What Matt Bolus has done in three years of working out of a shipping container smashed onto an old body shop in the Gulch is nothing short of amazing. His menu is simple — a few starters, a few mains, a few items to share — but the flavors rarely are. Crudos, burratas and tartares dazzle, while seasonality might offer up gems like a peach and tomato salad. Little hints throughout the menu betray Bolus’ Italian sensibility — a bit of gnudi with goat, a pork ragout that never leaves the menu but changes flavors with the weather — but it’s his time in Charleston that comes through via the seafood dishes. A recent amberjack plate, for example, found a perfectly cooked fillet on a bed of slightly creamy Carolina Gold rice with a bit of romesco sauce and some peas. Sublime. And while the wine list is good, the whiskey collection might be the best in a town that loves brown liquor, boasting almost 300 varieties from the U.S., Europe and the Far East. It’s all proof that 404 is humming along like no other restaurant in Nashville right now. STEVE CAVENDISH
Best Restaurant
The 404 Kitchen
Photo: Daniel Meigs
