Originally conceived in 2021 by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp as a way to encourage Nashville diners to get back into local restaurants as the pandemic cooled down, Dine Nashville: The Music City Way will return for the third consecutive year with events planned from Jan. 31 until March 2. Among the special happenings associated with Dine Nashville will be chef collaborations, cocktail classes, a week of discounted dining deals and one of your favorite culinary contests courtesy of your friends here at the Scene.
That’s right, we’re officially a part of Dine Nashville this year — as the organizers of the annual Nashville Scene’s Hot Chicken Week, running Jan. 31 through Feb. 6. We’ll share more details about that one as the date approaches, but go ahead and mark your calendar — and maybe ask Santa to put some Tums in your stocking.
A highlight of past Dine Nashville has been the fun — and often unexpected — collaborations between chefs from different restaurants, and this year’s lineup of kitchen swaps looks equally intriguing. Tickets are already on sale for the first batch of chef collaborations, so let’s take a peek at some of them.
Chef Maneet Chauhan (Morph Hospitality) + The Loveless Cafe
Saturday, Feb. 3 | 11 a.m. | $115/person | Chauhan Ale & Masala House (123 12th Ave. N.)
The fried chicken and biscuit masters of The Loveless Cafe will bring their brand of Southern food downtown for a brunch at Chauhan Ale & Masala House. Chefs Maneet Chauhan and Scott Peck will integrate Indian spice into their down-home brunch dishes in what promises to be a fascinating and fun meal.
Chef Arnold Myint (International Market) + Chef Nick Rooney (Black Dynasty) + Chef Chris Biard (S.S. Gai)
Sunday, Feb. 4 | 5 p.m. | $110/person | International Market (2013 Belmont Blvd.)
Cultures collide in a delicious way as Arnold Myint hosts the ramen whiz chef Rooney from Black Dynasty Secret Ramen House and Chris Biard, the captain of the S.S. Gai and reigning champion of Thai chicken in town. Expect all three talented chefs to bring their A-games as they play with Asian flavors and ingredients.
Chef Jordan Arcuri (Oak Steakhouse) + Chef Kevin Kobayashi (O-Ku)
Wednesday, Feb. 7 | 6:30 p.m. | $125/person | Oak Steakhouse (801 Clark Place)
This dinner isn’t quite as unexpected as some of the others, since Oak Steakhouse and O-Ku are both members of the same restaurant group, but that only means the chefs already know each other well. This familiarity might just let them get a little more experimental than they usually can in their own kitchens, so it’ll be fun to see the menu they come up with collaboratively.
Chefs Aniello Turco and Nicky Miscia (Mimo) + Chefs Hrant Arakelian and Abbas Al Nakhli (Lyra)
Thursday, Feb. 8 | 5 p.m. | $150/person | Mimo Restaurant and Bar (100 Demonbreun St.)
Chefs Hrant Arakelian, Abbas Al Nakhli (Lyra) + Chefs Aniello Turco, Nicky Miscia (Mimo)
Thursday, Feb. 22 | 5 p.m. | $150/person | Lyra (915 W. Eastland)
Like a couple of NHL teams from different conferences, the chefs from Lyra and Mimo will play a home-and-home series as they share their kitchens on two nights to combine the Mediterranean and Italian cuisines they normally feature. Heck, try them both and see who performs best on the road.
Chefs Tony Mantuano and Joey Fecci (Yolan) + Chef Julia Jaksic (Cafe Roze)
Thursday, Feb. 22 | 5 p.m. | $125/person, or $205/person with wine pairing | Yolan (403 Fourth Ave. S.)
In a town filled with talented chefs, this dinner will showcase some serious culinary horsepower as Julia Jaksic of the beloved Cafe Roze visits the kitchen at Yolan in The Joseph Hotel in SoBro. If Chef Jaksic has any say in the menu, may I urge her to crack open one of those 84-pound wheels of Parmesan that separate the dining room from the kitchen at Yolan? That’s always dramatic!
Chef Junior Vo (Noko) + Chefs Chris and Emma Biard (S.S. Gai)
Monday, Feb. 26 | 6 p.m. | $65/person | at Noko (701 Porter Road)
Chris Biard is bringing his wife Emma along for this visit to their neighbors at Noko. They’re both talented chefs and especially proficient at cooking over open fire and adding smoke as a flavorant, so that should make them ideal partners with chef Junior Vo, who has turned direct-flame cooking into a reservation book at Noko that stays filled weeks in advance.
You can expect more collaborations to be announced between now and the beginning of Dine Nashville, but you shouldn’t wait to jump on these before they sell out. Restaurant Week reservations, menus and discount offerings will be available on the Dine Nashville website in late January. Proceeds from Dine Nashville will go to benefit the Music City Inc. foundation in support of The Giving Kitchen and Big Table.
