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Three years have passed since the pandemic changed the hospitality industry, with chefs and restaurateurs adapting to lockdowns, cutbacks, supply chain disruptions, and labor shortages.
Amidst it all, Nashville never stopped building. Commercial real estate prices soared. Tourism returned with a fury. We’ve all experienced a seesaw of emotions: feeling jazzed for shiny-new openings and saddened by closures of beloved mainstays. It all begs the question, where are we, as a culinary city, headed? For this year’s restaurant issue, we’re diving into all that and more. What are the culinary trends to come (and go) next? Without question, 2022 was the year of the chef-driven hotel restaurants: Drusie & Darr at the Hermitage Hotel; Mimo at the Four Seasons; Carne Mare at the W Hotel; 1 Kitchen at 1 Hotel; and Blue Aster at the Conrad.
What will 2023 be known for? With new concepts, new restaurants, and the return of beloved favorites, we’re optimistic about what’s on the horizon.
PANDEMIC POP-UPS GO BRICKS-AND-MORTAR (NEW FAVORITES FIND NEW, PERMANENT HOMES)
The drive to survive can spur a person to great achievements. Like, figuring out something delicious that people want, and finding a non-traditional way to make and get it to them. Witness: Levon and Kim Wallace, who started hawking their singular baked pretzel twists and sandwiches at pop-ups and farmers markets and grew that into the bustling Fat Belly Pretzel Bakery and Café on Gallatin Avenue. Or Advanced Sommelier Alex Burch, who held fun, informative Zoom wine classes during the lockdown, the foundation of which has morphed into Bad Idea, a crowd-sourced, neighborhood restaurant celebrating wine exploration and education in Five Points.
But those aren’t the only pandemic success stories. Each of these creative independents has made, or is in the process of making, the transition to bricks- and-mortar. Chef Aaron Clemins was cooking for chef Ryan Bernhardt at TKO early in the pandemic, when the two of them, along with chef Aaron Distler kicked around the notion of a sandwich shop “with the dumbest name possible.” And from those brainstorming sessions, Bill’s Sandwich Palace came into being—first as a pop-up in 12 South. Folks clamored for Clemins’ creative, soul-satisfying sandwich constructions—well beyond the chef ’s dreams. Business steadily grew from twice a month to once a week to twice weekly, operating out of TKO’s kitchen. In late October, he and wife Christen announced that Bill’s had found a permanent home: Sweet 16th Bakery owner Ellen Einstein was retiring and welcomed the chance to keep her previous space occupied by a locally owned, community-driven business.
“The pandemic brought such hardships,” says Aaron, “but there was an incredible influx of innovation that might never have happened. And with that, a new freedom. Do what you want to do, and in a way that works better for you.”
Aaron and Christen are excited to incorporate what they’ve learned about hours, staffing, and quality of life in their new business home. They will also let the community guide them. “We want to grow it well,” says Christen. The creator of St. Vito’s Focacceria, Chef Michael Hanna views the silver lining of the pandemic in a progression of crawl-walk-run for his business: from purveying his Sicilian street fare from his driveway to a residency at the Van Dyke, then a Sunday full-service pop-up, with cocktails and wines, at Hathorne. At this writing, he is poised to open on Mansion Street in the Gulch. Designed to be a neighborhood staple serving lunch and dinner (yes, including three sfincione style pizzas daily and his incomparable fried artichokes) Hanna’s model features a salaried staff working interchangeably in all roles.
Hailing from a family of chefs, Hanna always dreamed of having his own restaurant. “Experience is your best teacher, and it’s been a three-year learning curve,” he says. “The thought of stopping wasn’t an option. I have two kids now and it’s crucial to me that I set an example.That I didn’t give up. I could build something for them.”
Meanwhile, chefs and life partners, Brian Lea and Leina Horii were working together at Bastion when the pandemic slowdown gave them a window to try out an idea they’d long been considering. Horii wanted to showcase the Japanese comfort food that she loved eating at home growing up in Southern California. Her father is a sushi chef, but “Japanese food is so much more than sushi,” she says. Their home garden plays a large part in the food they make, and they premiered Kisser (a play on words, alluding to kissaten, a casual Japanese cafe/coffee shop) as a pop-up in another Strategic Hospitality concept,The Patterson House.That set everything in motion— more pop-ups at different venues, plus booths at area farmers markets.
“When we started, we had no expectation that anyone would care, or even notice us,” says Horii. “The response has been tremendous. It is so encouraging to see how people really want our food.” Strategic Hospitality partnered with them to take Kisser to the next level, and the couple is excited to open a 40-seat eatery in East Nashville’s Highlands Yards.