Etch: ADD for Your Tastebuds

All photos © 2014 Mary Brace all rights reserved.

 Confession: I never made it into Zola. That restaurant, long loved by many Nashville Scenesters, offered something so hard to find among this town's more high-priced real estate — genuinely good, no-slouching, well-prepared, fresh food — that I failed to believe it truly existed. Likewise, when Etch first opened at the base of the Encore on Third & Demonbreun, and I saw chef Deb Paquette's partners included the owners of a West End place that never knocked my socks off, or probably any NY eater's for that matter, that didn't exactly scream "OMG must go!" to me. Now that I've finally been to Etch (it opened late in 2012), call me a late convert to the table. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I waited this long.

The first thing to like about Etch is the free valet. No messing around with $10 parking. There will be better things to spend your money on, and you will, trust me.

While I waited for my dining companion to arrive, I hopped into a seat at the front-of-house bar and ordered a Happy Hour cocktail ($6). The Bitter Lemon was exactly that. Tasty, though I was hoping for something more refreshing after a hot day at work; next time I'd try the Model T or hold out for one of the cocktails from the extended menu in the dining room. In there, I had one of Etch's "Smashes," a muddled-herb drink with cilantro, lime & tequila and was much happier with it. Ecstatic, really.

 The Happy Hour menu also included a number of appetizers priced at $8. We passed and waited to be seated. The restaurant features a modern theme, a lot of black and grey and muted shades. Muted light, too; window walls that meet a Southwestern exposure on a 90+ degree day are regulated by thick white shades. An open kitchen runs about 2/3 the length of the room, with bar seating for diners to watch all the action. I also spotted a private dining room behind more glazed window walls.

Not everything is muted. The photo above is of what must be the world's most talked about cauliflower dish. If not the world's, then Nashville's. Me and bitter veggies never got along well, but when you interact with a dozen or more people visiting Nashville as tourists or on business and the first thing they mention about a restaurant is its amazing cauliflower, you have to at least try it. I mean ... who the hell ever talks about cauliflower, who isn't a nutritionist?

And it's everything they say. Bitter? Can't taste any of that. If cauliflower is something that's always been on your hate list, even without the condiments there's nothing to purse your lips over. But with .... oh, my. Peas is another thing. If my mom had ever served peas the way Etch does, turned into pesto with truffle oil, I'd have eaten a lot more over the years. Also included is what would become the evening's other ubiquitous ingredient — red pepper pesto —and creamed goat cheese. My companion and I were both entirely wowed.

Your parents and grandparents would call it insane to have to order bread and butter as an appetizer, but this isn't your folks' butter. A sampling of four doctored butters was served with both slices, and rolls. The favorites were the sea salted/truffled (by now, you should get the idea that truffles and/or truffle oil is an Etch go-to) and peanut brittle/ginger butters.

 Our third appetizer was Tuna & Shrimp, which included a couple small but healthy portions of grilled tuna, a few pieces of large shrimp, greens, and a number of flavorful things to dip and smear each with, including a tamari sauce and blue cheese puree.

 Unadorned, the shrimp were fine and well-seasoned on their own and I would have liked this dish even more had the portions been reversed.

 One last bit of shared sampling before our entrees, we had Etch's charcuterie salad, a wonderful mashup of tempura mushrooms, duck sausage, and a couple different prosciuttos. All simple ingredients  in this dish, but toyed and tinkered in ways to bring out amazing flavors. Smoked things, pickled things, dehydrated things all packed a huge punch, especially when they were combined with the various purees.

In a lot of ways, it's Etch's condiments that make the meal so memorable. What starts out as already good food is made spectacular by all the things going on in your mouth as you munch away. 

Katafi pastry: spaghetti squash mixed in with 4-5 kinds of goodness, especially the barley mixture over the top. This item is not on the new summer menu. Etch keeps at least one vegetarian entree on the menu any given time.

Meat and potatoes? A tender, flavorful seven ounce filet sits over red wine gravy, with shredded asparagus over the top.

Unfortunately (?) we filled too much up on gotta-try appetizers to have any room left for dessert. But there's going to be a next time.

Epice: Quietly Epic

    Although the subtitle of this blog has to do with cheap eats, and Epice, the new Nashville restaurant from Kalamatas' co-owner Maher Fawaz, isn't, that's not going to stop me from sharing my first experience at the 12 South eatery.

    Recently I joined a few friends for a meal to scope out the place and we all came away happy. I had a feeling it was going to go that way; a couple weeks prior, I was wandering 12 South, saw Epice for the first time and was drawn right away to the clean line geometry of the restaurant's front window and patio. I decided to step inside just to get a quick peek and immediately noticed the smell of the place (wonderful) and still more geometrics. The overall vibe is rustic, but elegant, simplicity.



     A group of seven on a Saturday night, with reservations, went like this: four of us ordered appetizers to share, 3 ordered desserts to share, and everyone took care of themselves inbetween.

