"Hot" cheese at Pelican & Pig
After more than three years of operating their popular East Nashville open-fire kitchen, Pelican & Pig, Nick and Audra Guidry are looking closer to home for their next two ventures. The couple lives in Lebanon and recently announced that they will be bringing a new casual restaurant and a coffeehouse and bakery to their town.
The first venture to open will be Slow Hand Bake House on 111 South Greenwood St., slated to begin operations later this year. Sometime in early 2023, Nick will open Juniper, described as a “fine-casual” restaurant about a half mile from the bakery at 124 N. College St.
The couple will bring their multiple talents to the forefront with these two new operations, with Audra reprising some of the beloved baked goods from her East Nashville Slow Hand Coffee + Bake Shop plus cakes (both whole and by the slice), breakfast burritos, biscuit sandwiches, croissants and coffee from Counterculture Coffee.
In the official announcement of Slow Hand Lebanon, it’s obvious how excited Audra is:
I am inspired by American comfort in my baking style but am driven by technique through my classical pastry training. So, expect things I have become known for such as my take on snack cakes like Swiss rolls and oatmeal cream pies, as well as all the cookies and cakes people know. ... We are focused on being a community space in a modern aesthetic and hope to become a community staple by also offering special-order cakes. In addition, we plan to grow into a limited fresh-baked bread menu and baking classes, including cake decorating, biscuit making, and techniques to improve your home-baking skills.
Nick is the master of wood-fired cooking, and he’ll have a wood and coal grill and wood oven in his arsenal at Juniper. You can expect him to utilize these tools for a selection of grilled meats, house-made pastas and pizzas. The restaurant will also feature cocktails and a wine list.
“Juniper will be a fine-casual dining experience we have all been wanting in Lebanon,” shares Nick. “While the menu is still being further developed, guests can navigate through starters like wild boar meatballs, dirty rice arancini, wood-oven-roasted bone marrow, to vegetables like okra and whole-cauliflower roasted in our wood-fired oven. Entrees will range from a few curated pizzas to steakhouse-style cuts of meat grilled over coals, as well as composed dishes and house-made pasta like crawfish ravioli, mushroom agnolotti, and others we are keeping close to our chests until opening.”
Slow Hand is moving into the former home of another cafe, so it’s pretty close to a turnkey operation, allowing it to open earlier than Juniper, which is currently under construction. For more details as opening approaches follow the new ventures on Instagram at @slowhandbakehouse and @juniper_tn. Pelican & Pig will also be featured on the Nashville episode of Netflix’s Somebody Feed Phil debuting Oct. 18.
