Melvil Arnt at The Authentique
It started out modestly.
Melvil Arnt wanted his parents to immigrate to Nashville from their native France so they could spend time with their two young grandsons. So the three of them opened a no-reservations bistro with a focused menu and limited hours. Once Upon a Time in France opened in December 2019, and even with the dining restrictions from the pandemic, the restaurant has been a success. On a recent Saturday afternoon, a line of more than 30 people snaked along Gallatin Avenue, waiting for doors to open at 4:30 p.m.
As Once Upon a Time in France’s following has grown, so has Arnt’s vision — and it’s no longer quite so modest. In fact, he sometimes refers to his enterprises as “Arnt Empire.” The idea is the same, in some ways: to offer Nashville — and specifically East Nashville — businesses it doesn’t have, such as an authentic French bistro where you can get a kir royale and steak frites and sit elbow to elbow with your neighbors. But more than that, Arnt wants to provide a legacy for his sons — a business they can inherit, and a way to fulfill the American Dream. (His Instagram handle says it all: @MelsAmericanDream.)
“I did not grow up with money,” Arnt says. “That is a lot of what motivated me. We had an apartment that was not as big as this space with my mom, my sister and me living in it.” He gestures to his living room, which features large Old World furniture, a fireplace and Odessa, his curious husky, who’s standing on a couch arm. “I dream of something that will last for five or 10 generations. I want to be the starting point of all that.”
To make it happen, Arnt appears to rarely rest. The 31-year-old shares custody of his sons with their mother. He does construction and conceptualizes decor for his businesses himself, sourcing period pieces on the internet, writing menus and tasting wines.
“My first job was in construction,” he says. “I learned a lot. I learned a love for hard effort, for seeing the results. When you do construction, the result is in front of your eyes. You lay a piece of wallpaper, and boom, wow. It’s real. It’s not like working on a computer. I take pride in doing things myself.”
Arnt loves architecture and interior design and talks about opening a Western-themed bar in part because he loves those iconic swinging half doors. Currently he runs two businesses — Once Upon a Time in France, which he owns and operates with his father Laurent Champonnois and his mother Valérie Le Rhun, and The Authentique, the small wine bar across the street. Even so, he’s launching two new businesses, and renovating a home that includes acreage for an ambitious vineyard project. (Champonnois has the background as a chef; Arnt is the wine guy.)
Arnt opened The Authentique as a solo project in 2021. The decor is early-1900s Art Nouveau, the kind of aesthetic you’ve seen on some Paris Métro stops if you’ve been lucky enough to wander the streets of Montmartre.
“It started because I was thinking about where I should go get a glass of wine,” he says. “There are many so-called wine bars, but they were serving a mediocre glass. I would go and it was almost $40 for two glasses of wine. I want to democratize wine like we do in France. I want to make it affordable.”
The Authentique does have a few bites on the menu — charcuterie, cheese and macarons — because that’s necessary for a wine license. But the focus is the wine itself, and as a bonus to Once Upon a Time in France fans, you can come in, put your name on the list for a table at OUATIF, and then wait while sipping a glass or two rather than standing in the aforementioned line.
“Every American city needs an Authentique,” he says. Cincinnati is one city he’s eyeing for expansion.
But closer to home, this month Arnt’s long-awaited Overlord opened just a few blocks away from his other establishments. The European cocktail bar (there’s no Tito’s in stock) has a bohemian 1940s aesthetic while paying homage to soldiers who fought in World War II — the name is inspired by Operation Overlord, the Battle of Normandy. Customers are encouraged to bring photographs of family members who served in World War II, which Arnt intends to hang on the wall. Overlord features a VIP room available to be booked for private events, plus a billiards table and several different seating configurations, in addition to a long bar with stools. There’s a small bar-food menu. Overlord was supposed to open before The Authentique, but a number of issues — including a busted water pipe and complications with permitting — delayed it almost a year. That was a pricey delay as he continued to pay rent, but Overlord’s first days have been busy, and following the success of the other two spots, Arnt is confident it will work out. In late April, Mel’s Wine and Spirits, a wine shop adjacent to The Authentique, will start selling bottles of his favorite picks.
That’s just scratching the surface of Arnt’s always entrepreneurial mind. There’s another not-quite-ready-for-a-public announcement project being negotiated, too. And then there’s the vineyard. He’s hesitant to talk about it, though he clearly really wants to share. For now, the fields are strictly experimental. He’s been told by experienced winemakers that the Bordeaux blends won’t grow well in Tennessee without an extensive irrigation system.
But Arnt plans to try it without the irrigation. “The vine has to struggle to create a good immune system to survive,” says Arnt. “The vine is like a human. If you always give a lot of compost and a lot of water, if you feed the plant, it’s not going to search for food, it’s going to wait for food.”
If the grapes don’t thrive, then it will have been a fun two- to three-year experiment. If they do, then Arnt plans to build a winery, welcoming visitors on tours to taste the wine people said couldn’t grow here.
Arnt focuses his businesses in East Nashville because he likes the vibe of the neighborhood. He wants to see it become a more walkable destination with higher concentrations of businesses like, well, a neighborhood in Paris. But there are practical reasons, too. With all of his businesses close to each other, it’s easier to run across the street or next door.
“I think East Nashville needs a little more Europe,” he says. “France, yes, but all of Europe. I think Europe is inside a lot of people’s hearts.”
