Nashville Skyline

A few weeks ago, Significant Eater and I took a road trip.  I guess back in the day a road trip actually took place on the road; for us, some of it took place in the air, but why quibble?  We flew to Knoxville, TN, spent a night there, and then drove west to Nashville for a few days.

There was some music playing...

As the marquee for the Historic Tennessee Theatre reads, we'd headed south to take in a couple of Elvis Costello shows, and enjoy 2 cities we'd never been to before. But, since we'd arrived just about lunch time, there was some eating to be done, right then and there, before even checking into our hotel. 

Knoxville and Nashville aren't necessarily considered BBQ heaven, at least not by the BBQ experts. Didn't stop us, as this was the first place we headed to, straight from the airport...

Where they pay homage to one of the greats...

Since we'd left DC at 7 AM, we were hungry... 

Sadly, the best part of this BBQ meal were the sides (especially the fried okra), though the sausage wasn't bad...

Knoxville's known for a few things (I think).  It's a cute little town, with nice parks and public art...

It's also known for this thing...

The Sunsphere, symbol of the 1982 World's Fair; held, I guess, in Knoxville. After enjoying the sights, we were ready for an early pre-show dinner; we'd heard about Knox Mason from a friend of a friend of a friend and off we went. Earnest, quaint and delicious w/just a hint of preciousness and we loved it, from the Sweetwater pimento cheese served with Saw Works beer bread (yes, every producer gets props on the menu)...

To the Anson Mills' Carolina Gold 'Risotto' with late season asparagus, to the Mitchell Farm ribeye with a ton of confited fingerlings ($20!!) - we were happy campers.   Going to Knoxville? Go to Knox Mason.

We wanted to hit the road early for Nashville; yes, so we could get there in time for lunch.  But to fortify for the drive, we walked over to the town center, where a huge market is held every weekend...

And a pourover from a guy without a beard is a possibility.  We wanted a proper sit-down breakfast however, so another recommend...

Served us just fine...

After breakfast, a mere 4-hour drive later, and we were in Nashville. Here...

Martin's in Nashville is one of a 4-unit chainlet (in what appeared to be an old garage), founded by Pat Martin, a well-known pitmaster.  This ain't no roadside shop...

This is Bar-B-Que, baby!  The food was pretty good - Sig Eater enjoyed her smoky pulled pork sandwich, though my Memphis Dry Rub ribs were, well, just a little dry...

After a nice walk around downtown Nashville, and perhaps a nice little nap in our 68° hotel room (oh -  a travel tip - don't go to Nashville in the summer, it's a freakin' steam bath), we were ready to head out for another pre-show dinner, and some fine dining in this historic old house...

The home to...

Yep, right there in Nashville, Sean Brock's 2nd location of Husk. Great cocktails, a fantastic room looking out onto a vegetable garden, and some excellent eats, including Sig Eater's hominy cakes...

And my chicken heart and liver skewers, served with Alabama white barbecue sauce (which uses mayo as its base rather than tomato)...

Perfect on those innards. Elvis' show beckoned, and off to the historic Ryman Auditorium we went - via taxi, as I was getting a little homesick. A great show at the Ryman was the topper to a fine day.  

Nashville has a pretty happening coffee scene, so we ended up here (in what appeared to be an old garage) first thing the next morning...

At Crema, which was the perfect way to start our day. Then we took a bit of a drive to find lunch. When you're greeted by this in the parking lot...

You keep your fingers crossed...

That Jim'N Nick's Community Bar-B-Que will do you right.  It's a chain, but sometimes you get lucky at a chain...

And finally have some ribs worthy of the drive (check out that smoke ring).  Sig Eater even liked her smoked chicken salad, so we went 2 for 2 at this lunch. And lest you think all we do is eat, we also drove around Nashville's Music Row to see this...

And this...

Dinner was a low-key affair (post-Elvis, Sunday night, after all) and we ended up a few blocks from our hotel at The Southern, a big, bustling bar with steak and oysters as the draw. Service was extra-friendly (the oysterman comped us a few of his favorites) and we had a nice enough time, and okay enough food, before heading back to our hotel.

Since our flight back to DC wasn't until 2 PM or so, I had a plan. Head out for some coffee, and grab some final 'cue on the way to the airport. Now, you never know what you're gonna run into when you go out for coffee in other cities, but check this out...

In what appeared to be an old garage, Barista Parlor sits in an unassuming location of East Nashville.  It's huge. You know it's hip, because the baristas are all wearing canvas aprons, as if they were ready to butcher elk.  Some of their brews are made via these...

 And, direct from Brooklyn, they sell this...

And lots of coffee beans, too...

Despite all the posing, the coffee was great, the wait was fairly interminable, but hey - that's coffee - stop complaining!

Right up the road from Barista Parlor, in what appeared to be an old garage, sat our final destination  - Edley's Bar-B-Que - winner of the 2013 Nashville Scene Reader's Poll Best BBQ!  We ordered two lunches to go; Sig Eater a spicy pulled pork sandwich and me the smoked turkey platter, for something a little different.  We kept our fingers crossed they wouldn't be confiscated by the TSA.

