Twenty years ago, downtown Nashville was very different. It was just the beginning of a revitalization process, one of the few that actually took hold (though it moved slowly for the first 10 years). Second Avenue was populated with a number of vacant industrial buildings that are now home to popular restaurants and night spots.
Among those pioneers of the mid-1990s were Mark and Carla Rosenthal, local franchisees of The Melting Pot, who opened their restaurant in the Rhea Building in early 1995. Built in 1887 by Bird S. Rhea as a feed and seed company, the building was later home to to a hardware company, Robert Orr & Company (now just Sysco Nashville, the foodservice provider), and then a woodenware company (source: A Guide to Historic Nashville, Tennessee by James Hoobler), The beautiful building sat abandoned for quite some before the Rosenthals chose it for their location of their restaurant.
In preparation for the upcoming 20th anniversary of the restaurant, it is set to undergo extensive renovations and will close after dinner service this Sunday, Oct. 26, and reopen on Nov. 7. This will be the third renovation in the restaurant's history, one that the owners (with managing partner Demetrius Kelley) promise will ensure that the restaurant continues to be one of the city's most romantic restaurants (as voted in numerous polls of local restaurant-goers, including the Scene's Best of Nashville Readers' Poll). When the restaurant reopens, it will also have the new fall menu available, which includes a lobster cheese fondue and a pumpkin pie white chocolate fondue dessert.
As for the staff at the restaurant, some will be assisting with in renovation and others will be raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital selling $10 Donate and Dine cards that offer guests $20 off a future purchase of $50 or more at The Melting Pot. All proceeds from the sale of the $10 cards go to St. Jude. Cards are also available directly from the restaurant (call 615-742-4970) and will be mailed at no charge.
The Melting Pot
166 Second Ave. N.
(615) 742-4970
