Subject: Eating Out

• Suzy Bogguss at Loveless Barn

  December 17, 2009

• At East Nashville's tiny new eatery Silly Goose, chef Roderick Bailey makes simple food look easy

  December 17, 2009

• Honk if You Love Local Food

  ​This week's dining review features the new East Nashville eatery Silly Goose, which, to put it simply, is golden. Chef-owner Roderick Bailey draws on his education at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., and as the private chef for a family in Memphis to create a menu that relies on flavor and creativity--instead of bulk. Bailey's roster of couscous, sandwiches and salads showcases local and regional ingredients, from Provence breads to Kenny's Farmhouse cheese and Benton

  December 18, 2009

• Fido Closing Until January for Expansion

  ​If you're in Hillsboro Village this week, finishing up last-minute Christmas shopping or subjecting Village denizens to your mad caroling skills, don't expect to stop at Fido for a bracing caramel-and-mocha-latte Rolover. The popular coffeehouse, part of Bob Bernstein's Bongo Java empire, will temporarily shut its doors at 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 20, to allow crews to knock out the wall between Fido's current space and its upcoming addition next door. Fido, which has been a thriving Village

  December 20, 2009

• Italian Market benefits from yet another renaissance

  December 24, 2009

• Look Out for Vegan Cakes at Coco's Italian Market

  ​This week's dining review features the steadily improving Coco's Italian Market, where Cafe Coco founder Chuck Cinelli has renovated and revamped both the dining room and the menu of Italian fare at the Charlotte Pike-area eatery. Among the most significant changes, Cinelli has installed a brick pizza oven, and he has reached out to local vendors to build a roster of homegrown ingredients, from regional produce and eggs to artisan chocolates by Olive & Sinclair, gelato by Bravo Gelato a

  December 26, 2009

• Louisiana chain brings a world of wines—but little local flavor—to the Gulch

  December 31, 2009

• Café Monell's: Tiger Tiger (Food) Burning Bright

  ​It's nice when people keep a sense of history about Nashville restaurants, including dishes from days of yore. Like the Library of Congress archiving audio recordings for generations to come, we are lucky that some chefs carry their recipes from place to place. Rick Bolsom, partner in the soon to be missed Mirror and Zola, has promised that some of their patrons' favorite dishes will be added to the menu at his restaurant Tin Angel, and he has already brought Laura Wilson of Ombi back to

  January 5, 2010

• Copy-Editing Appeal Into Menus

  ​More and more time, energy and brain power are going into the design of restaurant menus, says a New York Times story on menu engineering. Building a good menu has become a whole separate branch of marketing. First comes placement, where really expensive items are placed at the top of the menu to make the items below appear to be better value. Graphic design plays a part, too: Bigger type sizes and boxes point up high-profit-margin dishes. Delicious language transforms ordinary items.

  January 6, 2010

• Sol's Hot New Sister Restaurant Has a Southern Twist

  Jason McConnell, the chef who's made a huge mark on downtown Franklin with Red Pony (casual, Southern-influenced fine dining) and Sol (colorful, authentic Mexican cuisine) is about to bring a new concept to the downtown square. ​On Jan. 20, McConnell plans to open 55 South, a rustic take on down-home Southern comfort food. The chef is supervising major construction, but he isn't taking on a new space. He's carving out part of Sol to accommodate the new restaurant.

  January 6, 2010

• Wandering Wino: Antifreeze Edition

  ​It's proven scientific fact that alcohol has a lower freezing point than water and that the human body is on average 57 percent water. So it stands to reason that the more alcohol you can add to your body, the better you'll be able to handle this bone-chilling weather we've been enduring. If anybody tries to use logic or facts on me on this one, I swear I'll turn off the comments for this post. So if you're willing to suspend rational thought like I am, there are plenty of opportunities

  January 8, 2010

• Savor Bargain Menus During Restaurant Week

  Some of Nashville's very best restaurants are offering spectacular deals on meals this week as part of Nashville Originals' Restaurant Week, which runs Monday, Jan. 11 through Sunday, Jan. ​17. The Originals are a nonprofit, loosely organized collection of independent Nashville restaurants that have banded together to try to match the marketing clout of the national chains. A big way they promote their member restaurants -- and the concept of dining locally -- is with their annual Restau

  January 8, 2010

• Porta Via Pizza, Wanna Come Back to My Place?

