New Discoveries of 2023

As 2023 draws to a close, you, dear reader, are no doubt being inundated with year-end countdown lists. And we here at the Scene are certainly responsible for some of them, from our Dec. 14 issue’s Top Local Albums Critics’ Poll to our forthcoming annual Jim Ridley Film Poll. (Stay tuned for that one in January.)

But for this week’s cover package, we’re skipping the countdowns, awards and numbered lists. Instead we’ve gathered up some of our favorite local finds from the past year. Some are brand-new, like East Nashville’s delightful Tiger Bar, or Old Hickory’s kid-centric Baby Snakes Vintage. Others, like Nashville-based artist Briena Harmening, are simply new to us. Wedding professionals, coconut curry noodles, a revitalized 600-plus-acre park — you’ll find all that and more in this week’s issue. Read on to see what we fell for this year.

The Pastrami Dip at Schulman’s Neighborhood Bar

Thanks to its mid-’70s tavern decor, classic cocktail list, strong beer selection and outdoor bar area, relatively new East Side establishment Schulman’s Neighborhood Bar is, as they say, a vibe. It’s even named for late, great bar proprietor David “Skull” Schulman, who opened Skull’s Rainbow Room in Printers Alley 75 years ago. (That’s a painted portrait of Skull hanging over the end of the bar, where the Old Nashville icon and his beloved poodles can keep an eye on the merriment.)

Delightful as all of that is, none of that stuff is what keeps me coming back. My reason for returning? Schulman’s pastrami dip. Tucked amid a short-but-sweet sandwich menu that also features a classic cheeseburger, a fried bologna and a vegan “chicken” sandwich, the dip is a simple but absolutely undeniable offering that’ll form a sturdy base for a night of drinking — or a hearty late-afternoon lunch on a leisurely Sunday. Some deli purists (like my New York-born significant other) will tell you it’s not a dip if you don’t do the dipping yourself. And indeed, Schulman’s offering comes presoaked. Does it bother me? Not even a little bit.

Icon Entertainment & Hospitality’s Bill and Shannon Miller and their sons Blake, Jordan and Will are really onto something with Schulman’s, which opened this fall in a site formerly home to Southern Grist. At the intersection of Porter and Greenwood, Schulman’s neighbors include Vinyl Tap, Cafe Roze and Tabla Rasa Toys, with Grillshack Fries and Burgers and Nelson Drum Shop just a stone’s throw away on Riverside. Though legendary karaoke dive Fran’s East Side relocated to Dickerson Pike from the area at some point last year, this little pocket of East Nashville’s Eastwood neighborhood is still going strong. Schulman’s — and its pastrami dip — have a lot to do with that. D. PATRICK RODGERS

East Nashville Beer Works Collaborations

East Nashville Beer Works has distinguished itself with solid flagship offerings like the honey-sweet Miro Miel and crisp Tennessee Sipper, but the brewery’s playful side shines in its rotating cast of collaboration beers. A golden stout made with Proximity Malt challenges what I’ve come to expect from the traditionally earthy and thick draft, and their espresso creme ale with Retrograde Coffee shows that coffee flavors needn’t be limited to dark porters.

These adventurous brews deliver what they advertise, and while they may delight some and confuse others, I usually leave happy that I indulged my curiosity. ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ

Love, Parnassus

I fell in love with romance books during the early lockdown part of the pandemic. With a few notable exceptions like the Fifty Shades and Twilight series (not sorry), I stick to the rivers and lakes that I’m used to: memoirs and literary fiction. But in 2020, when the world became more than I could handle, I found an escape through romance. Luckily, it’s a relationship that stuck.

Now romance is having a moment. A long-beloved genre is finally getting the praise and attention it deserves, thanks in large part to booksellers and #booktok. One such bookseller is Katie Garaby, co-host of Between the Covers Romance Book Club at Parnassus Books. Garaby, aka @YourLesbianBookMom on Instagram, had an idea for a romance subscription box. Parnassus said, “We love it,” and Love, Parnassus was born.

