Rick Margaritov and Ryan Costanza have been talking about opening a restaurant together for a long time. The friends have a long list of industry credentials, including some Michelin-star winners. They moved to Nashville a few years ago as they launched Pure Land Sake, a Kyoto, Japan-made rice wine.
“Ryan and I have been wanting to do our own concept for over a decade, since the idea first came to us when shaking cocktails for friends on a trip to Bali,” Margaritov says. "Other opportunities kept pulling us in different directions until the time was finally right."
And that time is now, the Scene has learned in an exclusive. Next week Margaritov and Costanza will start accepting reservations for Present Tense, their new Japanese-influenced restaurant and sake bar in the Chestnut Hill/Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood (in the previous location of The Hart).
“We were immediately drawn to the area when looking for the right home for our sake brand, Pure Land, and the neighborhood immediately felt right to us,” Margaritov says. "When everything aligned to have our own restaurant here, we jumped at the opportunity."
Costanza’s menu consists of small plates inspired by his travels and culinary experiences in Japan and Southeast Asia, and his background cooking in French kitchens. Expect dishes such as aged tuna tartare on grilled seaweed sourdough, scallop hand rolls and a corn and crab chawanmushi (a Japanese egg custard) with Dungeness crab confit. The brunch menu will feature classics like the French omelet, but done in the style of Japanese tamagoyaki. Imagine a rolled omelet with fromage blanc covered in trout roe. And what gets more Nashville-meets-Japan than karaage and waffles (yeasted buckwheat waffles and Japanese fried chicken)?
Tucked in the back of the restaurant will be an intimate six-seat sake bar, the first to feature Pure Land Sake. There guests can make reservations for an omakase tasting to experience Costanza’s specialty dishes paired with sake poured by Margaritov. The menu features natural sakes that do not include additives, preservatives and sulfites, pair well with food and are available by glass, carafe and bottle. Sake cocktails will include Living Coral, consisting of a choice of base spirit (including sake or shochu) with lemon, red shiso, lemongrass and bubbles.
There’s also a central bar and a live music platform — on nights when a DJ isn’t spinning, the chefs will select the vinyl. Sliding glass doors open to an outdoor patio surrounded by greenery.
Joining the team as beverage director to create those cocktails is Kenneth Vanhooser, formerly of Nashville’s Le Loup and Eleven Madison Park in New York. Vanhooser likes to combine Western and Eastern approaches to bartending to create cocktails.
When the team was brainstorming names for the restaurant, Present Tense was always one of Costanza’s favorites. “It’s of course about living in the moment, and we want our guests to take it all in when they’re here, to savor the experience and truly enjoy,” he says. “But for me personally, and in a literal sense, this is exactly where I am in my cooking right now, where I am in the present tense.”
As if all of that weren’t enough to do at once, the team will also open Hippo next door. The idea behind Hippo is an upscale convenience store, coffee shop and wine boutique. It will include a coffee bar with drinks made with California’s Sightglass Coffee, including an on-tap espresso martini. The menu will feature grab-and-go meals, soft-serve ice cream and meats from local butchers. A previous bodega sat in Hippo’s location and was a welcome convenience for folks staying upstairs at Placemakr (formerly called BentoLiving), as well as for neighborhood residents. Hippo is near the beloved Pink Door Cookies, so a DIY Pink Door/Hippo soft-serve ice cream sandwich can soon be yours.
Present Tense will offer dinner service Tuesday through Saturday starting at 4 p.m., with happy hour from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, in addition to Saturday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will begin taking reservations next week through Resy. Hippo will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week. The restaurant, bar and bodega will be located at 321 Hart St.
