Outback Steakhouse
3212 West End Ave. 385-3440
Open for dinner and curb service
Mon.-Fri. 4:30-10:30 p.m.;
Sat. 3:30-11:30 p.m.; Sun. 4-10 p.m.
Other locations in Madison (868-0477), Brentwood (661-9150), and Hickory
Hollow (731-3837)
I just got back from a week in Colorado, in a small town where summertime visitors take advantage of the area’s numerous hiking trails. Rock climbing is another option for the more adventurous. I engaged in much of the former and even conquered a lifelong fear of heights to take a humbling, though exhilarating, four-hour lesson in the latter.
While I was told that the area also offered several delightful dining options, I’m afraid I have little to report on that front. I was, after all, on vacation; others may look upon that as an opportunity to eat out, but as a food critic, I find that vacations are the time when I get to indulge in something I seldom do on the job—cook. In eight days, my entire restaurant experience was confined to one sandwich at a bakery, one ice cream cone, and one take-out pizza. Otherwise, I was happily ensconced in the kitchen, making BLTs for lunch, pasta for dinner, and, one evening, a feast of grilled trout caught that very afternoon in a small body of aquamarine water so gorgeous it looked like a mirage.
Not even that was as sublime as the lunch of cold herbed chicken, hard cheese, sourdough bread, and fresh peaches spread on a mountaintop rock at 12,000 feet. A simple repast to be sure, but with my head in the clouds, and what seemed like the most beautiful part of the world at my feet, the grandest meal in a four-star restaurant would pale in comparison.
Inevitably, it was back at sea level, my first night back in Nashville, that I was reminded of the No. 1 reason my stove gets very little use from June through September: the heat. Or rather, the sickening, stifling, sticky, nasty humidity. Walking from the car to the grocery store made me so cranky, it was all I could do once I got home to take two Banquet baked chicken patties out of the freezer, zap them in the microwave, put them on buns, add some sliced cantaloupe, carrot, cucumber, and celery sticks, and present dinner to my sweaty, cranky children.
If you too are in kitchen denial, yet can’t deny the reality of hungry mouths to feed, you’ll be pleased to hear of yet another take-out option. They don’t deliver, but Outback Steakhouse’s new curb service is surely the next best thing, and a welcome alternative to another night of pizza, fast food, or cold cereal.
Currently being offered at the West End store and other locations, curb service is fun and easy. Simply call in your order, pull up to the designated space just outside the front entrance, and within seconds, a server will hop on out with your bagged order. Settle up with cash or credit card.
I placed a very large order at about 6 p.m. on a Thursday evening and was told it would take 25 minutes. I pulled up to Outback at 6:30, had the order in my car at 6:32, my credit card receipt at 6:36, and was eating dinner by 6:55. All of this in climate-controlled comfort. And the food was pretty good too.
There were a few things that didn’t translate well to take-out, particularly the signature Bloomin’ Onion. By the time we ate it, the whole bloomin’ thing had wilted miserably. The fries also suffered meltdown, and the kiddie burgers were dry—I suspect overcooking in response to fear of E. coli litigation. But the coconut shrimp were tasty, the salads crisp and chilled, the ribs smoky and meaty, and the steak juicy and cooked to order. It was no Rocky Mountain high, but mired here in Cumberland Valley humidity, it sure beats firing up the grill yourself.
Numbers game
After several months of unsuccessful negotiations with Jody Faison to take over Cafe 123, restaurant veteran George Pinger has instead landed the lease at what was Club 106. The Belle Meade restaurant at Harding Road and Harding Place, which closed about three years ago, will be reopened in late August as PJ’s 106.
The P stands for Pinger and the J for popular pianist John Jonethis, who has most recently been pounding the ivories at Mario Ferrari’s Casablanca. A piano bar will be central to what the partners are calling an intimate supper club with a simple menu of classic dishes. “We are not reinventing the wheel,” Pinger says.
Already, the pale coral exterior has been repainted, and the interior is being revamped by designer Suzanne McCallen. PJ’s 106 will be open six nights a week for your dining and listening pleasure.
Out of Africa
Addis Ababa, the small Ethiopian restaurant on Thompson Lane near Nolensville Road, has reopened after extensive repair of the building, which was damaged when a car accident sent an automobile careening into the front wall.
With its menu of spongy injera bread, spicy wat stew, alicha, and tibbs, the restaurant had become quite popular among the local Ethiopian population, as well as with adventurous Nashville diners. In perhaps the saddest of ironies, owners Gizachew Tesfaye and Esayase Abebe had just quit their day jobs to focus on running the business.
After a hiatus of over a month, the restaurant is now open again, and the owners hope to regain the business they lost in the interim. Patrons will find small but noticeable improvements to the interior—including colorful Ethiopian wicker tables—and the food is as good as ever.
Addis Ababa is open 12:30 p.m. to midnight Tuesday through Sunday. The address is 415 Thompson Ln. Phone: 332-0710.
Port in a storm
The 20th annual Un Eté Du Vin, which this year celebrates vintage ports, takes place Saturday night, July 24, at the Opryland Hotel. The annual wine auction and dinner benefits the American Cancer Society. Tickets are $225 per person and may still be reserved by calling Jan Anderson at 341-7300.
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