Carlos Davis and B.J. Lofback of Riff's
Sitting in a booth at the new Riffs restaurant in Donelson at lunchtime, co-owner B.J. Lofback is a little peeved. After he had a no-show, no-call by his morning line cook, he spent the early hours cranking out breakfast at his new place instead of preparing some of the things he wanted to show for lunch.
It didn't matter. Even if some of the dishes Bites tried were a work in progress, they still displayed the hallmark Riffs twist on favorite dishes.
Lofback soft-opened the place a few weeks ago. A block off Donelson Pike, Riffs is located in the newly renovated Four Points Sheraton. If it seems like he keeps going east while the rest of the city's dining scene is moving west — Riffs Cafe, which opened last year, is in an office park off Briley Parkway at I-40 — it's a smart gamble. Not only is there a built-in clientele because of the hotel's business-traveler base, there's precious little in the way of fine dining as you approach the eastern border of the county. The hotel's owners specifically sought out Riffs to run the hotel's food.
Between Lofback and his business partner, Carlos Davis, there are now three Riffs entities — and they're all changing a bit:
— Riffs Fine Street Foods, the food truck which has gained a strong following around Nashville, will now focus on the Korean-influenced foods that people have loved most, including Korean fried chicken (the best version of anything called KFC) and Korean barbecue tacos. Drew Whitney, the tall, red-bearded presence who's been ubiquitous in the truck and cafe, will be in charge of it.
— Riffs Cafe, located in the Highland Ridge office complex off Elm Hill Pike, will continue to serve breakfast and lunch daily, but will focus its menu more on a meat-and-three approach. They'll still keep the burger on the menu. Lofback said that the feedback that they got from the 2,000 or so office workers who make up the majority of the customers favored that approach. They'll still keep a burger on the menu, and Davis will run Riffs sizable catering operation out of the huge kitchen.
— Riffs Restaurant, located at 800 Royal Parkway, will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and breakfast on Sunday. And when you dig into the dinner menu, you start to see the creativity displayed over the last couple of years on the truck and in the cafe: a wheatberry salad with cranberries, pecans and arugula; seared duck breast with date bread pudding; pan-roasted catfish over field peas, tomato preserves and a biscuit; short ribs with a Dr. Pepper braise and brussels sprouts.
The catfish was so good it overcame our almost complete avoidance of all things catfish.
On the lunch menu are a variety of sandwiches — some of which moved over from the Cafe — including a "Jive Turkey" that includes blackberry mustard and pickled red onion that is more than worth the roughly 10-minute drive from downtown to the Donelson Pike area. There's also a full-service bar stocked with local craft beers.
Lofback is walking a fine line. Business travelers expect a certain amount of Southern food on the menu. Locals expect something different from the mostly predictable options in the area. With this dinner menu, which he expects to change as the mood and season hit him, he may have found a balance.
And Donelson may have found a destination spot for dining.
