The aesthetic at Elegy Coffee is design catnip for me. For months I’ve been slowing down as I drive by (sorry, fellow Gallatin Pike drivers), following along with the shop's Insta feed, waiting for the doors (and window) to open.
When I found out that Elegy Coffee was a project of Andrew Cook, Bryan and Lindsay Rushton, and Patrick Hayes of 1767 Designs, I wasn’t surprised. That's the team behind The Fox Bar & Cocktail Club, the neighborhood watering hole that also hits all my aesthetic buttons — as well as my thirst-quenching ones. (The Fox, as it happens, won not one but two of our Best of Nashville writers' choices this year, for Best To-Go Cocktails and Best Pandemic Merch.)
Elegy is, yes, named for the poems written for the dead, and the look is stylized and slightly macabre. Elegy opened last week, serving Seattle’s Anchorhead coffee, High Garden Tea, Walker Brothers kombucha and other specialty drinks and selected baked goods from Dozen Bakery, plus the famous Fox Chocolate Chip Cookie. Signature specialties include a cold-brew chocolate milk (my new go-to post-stand-up-paddling beverage), pistachio matcha and Honey Bunches of Cold Brew, which tastes like the leftover milk after you eat a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats cereal. Seasonal picks, like something with pumpkin, will be available soon too. There’s some stylish merch and candles from 1767 as well.
Cook, a professional musician (he drums for Dan + Shay), scopes out coffee shops when he's on tour. He wanted to bring the vibe of his favorites to the area near Trinity Lane in Inglewood, and so when a space opened near The Fox and next to Walden Bar, the crew knew it was a fit. Its proximity to The Fox and extra room for administrative offices will give the business some elbow room. The surrounding area has changed in recent years, and now boasts enough places to keep you fed and entertained for an entire day. (There’s some fine eating, drinking and listening at Nicoletto’s, Mickey’s Tavern, Walden, The Fox, Bowery Vault and Grimey’s, all of which are in the neighborhood.)
Cook is the ultimate Nashville Renaissance man: In addition to being a touring musician and bar owner, he’s a designer, which is how he knew the folks at Anchorhead. He was a fan of their products, and they decided Elegy should be their first foray into the Nashville market. Cook spent quarantine renovating the building, exposing brick walls and beamed ceilings. Brian Wooden painted the mural on the building’s south wall.
Even before the pandemic, the team planned to have a takeout window out front, which Cook says now feels “serendipitous.” You can go inside to order, grab goodies, and check out the awesome art from Twig Lips, but there’s no indoor seating. Bistro tables are on the way, so you'll be able to hang outside.
Elegy Coffee is located at 2909A Gallatin Pike and is open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Online ordering is available.
