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Now in its third iteration, and approaching its five-year anniversary, The Catbird Seat still stands at the top of Nashville's restaurant heapand chef Ryan Poli, a 39-year-old Chicago native is navigating diners through the jewel-box restaurant's epic 12-course meals.
Poli was just coming off of a two-year global trek when he learned the Catbird chef position was opening up. Having launched his career at restaurants like Les Francais in Chicago and The French Laundry in Napa, Poli was known for the Chicago restaurants he helmed, including Butter, Perennial, and Tavernita.
Looking for a break in 2013, he set out on what he calls 'a life journey,” namely cook and work around the world, including the Denmark restaurant Noma where he ended up staying for several months before joining the team for an eight-week pop-up in Tokyo.
'Noma Tokyo was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life,” he says. 'We were expected to be the best restaurant in the world from day onethe expectation was so high and everyone was operating on such an elite level.”
After making his way through China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia, he returned to the states and landed at Catbird this past winter, where the expectation for greatness is equally as high. 'Four nights a week, I have to get to know 40 strangers and give them an unforgettable time,” he says.
The menu offers a glimpse of Poli's past. 'It's the history and culmination of all of the other places I've worked,” he says.
Though the list of dishes is constantly changing, a meal might include his seaweed spaghetti with yuzu kosho (a Japanese chile paste) or sake-grilled cauliflower, which gets charred on a tiny grill grate. 'We're playing and experimenting all the time,” Poli says. 'We'll ask, ‘How can we serve the creamiest buttermilk panna cottasomething that is so simple, and has been done so many timesand make it just absolutely perfect?'”
More importantly, he adds, 'how can we leave an ever-lasting impression, that also shows that we don't take ourselves too seriously?”
To that end, he has come up with an entertaining, and very personal, finale. Inspired by the Big Bird cookie jar of his youth, Poli serves his last course, mignardises, or sweet tidbits, inside cartoon character cookie jars. The fun starts when the first guests of the night receive their character, which might be Sesame Street's Ernie or the Pillsbury Doughboy. As the other diners look on, Poli, who scours eBay and other auction sites for the jars, removes the lid to reveal a small pile of freshly made cookies inside. The characters, mostly pop-culture references from the '70s and '80s, build in comedic value until Poli gets to one of his favorites, Mighty Mouse.
This final flourish not only puts a light-hearted spin on the meal but can also pull the staff through a challenging service. 'People have been waiting a month, or more, and saved up for this momentso I put the pressure on everyone, on myself, to make sure they have the most unbelievable time,” he says. If things start to unravel or the staff isn't feeling it, he says, the cookie jars can save the night.
'The room becomes electrified when they start coming out,” he laughs. One by one, as he drops them off, the room waits in anticipation, wondering which character they might see next. 'I never get tired of watching their faces,” he says.
1711 Division St., 615-810-8200; thecatbirdseatrestaurant.com