Broadway’s getting a new bar — and it’s not what you think. Coming to the corner of 10th and Broadway is Bar Continental, a vinyl listening room with food and drink and sounds from prolific chef Sean Brock.
Later this year Bar Continental will replace Brock’s The Continental, the fine-dining homage to old-school hotel restaurants in the Grand Hyatt hotel downtown. It opened in 2020.
“Bar Continental is my interpretation of the Japanese ‘kissa’ concept, done the Nashville way, and it’s one of my favorite projects that I've ever worked on,” Brock says in a statement. “Visiting Bar Continental is like attending a concert, you feel the music. It's transcendent, similar to an experience on Lower Broadway, and my hope is that Bar Continental will bring that same kind of memories to this side of Broadway, with excellent service in mind.”
Brock’s appreciation for all things Japanese is well documented. The second floor of his Audrey/June building in East Nashville is bedecked with sashiko, a Japanese embroidery. Brock has talked about how parts of Japan’s latitude are the same as parts of that of Appalachia, meaning the two places share similar growing climates. One of Brock’s future projects is to rethink how Americans use kudzu, the Japanese vine that grows invasively in the South.
Nashville is lucky to have so many talented chefs — creative people who make beautiful food. Brock does that, of course, and the way the wheels of his brain turn is different from other brains. Bar Continental is a new example of that.
Just like Brock’s other restaurants have ingredients and wines and spirits you may not have been familiar with, Bar Continental is likely to have some vinyl recordings you haven’t heard before — thanks in part to months of collecting on Brock’s part. Bar Continental will have two bars with bar seats, bar stools in select sections, tables and leather banquets (presumably similar to the velvet banquets that made The Continental a lovely place for a leisurely meal).
The experience is being touted as a 3D-soundstage-type situation, with an emphasis on records that are otherwise not easily accessible through rare high-fidelity equipment. The idea is to be able to discern the individual instruments and performers, as if you are sitting in the control room while the music is being recorded. The dining room will be split by large black acoustical curtains designed to improve the sound quality of the audio system. Don’t worry — a section of the restaurant will be designated for those who prefer to listen at lower volumes.
Many of the records in the 5,000-album library come from Brock’s personal collection, just like how much of the art at Audrey and June came from his own collection. Expect to find classic jazz (jazz albums will be played in their entirety during the day), blues, soul, rock, country and more. The collection predominantly features music of the 1960s, 1970s and mid-1980s.
Bar Continental’s menu will feature seafood and classic bar items, with daily specials for bar and dinner service. Plans are to serve brunch and offerings from the prime rib cart on Sundays. During the day, the bar will be open to serve coffee, tea and pastries, plus classic cocktails, including zero-proof drinks, wines and local beer on tap. So it is possible that my three favorite things from The Continental (prime rib, the berry doughnut and the zero-proof bloody mary) will still be available.
The Continental’s last day of service is Sept. 17, so make plans to have one last leisurely meal there before Bar Continental opens this fall.