This new monthly subscription box kicks off in January with Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar. Love, Parnassus’ goal is to bring you debut and new-to-you authors with a focus on lifting up queer, Black and POC stories and writers. It is also for an adult audience, as some of these books will have explicit sex scenes. Hooray! KIM BALDWIN

A New Devotion to The Good Fill

I secretly suspect my house guests aren’t as jazzed about me doubling down on my devotion to The Good Fill this year as I am. The store, which has locations in The Nations and East Nashville, sells cleaning supplies (such as laundry detergent and spot remover) and personal care products (makeup, dental floss and deodorant). The idea is that you bring in your own refillable containers, or buy theirs, and then bring them back and purchase goods by weight.

Last year I got into the groove, going plastic-free for toothpaste and other travel supplies. But this year every random container in my house got cleaned, sanitized and reused. Dish soap is in an old water bottle. Lotion and hair conditioner are in unmarked jars (or marked with wax-pencil notations only I can decipher). Glass bottles of all shapes and sizes hold what visitors might want to use to clean and bathe, if they knew what was where. I love contributing to the circular economy, generating less waste (though I’m definitely not at zero yet). I’m more inclined to buy only what I need to refill, because I don’t want to fill a second container, so there’s no stockpiling. Maybe 2024 is the year I’ll get into labeling. MARGARET LITTMAN

Tiger Bar 

If you make a reservation at Tiger Bar, you’ll get a text reminding you that it is “COCKTAIL ATTIRE SUGGESTED.” And it’s a good suggestion, to help you get into character for the theatrical presentation that is Nashville’s most fun new bar. The 1930s sideshow-inspired gin joint opened earlier this year on Gallatin Pike and has ambiance to spare. The circus-inspired decor is impeccable, and the era-accurate music and less-era-accurate smoke machine sending curls of fog out from beneath the bar make for a cinematic experience. 

The food is delicious and savory — the salt-and-vinegar fries, meaty olives and salty popcorn flight. There’s caviar too, but the real stars are the craft cocktails. Prepare to select something you’ve never tried before on Tiger Bar’s extensive and evolving menu (or spin the “Mystery Wheel” to select a random item, if you’re feeling adventurous). The Cotton Candy Negroni, a clear negroni that turns its signature amber color when you drop in the dissolving cotton candy, is a winner. The tiny and super-chilled Tom Thumb martini shots are no-brainers. The Snake Oil Charmer — made with grapefruit, olive oil, egg whites, vodka, bergamot liqueur and bitters, garnished with a skeleton leaf — is a Tiger Bar original, so unexpected and tasty. 

I love theater, and I can tell the proprietors of Tiger Bar (whose combined résumés include Pearl Diver, The Treehouse and No. 308) do too. The attentive and knowledgeable staff make it all the more memorable, explaining the back story of a gorgeous green cocktail called the Four Legged Myrtle while pouring it over slushy ice. My personal favorite is the Aviation, which my server explained was named for Amelia Earhart and modeled after the color of the sky when she set out to fly around the world. Earhart probably would have enjoyed a 1930s gin joint, God rest her soul. Tiger Bar is a good place to reflect on these things. 

The smoky air, the attire, the music, the lore — it’s all so romantic. Honestly, I wouldn’t take someone there if you don’t want to love them (it’s too powerful!). But it’s also a great place to have a memorable night on the town. HANNAH HERNER 

Nashville Guitar Repair Master List

When you get a new guitar with strings so high above the fretboard you’re contemplating becoming a slide player, or your workhorse guitar starts sounding like bees live in it whenever you switch between pickups, you need someone who knows how to give your instrument some TLC. If you asked me who to turn to, there are about five names I’d give you; a lot of others are likely to recommend some of those same five people. 

In a city with far more guitarists than the 1,352 once counted by The Lovin’ Spoonful, this poses a problem. A handful of luthiers get so much work that they have to quote lead times of many weeks on jobs that should take days to complete at most. Meanwhile, others who have an equal commitment to quality fly under the radar.

In an effort to alleviate the bottlenecks and spread the work around, Dave Johnson of Scale Model Guitars and Jack Brunson of Jack’s Guitarchaeology concocted the Nashville Guitar Repair Master List. This archive, which lives online at jacksguitarchive.com, includes contact information and the general location — or specific addresses if they have a shop outside their home — of 33 luthiers, plus notes from the specialists themselves on what kinds of work they do. Add to that six amp-repair shops, one effects-pedal specialist and 11 brick-and-mortar instrument stores in the general Nashville area.

