Fairlane Hotel Offers Pop-Up Space to Juniper Green and The Cheese Gal

Ellington’s Midway Bar & Grill continues to handle most of the establishment's sit-down dining needs under the auspices of chef Kristin Beringson, but their lobby-level dining options have been in flux since the Fairlane Hotel opened downtown in 2018. At first, the lower level was served by an outpost of Montreal-style Mile End Deli before that morphed into an alternative named Union Teller run by the hotel. Another victim of the pandemic, that restaurant and bar area was vacant for a couple of months — until Molly Martin of Juniper Green heard from a friend that they might entertain the thought of a pop-up tenant for a trial period.

Martin had been running her catering business out of the kitchens at Mesa Komal and then Citizen Kitchens in East Nashville, so she was looking for a new spot to lay down some roots. After meeting with the forward-thinking management at the Fairlane, Martin hooked up with Cortney LaCorte, another entrepreneur who has built up a business creating eminently Instagrammable and delicious cheese and charcuterie boards under her Cheese Gal brand.

La Corte will take over the former lobby coffee shop space as a retail space for takeaway boards as well as collaborating with Martin to offer weekly market meals and drop-off dinner packages. Cheese Gal will offer expanded pickup hours of 10:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., with pick up easily accessible from the valet lane of the hotel — or you’re free to enjoy your snack in the comfortable lobby area of the Fairlane. All ordering can be done online via the Cheese Gal website.

Juniper Green will operate out of the former Union Teller kitchen and convert the former dining space into a takeaway market accessible via a separate street entrance and open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for grab-and-go lunch options, plus expanded options for curbside pickup or delivery. Martin describes her offering this way: "All items can be purchased in half-pints, pints or as a trio. We'll have what we're calling mainstays, available all season long, then a rotating cast of seasonal salads and sides, which we'll share regularly on socials. We’ll also offer a classic coffee/espresso program using Frothy Monkey products. As we approach the holiday season, we'll start adding home entertaining packages (dips, hors d'oeuvres, etc.) for pickup or delivery. “

Here’s a peek at the menu, and you can see weekly updates as it changes seasonally on Juniper Green’s website and via Instagram:

Mainstays: 

Kale Salad: carrot, apple, golden raisins, sunflower seeds, maple-miso tahini dressing (vegan, gf)

Heirloom Potato Salad: sumac aioli, scallion, parsley, celery, lots of dill (gf, df) 

Green Quinoa: herb + pepita pesto, caramelized onion, fresh arugula (vegan, gf)

Israeli Couscous: caramelized beets, feta, basil, walnuts, sherry orange vinaigrette 

Curry Chicken Salad: slow-roasted chicken, golden raisins, celery, scallions, almonds, curry aioli (gf, df)

Leafy Greens: little gem lettuces, herbs, french vinaigrette (vegan, gf)

Sample Seasonal Items: 

Grilled Fall Market Vegetables: chermoula, dukkah (vegan, gf)

Fall Orzo: balsamic roasted local mushrooms, butternut squash, caramelized shallot, tarragon, thyme  (vegan)

French Bean Salad: haricots vert, white beans, roasted garlic, miso tomato vinaigrette, parsley, nigella (gf, vegan)

Charred Broccoli: aged white cheddar, tart apples, walnuts, cider vinaigrette (gf)

Ever the party planner, Martin has come up with an innovative way to utilize the former bar area of Union Teller by offering it as a rental space for private dining opportunities for people looking to get together safely in small groups without the hassle of cooking and cleaning up their own homes. She says: “We’re excited to offer the chance for people to gather thoughtfully with an intimate group of friends and family with the ability to control and customize the environment. Most of all, we want to make it fun!”

Martin shares that they’re looking to target groups in the range of 20-25 people, but they hope to be able to host larger groups as regulations move through the phases of restricted dining. The facility rental will come with tiered packages, plus bar packages based on the size of the group, and then guests can customize packages and menus from there, including the option of adding a raw bar or Cheese Gal boards. “Part of our deal is that we have access to other spaces in the Fairlane,” shares Martin. “We’d love to put together progressive dinner parties with cocktails in a rooftop suite and the meal in the private space.” If groups want to gather in smaller numbers, Martin says that they can eat and drink in shifts as they take advantage of the hotel’s amenities.

Martin is looking forward to having a public-facing arm of her events and catering company for a couple of reasons. Both the market and catering events can become market-research opportunities for each other to find out what her customers really love, plus the takeaway market will give Martin the chance to get in front of individual people who might end up looking for help with private events. 

“Being able to pop up at the Fairlane Hotel during this holiday season is going to be a really fun opportunity for us to connect with even more people in Nashville,” says Martin. “We are so excited to offer grab-and-go lunch options for folks in the area, as well as private dining options for families or ‘quaranteams.’ We look forward to working with the Fairlane Hotel team and neighbors to the Cheese Gal.”