Rendering of the new downtown 21C Museum Hotel (as apparently built in Minecraft)
It's hard to believe that it's been about two years since 21C Museum Hotels announced their intention to open a new boutique property at 222 Third Ave. N. Having dined several times at Proof on Main, the restaurant in the original Louisville location of 21C, I was most excited about the prospect of the restaurant that they might put in the hotel, and I wrote an open love letter to the company to try to convince them to transfer Levon Wallace, then the chef at Proof, to the future potential Proof on/(off) Broadway.
Chef Wallace didn't wait for construction and took a Nashville gig at Cochon Butcher, so we're actually fortunate to get to enjoy his cooking for a couple of extra years before the 21C restaurant opens. But don't think the ownership of the hotel group isn't dead serious about finding us another great chef to add to the local culinary community.
I spoke with Sarah Robbins, the chief hospitality officer of 21C, who oversees food and beverage as well as human resources for the hotel group. She says the company is committed to creating a new restaurant at the property that will demonstrate 21C's focus on both the art and culinary side of their business. As a past project director of Myriad Restaurant Group, she's quite experienced at opening new properties. "That's the part I love," she says. "With six restaurants at our hotels and Garage Bar, we're basically a small restaurant group ourselves."
There are several different ways to handle the culinary side of a hotel, ranging from running the restaurant from a corporate headquarters to farming out the concept and operation to an outside group, in the way, for example, that Ace Hotel worked with Memphis chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman to open Josephine Estelle in the latest Ace in New Orleans.
But 21C embraces a more hands-on approach, especially since each of their properties is located in a unique space, usually a historic building.
"We're sort of a glutton for punishment with these old buildings," Robbins says. "But they've given up rewards that new builds could never match. Although our DNA is similar in all of our properties, like siblings, as part of our development of each one, we are informed by the sense of place, but also of space. We take inspiration from the building specifically."
In the case of 222 Third Ave. N., that building was originally built in the 1890s and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was the home of Gray & Dudley Hardware Co., the family business of the Dudleys, of Dudley Field at Vanderbilt and Richard Dudley, the 50th mayor of Nashville. In a lovely bit of synchronicity, the house that Richard Dudley constructed on Rutledge Hill is now the home of Husk Nashville. All the stars are aligning for what could be another landmark Nashville dining destination.
But first they need to find a chef. "We always have a local executive chef at each of our properties," explains Robbins. By "local" she doesn't mean the chef necessarily comes from the town, but each 21C chef runs their own kitchen. "We're looking on a national level, but there's a real benefit to having the chef there and engaged. Our exec chefs are ambitious and really want to develop a team."
Part of Robbins' job is developing relationships with potential chefs for 21C's expansions. "They really are the nicest bunch of guys. The whole process is more rewarding if you know the community, and spending time in Nashville in advance of opening our new property has been like coming home, because the chefs here are so welcoming."
The new gig does have a lot going for it to attract chef talent. "We want to offer chefs an opportunity for a stable environment. As opposed to working in a 'big box' restaurant, our chefs have so much more creative license. Fourteen people don't have to taste a dish before it goes on the menu. Restaurant management is one of our core competences and our joy, and we'd be devastated to give it up, even though it might be a smart choice for other operators."
The new 21C Museum Hotel plans to open in spring 2017, but a new chef could come on as early as this fall to begin planning the restaurant and menu. Since we already stole Levon Wallace from Louisville, he's probably not in the running for the job, but anybody else who is interested can contact Robbins about the gig and see the official job listing at the 21C Museum Hotel's website.