As a hobbyist player, I will probably never be truly free of “gear acquisition syndrome,” but I’m trying to be a lot more intentional about actually using what I have. Nothing knocks the shine off the playing experience like an instrument that needs a setup, and I’m excited to use this list to keep my little collection in top form. STEPHEN TRAGESER

East Side Pho’s Coconut Curry Noodles

We West Siders constantly update our mental maps of East Nashville, a simple land of bitter cocktails and buzzy luncheonettes. The right food craving can turn an errand to Madison into a meandering journey through McFerrin Park; when it gets close to dinnertime, a bike ride through Shelby can end pretty far up Gallatin. East Side Pho’s coconut curry noodles make for a dish with that kind of magnetism.

The kitchen clearly knows what they have, because the noodles appear twice on the menu — as a proper entrée and in a smaller “snack size,” an easy add-on to any of the spot’s other excellent dishes. Thick, chewy rice noodles are a coveted offering for Nashville’s gluten-free community.

East Side Pho is just one of the many phenomenal offerings at award-winning outpost The Wash. The many neighborhood parking headaches are a testament to the plaza’s popularity and its aspirational urban planning, which prefigures a city where patrons drive less. ELI MOTYCKA

Baby Snakes Vintage 

If you’re looking for great vintage scores, the newly opened Baby Snakes is the place for you. The Old Hickory Village storefront is jam-packed with Garfield T-shirts, badass denim jackets, leather cowboy boots, pretty lace blouses, E.T.-themed jewelry. It’s got basically everything you could ever want in a vintage shop, except for one thing: adult sizes. That’s right — Nashville’s best new vintage shop is for kids only. 

Operated by the folks behind Anaconda Vintage, Baby Snakes (located at 105A 24th St. in Old Hickory) is tucked into the same complex that houses beloved Live True Vintage, making Old Hickory an unexpected destination for Nashville’s vintage lovers. The shop carries a well-curated but broad selection of clothes for newborns, babies and young children — I recently got my 7-year-old a perfect pastel sweatshirt covered in puffy paint cats that screams “1986” in the best way possible. There are also accessories like pewter piggy banks, nostalgia-inducing Golden Books, Smurf figurines — even California Raisins. Be on the lookout for fresh styles coming to a day care near you. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

Troll House Cottage 

If there’s a high tea to be had, I’m going to have it. There’s something about the tiered tower of treats being lowered onto the table in front of my eyes that makes my heart sing. The girlhood joy of tea parties reemerges as I sit giggling across from a loved one and raise a tiny teacup to my face.

Troll House Cottage is my new favorite place to do that. I enjoyed my longtime favorite High Garden creamsicle oolong tea in the cozy and intimate tea room — housed in a cottage built in 1927 — with substantial and tasty sandwiches and desserts. The Donelson establishment is a lovely destination to embrace the tea party, but it also offers breakfast and lunch throughout the week, and the cutest gift shop, featuring wares by local makers. It’s the perfect place to meet up with a friend and celebrate a birthday, engagement, breakup, new job or just surviving the crazy world we live in. It’s the perfect place to, well … spill the tea. HANNAH HERNER 

Yin Yoga

Hot Yoga of East Nashville is not new for me — I’ve loved the studio ever since I started practicing there about two-and-a-half years ago. But a more recent discovery is their Yin Yoga on Sunday nights.

Yin Yoga is slow-paced compared to more energetic, fitness-focused styles like power flow or vinyasa. It instead emphasizes meditation and stretching of deep connective tissues, like fascia networks and ligaments.

I was surprised when walking into my first Yin Yoga class — all the lights were turned off, and the room was lit only by candles set up around the perimeter. An instrumental soundtrack quietly played in the background, and I could see silhouettes of more experienced Yin Yogis already lying down with stacks of blocks and straps at the ready for support.

Once we got into the session, it was a revelation. The slower pace provides the ability to tune into every part of your body in each pose and find your equilibrium before moving on, which allows more time to fall deeper into one’s meditation. I was immediately hooked. And Sunday nights couldn’t be better timing-wise. It is the perfect way to center yourself and reflect on the past week without distraction, and prepare for the one ahead. Personally, I can think of no better way to stave off the Sunday Scaries. CARA SURIYAMONGKOL

Artist Briena Harmening

Keep your eye on Briena Harmening in 2024. The Nashville-based artist’s smart, singular works have been showing up at independent exhibitions — even a weekend-long pop-up at Coop Gallery in August — but she seems destined for much more.

