Over the past couple of years, the Nashville Farmers' Market has really done a great job raising the bar for the eating establishments inside the Market House. In their latest vision, they expressed the desire for a good wood-fired pizzeria to fill the spot next to Louisiana Seafood Co. Their commitment to that sort of build-out and the realization that installing a wood oven and hood system would not be cheap is very commendable. (Now if we can just get them to put some $$ into upgrading the restrooms. ...)
Dave Cuomo and Emma Berkey jumped at the chance to open a small restaurant in the space, and started to work on creating Bella Nashville. You might recognize those names from their accordion/guitar combo Chicken Little which they describe as a “half-pint-folk-punk band.” You can check out some of their music and videos here on Reverb Nation.
Fitting right in with the market's commitment to sustainable practices, they built out the space with old barn wood and built a granite counter out of recovered sample tile for diners at enjoy their personal-size pizzas.
Cuomo is the head pizzaiolo at Bella Nashville and makes each pie to order before running it quickly through the infernal oven made from organic Terre Blanche white clay, which was imported from France. His experience cooking at Patterson House prepared him well for this venture, as his speed at making and dressing the individual pizzas kept up with a clamoring crowd the day I went to visit during their first week of operation. The fact that the pies only need to spend scant minutes in the intense 900-degree heat of the oven doesn't hurt efficiency either.
