tomatoes and chicken and dumplings, we had a dessert we’d never had before: chess pie topped with puffy golden meringue.
No. Way. A meringue-topped chess pie. I’ll be cow-kicked and horn-swoggled. Not in ~mumble~ years in the South have I ever seen a chess pie topped with meringue.
It’s not an outrage against culinary protocol, exactly, but not traditional either. Like mayonnaise on French fries, or tuna and corn on a pizza—it's just a massive paradigm shift for me.
But is it a good idea? We tried it, of course, and it is great chess pie—sweet-sweet-sweet, like it's supposed to be, with a less-sweet topping of meringue. More sugar, more fluff. I got no problem with it.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Weekend Bites Ombidextrous: Multiple Wine Events This Week at Ombi
Posted by Jim Ridley on Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 3:18 PM
At Ombi this Sunday, Sept. 14, at 6 p.m., Hoyt Hill and Village Wines will host a tasting of Nicolas Potel Burgundies ranging in price from $13.99 to $89.99. On the docket: the 2006 Potel-Aviron Beaujolais Villages, the 2006 Potel-Aviron Julienas, the 2006 Potel Cuvee Gerard Pinot Noir, the 2006 Potel Volnay Vieilles Vignes, the 2006 Potel Nuits St.-Georges 1er Cru Les Pruliers, the 2005 Potel Pommard 1er Cru Les Fremiers, the 2006 Potel Pommard 1er Cru Rugiens, and the 2006 Potel Gevrey-Chambertin.
The Burgundy Report was especially complimentary of the Volnay Vieilles Vignes: "The nose is wide with a nice complexity of dried berries; cranberry, red currant and black cherries—very nice. The palate has good intensity and a background of ripe tannin." Admission for the tasting is $10, and anyone who stays for dinner gets a 10 percent discount.
Should you have plans, Hill will host another wine tasting 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, at Ombi, this time featuring Roda Spanish wines. Then, at 6 p.m. Sept. 22, Hill will host a tasting of wines from New Zealand's Nobilo Wine Group with professional golfer Frank Nobilo in attendance. (Nobilo, as it turns out, is related to the winery's founder and now serves officially as a brand ambassador.) Call 320-5350 for reservations.
Weekend Bites Mas Tacos Por Favor!
Posted by Jack Silverman on Fri, Sep 12, 2008 at 2:00 PM
It's an idea so simple, so obvious, so brilliant, so...diabolical!...that I'm kicking myself for not thinking of it first—a taco truck parked weekend nights outside the thriving hot spots of East Nashville's Five Points. Duh!
Well, Teresa Mason beat me to it. Teresa, whom you may remember as a bartender from Rumours Wine Bar in 12 South, recently converted a mid-'70s Winnebago into her own personal taco truck called Mas Tacos Por Favor. She plans to park it weekend nights (and perhaps some weekdays) in the area featuring Red Door East, 3 Crow Bar and The 5 Spot, and will likely move to other parts of Nashville for special events.
Tonight is the official inaugural ride, which may include stops at Next Big Nashville events at City Hall and elsewhere before taking up its late-night post at the corner of 11th and Woodland. On the menu this evening: a variety of tacos (chicken, fish, quinoa and spicy mashed potatoes) as well as tamales and a refreshing fruit drink, watermelon agua fresca.
I sampled chicken tacos and the agua fresca during a trial run at the Tomato Arts Festival, and both were most excellent. Screw the bars: I'd make the trek to Five Points just for the food! (Of course, I only live 10 blocks away.)
As much as I envy her entrepreneurial spirit, come to think of it, I'm not so sure I'd want to deal with a couple hundred drunk folks at 1 in the morning. But an East Nashville drunk is probably no worse than the occasional pretentious wine snob she had to stomach at Rumours. For my own selfish, gluttonous purposes, I hope she succeeds. And Teresa, have you ever considered parking the 'Bago on McKennie between 14th and Chapel? My front porch is bustling on a Friday night.
If you check it out, please report back. And check out myspace.com/mastacos for more information.
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