One of the charms of living in Nashville's tightly knit neighborhoods is that you can always find one or two great little haunts that you can hit up a few times a week. Over in West Nashville, you can add Fifty First Kitchen and Bar to the mix.
What to Order
The menu changes regularly but order the charcuterie plus:
Chanterelle tortelli, $16; Sapelo Island clams, $13; Grilled quail, $16; Bone-in dry aged PRB rib eye for two, $80; Olive and Sinclair chocolate bombe, $8
Set in a late 1800s-era house on 51st Avenue in The Nations, the project comes by way of Chicago transplants Tony and Caroline Galzin, who have partnered with Christy Shuff, formerly the owner of Rumours Wine Bar. Shuff is no stranger to creating neighborhood hangsshe opened the space that eventually became the 12 South Taproom as well as the original Rumours, both of which grew into beloved institutions (the wine bar later moved to The Gulch but closed in 2014). At Fifty First, she plays the role of event coordinator and community advocate, drawing on her deep knowledge of the Nashville restaurant scene.
The cozy kitchen takes up about a quarter of the redesigned house, while the dining room is intimate and sexy with vanilla walls and dark brown accents. There are bits of gold found in the sputnik-like lighting fixtures, and a slim bar area. It's all very tightly focused, down to the decision to run music through a turntable instead of a programmable device.
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Outside, a porch wraps around the front and side of the house and, to one side, overlooks the 40-by-25-foot garden, which the team enlisted Hands On Nashville to help install. The garden is packed with tomatoes, herbs, and peppersyou'll also see those items sprinkled all over the menu, which is a well-edited, ever-changing list of 13 items ranging from snack-like starters to a large-portion rib eye for two.
The best place to start is with the charcuterie, which might include small piles of housemade lardo, capicola, and coppa plus pickled vegetables, jam, and toasted bread. The chicken liver pâté is a whipped dream of chicken funk and butter and arrives with just-toasted brioche.
From there, make your way to a saladover the summer, one included slivers of Alabama peaches, market tomatoes, and herbs from the garden that all comingled into an elegant and simple composition. If there are clams on the menu, especially from Georgia's Sapelo Island, dive in to the beautiful broth laced with 'nduja (a spicy pork sausage) and sorrel. Layered and briny, they sing of the seaand also go nicely with a crisp, sudsy beer.
Because of chef Galzin's Italian mentality, there is a delightful selection of pasta, including the tortelli, which might be filled with chanterelles. Among the heartier dishes that can be shared is the grilled quail, which gets both char and a balance when paired with a tart peach mostarda. There's also a roasted half chicken served with escarole and potato, and Tony prepares two types of beef from Porter Road Butcher just down the road: a steak topped with green garlic as well as a 36-ounce bone-in dry aged rib eye.
Tony's worked as a pastry chef for many years, which is why you have to save room for dessert. The list changes regularly, but items like the Olive and Sinclair chocolate bombe with salted caramel and cocoa nibs prove that he's putting as much attention into the finale as everything that comes before it.
5104 Illinois Ave; 615-712-6111; 51nashville.com
More about 51st Kitchen in our September issue.