Antoinette’s Wine + Provisions to Open in Sylvan Park

When you walk into Antoinette’s Wine + Provisions, Lauren Maranto's new wine bar and grocery market in Sylvan Park, Maranto wants you to feel like you're walking inside your best friend’s house.

And while Antoinette’s is set to soon open its doors after months of renovations, Facebook Marketplace scouring and practicing patience when it comes to Metro permits, Maranto has already achieved one of her objectives. In a 1930s-era house on 54th Avenue, formerly the location of Zen Blossom Massage and Wellness, Maranto (along with her husband Francesco and Kathryn Crawford of Second Story Designs) worked magic. They used vintage textiles and furnishings, fun wallpaper and cool lighting to create a wine bar with multiple spots to hang out with friends. The space includes options for tucking into a cozy sofa, grabbing a seat at a table, bellying up to the 11-seat communal bar or lounging on the lawn; the backyard offers almost half an acre of green space. So it does feel like your best friend’s house — if your best friend has great taste and lots of room.

Stepping in the front door, you’ll see a wall of wines categorized by “vibe and situation,” so that people who aren’t experts in wine can find exactly what they want. “People may not know what wine from Greece tastes like,” Maranto says. “But if it tastes like ‘clean and crisp,’ then, done, sold.” 

Staff, of course, will be available to make recommendations. Most wine bottles will be priced at less than $50, with glasses ranging from $8 to $10. Wines will lean heavily on Italian varietals with a selection of orange and natural wines.

In the adjacent room to the right is the grocery, with similar wines — they need to be in separate rooms due to state law — plus cheeses, picnic supplies and quick grocery items. To the left is the entrance to the wine bar, with now-decorative historic fireplaces intact and plenty of outlets, so you can hang with a glass of wine and your laptop if you are looking for somewhere other than a coffee shop to work.

Antoinette’s has a beer and wine license — no spirits, thanks to the grocery store license — so Maranto crafted a menu that includes wine cocktails.

“I am very happy about that,” she says. “It created an opportunity. I know everybody loves cocktails; we’re a cocktail town, so I had to figure out how to make a margarita or an espresso martini out of wine only. And it works. If you are wanting a margarita, go to a Mexican restaurant, get a margarita. But if you want a low-ABV alternative that gives ‘margarita,’ come on in.” 

Maranto is particularly proud of the espresso martini, made with chocolate wine and port. “It slaps,” she says. Given Maranto’s Gulf Coast roots, it’s no surprise she developed a wine hurricane too. The menu also includes THC beverages and nonalcoholic options. 

Maranto, a certified sommelier and West Nashville resident, opened Antoinette’s Wine + Provisions because she wanted something on her side of town that would be casual and family-friendly — there’s even a playhouse and a fenced-off play area in the backyard — and also sell quality wine. Antoinette is her middle name, and a family name, a nod to the familial connections you can feel throughout the bar.

Maranto hired her college friend Luke Williams to helm the kitchen. Williams is a longtime local chef whose résumé includes work under James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Hastings at Birmingham's Hot & Hot Fish Club, as well as at local favorites Flyte, The 404 Kitchen and Tailor here in town. He’ll be making shareable plates that call on his and Maranto’s Alabama childhoods as well as Francesco’s Italian heritage.

Antoinette’s, located at 331 54th Ave. N., will be open Wednesdays through Sundays, with longer hours on weekends than weekdays. There’s a small parking lot on the premises, and it is also served by the No. 50 WeGo bus.