Lotsa Pasta
by Carrington Fox
Italian market invades Germantown
Tom Lazzaro has been selling enough of his fresh Lazzaroli Pasta at the farmers markets in Nashville and Franklin that he’s ready to try out his own storefront. The Philadelphia transplant who moved to Hendersonville four years ago is putting the final touches on a tiny Italian market located, ironically enough, in Germantown. Lazzaro, a second-generation Italian who drops all the right vowels as he reminisces about the fresh pasta on Philly’s Ninth Street, plans to stock his own fresh pastas, sauces and take-and-bake dishes, as well as breads from Provence and a selection of olive oils, biscotti and cheeses.
Lazzaroli Pasta, the enterprise of Lazzaro and fiancée Debbie Price, will hang out its red-white-and-green awning sometime this spring, in the tiny building at 1314 Fifth Ave. N. that formerly housed Enchanted Gingerbread bakery.
Meanwhile, gingerbread maven Gayle O’Hanlon is taking a hard-earned break in the off-season. For now, she has packed up her baking supplies and headed home to her own non-cookie dwelling in East Nashville, where she will soon start gearing up for the sweet business of holiday mail-order. O’Hanlon bakes and builds some 1,500 gingerbread houses a year, shipping her tiny masterpieces across the country and the world to corporate clients, individuals and superstars, including Nicole Kidman and Gwen Stefani. To get a jump on the season, order now at 228-9421 or visit enchantedginerbread.com
Get Kijiji with it
Kijiji Coffeehouse, the 10-year-old brainchild of Edward and Linda Stevenson, is getting a jolt with several new locations. Last year, the Stevensons sold the flagship location at 1207 Jefferson St. as part of an effort to reorganize the business. “We’re focused on high-traffic coffee-drinking locations,” says Edward Stevenson. “We want to be right in the heart of cappuccino-, mocha- and espresso-drinkers.”
On Feb. 1, Kijiji opened a stand at 501 Broadway in the visitors’ center housed inside the glass cone of the Gaylord Entertainment Center. As part of the ongoing $45 million redevelopment of the Nashville airport, concessionaires Delaware North Companies and HMS Host will license the Kijiji name for coffee served throughout the concourse, and the brand already has several locations throughout LP Field.
Stevenson plans to establish the brand at the airport, GEC and stadium outposts to direct tourists and other traffic to a central Kijiji hub to be located in East Nashville. Stevenson is currently in the process of finalizing a lease on a building, somewhere in the area of Fatherland Street, he says. When the new store opens in April, Stevenson will resurrect the tradition of jazz and open-mic nights that began at the flagship location on Jefferson Street.
Seoul brothers
Kevin Shin and his brother Sam Shin will add a new Korean food offering to the landscape this spring with the opening of Seoul Gardens restaurant. Located in the H.G. Hill Center across from Southern Hills Hospital, Seoul Gardens will offer “everything a Korean can expect,” says Sam, a South Korea native who moved here 15 years ago. After attending MTSU and managing several restaurants, most recently in Pittsburgh, Shin is embarking on his first enterprise as owner. The Shins have hired chef Young Soo Shin (no relation) from Washington, D.C., to man the kitchen.
Expect a menu of Korean staples, including bibimbap, rice topped with vegetables, egg, and, if desired, meat; galbi, beef short rib cooked on an open flame at the table; and banchan, a complimentary selection of five to seven side dishes. The Shins plan to open Seoul Gardens at the end of March. They will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week. 4928 Edmondson Pike.
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