Harmening’s textile-based work borrows familiar elements — quilts and tablecloths, screen-printed truisms — but reassembles them in unexpected ways. There is a crocheted blanket whose lines seem to radiate out of a sexist insurance claim, and an assemblage of found fabrics and woven doilies says “Now Is Not the Time” and “Prayers.” If Jenny Holzer and Mike Kelley had raised a child in Appalachia, their work might look a little like this. LAURA HUTSON HUNTER

‘Spinning’ My Nights at Bar Continental

When I heard The Continental was morphing into the Bar Continental vinyl listening room, I was bummed. The Continental was my favorite Sean Brock restaurant, full stop. The brunch was the best in town, and it all worked — cocktails, carts, pâté, prime rib. I must’ve been in the minority as a return visitor — which is a shame, if not a surprise. When 19th-century hotel food is your concept and you start as only a tasting menu, your pool is small. So I think most locals saw The Continental as fun, one-time dining where you could easily go five times without eating the same dish. 

Whatever went down, Brock said in a statement of the evolution to Japanese “kissa” concept: “Visiting Bar Continental is like attending a concert, you feel the music — it’s transcendent, similar to an experience on Lower Broadway.”

I couldn’t be happier to disagree. Bar Continental — with its plush couches, tall ceilings, rare records and smart, mellow staff — could not be further from Lower Broadway if Brock did open it in Japan. Bless him for that. We do not need more places to “woo” and puke and sling loaded guns onto the floor. But more places to hear that Buckingham Nicks album where everybody pulled their nips out for the cover? Yes, please. The food and drink at Bar Continental is as rich and thought-provoking as the music. The Calabrian chili tartare with sunchokes is toasty and bold. The honeynut squash with XO country ham and mimolette cheese is a savory-sweet revelation. And the cashews, which appear basic as can be, are the most addictive bar snack in town, with nostalgic, unexpected notes of white chocolate and salty pretzel. 

On the turntable, every night kicks off with a theme, ranging from the Stones and CCR to Jerry Garcia. On Mondays you can bring in your own vinyl for a Community Listening Party. Best of all, on Sundays, they’re not only spinning soul music — they’re also bringing back the prime rib cart. If there’s a better way to start your week than au jus and Al Green, I am yet to find it. ASHLEY BRANTLEY

Community Passports at the Nashville Public Library

We’ve sung the praises of the Nashville Public Library’s various non-book-related resources a lot in these pages, and their Community Passports are yet another wonderful thing you can check out totally for free. The library partners with local museums to allow cardholders to check out free passes for themselves and a guest.

The wait lists can be very, very long — the National Museum of African American Music has 1,500 people on the wait list as of this writing — so perhaps the best way to approach the community passports is to find something you haven’t quite gotten around to visiting, put your name onto the wait list and then forget about it until you get an email saying the passes are yours for the next seven days. That’s what I did when checking out a different kind of community pass from the library. I’d always been curious about the electric BCycles around town, so I put my name onto a wait list, went about my life for a few weeks and then was pleasantly surprised to remember that past me had signed up for a week of free rides on the city’s shareable e-bikes.

The library currently offers separate passes to the aforementioned National Museum of African American Music and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and the BCycle pass allows unlimited two-hour rides from any of the city’s bike-share stations. COLE VILLENA

Hue Dinner Events

As part of the annual Nashville Design Week in November, Brian and Cassia Garrett hosted an event called Design for the Black Culinary Experience. It was beautiful, and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. Dozens of guests were seated at communal tables and guided through the evening with discussions and delicious food. All the while, the Garretts led a conversation with four local chefs about cooking, life and community.

