In moving to Nashville my boyfriend quickly warned me of the ranch dressing phenomena. "This is a ranch dressing town, not a lot of folks eat out a lot." Now, I did not believe this! I was visiting in March 2006 and saw Keith and Nicole walk into
Park Cafe. This town has to eat - there are just too many cool cats running around. So, upon moving to Nashville, I decided to eat my way through it (as many do on vacation, but why limit oneself?)I started this weekend with my friends Amy and Elin. Here is what we found.
Since I love my neighborhood's
Park Cafe tucked in an old Sylvan Park home, we decided to head East to buzzed 'bout newcomer
Eastland Cafe located at 97 Chapel Avenue. No worries, these guys still bake green chili mac-n-cheese. However, they also are firing up some soon-to-be new faves. Their spicy szechuan spinach and red wine mashed potatoes I hope to see as featured side items again. Amy started with their cafe salad topped with a house vinaigrette and goat cheese cake - nice dollops of the white stuff surrounding greens. Secondly, I dug into some ok crab cakes that were not too crabby, not too bready - their black bean and corn salsa accompanied with a well-seasoned remoulade sauce made helped. Elin shared some of her duck special (paired with that yummy spinach). Unfortunately, she found it to be mediocre; however, she loved the side of coconut rice and a glass of recommended Riesling. Amy and I dug into beef tenderloin in a red wine reduction topped with caramelized parsnips. Now I'm ready for fall.
A big thanks to our cheery
Eastland server, Ashley, for her wine recommendation. I don't care if they got a deal on the stuff, it was a bold Primitivo Italian red that I was happy to only pay $40 to drink! Normally, I jot down wine names but I think I was a little too into the stuff to pull out a pen. All of us commented on the open floor plan, large wood bar and brasserie mirrors lining the main dining wall. The happening ambiance missing at
Park Cafe (although I love the quiet small rooms) is in full effect at
Eastland. Sadly, we did not get dessert. Don't worry, we promptly started making up for this the rest of the weekend. PS - Eastland has a kids menu. Though I didn't see any tots it does make me think you could head there with little ones on weekdays. Also, their pizzas looked awesome. I've had that goat cheese brulee before and pouted this time since no one wanted to share it with me.
If you haven't checked out the new buzzed 'bout
Hill Center then you clearly have lived under a rock or large interstate overpass these last few weeks. Please, get over there and expand your shopping horizons. Nashville is now boasting some seriously cool chains including
West Elm, Swoozies, Mitchell Gold Furniture and
Anthropologie. Apart from the national guys we saw
Hemline, an upscale trendy women's boutique, that features such lines as BCBG, Anna Sui, Nicole Miller and Bianca Nero. I won't brag too much about this new shop (except that it's making my NY shopping trips less frequent) since the owner is a friend. However, step in to lather up in Kai beauty products (great gifts) and slink into Cosabella lingere.
Posh opened a larger sister store and a new wine concept store that sells bottles at $20 and under (finally, vino for the masses in a civilized setting) rounds out notables. While
Pei Wei is the only place conveniently to nosh, soon you can head to
Whole Foods (think
Wild Oats taken up a notch).
After roughing up the puppies a little bit we rested our limbs at
Bread and Company (with in walking distance of the Hill Center off Hillsboro) for lighter fare. We loved the salad trio and drink for $10. I adore the angel hair pasta chicken salad (not too mayo laden) with specks of red pepper. For a second time I munched on the Mediterranean salad (artichokes, peppers, olives, tomatoes and feta). Their curried chicken salad is also quite yummy. Ladies, this place is practically dying for you to steal recipes - they print detailed ingredients on each of their salads' place cards! Steer clear from the turkey and artichoke salad (they take mayo from the chicken salad and add here.) Their lemonade is not too sweet not too sour. Folks line up for made-to-order sandwiches and they overflow with meat. Lastly, if you don't occasionally tempt yourself at the dessert bar then you may be an alien. Amy and I tried an espresso chocolate brownie and were not disappointed. Truly, these
Bread and Company desserts look like they're out of a French patisserie. If you're in a hurry pick up a pre-made salad or sandwich in their open fridge near check out. Afterwards we headed to the
Venetian for pedicures (I told you the puppies were barking) and loved the exfoliating and massaging treatment. It's too pricey to indulge each week ($28 for a regular or $35 for the advanced), however, you can't beat the Green Hills convenience factor.
I felt pretty well loved while lounging on my couch watching Tennessee blow out Georgia Saturday afternoon. However, Amy and Elin both needed a little sustenance. So I pulled out some chimay cheese I bought Friday at
Corrieri's Formaggeria off 12th Avenue South (1110 Caruthers Avenue). While chimay is a bit strong and not for the average cheese eater (none of my group liked it but me) they also offer an array of goat, brie and goudas. They let you taste anything and everything so you can't go home with a bad pick. Corrieri's also boasts great Italian meats (think prosciutto, sopresatta and bresaola), fun sodas and top-notch vinegars and oils. They'll put together party trays and heat up paninis for lunch.
Saturday night we headed to a friend's barbeque to watch LSU-FL (I'm a very sad little gator this Monday). Our friends really grilled up some meat. Stephen had stopped by
Todd's Butcher shop off Charlotte Ave. (he also has a Green Hills older location) and grabbed some delicious Italian sausages. I love Todd's marinated free range chickens and ALWAYS his filets and strips. Plus, he'll sharpen knives for a dollar each. After a sad loss we decided to numb our senses and headed to
Dan McGuinness located on Demonbreun for cocktails. While we had lots of fun company I HATE the small plastic cup they served my vodka club soda. Please, upgrade ASAP. However, their bartenders do an excellent job of keeping up with the masses' orders.
Don't worry, we made it to brunch on Sunday. Since we had been in Green Hills, Amy spotted
Noshville. She's from Atlanta and I'm happy to take her to a local deli because we honestly don't do this kosher deli thing very well in the south. Noshville does a few things right. One, they create great big stuffed omelets. Two, they make delicious rugelach. Not too sweet - it let's the chocolate or the fruit dominate. Three, I'm obsessed with how giant their pastrami and other deli sandwiches are. Must go back for a reuben. Folks, you get your money's worth on the sandwich and fry front. Lastly, Amy's nova salmon, bagel and sides were good. Do not order bacon....these guys don't believe in thick cuts. Go early because the church crowds pour in at 10:30 AM and after noon. I had to stay in Sunday night to wallow in my full stomach. Don't worry, more lunches to report on this week....stay tuned and
KEEP EATING OUT, NASHVILLE!
Featured sites:
http://www.eastlandcafe.com/http://www.breadandcompany.com/http://www.cfcheese.com/http://www.danmcguinnesspub.com/http://www.noshville.com/http://www.toddsbutchershop.com/Other mentions:
http://www.peiwei.com/http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
