At another point in time, you might have walked right past 1102 Forrest Ave. and never given a single thought to what was inside the Victorian-style house. It could be a clone of a half-dozen other structures in the part of East Nashville’s Five Points neighborhood that overlaps with Lockeland Springs.
Rosemary owners Drew Mischke (left) and Jim O'Shea
Wander east and you’re into the heart of Lockeland Springs. Wander west a half-block and you’re at The 5 Spot or one of several other places to eat and drink. The telling sign that Rosemary isn’t a residence is the guy checking IDs on the front porch. But without any signage, you might just stroll on by it — I did.
Beyond that front door, though, might be the most comfortable bar I’ve visited in a long time.
Started by Drew Mischke and Jim O’Shea, a pair of music scene veterans, and backed by a bushel of small investors, Rosemary feels perfectly well-worn despite having been open less than six months.
“We wanted it to feel like a house party,” says Mischke. They’ve succeeded. There are some comfortable places to flop down, and a short bar window into a front parlor that would be quite easy to spend an evening at. A recent iteration of the Rosemary cocktail menu is just six drinks long: one gin, one vodka, one rum, two bourbon and a paloma (ingredients: “It’s a paloma”). No huge preparations, no microgreens, no suspenders-wearing hipsters quietly judging you for wanting a simple drink. And they’re all $10.
The 3 & 9 cocktail is a perfect example of what the team is trying to do. Bourbon is mixed with amaretto, fresh lemon and orange, and the result is a dangerously drinkable concoction, with the bourbon fading into the background and leaving an almost punch-like taste. I cut myself off at two. Otherwise, I might have been there until close.
There are good local beer options and a decent wine list, which complement a solid little menu if you need a bite. Five different bao buns (pork belly, Philly, veggie, Italian beef and fried PB&J) are convenient bar food, but if you need to lay down a base for the evening, there are three different soba noodle options that will serve you well, including a pork belly version. There are also tater tots and fried rice balls, if you need just a snack. The food comes courtesy of Death From a Bun, the food-truck-turned-Rosemary-in-house-caterer, run by local comedian and cook Chuck Anderson.
Mischke is a disco lover, so you’re bound to find something ’70s coursing through the speakers housed in the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves — and we’re not talking “Intro to Disco” artists like the Bee Gees or ABBA.
I sank into the leather couch one evening and got this set of deep cuts: Johnnie Taylor’s “Disco Lady,” Wild Cherry’s “The Lady Wants Your Money,” and then a triple shot from the German act Silver Convention — “Fly Robin Fly,” “Get Up and Boogie (That’s Right)” and “No No Joe.” The effect the music creates is an easy sway throughout the bar. I spotted more than one millennial reaching for their phone to Shazam the songs, so Mischke might even be doing a little disco evangelism here.
Inside, the bar is all stained glass, Victorian decor and furniture, and warm, low chandelier light. The back patio is mostly full on this early fall evening, and the music has the same effect on folks scattered around tables. There’s also supposed to be a beer garden and outdoor area back here, called Beauty Queen, with a kitchen inside that would allow a bigger menu, but it’s not open. While the house (Rosemary) has been fully renovated, the garage/outbuilding (Beauty Queen) remains padlocked. And that’s where things turn a little sour for Mischke and O’Shea.
Because the property falls within a historic overlay, there are certain design guidelines that any renovations must follow. Mischke and O’Shea submitted plans to Metro for approval in June 2016, receiving approval from the Metro Historic Zoning Commission staff in August, and then they began construction. But in November, the MHZC issued a verbal stop-work order on the Beauty Queen portion of the property, saying that Mischke and O’Shea didn’t have a valid permit. The reason? Apparently whoever approved the plans did so without actually looking at them, or somehow looked at them but missed the changes that were proposed.
Some neighbors have been unhappy with the plans for Beauty Queen. Despite the fact that the property sits in a commercial zone, it’s also within a residential neighborhood. Several area residents I attempted to contact didn’t want to speak on the record.
One told me that they “just want them to follow the design guidelines everyone else has to follow,” and on that point, it’s easy to see the point of view of both sides: Mischke and O’Shea, who actually followed the permit review process and still saw work on Beauty Queen halted; and neighbors who don’t want the character of the area they chose to live in to change. It’s also easy to see a “follow the process” argument as a substitute for “I don’t want this.”
Now the bar has gone to court, suing the commission for denying its appeal. There have been design changes already to Beauty Queen, and Mischke is optimistic that it will open in 2018. In the interim, Scene readers voted Rosemary the Best New Bar in our recent Best of Nashville issue, and it’s easy to see why — good cocktails are easier to find in Nashville these days, but it’s rare to find a new place that feels like it’s already worn in. This place has skipped the boom-bust cycle of an opening and gone straight into “treasured hangout” mode.