  ​This week's dining review features Porta Via. I loved just about everything on the menu at White Bridge Road's new Italian eatery--from the creamy tomato pasta to the certified Neapolitan pizza. The only thing I didn't like was when we took the pizza away from the store, which is disappointing, given that the name of the restaurant translates loosely to "take-out." In our experience, the drive home took its toll on the handkerchief-thin pizzas coming out of the 750-degree bell-shaped bric

  January 11, 2010

• Old Faithful or Old and in the Way?

  ​Last month I told you about one option for a fairly quick meal before attending an event at the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall, Arpeggio. In an attempt to add a little more culture to my life (i.e. college football season is over), I decided to take in another program by the symphony Friday night. Knowing that the weather was forecast to be frigid and full of flurries, I looked for a suitable dining spot before the show. Proximity and availability of free parking were my primary criteria.

  January 11, 2010

• "When Possible, Make a Legal U-Turn"

  ​I spend enough money in local restaurants not to want to spend an extra $100 to upgrade the DVD that Toyota is currently trying to sell me for my in-car GPS system. But I think I might have to. With all the recent openings and closings of new establishments, the dining information is the most obsolete part of my entire navigation system. What was once a very handy way to find places to eat within easy driving distance has turned into a graveyard tour. In actuality, applications like Yelp

  January 12, 2010

• Everything's peachy about Green Hills hot spot YOLOS, with one exception: the food

  January 14, 2010

• Dine With the Chef at Miro District

  Beginning this weekend, Chef Joe Shaw at Miro District will be offering a chef's table every Friday and Saturday night. Their plan is to have two seatings per night of six to eight diners in the lower level of the restaurant at a large table positioned looking right into the busy kitchen. The menu will be a a fixed three-course menu selected every week by Chef Shaw from the regular dinner menu as well as different seasonal items. Wines will also be paired with each course, and you can get the wh

  January 14, 2010

• Jammed Jimmy Kelly's Offers Restaurant Week Rainchecks

  The 75-year-old classic Nashville restaurant Jimmy Kelly's Steakhouse says its Nashville Originals Restaurant Week promotion has been so popular that they've been completely booked every night this week. ​As a consolation prize, owner Mike Kelly is offering "rainchecks" on the restaurant's website. Go to the site, click on Restaurant Week raincheck, provide some basic information (like your email address), and the site will give you a printable certificate for $15 off dinner for two at Ji

  January 15, 2010

• Take Flyte for Beer School and Happy Hour

  ​I had the pleasure of stopping by Flyte for a quick drink and a nosh before heading out to a play reading last Friday night. Why didn't somebody tell me what an unbelievable happy hour deal they have there? Oh yeah ... that's supposed to be my job. So consider yourself informed. Tuesday through Saturday from 4:30 until 7:30, Flyte offers 25 percent off on their antipasto bar menu, including a selection of very interesting cheeses that you won't see on a typical cocktail menu. The Buffalo

  January 18, 2010

• Lunch and Dinner at Mambu

  ​From all accounts Nashville Originals Restaurant Week was a smashing success. Apparently after the great snowpocalypse of 2010 melted, Nashvillagers tore through their their stashes of white bread, milk and popcorn and headed out in droves to fine dining establishments all over town. Personally, Restaurant Week did exactly what it was intended to do, gave me a reason to get out on a school night and revisit an old friend that we hadn't seen in a while. This year, the friend was Mambu on

  January 19, 2010

• Chattanooga-based Mexican eatery Taco Mamacita adds some zest to Edgehill Village

  January 21, 2010

• Bid on Some of the Secrets of Zola's Pizzazz

  Glassware from Zola is one of the lots being auctioned online now that Chef Deb Paquette has closed the beloved restaurant.​One of Nashville's best-loved restaurants served its final meal last weekend, and all the kitchen equipment, dishes, chairs and precious professional gear collected over 23 years is being sold online by McLemore Auction Co. Chef Deb Paquette's restaurant Zola had a lively and sweetly satisfying final night on Saturday, says restaurateur Rick Bolsom, a founder and par

  January 22, 2010

• Prix Fixe Bargain at Tin Angel

  ​On the heels of a successful Nashville Originals Restaurant Week, Rick Bolsom and his staff at Tin Angel have decided to keep the party rolling. And you get to be the one to benefit as they offer a great prix fixe dinner deal on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 26-28. For just $21, you can get a three course meal plus dessert, and I'm sure they'd love to offer you suggestions for pairings from their excellent wine list or offer you one of their creative cocktails. They hope to conti

  January 25, 2010

• Smiling Elephant's Handcrafted food and decor bring warmth—and heat!—to Eighth Avenue

