There’s no doubt that Nashville has become a steakhouse town. As I mentioned earlier in the week in my post about Jeff Ruby’s first anniversary, we are blessed with a plethora of choices for folks looking for a well-cooked piece of beef in this town. A favorite of the conventioneer set, steakhouses tend to cater to visitors as much as to locals, so location is a key element to their success, as is ambiance.
Attached to the towering Westin Hotel on Clark Place and Eighth Avenue South, Oak Steakhouse Nashville is right in the sweet spot for convention attendees at the nearby Music City Center — providing they can navigate their way across the Eighth Avenue roundabout. While it is contiguous to the hotel, the steakhouse is actually managed by Indigo Road Group out of Charleston, S.C., and it joins the group as their fourth edition of the Oak along with Charleston, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C.
Each location has its own unique decor, but all with high-minded design. I find myself guilty of referring to too many new spots as “stunners,” but hell, this joint really is. Soaring ceilings allow room for an 1,800-bottle wine rack accessible only through the use of a perilously tall rolling ladder. From the second level, which is primarily set up for private dining, patrons look down at artsy acorn-inspired light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. (I’ll admit it took me a minute to make the acorn/oak connection.) Booths and tables are bedecked in leather and wood, and it’s clear that everything is custom-made. The result is a clubby-yet-comfy vibe.
The smallish kitchen is open to the main dining room, and you can watch the cooks dance around the two grilling stations or see them prepping food at the raw bar of oyster options from around the country. Executive chef Eric Zizka usually mans the pass, conducting the kitchen orchestra, but you can occasionally catch him hopping on the line to help out a station that is in the weeds. Zizka has worked in the kitchens at multiple Indigo Road properties, so he is well-versed in the best practices to run a brigade, and it shows on the plate.
I was impressed by how despite their “chain” status, the Oak team makes it a point to emphasize local producers whenever possible and calls them out on the menu. This is easier to do on the shorter bar menu, which rotates more often than the corporate-developed main bill of fare, but I was pleased to see Middle Tennessee purveyors such as Bells Bend Farms, Bobby John Henry’s Bakery, Creekstone Farms, Green Door Gourmet, Noble Farms Dairy and Porter Road Butcher, among others.
I sampled a few dishes on my initial visit, and really enjoyed a perfectly grilled charred octopus, a classic chopped salad, and the fish of the day, which was a delicious piece of halibut. But this is a steakhouse after all, and Oak will be judged by the beef dishes. They specialize in Certified Angus Beef-certified USDA Prime steaks, a designation that ensures they are using only the top 1 percent of all beef that is graded. Wet-aged steaks are aged at least 30 days and are available with all sorts of add-ons like sauces, compound butters, lobster tails etc. I tried a side-by-side comparison between a wet-aged New York strip and the identical cut dry-aged for 45-60 days, and I have to say that there was no comparison. The Classic Steaks (wet-aged) are really good, and I wouldn’t feel bad adding a Hollandaise or converting it to an Oscar version of a steak. However, I wouldn’t do anything to mask the amazingly beefy, slightly funky flavor of the Signature Steak (dry-aged) that I sampled. Sourced from a New York butcher named Debragga, this piece of meat may have been the best steak I have eaten in the last 10 years.
Normally, I prefer to cook my own steaks at home, because I’m pretty good at it, and it saves a ton of money to buy a good cut of beef and grill it or pan-sear it. But there’s no way I could come up with a steak to challenge this particular strip. Offered at market price, this 12-ounce strip could run into the $75-$80 range, depending on the prevailing rate, but I contend it’s worth it for a special experience. Don’t fill up on salad, but you can plan to take some steak home, which is also fine.
Sides for the table were pretty rich, ranging from the ubiquitous Street Corn made at least a little more interesting by the addition of togarashi, bonito flakes and cashews, to the Three-Cheese Mac n’ Cheese. Chef Zizka snuck in some more fun flavors in his Charred Shishito dish, sprinkled with Goat Cheese Feta from Noble Springs.
Do we already have enough high-end steakhouses in town? One could make that argument. But are we a better restaurant town because of the addition of the Oak Steakhouse Nashville? I would argue that the answer is yes. Of course, this is only after one visit. I’m looking forward to hearing the opinions of others who have tried it out, so please feel free to share in the comments below.
