East Nashville Block Party Serves Up Fine Food on Paper Plates for a Good Cause

“We met at Noma.”

If you’re ever invited to a block party where half the people cooking can say that of each other, go. Nashvillians respect such a rule, which is why 170 of us showed up to the sold-out event in McFerrin Park on Thursday night to taste “the best food you’ll ever eat on a paper plate.” And boy, did the party deliver. 

For one night only, Sean Brock’s Kudzu Complex was open for business. Friends and families explored the future site of Audrey and Red Bird Restaurant, maneuvering around caution tape and exposed beams to get a better view of the East Nashville sunset while Brock set the tone with a musical playlist of Jason Isbell, Drive-By Truckers and Tom Petty deep cuts. The vibe was clear: explore, eat, drink, relax, repeat. 

For $40 a head, you could indulge in as many heaping plates of fine-tuned comfort food as you could handle, cooked on one of the most kickass smoking contraptions I’ve ever seen. Add made-to-order steamed dumplings and gelato (also all-you-can-eat) and there was barely room for the local Little Harpeth beer and Indecent Rosé available for purchase. YET WE PERSEVERED.

Here’s everything we ate:

Pork and Cabbage Dumpling with Secret Chili Oil

Chef Trevor Moran (Formerly of The Catbird Seat and Noma, upcoming Locust Restaurant)

Making dumplings 10 at a time while fending off your 2-year-old’s attempts to shotgun a bowl of chili oil is a labor of love, and Moran made it look easy. I’ve been waiting for years to try his dumplings, and they were everything I’d hoped: tender, delicate wrappers filled with funky pork goodness, topped off with a drizzle of chili oil that packed a surprising crunch. (I assume whatever ingredient he uses that can be submerged in oil yet retain its crunch is the “secret” in this sauce, and I respect him for keeping it. It’s a signature in the making.) Moran promised more adventurous dumplings at Locust when it opens in 12South next year — the custom Italian oven is currently stuck in the culinary vortex that is New Jersey — but if these dumplings were all he served, I’d still be first in line. 

Piri Piri Chicken Sando

Gerard Craft (Pastaria Nashville, Niche Food Group)

I was tough on my boy Gerard Craft last year when I reviewed Pastaria, but whatever my service concerns were at the time, his food is typically on point. While I was underwhelmed by Pastaria’s panzanella at Music City Food & Wine last weekend (the chicken fat dressing sounded promising but didn’t deliver), this chicken dish was one of the best of the night — and one of the best dishes of Craft’s I’ve had. Tender chicken thighs were cooked over an open flame and dressed in a fiery piri-piri chili sauce, then placed on squishy buns and topped with crunchy dill pickles. It was the perfect balance of smoke, salt and spice, and in a town that’s drowning in mediocre takes on hot chicken, this one was welcome. 

Jimmy Red Hominy Succotash

Sean Brock (Formerly of Husk, upcoming Audrey and Red Bird Restaurant)

My favorite fact from the Chef’s Table episode on Sean Brock is that the first thing he did after his grandmother’s funeral was grab her vinegars. I did a similar thing when my grandmother passed away, laying claim to a sign from her kitchen that says: “Old Farmers Never Die, They Just Spade Away.” I hang it over my stove everywhere I live to remind me that in the South, cooking is a tradition we’re all part of. Brock’s food always reminds me of that, and his succotash was no exception — sturdy, unfussy, perfectly balanced, and made from a legendary moonshiner's corn that came within two cobs of extinction before it was revived. It reminded me just how much I’ve missed eating Brock’s food. Luckily, I won’t have to wait much longer. 

Pulled Pork ’n’ Slaw

Josh Lanning (formerly of Noma, currently of SingleThread in Healdsburg, Calif.)

It was curious to me that a Nashville block party was being spearheaded by a chef from Sonoma, and ultimately it comes down to a road trip. After his father passed away last year, Lanning decided to drive his dad’s custom barbecue rig from his hometown of Peoria, Ill., back to California. He knows folks in Nashville, so he scheduled a detour, and he rallied friends from Noma and a few Nashville spots to get together and cook for a good cause while he’s here. (The event benefited McFerrin Park’s Front Porch Ministries, an organization that helps at-risk kids and single moms in the neighborhood.) I’m thrilled to report that Lanning’s pulled-pork slider was simple, and succulent and would make a worthy opponent for any smoked meat in Nashville — a fitting tribute to his father and the rig it was cooked on. 

Smoked Cauliflower with Tomato Gochujang and Crispy Shallot

Chocolate Gelato with Plum Puree, Plum Marshmallow and Chocolate Crumble

Dan Burns (formerly of Noma and Luksus, currently of Burns Gelato in New York City)

If there was anything disheartening about Thursday night, it’s that my favorite dish was made by a chef whose Michelin-starred New York restaurant is no longer open. Burns’ smoked cauliflower was bright and earthy, drenched in umami-packed gochujang sauce studded with tiny Japanese mushrooms. While I’m bummed I won’t be able to experience his famous Nordic tasting menu any time soon, I’m glad that he’s putting all his Noma-pastry-chef energy into gelato. The chocolate-and-plum dessert he served last night reminded me of an inside out truffle, with the bitterness and depth of the chocolate playing off the brightness of the plum. It was delicious — but I still went back for seconds on the cauliflower first. 

On the whole, the night was delightful, raising $8,000 for Front Porch Ministries, bringing neighbors together from all over town, and giving people a glimpse of what’s to come — in the neighborhood and in Nashville. There’s something inspiring about seeing a space for what it’s going to become rather than what it is — when all that’s there are steel beams and brick walls and wide spaces where windows will be. A space like that holds a lot of promise, and if last night is any indication, Brock’s place is going to be beautiful.