  January 28, 2010

• Smiling Elephant Makes Eyes Water With Joy

  Eric EnglandA cool Thai iced tea or coffee is handy when trying the pad thai at the delightful Smiling Elephant on Eight Avenue.​This week's dining review features The Smiling Elephant, the twee Thai restaurant on Eighth Avenue owned by the uncle of ChaChah's Arnold Myint and brother of International Market's Patti Myint. (Can you imagine a family dinner with this restaurant dynasty?) I love the Smiling Elephant. In fact, virtually my only criticism was that some of the foods -- green cur

  January 28, 2010

• First Bite: 55 South

  ​I had the chance to join another food blogger, Beth from Beth Eats for lunch at Chef Jason McConnell's new Franklin venture 55 South. Between the company and the food, there really are days when I should have to pay to do this job. No wait ... I already do. Never mind. Named after the main highway between Memphis and New Orleans, the restaurant takes diners on a culinary tour of these two notable eatin' towns with a delicious trip through the Mississippi Delta on the way. The dining spac

  February 1, 2010

• Admirable Pricing Restraint Marks YOLOS Menu

  The menu at YOLOS, the Green Hills eatery in the spot once occupied by Green Hills Grille, is largely "been there, done that" with a dash of focus-group favorites, as Carrington pointed out in her review three weeks ago. Not that they have a choice -- in that vast and expensive slab of real estate, with a clientele almost entirely of moviegoers, the menu of "upscale casual favorites" writes itself. The bar at YOLOS​And not that you have a choice, either, in restaurant options if you're co

  February 4, 2010

• Don't expect too much of new barbecue joint Drifters, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

  February 4, 2010

• Hearty Meals

  February 11, 2010

• East Nashville vegetarian restaurant shouldn't hide its light under a bushel

  February 11, 2010

• The Greening of Nashville Takeout Boxes

  Ashley Currie, a Nashville entrepreneur, wants to help the planet by making takeout containers more green. Currie has started a business offering eco-friendly food containers and other disposable foodware for restaurants, caterers and anyone planning a party. Ashley Currie​Formerly a sales rep at the Scarritt-Bennett conference and retreat center, Currie has planned special events for years, and she noticed that customers are increasingly distressed by the amount of Styrofoam and plastic

  February 12, 2010

• The Wild Cow Review: A Response From Owner Melanie Cochran

  ​This week's dining review features The Wild Cow in East Nashville, where owners Melanie and John Cochran have put forth the best vegetarian effort we've seen locally. While there was a lot we liked about about the restaurant, there was a lot the owners didn't like about the review. Thanks to Melanie for her passionate response, which is reprinted below: This is Melanie Cochran, co-owner of The Wild Cow. First of all, thank you for taking the time to review our restaurant. I appreciate

  February 15, 2010

• Unexpected Lunches Volume 1: Scarritt-Bennett

  ​I've been hunting secret affordable lunch spots for a while, and I thought it was time to share one of my fun finds with you. Did you know that there is a place where you can get a buffet prepared by one of Nashville's favorite executive chefs and enjoy it in a Gothic dining hall reminiscent of Hogwarts? I'm talking about the Susie Gray Dining Hall at the Scarritt-Bennett Center on 19th Avenue South. Once a school for female missionaries, SBC was reorganized in 1988 as a nonprofit confere

  February 15, 2010

• Calling All Valentine's Dinner Reports

  ​Dining out has been part of my job for almost 10 years, so I don't normally rush to book Valentine's Day reservations. Feb. 14 is to restaurants what Dec. 31 is to nightclubs: Amateurs' Night. But around 6 o'clock on Sunday, I suddenly didn't feel like cooking or having my kitchen-savvy husband cook for me. (Whole Foods' special on lobster tails be damned.) I noticed that Chef Arnold Myint's delightful Suzy Wong's House of Yum on Church Street was offering a special three-course Valenti

  February 15, 2010

• Neighborhood joint, sassy sports bar or culinary enclave? Acorn should pick a personality and polish it.

  February 18, 2010

• Chefs Brown and Wilson Named James Beard Semifinalists

  My colleague Chris ​earlier reported big doings at the Hermitage Hotel. More big doings were announced today. Tyler Brown, the executive chef at the hotel's restaurant Capitol Grille, joins Tandy Wilson of City House as the two Nashville chefs selected in the semifinals of the prestigious James Beard Awards. They're named under the category of Best Chef in the Southeast. Another familiar name in the category is Sean Brock of McCrady's in Charleston, S.C., who preceded Brown at Capitol G

