I grew up Jewish in Idaho, so when Instagram suggested I follow an account named Jewish Cowboy Nashville, I said, “Your algorithm is spot-on.” Then, when I learned the initiative behind the account is a local pop-up of food that's a combination of Middle Eastern and Tex-Mex flavors, I quickly entered the date of the first one in my calendar. Those are my two favorite food groups together in one place.
This Jewish Cowboy’s name is Wes Scoggins. He’s been cooking at Rosemary and Beauty Queen, the East Nashville bar with a small kitchen and a history of food trucks and pop-ups thanks to protracted zoning issues. RBQ has a loyal following for its vegan dishes, including a vegan queso Scoggins developed. “It is gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free," he says. "That recipe took a lot of trial and error."
Scoggins originally moved to Nashville in 2014 thanks to a gig with the kids' show VeggieTales. Like many Nashvillians, he’s a multihyphenate, having attended film school and worked in animation and music, and on the HGTV show Flip or Flop Nashville. He was also “a passionate home cook,” who learned technique from his older brother, who is a professional chef.
He loves cooking at RBQ and loves its loyal diners, but he also wanted to expand the restaurant’s offerings. Scoggins grew up in San Antonio where one of the frequent conversations was, “Which tradition makes the best brisket, Jewish or Texan?”
“I loved growing up in a house that valued cooking as a skill,” he says.
After seeing a friend’s pop-up dinner, he realized that he didn’t need to cajole the RBQ owners into adding different items to the regular menu. Instead, he started focusing on a plan to offer a regular pop-up. And, thus, Jewish Cowboy was born. The menu isn’t all plant-based food, as is the regular RBQ menu, but it does use some of the same ingredients, like the aforementioned queso.
The next Jewish Cowboy pop-up is this Thursday, Jan. 14. Scoggins plans to offer pop-ups every other week, with some flexibility for weather (and hopefully not natural disasters or telecommunications outages, but, well, you know). The menu will change each time, but will always feature that Middle Eastern/Tex-Mex crossover.
“The foods bridge all the aspects of my cultural identity,” Scoggins says. Some dishes will be vegan and there’s an effort to make them “as kosher as possible.” Right now, that means no mixing meat and dairy (hence the use of the vegan queso) and no pork or shellfish. Scoggins dreams of eventually getting the small RBQ kitchen kosher-certified.
I ordered almost everything on the menu in December (hey, it was for research!). I loved the sides, in particular, as well as the black-eyed pea falafel (I am a falafel fan, as I mentioned last week). I was skeptical about a cornbread latke, but somehow it wasn’t dry, which is what I imagined, and disappeared before I could share with others. (Scoggins has posted about the possibility of a barbeque chicken latke in the future, and I’ll be there for that.) Both the Cowboy Caviar (black-eye peas with vegetables) and the batata harra (spicy potatoes) were solid versions of staples I make in my own kitchen.
My least favorite dish was kugel, made with the plant-based queso and billed as a mac and cheese variant. I don’t love the texture of traditional kugels, and this adaptation didn’t change my mind, but not everything is for everybody.
The first pop-up (held on a December Tuesday) brought in double the restaurant’s regular Tuesday food sales, and if Scoggins continues to deliver on what I tasted in December, I’m certain that will continue. In a city full of creative chefs and people pivoting, it’s impressive to offer something unique, delicious and affordable.
The theme for January is “comfort food and warmth.” The menu includes a Maghrebi chili ($14) with lamb from Porter Road Butcher, a shakshuka with hush puppy-style corn dumplings ($11), and matzoh ball duck soup ($12). Each entree comes with two sides. The portions were big in December; I had food for days.
The next Jewish Cowboy Nashville pop-up runs this Thursday, Jan. 14, from 4 p.m.-10 p.m. Find the menu on Scoggins' Instagram and call 615-730-7700 to order ahead for curbside pickup, or show up at RBQ at 1102 Forrest Ave. I took my food to-go, but there’s both indoor and outdoor seating if you prefer to eat on-site. RBQ is taking temperatures at the door, enforcing masks and social distancing, and using QR codes for contactless menus.
