The Midtown space that formerly housed Virago has been reinvented as
Aura. As I reported last month, Aura’s managing partner is Mathew Igwonobe, a food-biz veteran who previously owned the Brentwood restaurant Quails. Aura had two soft opening events last week and opened officially on Friday.
Aura calls its food “world fusion cuisine” — Asian, Latin and Southern touches appear on the menu. A few of the dishes that popped up at the preview dinners include crawfish potato skins with citrus remoulade; beef chimichurri with zucchini strings; and a popular pasta dish that tops angel hair with duck breast, oyster mushrooms, asparagus and sweet peppers.
The team will serve dinner seven nights a week and lunch Monday through Friday (lunch won’t roll out until Oct. 22), but they also want to offer a convivial spot for drinks. There’s a long list of creative cocktails, made artisan-style with fresh juices and herbs, and 30 or so wines by the glass, and a selection of craft beers.
Aura is at 1811 Division St. The phone number is 730-8418. You can check out the menu at auratherestaurant.com and book reservations online at OpenTable.
A version of this story appeared in my Food Biz column in today's issue of The City Paper and online in the Nashville Post.
