Music City Food + Wine Festival Recap: Meat Eater Edition

There was so much to eat and drink at this past weekend's

downtown, that's there's no way it would all fit into one post. So my colleague Lesley Lassiter and I decided we would divide and conquer with a "he ate/she ate" format. Of course I volunteered to cover the carnivorous aspects, and she'll describe the stegosaurus-food options in a post tomorrow.

This year's Music City Food + Wine fest seemed to run even more smoothly than last year's inaugural edition, which was called Music City Eats, and the crowds showed up early and in large numbers for both days in the tasting tents in Public Square Park in front of the courthouse downtown. Many local restaurants showed off their wares in dishes ranging from small bites to entree-sized portions. Wine, beer and spirits purveyors also occupied many spaces under the tents, and anyone who went home hungry or thirsty just wasn't trying very hard.

The format for Saturday night's Harvest Dinner and live concert was shuffled up a little bit, with both events taking place in Walk of Fame Park behind the downtown Hilton. Although the roster of chefs was even more impressive than last year, with many national and regional chefs offering small dishes of some of their signature creations, the lines moved very quickly, and it was easy to get to all 15 serving tables if you had the constitution to run the gamut. Particular highlights in my opinion were a delightful octopus carpaccio from Alon Shaya of Domenica in New Orleans and a lovely dish of fried okra over a late summer succotash created by chef Ashley Christensen from Poole's Diner in Raleigh, N.C.

Unlike last year where the musical portion of the evening was held in the War Memorial Auditorium (requiring a shlep up the hill from the park), the entire four-hour evening event remained in situ, making for a more relaxed experience. Also different this year was the fact that there was more than just Jameson to drink during the concert, so patrons who preferred wine or different spirits were well-provided for.

The music was again outstanding with a long roster of talent playing songs that were inspired or related to Music City, backed by Nashville's all-star band The Long Players. In addition to hosts Kings of Leon, other special guests included Michael McDonald, Jamey Johnson, Charles Kelley, both Bobby Bares (senior and junior), Moon Taxi, and most of the cast of ABC's Nashville, including the previously announced Clare Bowen and surprise guests Hayden Panettiere and Connie Britton.

Back to the daytime tasting tents component: The most popular attraction was Pat Martin's meat pavilion, where the Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint pitmaster had set up several different cooking stations including Big Green Egg komodo ovens, a Uruguayan-style asado for cooking whole lambs, and various other grills, pits and ovens that were kept constantly stoked with coals to cook whole hogs, chickens, fish and vegetables. Not really an official part of the festival agenda, Martin's house of fire and smoke was visited by many of his chef friends over the weekend who wanted to enjoy the camaraderie of the occasion and throw some meat on the fire.

Notable volunteer pitmasters who helped to feed the masses included Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman from Hog and Hominy in Memphis, Levon Wallace from Proof on Main in Louisville and Nashville's Tandy Wilson from City House and Sal Avila from the imminently opening Prima in the Gulch. A chalkboard at the front of the grilling area shared info about what was on the grills and when they would be coming off so hungry patrons could queue up to take advantage of the chefs' largesse.

Under the tents, many local chefs brought their A games as well. Lockeland Table's Hal Holden-Bache rose above the necessity to use a (gasp) electric grill to cook up some fine steaks, and Tyler Brown from Capitol Grille used some of the Hermitage Hotel's Double H Farms beef to create a perfect bite of horseradish, meat and green tomato jam on a square of cornbread. Chef Brandon Frohne of Mason's served a dish of smoked wagyu shortribs with Brussels sprout slaw and butternut puree that led to long lines all weekend.

Karl Worley of Biscuit Love served 3-year-aged country ham cut from a leg like a fine Spanish Iberico and nestled atop one of his famous beaten biscuits, which he described as "redneck communion wafers." (Karl's biscuit mentor John Egerton would have been proud) Chef Josh Habiger of Pinewood Social offered up a delightful thin slice of tongue on a crisp toast triangle and commented on Facebook that "almost everyone that had my tongue in their mouth today enjoyed it." I don't know if I was tasting it or it was tasting me, but either way it was delightful.

The addition of à la carte ticketing options this year seemed to be quite a popular change to this year's Music City Food and Wine Festival, and I saw lots of different faces from day to day. If the event continues to improve year over year and the chefs return to avail themselves of Nashville's hospitality, there's no reason why this cannot quickly evolve into one of the nation's premier food festivals. Here's hoping that Year 3 is even better.

Bites Nation, if you attended the fest, we want to hear from you. If you did the a la carte ticket option, which events did you pick? What was your favorite dish? Any special praise or gripes about the festival?