With the shift to Daylight Saving Time and the advent of spring, everyone’s mind—or at least the minds of a cadre of people clustered at The Italian Market off Charlotte Pike—naturally turns to bocce, the traditional game of Italian lawn bowling. With the longer days, The Italian Market is reverting to its spring schedule, opening the bocce court out back and making a few changes to the joint.
In January, Ken Petersen, owner of Exclusive Auto and Fleet Repair, bought a majority stake in the store located behind the landmark gold dome of Amsouth Bank. He brought in Lee Guidry, former sous chef at Sambuca, as a part owner. Now they’re working with founder Ernesto Schiratti to dress the place up into a gourmet market. They’re adding a larger grocery selection, bringing in more refrigeration, tiling the dining room floor and adding a patio out back, a welcome addition for bocce enthusiasts, who began hitting the lawn last week with the first signs of good weather. Bocce is free and open to the public—they’d just appreciate it if you buy a drink or something to eat.
The Italian Market, located at 411 51st Ave. N., is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday. Hot lunch is available 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Newly Nooley’s
Look for The Original Nooley’s restaurant to open its purple-and-gold stall in the Farmers Market as early as this week. Mike Elder, who brought the Nooley’s concept to Franklin from Louisiana almost 20 years ago, is resurrecting the Nooley’s name, this time tagging it as “The Original.”
After importing his brother-in-law’s Baton Rouge-based brand to Franklin in 1989, Elder sold his Nooley’s location in 2000. Under new ownership, the business quickly folded. Now Elder and his former employee Beth Piper are picking up where they left off, relaunching the (slightly altered) brand with Piper as co-owner. “We’re calling it The Original Nooley’s, because we don’t want to be confused with the former owners,” Elder says.
The Original Nooley’s will serve up Louisiana-style favorites, including po’ boys, red beans and rice, muffulettas, etouffée and jambalaya, from a temporary spot at the opposite end of the building from Swett’s. After the long-awaited renovation of the Farmers Market, The Original Nooley’s will relocate across the corridor from Swett’s. 900 Eighth Ave. N.
All-night Paradise
Paradise Park Trailer Resort, the new anti-chic venture of Bar Twenty3 founder Benjamin Goldberg, opens its doors Friday. If the invitation to the kickoff party is any indication, this place is going to be old-school casual—the handwritten admission ticket arrived scrawled on a smashed Pabst Blue Ribbon can.
Located at 411 Broadway, a block west of the Cadillac Ranch (formerly the Red Iguana) and across the street from landmarks Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and Robert’s Western World, the neo-honky-tonk will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Expect a menu of burgers, fries and corn dogs, as well as festive lowbrow delicacies such as grilled Spam, GooGoos and Moon Pies. There’s outdoor seating for those who want to soak up the downtown rays, along with $6 pitchers and live music every day.
Athens 24
Meanwhile, if your idea of a 24-hour dining paradise is more moussaka than Moon Pie, Athens Family Restaurant is now open ’round the clock on the weekends, starting Thursday night. The 2-year-old restaurant has also added a few new items to its Mediterranean menu, including a chicken pie, cheese pie and seafood combo of scallops, shrimp and calamari. Located at 2526 Franklin Pike, Athens serves breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and is open continuously from 7 a.m. Thursday until Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Are we kosher?
With Passover starting just around the corner on April 2, it’s time to start stocking up on matzo, gefilte fish and macaroons. These days, Nashville has a relatively broad selection of traditional Jewish foods, from the weekly kosher meat shipments at Wal-Mart to the selection of kosher breads and candies at Publix.
“But it wasn’t always that way,” says Rabbi Yitzchok Tiechtel, of the Chabad Center for Jewish Awareness. To educate people about the history and tradition of kosher food, his organization sponsors the biannual KosherFest, a trade show of kosher food.
KosherFest 2007 will feature tastings of kosher food from vendors, including Harris Teeter, Kroger and Loews Vanderbilt Plaza, as well as cooking demonstrations and other workshops.
Children can make Passover-related crafts and bake matzah in a model matzo bakery. “They can re-create the scene of the Exodus, grinding the wheat themselves and mixing it with water,” Tiechtel says. “They get matzah coming out of the oven the same way the Jews did more than 3,000 years ago.” KosherFest 2007 takes place March 25 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Gordon Jewish Community Center, 801 Percy Warner Blvd. For information, call 646-5750.
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