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The latest restaurant project from celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman, Adele's, was born of a number of love affairs: the love of a mother, the love of a city, and the love of a band.
What to Order: What to Order:
Meatballs and Polenta with Grana, $12Battered Catfish and Tartar Sauce, $13JW Chicken with Local Kale and Green Sauce, $19Beer Braised Pork Ribs with Polenta and Peanut Salad, $24Southern Coconut Cake with Lime Sorbet, $8
Waxman is most known for his appearances on Top Chef Masters but also for being a pioneer of California cuisine and for his hip rustic Italian restaurant Barbuto in New York City's West Village. That's where he first made a real connection with Nashville: Hometown rock star Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon started dining regularly at Barbuto whenever he was in Manhattan. The rocker and the chef developed a close friendship, and Waxman began to come to Nashville to spend time with the Kings, who share the same representation with Waxman in the form of Vector Management co-president Ken Levitan. 'I really wanted to do a new casual restaurant, and Caleb advised, ‘You should do it in Nashville!'” Waxman says. 'So I started looking for a place.”
The result is a casual-chic space dedicated to fresh Southern ingredients, a bit of a love letter to Waxman's mother, who is the namesake of the restaurant. While the fare at Adele's is more Southern than Waxman's reputation as a California cuisine innovator might imply, it is still informed by his past. 'Sometimes the memory of a food is even better than the actual taste when you ate it,” he says. 'The memory inspires the present.”
Adele's opened in June, and the public has collectively given its cuisine two thumbs up. The dining room resembles an airy Quonset hut with garage doors that open during temperate weather and a kitchen dominated by a wood-burning oven. Cooking over flame offers smoky nuances to much of the menu, from an opening dish of a pizzette with spicy and salty ham with greens, roasted tomatoes, and Grana Padano to meatballs roasted in the oven and served with polenta and cheese. 'I added the meatballs to the menu because I wanted them,” Waxman reveals. 'But I added lots of Benton's bacon to the grind to make them better.”
Even Waxman's signature dish from Barbuto, the JW Chicken, comes out of the wood oven differently from its northern counterpart. 'I've been making that chicken for over 35 years,” he says. 'People can't get enough of it, but the wood gives the dish a whole different flavor and an extra little bit of goodness.” Perfectly roasted with a crispy skin and juicy interior, it's served with salsa verde and is a must-order at Adele's.
For diners who want to watch the action in the open kitchen, there's a short chef's bar divided into two sections by the server station, where denim apron–clad servers rush food hot from the pass to tables spread around the lively dining room. If you can't stand the heat, you can get out of the kitchen and head to the comfortable bar area with a bourbon-heavy menu of spirits and some clever takes on classic cocktails.
Save room for dessert, though, because pâtissier Betsy Johnson has earned early acclaim for her talent with sweets. Her hot fudge brownie sundae has quickly become one of the best desserts in town, and regulars swear by the Southern coconut cake with lime sorbet. Other seasonal ice cream creations are available by the scoop to add to menu choices or as a standalone dessert.
1210 McGavock St.; 615-988-9700; adelesnashville.com