And you know what? Even out of styrofoam, this was probably the best bbq of the trip - I'm sorry I missed the ribs (available at dinner only), but my turkey was juicy and smoky and her pulled pork sandwich was juicy and smoky, and the covetous looks we garnered were proof that we might've hit Nashville BBQ's mother lode.

I don't know when the next time the two of us will have a chance to be down this way - but if it happens, I'm sure it'll be music related and I hope it'll be in the winter...did I mention it was about 1,000,000 degrees?  But it's a beautiful part of our country, the people were great and there's plenty to eat.  There's even a Nashville Skyline...

Cherche Midi - Keith Don't Go

Keith Don't Go is the name of a song on Nils Lofgren's 2nd album, Cry Tough. It has absolutely nothing to do with the new Keith McNally restaurant Cherche Midi, which is in the same spot as the old Keith McNally restaurant, Pulino's, which closed six months or so ago - I just thought it sounded like a good title for this post.

In any event, in a mere six months, Keith has transformed what was once Pulino's, an Italian pizzeria slash trattoria into Cherche Midi, a French, well, bistro slash brasserie, I guess. In early visits, I liked Pulino's food; there was some cool stuff on that menu - I particularly remember a dish with smoked sable, a guilty pleasure of mine.  What I didn't like about Pulino's was the corner; to be exact, the southwest corner of Bowery and Houston Streets, in my mind one of the most heinous corners in Manhattan on which to put a restaurant. As someone on a website I frequent, and where I started an argument about this particular corner noted, "there is no joy going to the corner of Bowery and Houston." Additionally, the place had windows that were thrown open to that corner; why exactly, I'll never know...my memory fails, but there may have even been cafe tables outside, which is great if you like eating at a bus stop.

Fast forward to now, and even though you can't change the corner, the windows are gone and once inside you'll barely know where you are; if your imagination works well, maybe you'll think you're on the right bank - although that might be pushing it. Suffice to say - it's a hell of a lot nicer inside now, though if you're sensitive to noise, it's as noisy as many of the McNally places, especially as the evening progresses.

Significant Eater and I had stopped in about two weeks ago for an after dinner drink and last night I made my way back, specifically to try the burger, which has been raved about in various articles, in blogs, etc.  So when I arrived early last night, I took a seat at the practically empty bar, and checked out the drink menu.

The head bartender just happens to be the bartender I've known for years from another McNally joint, Schiller's Liquor Bar, and he rightly steered me towards a Julia's Blush, a riff on a Jasmine (a drink I first had made for me by Kenta Goto at Pegu Club).  It's Campari heavy, with gin, lemon juice and agave taming the bitter - and it's delicious and perfect for a hot night.

It's also $15, as are all the cocktails, which in this day and age in NYC is not crazy, but once the price creeps up to $17, all bets are off. I enjoyed it as I decided what to have for my appetizer; thankfully, the menu is simple compared to the new style of menu. You know the ones -  with starters, small plates, middle sized plates, larger plates, in-between plates, pre-desserts, desserts, and on and on, until you end splitting like 7 things and paying twice as much as you used to.  Here, it's appetizers, entrees and sides - what a concept!

I decided on something cold for my appetizer, an heirloom tomato gazpacho with pickled shrimp...

And it was quite good.  Thick and rich, not too smooth, with the pickled shrimp adding a nice, well, pickled note. For my entree, the burger.  A LaFreida burger (is there a freakin' burger that isn't LaFreida's?), it's allegedly made from dry-aged trimmings from the dry-aged prime rib, which is also on the menu, along with some short-rib, which isn't. It's topped with roasted mushrooms, bacon marmalade and aged gruyere, and I'm guessing the buns are made somewhere in the McNally world - like at Balthazar bakery. It comes with fries, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle slices, and it looks like this...

It's good.  It was cooked to perfection. It's really good, as a matter of fact, the dry-aged beef adding that cheesy funkiness I happen to like. If I have one complaint, it's that the bun may be a little too big for the burger, but it was toasted and held together beautifully, and you can't ask for much more than that. And the fries - still some of my favorite fries in the city. From Balthazar, to Minetta, to Schiller's - the fries are fine.  And just to pretend I might be in France - I dip 'em in mustard - try it, you might be surprised.

The tariff for the burger and fries - $21.  Not bad, when you consider that a side of fries is $9 on this menu. Same price as the Spotted Pig's and cheaper than Minetta Tavern's Black Label entry.

It'll be interesting to me to see if Cherche Midi has a long run. As I mentioned above, I felt that one of the main reasons for Pulino's closure was specifically the location.  But now the Bowery is home to a dozen or more restaurants, all on a stretch that was unimaginable a decade ago.  The crowd is different than Schiller's was, back when it was the lower east side's hottest spot and they could squeeze 8 models into a booth made for 4.  So it remains to be seen whether the crowds will continue to come (and it was crowded by the time I left last night), with all those other choices nearby.

Me - I'm heading back with Significant Eater soon.  The menu has lots to explore, and it's the kind of food we really like to eat. My guess? On our next visit, she's gonna want that burger too.

Cherche Midi 
282 Bowery, NYC