It’s the most wonderful time of the year. (No, not that.) For me, it's the most wonderful time of year because it’s time for the annual Butcher & Bee Hanukkah Dinner. Since 2016, this has been one of my favorite meals, an excuse to eat the East Side restaurant’s legendary whipped feta on latkes, as well as other traditional foods created by sous chef Scott Littman (no relation).
Hanukkah is not a particularly significant holiday in terms of religious gravitas, but because it takes place at the time of the year when other holidays are being observed, it’s become more mainstream. (The quick-hit lore of Hanukkah is that a quantity of oil that was supposed to be enough to keep a ceremonial temple lamp lit for one night instead lasted for eight nights. So now, almost any food fried in oil has become fair game for eight nights of Hanukkah festivities, and that’s a reason to celebrate on its own.)
When the dinner first started, it was a prix-fixe affair at communal tables. And despite the fact that I believe myself to be sort of curmudgeonly and not particularly fond of dining with strangers, I met some cool people at those tables and had some great conversations. At some point, things were switched to more traditional table reservations with an a la carte specialty menu, because Littman wanted to make the evening accessible to as many people as possible.
And then the pandemic happened, and the way people ate out changed. In addition, without getting into the politics, it’s a weird time to be Jewish in America. So I’m pretty excited that not only is the annual Butcher & Bee Hanukkah dinner back this year, but it’s back in a communal, four-course setup.
“One of our core values as a restaurant is having people share meals and share plates,” Littman says. He knows that not everyone wants to share with strangers on an average evening, but he believes that people will want to do so for this annual event.
The dinner will be held in The Rose Room, the private dining space Butcher & Bee opened earlier this year. (Old-timers may remember this used to be some of the Fat Bottom Brewing space). The setup calls for multiple 12-person tables where folks will pass around serving platters of brisket, salads, dips and sufganiyot, the filled jelly doughnuts that are traditional at Hanukkah. The menu will include two meat entrees and one vegan entree.
Littman traveled to Israel earlier this year. One of his goals while there was to buy a menorah that would belong to the restaurant, rather than bringing in one of his own for the ceremonial candle lighting. He found one — a two-foot centerpiece — that uses oil instead of candles, and he’s looking forward to using it.
About 50 percent of people who buy tickets for this event are repeat Hanukkah-dinner-goers, Littman says. That means tickets tend to sell quickly, so log on to buy yours. (As of this writing, there are more seats available on Saturday than Friday.) The $75 price includes a welcome drink and two of my favorite words: “unlimited latkes.” The dinners will be held twice a night on two nights: Dec. 8 and Dec. 9 at 5:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Butcher & Bee is located at 902 Main St. in East Nashville.
