On the short list of “restaurant concepts Nashville needs,” there’s been a hole for a French-style, all-day brasserie in the vein of Balthazar in New York, or Eastern Standard in Boston. One with bustling energy, marble and brass, a solid raw bar, and a good steak frites.
Nathan Zucker
Liberty Common, a modern, stylish new spot now open on 1stAvenue, checks all of the boxes and then some.
Opened by restaurateur Terrell Raley of Amaranth Hospitality Group (The Pharmacy, Butchertown Hall), Liberty Common takes the classic brasserie concept—brass, marble, salade niçoise—and adds a chic touch—greenery motif against white tiling, sweeping floral murals, pops of dusty blue. It feels related to a place like Balthazar, but in no way mimics it.
Nathan Zucker
“I didn’t want to do a replica of something,” Raley says. “I needed for it to feel fresh and modern, and, at the same time, feel familiar.”
He enlisted chef Jeffrey Rhodes to helm the kitchen—Rhodes has cooked all over the country, including at two different Michelin-starred restaurants. The menu, both agreed, should pull French technique and inspiration together with Southern ingredients and sensibilities. So, there’s fried chicken, but in the vein of a Parisian roast chicken, it’s laced with herbs de Provence.
“Ingredients change, locations change, but it’s all kind of the same thing. It’s all comfort food,” Rhodes notes.
Nathan Zucker
Service runs all day: breakfast, midday lunch and brunch, happy hour, dinner.
The fried chicken pops up throughout, so it might be on a biscuit or set atop waffles to start the day, tucked into a solidly constructed sandwich for lunch, or served by the half, whole, or with sides for a family dinner. Crisped to darkness and drizzled with just a touch of honey, it’s a divine bite in each set up.
Other Southern influences arrive on the plate, like a pile of creamy grits set beneath a Tennessee trout amandine, mopped in brown butter and accompanied by crisp green beans. In the obligatory cassoulet, black-eyed peas are buried with duck confit under a biscuit crumb. And, of course, there are soft, flaky biscuits. They make the base of sandwiches (try the steak or Porter Road Butcher sausage) or arrive as their own treat on the side.
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Nathan Zucker
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Nathan Zucker
For a more classic brasserie-style meal, start with oysters and a bottle of champagne. (Filled with small growers and sustainable bottles, the wine list puts forth a number of exciting finds—try the German Latitude 50 for tight, crisp bubbles.)
What to order:
Pickled duck eggs, $10
Country pâté, $15
Salade nicoise, $11
Whole chicken, $30
Grilled trout almandine, $30
From there, it might be the chilled country pâté served with grainy mustard and cornichon, or a composed salad of buttermilk dressed crab served almost like lettuce wraps, atop big rounds of leafy greens. The lobster cake is an over-the-top entrée, set with chunks of claw, breaded and well buttered, or there’s steak frites, this version served in thick slices with herbed butter set on top. For something simpler, the pappardelle, which is made and cut in house by pastry chef Jessica Collins, gets tangled in a simple Bolognese.
Nathan Zucker
To drink, you could continue drawing from the wine list, but the cocktails make a good companion to the food, especially since many are low-booze, aperitif-style drinks, like Le Spritz made with Lillet and sparkling wine. Beverage director Dan King, who has been digging deep over at Butchertown Hall to provide more variety for Nashville’s beer scene, adds a few gems to this list, too, like the Val-Dieu Triple.
There’s a solid happy hour, as well, with $5 house wine, and a dozen oysters for $18.
No matter when you arrive, expect familial service, especially at the bar, and a space that, bustling or not, feels both classic and completely up-to-date.
207 1stAve. N, 615-649-8900: liberty-common.com