Open and shut
The East Nashville restaurant binge continues unabated with the opening last week of Woodland House Cafe, at 14th and Woodland in the former Sasso location. The grand opening celebration Thursday night drew a big crowd, and neighborhood resident and Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell dropped by on Saturday. Hours are 4 p.m.-2 a.m. Mon.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-2 a.m. Fri.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun.
Also open for business, on the other side of town, is the Deer Park Grille, which took over the space formerly occupied by Le Cou Rouge at the curve of Bandywood behind Grace's Plaza. Owned by Nashville native Curt Cole, who was an opening partner in Midtown Cafe in 1988, Deer Park is named after the Belle Meade street where his parents and grandparents lived. The phone number is 383-0042.
Martha's at the Plantation, which was one of the stops on the Food Network's culinary tour through Nashville two weeks ago, is now open for dinner 5-8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. According to Martha Stamps, chef and owner with husband John Reed, the early dinner hours are dictated by a Belle Meade ordinance. Peter Robertson, formerly with the City Club, is dinner chef, though the menu sounds very Martha: New Orleans-style barbecued shrimp in garlic sauce, crispy Vidalia salad, chicken croquettes, crawfish cakes, low-country shrimp and grits, and catfish and Vidalia platter. Beer and wine are available by the glass.
No longer serving is Cafe Lylla, the Green Hills restaurant located next door to Ruby Tuesday. Open for about three years, the independently owned eatery had a small, devoted following, but never quite established a distinct identity.
Martini's opened in 2000 in the former Nashville Bagel location on West End Avenue. It never took hold, and about a year ago was redecorated and reintroduced as Pizazz, a nightclub. Pizazz apparently fizzled; phone calls are answered by a BellSouth recording indicating that the line has been disconnected.
