Last month, the City Winery team announced they had hired experienced Nashville chef Garrett Pittler as their new top toque, replacing Kristin Beringson, who has moved into the kitchen at Silo. Chef Pittler's name might sound familiar to Scene readers, as our own Nicki Pendleton Wood was quite taken by his work back when he opened his own French bistro at Chelsea Bistro. While that restaurant proved to literally be a little bit too far out (in Whites Creek) to attract a sustainable dining crowd from Nashville, the general consensus was that Pittler had nothing to be ashamed of from his efforts to make it work.
So it's exciting that he has moved from his next gig as chef tournant at the Omni Hotel to helming the kitchen at City Winery. Pittler's first new menu at the restaurant/entertainment venue features a few old favorites like the Arancini (fried rice balls containing prosciutto and fontina in an arrabbiata sauce) and a bone marrow dish (because it's apparently now the law to have that on a Nashville menu) plus some nice bistro-style dishes like mussels served with fennel, chardonnay broth and grilled bread and coq au vin with mashed potatoes and wine jus.
There are also several flatbread options and a couple of steaks for heartier appetites. From the shorter event menu, concertgoers can snack on a selection of small plates such as a giardiniera plate and marinated olives or larger plates of charcuterie, flatbreads or salads. Because now that some of us have reached a more ... ahem ... mature age but still want to catch a show every now and then, it's nice to have something healthier than Station Inn popcorn to nosh on. But there's also a pretty respectable burger on the show menu if you need some late-night sustenance.
Of course you'd expect an extensive menu of wine options at City Winery, and the new menu certainly delivers that. In addition to eight wines on tap, there are also plenty of interesting and affordable wines available by the glass or by the bottle, plus a tight list of craft beers.
It will be interesting to see how the cuisine at City Winery evolves with Chef Pittler at the helm, Â because it is a difficult gig to run a cocktail bar program, a full dining room for lunch, brunch and dinner, plus an entertainment venue where a couple hundred folks might all arrive hungry at the same time a half-hour before the opening act hits the stage. Here's wishing the new chef the best of luck!
