It's a food-lover's paradise in Nashville this weekend, with the
Nissan Taste of Music City Festivaland
Savor Nashvilledescending on our fair (and hot) city.
There's a kickoff event for Taste of Music City tonight at Public Square from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring beer samples from local breweries. The festival itself takes place 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday at Public Square and features food from roughly 50 local restaurants — everything from upscale (Tayst, Bound'ry) to barbecue (Martin's, Corky's, Jim 'N Nick's) to hot dogs (Nashville Weiner Company, Cori's DogHouse) to Mexican food (Chago's Cantina, Chipotle Mexican Grill). Heck, there'll even be Hooter's (the restaurant, you perv), Dan McGuinness and Mafiaoza's. Not to mention both Dippin' Dots and Dips 'N Scoops. (Talk about double-dipping!) And one of our personal faves, Pinkberry.
The Savor Nashville Celebrity Chef Dinner begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the downtown Hilton, and features visiting chefs Lydia Shire, Norman Van Aken, Larry Forgione, Robert Del Grande and Bob Kinkead — all James Beard Award winners. Then from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, local chefs face off in the Shrimp-and-Grits Cook-Off at the Hutton Hotel.
Speaking of which, the online version of this week's Scene features an intriguing interview with renowned food writer John T. Edge of the Southern Foodway Alliance, who will be moderating the Shrimp-and-Grits Cook-Off. Edge spoke with Chapter 16's Susannah Felts on a variety of subjects, including food trucks, Seattle's teriyaki scene and, of course, Prince's Hot Chicken. Read an excerpt — Edge's thoughts on the complicated topic of Southern food — after the jump:
