Today's Takeout Pick: Rolf and Daughters

Much of the restaurant industry has had to rapidly change its business model due to COVID-19, and we’re highlighting the Nashville places that are attempting to stay open. Each day we will give you a critic’s pick for a restaurant and a dish, as well as a running list of restaurants still open that you can support. Today, a takeout-pick that is also a new restaurant: Rolf and Daughters.

Umami ice cream is a game-changer for us non-dessert people. Olive oil, stout beer, cream cheese, pistachio — throw any of that into ice cream and I’ll gladly replace the extra serving of pasta I was going to eat. So I knew it was on when I saw sourdough ice cream on the menu at Rolf and Daughters. In a word: Damn. This stuff is all the savory-adjacent things I need an ice cream to be: buttery, yeasty, tangy and just a touch salty. I haven’t had ice cream this good since the aforementioned olive oil at Salt & Straw in Portland, which may or may not have been augmented by the (totally-legal-there!) gummies everyone in Tennessee could use a fistful of right now. And to think all you chumps have been using homemade sourdough for sandwiches!

But let’s be honest: I didn’t swap ice cream for pasta; I added it. Only an amateur orders Rolf without pasta. The ditalini (tiny tubes) is a rich, simple alfredo set off by funky mushrooms and salty pecorino. The garganelli (penne-ish with ridges) al forno (baked in an oven) was delightfully low-brow with barbecue chicken, celery and a tomato-cream sauce. If there were such a thing as a Michelin-starred Chili’s, this pasta would fit right in.

In addition to carbs, there are a few other perpetual slam-dunks at Rolf: the roasted chicken, the wine (Sunday we scored a crisp $24 La Moriniere Muscadet, delivered to our door), and the weirdest vegetable on the menu. We argued about whether or not the broccoli toast hit the weird threshold (pickled kumquats, mimolette cheese), but we ultimately settled on the agretti because WTF is that? Even the Wikipedia definition is apeshit, so I’ll paraphrase: Known as both “salsola soda” and “opposite-leaved saltwort,” agretti is a small succulent shrub that’s native to the Mediterranean. It has a bunch of historical significance because it was used to make soda ash, which is apparently clutch in glass- and soap-making. See? Weird.

Taste-wise, the closest thing I can liken agretti to is sea beans with a splash of fiddlehead fern, and I hate that because it makes me sound pretentious as hell. (Had I not already name-checked Chili’s, I might care.) Whatever your point of reference, just know that it is good — briny, juicy and perfectly complemented by the other salty (anchovy, capers), sweet (golden raisins) and crunchy (breadcrumbs) stuff it’s served with. Plus, they’re making oppositeleaf Russian thistle (yet another agretti alias) happen via Postmates, and that is one for the ages.

Online ordering and delivery is available Monday and Wednesday-Friday from 4-9 p.m., and Saturday-Sunday from noon to 9 p.m.

Below is a list of Nashville restaurants (with links) remaining open for takeout and delivery during the COVID-19 shutdown. While some may have had existing relationships with delivery providers, most of this list are offering the service for the first time. Most offer curbside pickup, but check when you order. As this list is a moving target, please leave any changes, suggestions or omissions in the comments.

Ashley Brantley

Places with takeout or delivery as of Wednesday, May 20

Ashley Brantley

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