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In conceiving Stay Golden, a coffee shop/roastery/all day café, co-founders Jamie Cunningham, Nathanael Mehrens, and Sean Stewart chose the “golden rule” as its founding principle.
“Do unto others” pervades all facets of the business, treating customers, vendors, and staff with love.
You may recognize their names: Cunningham, Mehrens, and Stewart were the trio initially behind Steadfast Coffee. They partnered with Joseph Moore of DesignWorks Collective, securing a prime space in the Oak Barrel building on Sidco Drive. If you haven’t been down this industrial strip in a while, you’ll be amazed by the area’s transformation—Stay Golden is interspersed with office and retail. Black Abbey Brewing has its operations a few doors down.
“The neighborhood needed this,” beverage director Mehrens says. “We felt like this was the next logical step for us. We want your experience to be seamless and fun, whether you’re here for coffee, food, or cocktails.”
Get your morning properly revved with a cup of the signature blend, “Chin Up,” available in filtered brew or espresso formats. That, and a rum-toffee sticky bun, makes an ideal combo to grab-and-go. Mehrens has designed some “augmented” coffee drinks that warrant a sit and savor. Made with rested espresso, warming spices, foamed corn milk, and a sprinkle of chili lime salt, “A Good Morning” lives up to its name. Inspired by Tiki drinks, his creative “Calypso” features flash-chilled coffee stirred with falernum (a spiced syrup) then topped with silken cream and pineapple dust. It may not taste it, but it’s non-alcoholic. Mehrens has also created a roster of cocktails, with or without coffee in the mix. A favorite is “Good Company,” which combines Matchless Coffee Soda with Chateau Arton Fine Blanche armagnac, housemade sour cherry grenadine, and magnolia bitters from Pour Taste. It’s a spectacular drink.
Executive chef Simoni Kigweba has designed a concise modern menu, including a section for kids.
“I’ve focused on each dish to be refined yet approachable, using as many products from local purveyors,” he says.
Breakfast is served all day. Three housemade salsas and refried black beans spice up the chilaquiles (the tortillas are sourced from La Hacienda Tortilleria). The breakfast sandwich is a generous stack of soft-scrambled eggs, bacon, cheddar, and salsa verde marmalade on a buttermilk biscuit, with uber-crunchy potatoes on the side. The yeasted waffle has become a house favorite. Kigweba serves it with whips of crème fraiche, maple syrup, and fruit of the moment. Yes, there’s a delicious avocado toast, the pulp spread over sourdough from Dozen Bakery, strewn with sunflowers seeds, sprouts from Bloomsbury Farm, lemon, olive oil, and a generous shake of espelette pepper.
He offers a roster of sandwiches and salads for lunch. (Get the farro bowl!) And he’ll be rotating fun specials, like loaded tater tots, during happy hour, (Monday through Friday, 4 - 6 p.m.), which is called, appropriately, Golden Hour.
“We want to treat everybody well. Hospitality informs everything at Stay Golden,” Kigweba says. “And I’m excited to continue creating.”
Fresh off the opening of the first Stay Golden Restaurant & Roastery, the community-minded concept’s second location, located at 901 Woodland Street in East Nashville, will offer coffee, cocktails, and a full menu of seasonally-driven options at the all-day restaurant.
The 2,500-square-foot space will feature a walk-up coffee counter with grab-and-go food and beverage options, a full-service 100-seat dining room with private event capabilities, and a large outdoor patio. Additionally, Stay Golden will offer an all-day kids’ menu and Golden Hour, Stay Golden’s signature happy hour.
2934 Sidco Dr, Ste 130 | 901 Woodland St, Ste 101, 615-241-5105; stay-golden.com