Chef Willy Thomas has been a foodie favorite since coming to Nashville in 1995 to take the reins of the newly renovated Capitol Grille. From there, he joined Deb Paquette during her stint at the brand-new Bound’ry; when she left to open Zola, he remained to helm of the Bound’ry kitchen until departing to open Park Café in Sylvan Park in 2001 with his wife Yvette. The couple—now the parents of three small children—added another restaurant to their brood with the purchase of Chapel Bistro in East Nashville in mid-June. Nashville’s notoriously slow summer dining season has allowed the couple to focus energies on their new restaurant at the corner of Chapel and Eastland, an address that led them to a new name, Eastland Café. Once the Thomases took possession of the restaurant, they decided to give the 75-year-old building a complete overhaul with new furnishings and a new look, with help from interior designer Kathy Anderson. A freestanding wall will be built between the main dining room and the bar. The room will maintain its unimpeded flow from the front door to the open kitchen in the rear, where chef Hal Holden-Bache is taking up residence. After attending culinary school in West Virginia, Holden-Bache entered the rigorous three-year culinary apprentice program at the highly regarded Greenbrier Resort. During the off-season, he traveled to different cities to experience other kitchens and cuisines—notably the Palace Café in New Orleans and the New York City’s Gramercy Tavern, where he worked under celebrity chef Tom Colicchio. Holden-Bache came to Nashville to visit some friends and ended up interviewing and being hired for the chef’s position at Nick & Rudy’s in 2001. “I really liked Nashville, but after five years at Nick & Rudy’s I decided I wanted to try something else.” He spent a few months at Capitol Grille helping out executive chef Tyler Brown after Sean Brock left for Charleston. He and his wife were thinking of moving when he was intercepted by Willy Thomas, then still in the negotiation stages at Chapel. Intrigued by the opportunity, Holden-Bache accepted the Thomases’ offer to become chef of their new restaurant. He in turn recruited a friend from Greenbrier who went on to attend CIA, then spent some time at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry. Nathan Wells has already forwarded his address from Steamboat Springs to Music City, and the trio of chefs are juggling knives with hammers as they work on Eastland. “I’m really excited about being in my own kitchen again, especially a startup like this, so different than Nick & Rudy’s. An open kitchen will be fun—it keeps you on your toes. Guests enjoy it. They like being able to talk to the chefs and ask questions.” When not on construction duty, the chefs are using the Park Café as something of a test kitchen, sending out specials of dishes they are considering for the Eastland menu, which Holden-Bache says will feature “simple food served in elegant fashion. There will be some international influences, but it won’t be fusion—diners will know what’s on their plate.” He also notes that some of Park’s more popular dishes will likely make their way across the Cumberland. When the restaurant opens in September (if all goes according to schedule), all three chefs will share time in the kitchen. Out to lunch Beginning the week after Labor Day, Radius10 will be open weekdays for lunch. According to GM Brent Howard, it was a no-brainer decision. “People who work in this area of the Gulch would like to be able to eat lunch here too. There’s a considerable number of people who work in these buildings but live in Williamson County. They’re not staying in town for dinner, but would like to try [chef/owner Jason Brumm’s] food, so serving lunch will give them that opportunity.” The lunch menu will offer smaller-sized servings of some dinner items as well as their popular pizzas, and will introduce more entrée salads and sandwiches, including a fried oyster sandwich, a skirt-steak sandwich and a hot dog served with homemade Kobe beef chili and bacon-cheese fries; let’s hope there’s a cardiologist in the house. The talk of the kickoff party the restaurant hosted last week for Artrageous 0019, besides the fundraiser’s cool 007 theme “Shaken Not Stirred, was Radius10’s new tapas menu: seven different small plates for $3 each, eight for $5—except on Thursday nights, when the little bites are reduced to $1 and $3, respectively. The tapas menu, complemented by Spanish wines by the glass, is available only at the bar. In for dinner Seats remain for the Nashville Originals Summer Dining Series—special five-course tasting menus paired with wines. The series will be hosted on consecutive Tuesday nights by four different independent restaurants, beginning with tayst on Aug. 15. Log onto nashvilleoriginals.com for more information and reservations. Gimme a B! Gimme an L! Gimme a T! Whaddya got? The beginning of an entry in the recipe contest of the third annual Tomato Art Fest, taking place this weekend in East Nashville. The competition this year is sponsored by Southern Foodways Alliance, which proposed that all recipes begin with the concept of a BLT. (Catfish BLT’s will be served at the preview party Friday night.) In order to participate in the competition, bring your sandwich and recipe card to the yellow house two doors down from Art & Invention Gallery at 1106 Woodland by 4 p.m. Saturday; judging will start at 4:30. Winners will be announced and all recipes will be published on the SFA website, southernfoodways.com.
