Chef Debra Paquette shows off her limber tongue (and sense of humor) at a photo shoot this fall when her restaurant was named Best of Nashville
Zola restaurant, one of the most highly respected chef-owned restaurants in Nashville, will soon close after almost 13 years in business.
Zola was chosen as the best restaurant in town in the Scene's 2009 Best of Nashville issue. Debra Paquette, a Culinary Institute of America grad, is Zola's chef, and her husband Ernie Paquette is general manager.
The two have decided to sell their restaurant and take a job jointly managing a Caribbean fishing lodge. They say they've had several job offers and haven't yet decided which island paradise they will select.
The chef came to Nashville from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and her husband grew up on the shores of Cape Cod. She said they've both been longing to get back to the ocean, and with their two sons grown, the time was right to take a plunge.
