Subject: Food and Cooking

• 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

• Wandering Wino: Busy, Busy, Busy

  ​The calendar is packed for us winos over the next few weeks, so pour yourself a tall one, Bitesters and Drinksters, and settle in for the update. Leading off, those crazy kids at the Bacchanalian Society are throwing an event at TPAC on Jan. 28 to benefit the Performing Arts Center and its programs. Details below:

  January 15, 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

• Reader in Search of Exotic Lipid

  For the third time since I started writing about food, a reader is asking where to find caul fat, the uniquely textured lipid from around animal kidneys. Imagine from worldwide gourmet.com​The lacy texture is ideal for holding together lean ground meat mixtures like meatballs or meat and rice fillings. A Persian meatball was exactly what the first requester was making when she called in the early 1990s. A local Southern girl, she was newly married to a Middle Easterner, and wanted to pr

  January 18, 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

• Chef Charlie Trotter Gallops Into Town

  ​One of the most acclaimed chefs in America, Chicago restaurateur Charlie Trotter, is in town whipping up a little dinner tonight for some socially prominent Nashvillians. Trotter is bringing his "A-Team," approximately eight chefs, says music mogul Billy Ray Hearn. Hearn, the founder of EMI Christian Group, will be hosting the dinner with his wife, Nancy. Some 17 or so guests will enjoy the dinner supervised by Trotter, who is one of the original celebrity chefs thanks to his five-star r

  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

• Wine Wednesday: Clendenen Family Vineyards

  ​Editor's Note: Super blogger Chris Chamberlain filed this Wine Wednesday item punctually, but his editor was too busy fantasizing about big, unctuous, earthy, spicy, complex wines -- with aromas of raspberry, cranberry, tea and citrus peels -- to post it until today. Here's Chris: Let me start this off by saying, if you ever read that Jim Clendenen is coming to town for a wine event...GO! The respected California vintner came to town last week as the guest of Larry and Jeanne Boone of Bo

  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

• Wandering Wino: My Love is Like a Red, Red Grape

  ​If your Valentine's plans include wine (and you don't mind spreading the love beyond Feb. 14), there are some nifty opportunities coming up this week. Grab your sweetie and hit the grape highway. The Wine Chap in Belle Meade is first with the news of a special Von Schleinitz Wine Dinner at Miel at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb, 18. This is a great opportunity to try some German wines from the Von Schleinitz winery, which is located in the Mosel region.The winemaker, Konrad Haehn, will be pr

  February 12, 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

• Wine Wednesday: Bonnacorsi Wine Company

  ​While attending a tasting last week at Bistro 360 hosted by West Meade Wine and Liquor Mart and ably emceed by Tom Black, I got to thinking about how lucky we wine lovers are to live in Nashville. Not only were the Bonaccorsi wines universally excellent, but the very fact that they are exported here and the winemaker herself was willing to fly across the country to share her knowledge with us is a testament to the oenophile community in this town. Jenny Lee Bonaccorsi only makes 3,000 ca

  February 17, 2010

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

  February 18, 2010

• Big Doings at the Hermitage Hotel

  ​One of the favorite high class/low brow things we love to do around our house is to finish the last glass of red wine from dinner with a few dark chocolate M&M's for dessert. Hey, it's cheap and that's two fewer plates to clean up. It turns out that science is on our side and Pastry Chef Andy Manchester from the Capitol Grille at the Hermitage Hotel has ratcheted up our ritual a few notches. Scientists have proved that chocolate provides the body natural health-promoting substances calle

  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

• Wandering Wino: Can I Buy a Vowel? Edition

  ​One of my fondest memories of an event that turned me from a casual wine drinker into a real aficionado (read "wino") was an opportunity to meet Miljenko "Mike" Grgich and taste his wines while enjoying a seafood lunch in one of his vineyards. Grgich first gained international recognition at the celebrated Paris tasting of 1976 where French judges chose Mike's 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay as the finest white wine in the world. For a native Croatian to win a medal with a Californian

  February 19, 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

• Winter Garden Dreaming -- It's Not Too Early

  Daffodil alert! Well, daffodil foliage anyway, has managed to pry open the frozen soil and point up a green middle finger at the last of the winter. And not a day too soon -- has there been as unrelenting a winter as the long freeze of '10? Only garden catalogs made February bearable. Time to plan the urban vegetable Square Foot Garden. Johnny's Selected Seeds has fascinating heirloom varieties that are so tempting. Costata Romano zucchini -- the catalog says it has a nutty taste and is good f

  March 2, 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

• Wine Wednesday: Two More Things to Worry About

  ​As if we didn't have enough concerns in our day-to-day life, now comes news of two factors that could severely limit the availability of our favorite fermented grape juice products. The first concerns the wine industry in Chile. Of course, compared to the devastation of whole communities in the quake-rocked nation, Americans' access to good cheap red wine shouldn't amount to a hill of beans. But speaking strictly selfishly, accounts coming out of the region describe the destruction of

  March 10, 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

• Max Watman's rollicking history of moonshine, Chasing the White Dog: An Amateur Outlaw's Adventures in Moonshine, includes a few tempting (if illegal) recipes

  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