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Set in the ground floor of the Encore building, The Farm House is the result of a team effort. Chef Trey Cioccia is a veteran of Nashville restaurants, having worked at Capitol Grille and Cantina Laredo, while general manager Clay Franklin runs the front of the house with a casual efficiency. Cioccia's mother even contributed to the concept and décor with the gift of several design elements. Just as the kitchen concentrates on using local, seasonal ingredients, the ambiance of the room features many area materials harvested from barns and old homes. Mt. Juliet artisan Jim Bradford of Behind the Bark converted the recovered wood into attractive furniture that creates a dramatic yet comfortable dining environment.
The bar offers local beers on tap, a nice list of wines and whiskeys, inventive cocktails, and some excellent bar snacks, like cornmeal-fried bacon and exemplary smoked and fried chicken wings with Alabama white sauce. The rest of the menu depends on multiple deliveries per day from the local farmers who bring the ingredients for Cioccia's selection of snacks, entrées, and side dishes. Notable are appetizers like BBQ pork cheeks with charred cream corn and Brussels sprout slaw served with house-cured bacon as well as the expertly fried G&G buttermilk quail on a smoked sweet potato waffle with Tennessee honey.
Don't fill up on the snacks, though, or you won't have room for the tender osso buco with red cabbage and white beans or Cioccia's take on the Nashville specialty of hot chicken. Grilled instead of fried, this fiery fowl is served with a puree of biscuits and candied chicken skins to add a little crunch. Meat lovers can choose from an array of steaks and chops served à la carte, which can be augmented with creative presentations of classic Southern sides like white-cheddar mac and smoked gouda grits.
The Farm House 210 Almond St. 615-522-0688thefarmhousetn.com