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East Nashville is known for many things, but unless you're itching for a fight, it's probably best not to express an opinion. Certainly not to the fiercely-proud residents of the urban neighborhood on the ‘other' side of the Cumberland. Just ask NY Times reporter Kim Severson, whose glowing article on June 18 about the food scene in Nashvillewith a particular focus on the East sideprompted such a firestorm of indignation and scorn from the 37206 zip code that she has probably had to assume a disguise and enter the Writer Protection Program.
I'm going to propose something far less controversial that conjures East Nashvillethe tomato. Or more specifically, the Tomato Art Festival, which for one weekend every August (10 - 11 this year) takes over Five Points to celebrate all things tomato. Founded in 2004 by Art & Invention Gallery owners Meg and Bret McFadyn, the event was seeded in an act of semi-desperation. As Meg recalled, 'I was thinking about what kind of show to do in August, a hot month and even hotter in the gallery which is in a metal building. Tomatoes are the best part of summer, and they love the heat. It was kind of a whimsical idea that took on a life of its own. Bret made a sign that became the slogan: ‘The TomatoA Uniter, Not a Divider. Bringing together fruits and vegetables.' It still makes me laugh.”
Less than two miles from Five Points, a new neighborhood restaurant pays homage to the tomato and its unifying theme every day. Pomodoro East unites two well-known chefsWilly Thomas and Joe Shaw. It unites Northern Italy and the American South in seasonal comfort food that illustrates the similarities of the two cuisines. It unites a beautiful space with affordable prices, rusticity with elegance, polished service with a casual ambiance. And as my visits there indicate, the ristorante at the three-way intersection of Porter Road and Eastland Avenue even brings East and West Nashville together at the table.
For some time, he had been shopping a business plan to potential investors, and it happened to fall into the hands of Willy Thomas, chef and owner with wife Yvette of two successful restaurantsPark Café in West Nashville and Eastland Café in East Nashville. 'Willy told me he might be interested if we could find a property,” Shaw said. 'But it just wasn't happening, so all was quiet until Willy heard that Cooper's was closing. He thought it would be a great location for a bar, but I wasn't interested in doing a bar.” About a week later, Thomas called Shaw and uttered the magic words. 'How about Italian?” Now Thomas was speaking Shaw's language. While living in Birmingham, Shaw had cooked in revered Southern chef Frank Stitt's Bottega Italian restaurant, and it was an education invaluable to his maturation as a chef.
The concept of the restaurant greets diners upon arrival with Pomodoro East spelled out in rusted metal letters on one wall of the small foyer, and a large lush oil painting of a tomato on the other. Benches offer a place to wait if the small barabout one-third the size of the one at Cooper'sis full, and it frequently is, especially at Happy Hour. The wall that used to hide the kitchen has been removed, as have the elevated booths that divided the bar and the main dining room, creating a considerably lighter and more open space. The center booths have been replaced by one massive wood farm table and two rock columns; stone also frames the bar and the wood-burning pizza oven, fronted by an unpolished marble-slab counter with space for five or six stools.
The restaurant's mission statementfarm to tableis gorgeously stated on the tomato carpaccio, which Shaw added when local tomatoes came into peak ripeness. Sliced translucent-thin, the pomodoros take the place of the traditional beef and form a red pinwheel on the heavy white plate, embellished with a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle of coarse salt and a strew of micro greens. Loops of tender calamari dredged in powdered Arborio rice are flash-fried and nestle in a thick stew of tomatoes, capers and basil. Mussels baked in the wood-burning oven are piled in a bowl of garlic-white wine broth kicked up with slivers of chile pepper, with thick slices of toasted bread for sopping.
Fresh peaches are among summer's greatest pleasures, and here they get the spotlight they deserve in the Georgia Peach salad; luscious slices glisten beside a tangle of arugula, creamy ball of homemade ricotta and a golden puddle of local honey. Choosing one of the five pizzas described is not an easy task, but our table agreed on the lamb sausage/fennel/tomato/arugula, with the promise of trying the artichoke/goat cheese/roasted garlic on our next visit. The oak-wood burning oven is set to a temperature that produces an all-over crisp in just minutes without scorching the toppings, a tricky balance.
As much as I love pasta, I typically avoid this section of the menu if I want to try anything else, but Pomodoro thoughtfully offers half-sized portions in addition to full, so we indulged in the Gulf crab stuffed ravioliplump little pillows cased in a brown butter sauceand wide ribbons of papparadelle wrapping shreds of rabbit braised in Marsala wine.
The broad brush of the entrée palettefish, fowl, cow, pig and lambprovokes the most challenge in choosing just one, or in our case two. A perfectly cooked plank of swordfish with sundried tomatoes and capers, and pan-roasted pork loin were winning picks, though I suspect we would have said the same had we instead ordered the pan-roasted lamb leg with blistered cherry tomatoes, the flat-iron steak with watermelon relish or the chicken scallopini with provolone and arugula salad. Clearly, return visits are in order.
Which is just the intent of the Pomodoro East team. 'We thought we would open very simple---pizza some sandwiches and a few pastas---and we'd add as we got going,” Shaw says, taking a pre-service breather in the sun-drenched dining room. 'But as the space evolved and grew into this beautiful room, we felt like the menu needed to reflect that. We felt like we could do really nice food without being pretentious or priced out of reach of the neighborhood. We wanted to create a tratorria for East Nashville, a welcoming place where our neighbors and their guests could come together at the table.”
701 Porter Rd.
Nashville TN 37206
(615) 873-4978
Best Dishes: Tomato Carpaccio; Mussels al Forno; Baked Gnocchi Alla Romana; Georgia Peach Salad; Lamb Sausage, Fennel, Tomato and Arugula Pizza; Marsala Braised Rabbit on Pappardelle; Pescado Al Forno; Bistecca con Melone; Panna Cotta with seasonal fruit.
The Bar: Specialty cocktail menu (try the Mona Lisa---Grey Goose, elderflower liquor, fresh-squeezed blood orange juice, simple syrup); bottled craft beer, Abita Amber and Yazoo Hefeweisen on draft; wines by the glass and bottle with several Italian selections.
Noise Level: Conversational
Televisions: One flat-screen screen over the bar
Price Range: Spiedini, Baked Gnocchi, Stuffed Portabella and all salads, $8; Pizzas from $9 to $12; Capellini al Pomodoro $8 half/$15 full, Crab Stuffed Ravioli $9 half/$17 full; Gallina Pailard (Chicken Scallopini), $15, Bisteca con Melone, $20, Pescado al Forno, $22.
Hours: Mon-Sat. 5-10 pm; Sun. 5-9 pm.
Parking: In lot and on street
Reservations: Accepted
Credit Cards: AmEx, VISA, MasterCard and Discover
Web: No website, click to their Facebook, Pomodoro East