If you’re like me, you’re almost always down for some new Asian food in Nashville, and there are a couple of great developments coming up on that front. The first is the long-awaited opening of the new Otaku Ramen location on Douglas Avenue in East Nashville, and the second is a pair of announcements from chef Arnold Myint of International Market. Get ready to slurp down the details!
Sarah Gavigan and the team at Otaku are like sharks. They have to keep moving or they’ll die. In addition to starting up a retail ramen business with her husband Brad and their noodle manufacturing master Tillman Gressitt, Sarah has been hard at work overseeing the expansion of the Otaku empire with an upcoming location in Franklin next year and the construction of a sleek new flagship location in East Nashville's Highland Yards complex at 747 Douglas Ave.
Gavigan, her husband Brad and their partner Tillman Gressitt are bringing noodles to the people with Super Happy Noodle
The wait is over for Easties seeking to get their hands on a piping bowl of Gavigan’s ramen again, because after a soft opening today, Otaku Ramen East will officially open its doors tomorrow, Aug. 12, at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner. Gavigan describes the restaurant’s service model as “enhanced counter service” and promises that the new location will live up to the company credo of “Fun Fast Loud Hospitality.”
In addition to the beloved Otaku menu of bowls, snacks and boba, the offerings at Otaku East will include beer, sake, batched cocktails and frozen drinks, including one icy offering that was unfamiliar to me, frozen beer. Frozen beer is a popular accompaniment to ramen in Japan, and the frozen beer machine at Otaku is the first of its kind in Middle Tennessee. The beverage is supposedly much, much better than that Busch Light can you found in the back of your freezer when you stuck it in there last fall “just to cool it off a little bit.”Â
In another excellent development, the new Otaku location will feature a dedicated walk-up window for to-go pickup and delivery along with walkaway boba tea orders. The modern new building offers a conditioned patio area for year-round semi-al-fresco dining or just to take advantage of happy hour specials from 4 until 6 p.m.
Gavigan is excited to be back in the neighborhood where her ramen experience started out. “I am thrilled to be back in our home neighborhood of East Nashville, as it’s where the brand was born and began," she says. "This location brings us one step closer to our mission of serving happiness one bowl at a time, and look forward to serving our community.”
Welcome home, chef!
In more great news comes the announcement that Arnold Myint will be taking his unique brand of Thai cuisine to the home of some longtime fans of International Market. James Green grew up enjoying the delightful dishes off the steam table at IM, and when the original market closed, he and his wife Louisa actually bought some of the iconic orange booths to use at their West Nashville cocktail bar and grill, Otto's.
It will all come full circle when Myint visits Otto’s at 4210 Charlotte Pike for a “Kitchen Takeover” on Sunday, Aug. 20, from 4 to 8 p.m. He’ll be serving creative dishes like a Northern Thai sausage hot dog with tamarind mustard and tomato chutney, and shrimp ceviche “chae man pla” — dressed in a Thai chili, garlic, fish sauce and lime. Additionally, IM plans to serve Sunday bar bites at Otto's starting in mid-September through the fall. Â
To keep up with the schedule and the menus, follow both businesses on the socials at Otto’s Instagram and International Market’s.
In addition to running his own restaurant and popping up with friends, Myint has been busy expanding his own online and media reach, including working on a new cookbook and a recent partnership with Epicurious, who has recently published Arnold’s take on Thai salads — including three recipes for glass noodle salad, fried egg salad and som thum-style green beans that you can make at home.
He has also teamed up with S. Pellegrino to plan an upcoming Khan Thoke Supper Club serial inspired by the family-style dining experience of Northern Thailand. Featuring dishes that aren’t normally on the International Market menu (or even on most Thai restaurant menus), the multicourse chef’s tasting will include delights like Khao Kluk Kapi (shrimp-paste rice with caramelized pork, dried shrimp and green mango), Hanglay (a Northern Thai/Burmese tamarind and pickled-onion-braised meat stew) and house-cured smoked trout laab, which you might know better as “larb.”
The series will be hosted seasonally, with the first edition coming on Sunday, Sept. 10, and the second on Sunday, Dec. 17. Two more dates are planned for 2024, but don’t wait that long! Make your reservations for the first dinner at International Market’s website, and prepare to be wowed from 5 until 9 p.m. at the market at 2013 Belmont Blvd.Â
