If you belong to that all-but-extinct breed of Paleolithic diner who turns to a landline rather than going online for information about your next culinary adventure, take this word of warning: If you have to call directory assistance in search of Nashville's latest eateries, speak slowly. And enunciate. Because when you dial* 411 and tell the operator** you're looking for Ninki, Bombasha or Taziki's, she's going to ask you to repeat, spell and repeat again until you're ready to surrender to Google, Yelp or some other 21st century information channel.
(*You see, children, we used to employ a rotary device known as a "dial" to make a telephone call. **By dialing 411, we would be connected to an invariably nasal-sounding employee of the telecommunications monopoly, who could help us find stuff. Remember AskJeeves.com? It was like that, if only Jeeves had been a real guy.)
It's amazing to think that such analog communication was the norm not so long ago. Also not so long ago, Nashville's dining landscape was a far cry from the global and eclectic smorgasbord that it is now. Just this spring, new Mediterranean and Japanese eateries are coming online, and a carnivorous group of entrepreneurs is taking a stab at Brazilian-style churrasco. So update your dining vocabulary with these three words, which collectively help to define the ever-expanding local menu:
Ninki
Ninki, the Japanese character denoting "popular" or "famous," is scrawled in dramatic oversized calligraphy behind the sushi bar, where silver-skinned fish the size of boogie boards compete for attention with a bubbling aquarium of live lobsters. Owner Ken Kang effected an impressive transformation of the Belle Meade Plaza storefront that formerly housed the Gallery of Belle Meade. The Harding Pike store is Kang's third restaurant, after Sakura Blue in Louisville and a smaller 5-year-old Ninki Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi in Owensboro, Ky.
On the wall of the entrance hall, by the hostess stand, the printed résumés of three sushi chefs set high culinary expectations. Inside, six hibachi tables and two private rooms (along with a sushi bar and regular dining tables) provide various ambiances for the many different aspects of the sprawling menu. A sushi roster includes creative rolls blending cooked and uncooked elements, as well as straightforward cuts of raw bluefin tuna for the sushi purist. Cooked items include duck breast with mushrooms and scallions ($18), chicken teriyaki ($14) and thick strips of sesame-encrusted fried calamari ($6), not to mention the tableside spectacle of the hibachi menu. A child-friendly eat-ertainment event with plenty to please the parents, Ninki stands a strong chance of living up to its name. 4530 Harding Pike, 386-0072
Bombasha
It's been a few years since the South American sensation of all-you-can-eat grilled meats and salad fizzled out in Green Hills. But just because the exorbitant and extensive buffets of Fire of Brazil's bygone Nashville outpost didn't sizzle here, that doesn't mean there's not a local appetite for churrasco, aka Brazilian-style barbecue. Banking on an untapped appetite for bottomless skewers of beef, chicken and pork, the mercurial Hillsboro Village address that formerly housed Faison's, The Trace, T's Tuscan Bar & Grill, and Veranda has reinvented itself as Bombasha Brazilian Steakhouse. The name comes from the baggy pants worn by South American gauchos, the cowboys of the pampas, who, incidentally, lent their name to the baggy pants worn by American women in the 1970s.
Throughout the cozy dining rooms swathed in white tablecloths, servers known as passadores circulate with large skewers of flesh fresh from the fire. If you're ready for another hunk of meat, turn your double-sided coaster to the green side. Need a minute to work through the meat, rice, beans and yuca that are piling up on your plate, or the caipirinha or sangria that's chilling in your glass? Flip the coaster to red. Make a night of it, with prix-fixe unlimited meat, sides and salad for $32.90. 2000 Belcourt Ave., 463-0021
Taziki's
Chef Deb Paquette's beloved Zola may have vanished like a desert mirage, but a palette of Mediterranean flavors promises to fill the West End Avenue dining room once again when Alabama-based Taziki's Mediterranean Café arrives in Middle Tennessee. The 12-year-old chain of casual Greek-inspired restaurants will debut locally in Cool Springs, with an opening planned for later this month at 4091 Mallory Lane. Later this summer, the nameplate will bring its roster of Greek salads and Mediterranean deli sandwiches — all priced under $10 — to the Vanderbilt area. (Admit it: How many of you already have been seduced by the neon sign on West End, only to be disappointed by the building permit still affixed to the window?) When Taziki's finally opens its doors in the corporate-chain micro-neighborhood of Chipotle, Panera and Which Wich, expect a repertoire that includes hummus; grilled shrimp, chicken, lamb and tilapia; gyros loaded with smoked turkey, pesto chicken and Greek salad; and of course, the zesty yogurt sauce that gives the restaurant its zippy name. 3001 West End Ave.
Email arts@nashvillescene.com.