The event featured chefs Jerod Wilcher (ButterFLY Garden), Karen Thomas (The Pepper Pott), Star Maye (Anzie Blue) and Marcus Buggs (Coneheads). It reminded me that chefs have so much more to offer than just food — they are often passionate, dedicated and hospitable people who sacrifice social lives to facilitate connection for others. November’s event aligned with the mission of Hue, a company co-founded by the Garretts to celebrate Black chefs and storytelling through private dinner series. In creating these special spaces for food and community, Hue also uplifts Black chefs who are too often underrepresented in the culinary industry. Despite Black chefs’ immense creativity and incalculable impact on the global food landscape, Bloomberg reports that only six of the world’s Michelin Star restaurants have Black executive chefs.

Hue seeks to highlight and uplift Black chefs in ways that transcend the traditional restaurant experience and more fully involves those behind the recipes. It’s still a new organization, but I can’t wait to see how far they go with it. I’ll be keeping an eye out for future events. Those interested can follow Hue on social media and join a list to be notified about upcoming events on its website, experiencehue.com. KELSEY BEYELER 

Sixth Avenue South Let Me Love Going Downtown Again

Back in 2019, I shared my secret shortcut across SoBro when the Division Street Connector opened, and I hinted at another time-saver that involved taking advantage of Sixth Avenue South. Well y’all have clearly heeded my advice, and now, as Jimi sang: “(Crosstown traffic) all you do is slow me down / And I’m trying to get on the other side of town!”

But I still had my ace in the hole, the secret luge run that can get me from Hillsboro Village to Bridgestone Arena in less than 15 minutes, even during rush hour. As more and more of my friends tell me that traffic/parking/tourists keep them from venturing downtown, I feel it’s my civic duty to give up my clandestine route to encourage locals to discover the urban core again.

Here’s the route: From anywhere in 12South/Hillsboro Village/Green Hills, make your way to Edgehill Avenue. Waze will tell you to try South Street and then attempt a left turn without a traffic light onto Eighth Avenue South. Don’t do that. (Stupid algorithm!) Cross Eighth at the Scientology center and take the first left onto Fort Negley Boulevard. After you pass the Adventure Science Center on your right, turn left onto Sixth Avenue at the corner of the City Cemetery.

That’s it. Your next stop after just a few traffic signals will be at the Music City Center — nay, it will be intheMusic City Center, since Sixth passes right through it, leading to two entrances into the underutilized parking garage. There you can park for up to five hours for $10, maybe as much as $20 during special events, but that’s still cheaper than any legal parking spot downtown. (Heck, if you can even find one of the scarce metered spots downtown, they’ll cost you $2.25 an hour and kick you out after three hours.)

Passing under a crawling I-40 at rush hour while breezing down Sixth on the way to a Preds game is one of my favorite pastimes. Along the route, I can stop at New Heights, Tennessee Brew Works or Yee-Haw for a craft beer or Bar Sovereign for a cocktail, and the way home is even easier.

So don’t shun downtown; take it back, and discover what it still has to offer if you’re willing to walk a couple blocks to the Ryman. CHRIS CHAMBERLAIN

Turnip Green Creative Reuse’s New Location

Turnip Green Creative Reuse isn’t a new store, but it moved to a new location this year, and it’s the best one yet. The nonprofit collects thousands of pounds of materials that would otherwise get tossed in the trash — seat belts, padded envelopes, empty pill bottles, anchors, screws and glitter, to list just a few — and organizes and categorizes it all. The stuff is then sold with a pay-what-you-can model, and used in arts educational classes that Turnip Green leads.

When Turnip Green left East Nashville for Wedgewood-Houston, its first stop was at a spot that was sometimes hard to get to thanks to train stoppages on Fourth Avenue South. The new location on Third Avenue South is train-drama-free, larger and hyper-organized, allowing for happy hours of browsing.

I keep a running list of what I might need — electrical plates, spray paint, tulle fabric — to keep myself from getting distracted by shiny objects. However, my favorite find this year was, in fact, a shiny brass belt buckle that I put into immediate rotation. I love the serendipity of what I find when I walk these newly organized aisles and the ideas I get for new projects (regardless of whether I complete them) as much as I love the zero-waste nature of the whole enterprise. Turnip Green Creative Reuse is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday at 1014 Third Ave. S. MARGARET LITTMAN

Nashville Wedding Professionals

It can be tough to have a balanced perspective on the industry surrounding marriage. For one, a wedding is ideally something you do only once. For another, especially in Nashville, the wedding-adjacent bachelorette scene is very visible and easily (lazily) vilified. When you’re getting ready to have your wedding here, it’ll quickly become apparent that population growth and Music City’s growing reputation as a wedding destination have made planning your ceremony a daunting task.