  February 18, 2010

• Zavós Gets Liquor License, Expands Hours

  ​Much to the delight of the many East Nashvillians who have become fans, Zavós, the Greek eatery and bar at the corner of Porter and Greenwood (across from the Family Wash), has gotten its liquor license and significantly expanded its hours. In recent months, Zavós had been open Thursday through Saturday, while brothers and co-owners David and Niko Gehrke bided time while waiting for the liquor license that would allow them to fully manifest their vision -- a neighborhood bar and Greek

  February 19, 2010

• Locavore Farmer-Activist Joel Salatin Coming to Town

  ​The Tennessee Organic Growers Association is bringing noted author and farmer Joel Salatin to be their keynote speaker at their sixth annual conference in Franklin. Salatin, who refers to himself as a "Christian-libertarian-environmentalist-capitalist farmer," is featured in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and the documentary Food, Inc. Salatin's holistic approach to farming and animal husbandry has positioned him as a leader in the locavore movement. The rest of the conference l

  February 22, 2010

• Acorn to Sprout Small Plates Menu

  ​This week's dining review features the seven-year-old Acorn restaurant on the outskirts of Centennial Park. Chef Andy Hunter delivers a playful and well-executed menu of French-inspired fare that could make for a friendly neighborhood joint, but with dinner for two easily clocking in at $100, Acorn appears to have painted itself into the corner of special-occasion dining. Keeping in mind the pressure on diners' wallets and menus' prices, Acorn will soon be launching a menu of small plate

  February 23, 2010

• Unexpected Lunches Vol. 2: Speakers Bistro at the Sheraton Downtown

  ​Recently I made an offhanded disparaging remark about "hotel food," and Bites reader Sara correctly called me out for it. Not many people appreciate what chefs in hotel kitchens have to deal with in terms of overhead costs and pressure packed massive meal seatings. The fact that they can create appetizing meals under these conditions is pretty remarkable. Occasionally they create something truly exceptional, think 1808 Grille at the Hutton or the Capital Grille at the Hermitage. Speakers

  March 2, 2010

• Bobby John Henry - The Baker of Music Row

  March 4, 2010

• Woodbine's Flatrock Cafe reclaims a historic meeting spot with live music, locally roasted coffee and neighborhood specials

  March 4, 2010

• From Nashville With Love at the Nashville Farmers Market

  March 11, 2010

• 2010 Listings

  March 11, 2010

• When cocktails lead to dinner, you need more than pickled eggs and a wobbly stool

  March 11, 2010

• Gibson Guitar’s new eatery Diana’s Sweet Shoppe serves sweets and sandwiches, with a heaping side of nostalgia

  March 11, 2010

• ¡Vamos a celebrar! La Hacienda to Reopen on Monday

  ​After a midnight grease fire damaged much of the kitchen earlier this year, Bites readers have been clamoring to find out the fate of Nolensville Rd. favorite La Hacienda. Luckily, the wait is almost over! According to a member of the Yepez family, providing that La Hac passes all final inspections they hope to be open for lunch Monday, March 15, at their regular opening time of 10 a.m. Since much of the damage to the restaurant was smoke-related, the owners are confident that they shoul

  March 12, 2010

• Wandering Wino: Luck of the Irish Edition

  ​If you remember my review of Speaker's Bistro at the Downtown Sheraton, I forgot to mention how attractive the downstairs lounge/bar area is. If you want a chance to check it out and enjoy some affordable bites and drinks, you might want to consider the next installment of their Spring Wine Series. Their co-sponsor is West End Discount Liquors & Wines and this month's theme is "Southern Hemisphere Excursion." Selections to be tasted include Trivento Torrontes, Palo Alto Sauvignon Blanc,

  March 12, 2010

• Chefs Unite for Haiti Benefit at Farmers' Market

  ​It's easy for foreign disasters, no matter how massive, to slip out of Americans' daily consciousness. But when it comes to Haiti's terrible earthquake, it's interesting to note that one of Nashville's chefs already has a history of helping out in that country (in his youth he went to Haiti to build a school), and he's now recruited fellow chefs for a big party to raise money for a hospital in the devastated nation. Chef Andy Hunter of Acorn Restaurant has organized From Nashville With

  March 12, 2010

• Watermark Team Buys Mirror Restaurant

  photo by Andrew Collins​After weeks of rumors about who would buy the pioneering 12South restaurant Mirror -- now that co-owners Colleen and Michael DeGregory are leaving the business -- Hospitality Development Group (which owns Watermark and Miro District) announced that it has bought the restaurant. The third partner in Mirror, restaurateur Rick Bolsom, also confirmed the sale. Jerry Brown, the head of Hospitality Development Group, released this brief statement late Friday afternoon

  March 12, 2010