Mary Craven Photography
Each year in late January, the James Beard Foundation announces the semi-finalists for the James Beard Awards.
This year, Nashville is proud to have garnered four nominations. Two of the semi-finalists are born and raised Nashvillians, a testament to our homegrown talent. Fresh off their nominations, we caught up with Arnold Myint, a semi-finalist for Best Chef Southeast, along with his sister and partner in the International Market, Anna, and with David Andrews, executive chef and owner of D’Andrews Bakery and Café, a semi-finalist for Outstanding Bakery. They each share their take on Nashville’s growth, the experience of being nominated, and what it means to continue a family legacy.
Arnold Myint, International Market
Myint and his sister Anna grew up in their mother’s enterprise: For over 45 years, International Market and Restaurant on Belmont Blvd. was a neighborhood hub for delicious Thai fare before closing in 2019. Arnold is a celebrity chef, television personality, and culinary educator who opened his own restaurants in the area: notably PM, Cha-Chah, and blvd. In 2022, he and Anna opened the International Market in its second iteration, across the street from where the original had served generations of Belmont students and neighbors all those years before.
Nashville Lifestyles: You have seen Nashville grow and evolve over decades. How do you feel about the change?
Anna: While it is great for all the new shiny things— and we do love them—it’s important to remember what we came from. We must support the mainstays that helped bring us to this point.
Arnold: Being from here, I have seen how our city has evolved over time. I tried to do many things, but, at a certain point, I left Nashville, broken-hearted. Maybe I was ahead of my time. I was living my best life on the West Coast when Anna encouraged me to come back and give Nashville another shot.
Anna: By 2018, Nashville felt more exciting from a culinary point of view, and that’s when I reached out to Arnold. My parents had sold the building that housed the International Market to Belmont University in 2017. My mom and I had plans to recreate it across the street. Sadly, and without warning, she died.
NL: This ties into family legacy: Not just the entrepreneurship of your parents, but all that Patti contributed to the fabric of the city. What does it mean to continue her legacy?
Arnold: Anna wasn’t ready to say goodbye. We wanted this to be a love letter to Nashville, a place that was both a tribute to our mother and a place for my culinary voice. I couldn’t lose my point of view or my goals as a chef. We wanted to do it right. The challenge was to keep the integrity of Patti but infused with my art and with the perspective of using local ingredients and having a lower carbon footprint. In a way, the pandemic was helpful because it slowed down our plans. We were able to talk everything through and execute it properly. Back in the day, Mom had to “patchwork” things; she knew the value of a dollar. She ran the business, did the ordering and the cooking, plus raised us kids. No way could either of us do that. I happily play with food!
Anna: And I bring the business sense. I am happy to play with the numbers.
NL: Tell us about how you learned that you got the James Beard nomination.
Anna: That morning, I got a message from my friend, Julia Sullivan [of Henrietta Red] with the link. At first, I thought I’d forward it to Arnold, but then I decided to call him.
Arnold: The conversation started with “Did you hear?” In our family, that usually signals bad news. I was home sick in quarantine and asked Anna to send me the link. It took a minute for it to sink in. I had been lobbying for the restaurant to be considered for the America’s Classic award, and I was thinking, “This doesn’t make sense. It’s not time for that award.” And then I realized the category: Best Chef Southeast. This is the big guns! I started sobbing. Obviously, I am elated. Deep down, I’d never put myself on that level. It was so unexpected. What does all it mean? Certainly, it puts the pressure on us with this spotlight; sit up a little straighter, you know? But it tells us that our voice matters. It legitimizes our point of view: We have a story to tell. We highlight Mom’s foods, the cafeteria line, the orange trays at lunch—that’s the history. My small, intentional full-service menu at dinner, that’s the continuation.
Anna: We want to take care of people. That’s a big part of why we are here.
Arnold: Every week, we prepare a dinner for 30 for Nashville Launch Pad, which houses displaced LGBTQ+ young adults. We do it to honor them but also our parents.
Anna: Our mother also taught us the values of loyalty and longevity.
Arnold: It’s nice to still be here. Our audience is still on Belmont, and it feels very old school. On Friday nights, the bar will be filled with regulars. We are a neighborhood place. There’s still a little magic of yesteryear. And a true camaraderie among the chefs.
David Andrews, D’Andrews Bakery and Café
David’s family has long been entrepreneurial—they founded the much- loved boutique department store, McClure’s, part of the Nashville retail landscape for 80 years. When it closed in 2002, David, who had been part of the business, left for New York to pursue another dream as a pastry chef. Many doors opened for him in the Big Apple, and after 13 years serving as lead pastry chef of Gotham Bar and Grill and executive chef of the Kimberly Hotel, he came home to open D’Andrews Bakery and Café.
NL: Your story runs counter to the adage, “You can’t go home again.” How does returning to Nashville to open your own business align with your family’s legacy?
David: I love my hometown and returned to open a modern bakery where New York style meets Southern hospitality. I’ve mentioned before what a heartache it was to close McClure’s. Coming back home and opening D’Andrews helps erase the sadness of that loss. It is a continuation of my family’s values, and spirit, really. My dad always said that a good path for McClure’s was to go to New York and work at Bergdorf ’s or Barney’s. “Go and learn from the best,” he’d say. “You are duty-bound to then come home and share.” That’s what helps a business to thrive. And, that’s what I followed in my career in New York. I knew, when I first went to culinary school, that I would, without question, open a bakery. I had that passion and goal. All those years there provided me the foundation and tools to accomplish that.
NL: How do you view the evolution of restaurants and dining in Nashville?
David: I’m a very positive person, so I think it’s all really great. It’s been wonderful for me to bring this type of bakery to Nashville, and have it be so appreciated.
NL: Tell us about your experience of getting this nomination.
David: It’s been fantastically overwhelming and such a validation of what we have been doing. When I was living in Manhattan on the Upper West Side and working downtown at Gotham Bar and Grill, I would walk right past the James Beard House every day. I would always feel this sense of awe and longing. It was during that time that Alfred Portale [executive chef at Gotham] got the award for Outstanding Chef. It became imprinted on my psyche, the importance of this national award. It’s like the Oscars for food, and it became something I would aspire to. [This year] I was aware that the announcement of semi-finalists was soon to come, but I wasn’t sure when. I was in the middle of prep for a luncheon for 70 for the Nashville Downtown Partnership when I got a buzz in my pocket: a congratulatory text from a friend. I stopped, hastily went to the website, and began scrolling through the list. Then the dam burst. I told my team to stop what they were doing and gather around because this honor is as much for them as it is for me. There are over 8,000 bakeries in the nation, and we are in the top 20. We are in great company. It means so much for Nashville.
NL: How will this affect you and the bakery going forward?
David: It really means hunkering down. No vacations for me! We have been operating at a high level of service—genuinely welcoming and friendly, engaged with our customers, both locals and tourists. First impressions are so critical to your experience of a place. Also, the visuals. My mom always said, “You eat with your eyes first.” We will continue our dedication to making delicious, beautiful food. We will also continue our involvement in the community: participating in Dining Out for Life, Nashville CARES, my teaching at USN, being a part of special charity dinners. It was wonderful to be included in Mikey [Corona] and Brian [Riggenbach]’s Supper of the Sensational Seven last summer. Overall, though, it comes down to this: Do our best. Be excellent. And increase sales so I can give my employees a much-deserved raise!