However, as my wife Sarah and I discovered, all that expansion has led to the city being jam-packed with professionals who are absolute masters of making the experience smooth and enjoyable. It was not inexpensive, though everyone we worked with delivered extraordinary value for the money. There was some additional work involved, though I have to credit Sarah, a fantastic planner herself, with tackling most of it. And lots of the things we had to do were fun, like deciding on cake flavors and picking our first-dance song.

On our wedding day in November, we had the best time we could imagine with our family and friends. And we were relaxed enough that we actually had fun and will remember it as long as we’re here — exactly as it’s supposed to be.

There are many, many great folks in town to work with. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t shout out some who helped us. Major thanks to ace planner Melinda Melton at Inspired Help; the staff at venue The Cordelle; DJ Matthew Maglione, aka Brer Sunshine; the crew at South Fork Catering Co.; and photographer extraordinaire Fiona Battersby. STEPHEN TRAGESER

The Furikake Aisle at Sonobana

Japanese cuisine is the not-so-hidden influence behind Nashville’s most vaunted restaurants right now. Buzzy spots like Locust, Kisser and Bastion come with long lines and hefty bills — and home cooks can experiment with the same ingredients thanks to longtime White Bridge Road staple Sonobana. The popular sushi spot abuts a one-room Japanese grocery that offers staples like miso, mochi and nori maki, the crunchy rice cracker snacks that have found mainstream success in America after being repackaged and remarketed by Trader Joe’s.

Furikake hardly constitutes a “New Discovery” so much as a pantry essential that still, somehow, eludes too many kitchens. Sonobana offers many versions of this seaweed-based sprinkle — as do many grocery stores not named Publix or Kroger — opening up several months’ worth of shopping in the furikake aisle. ELI MOTYCKA

Mill Ridge Park 

Perhaps the most exciting part about Antioch’s new Mill Ridge Park is that as great as it is, it’s not even finished yet. In August, the city unveiled the completion of its first round of a multiphase master plan to turn 622 acres off Old Hickory Boulevard near Cane Ridge High School into a network of play areas, trails and outdoor gathering spaces for families in southeast Davidson County.

With an epic playground featuring a massive slide, an interactive musical art installation, exercise equipment, pavilions and more, the park offers something for the whole family. The park’s hundreds of acres also provide exciting opportunities for folks to engage with nature. The Friends of Mill Ridge Park nonprofit makes it all possible through constant events and programming such as nature walks, community garden days, sky-watch parties and outdoor movies. This park is a much-needed and much-deserved asset to the Antioch community that will benefit its residents for years and years to come. KELSEY BEYELER 

Madame Tussauds Nashville

Hear me out! Madame Tussauds’ Nashville location is a worthwhile stop — something I discovered just this year. Having not grown up in a wax-museum family, I didn’t know of the delights and horrors I was missing. On a recent trip to the longtime attraction, I was impressed by detailed figures and their lifelike quality, down to veins on the statues’ hands. It’s art, full stop. 

In Madame Tussauds Nashville’s dream-sequence-like walkthrough, you’ll find a host of musicians in beautifully decorated sets. My favorite was the 1950s-style recording studio. You’ll see the Elvis figure that’s featured in the WeGo transit ads, and the newest addition, Kacey Musgraves. Also residing in Nashville’s outpost are Miley Cyrus, Reba McEntire, Diana Ross, Ozzy Osbourne, Rihanna, Elton John and more. You won’t see Dolly, though — she hasn’t given permission yet. Selfies are welcome — just don’t touch the hair! That is, if you, unlike me, are not absolutely given the heebie-jeebies by the wax figures.

Located in the back side of the Opry Mills mall, the museum is relatively easy to access. Following your tour, you can get a wax-hand keepsake, or purchase a package that includes a glass of wine from the nearby Amber Falls Winery. 

Being in a tourist environment helps me remember the excitement I felt when I first moved to Nashville. It helps me remember why I stay — the things I can’t get back home. Home certainly does not have a 1.2-million-square-foot mall with two wax figures of Taylor Swift. HANNAH HERNER