     I ordered Tabouleh. It was freshly made, and very heavy on the lemon and parsley sides. To the point where I felt like I was mostly eating lemon-flavored parsley and that was pretty much the consensus. This was the only disappointing dish of the night.  

    Another ordered Fatayer - a trio of stuffed cheese, beef, and spinach pies. These were savory treats in mouth-watering crusts, that immediately won over everyone involved.

     Companion number three ordered Sfeeh, which the waitress explained by describing it as 'Lebanese Pizza.' Of course, when you put it that way, everyone nods and goes, 'yes, I'll have some of that.'

      Basically, it was flatbread with beef bresaola, herbs, and cheese and we all pretty much loved it. Companion #4 ordered Al-Raheb; a savory roasted eggplant puree with tomatoes and spring onions and a surprising sweetness of pomegranate seeds thrown in. That, too, was a hit.

Up next for me was the Roasted Red Pepper soup. Silky smooth texture with just a little heat, this went down perfect in the winter chill. The dollop of cheese on top was a nice touch.

Someone else got the Adas Be-silik soup, with lentils and lemon. I didn't get a taste of it, but everyone who did was impressed.

Entree decision took weighing advantages/disadvantages. I knew I wanted Epice's seasoned chicken and was initially drawn to Tawoo, sort of a kebob. But, because their entrees came with a side of Peasant Salad, which consists of seasonal veggies, and because winter veggies aren't exactly my faves, I opted instead for the house's signature Epice Salad, and had the chicken thrown in. The Epice Salad consists of your basic, quasi-exotic greens, with roasted peppers and goat cheese, smothered in a fig & balsamic reduction. Oh. My. Goodness. Now,  Hattie B's could teach them a thing or two about how to cook chicken to perfection for max tendernesss, but it was wonderfully spiced and overall the dish is something I will return for, along with the red pepper soup. It was just a wonderful combination of sweetness from the dressing, spice from the chicken & peppers, and everything else was added texture and flavor nuances thrown in.

When it came time for dessert, orders of crepes (Katayef), yellow cake (Sfouf), and a chocolate mousse (Pots de crème) made it to the table.

The cake was moist and über-dense and sweet, the chocolate was insanely decadent, but my favorite of the three was the crepe. Like the cake, orange blossom played a small role but the variety of flavors going on from different fruits and the creamy filling won the show for me.

Now, a word about the service at Epice: it is _so_ not the typical Nashville restaurant experience where you get ushered in by the host(ess), then you see your waiter/waitress when they inquire what you want to drink; when they bring you your drink; take your order; bring your food; ignore you until they decide you're ready for your check.

Praise the lord. Real service. Finally. From the time our party was seated, until two or more hours later when we walked out the door, not one person, not at any time, did we have to look around for and flag down a waiter, busser, or host. All three of those units worked together to see that we always had something to drink, plates were cleared when they were finished, and no feeling of being rushed at any time. Between that, the freshness of the food, and that wonderfully clean, peace-bringing design of the building itself, Epice restaurant is a place I want to make a regular habit of.

App+soup+entree+tea came to $32.

Another Burger Coda + Sushi Starter: PM Restaurant

    A few months ago, I came very close to starting a post titled, "How I Found Sushi — Or It Found Me," to join my quest for the best burgers in Nashville but scratched it, because I'm still such a sushi neophyte that I felt it would  look beyond pompous to try to review Nashville's offerings. Especially when there are so many decades-long addicted adherents. But ... so what? I've decided that rating sushi is actually a lot easier than rating burgers: either the food tastes fresh or it doesn't, and it's memorable or it isn't. If it's memorable for the right reasons, it goes to the 'good' column.

    This afternoon I managed to combine both burger and sushi at PM Restaurant, one of the Arnold Myint family in Nashville. The sushi was an uncomplicated Spicy Tuna. Rice; tuna; cucumber and various sauces. It was very enjoyable but to be honest, I can't remember much what it tasted like, flavorwise. The amount of tuna in the roll was fairly small. What I remember most was how the cucumber gave it some crunch. That I bit my own tongue about 3 pieces in, didn't help. I mean, it really didn't help. So I'm just going to have to go back there ...

     

     The burger was more memorable. On the menu it's listed as "Char-Grilled Buger" and it is; what it wasn't was the medium-rare I ordered, but it was so interesting that I opted to finish (most of) it rather than send back to the kitchen. Here's how it rated:

Juiciness: 5. When it came out, I saw a splash of red on the bun and thought "oh, this is going to be awesome," but it turned out to be an anomaly. The unevenly-cooked, but mostly medium-well burger was comparatively dry except for that one little almost kinda pink section.

Attractiveness: 10. It's gorgeous, though, isn't it? A totally charred, beautifully rounded patty. The bun's soft, sweet and chewy, has enough "give" to show it's not factory-made perfection, but also enough body to keep it from looking like someone sat on the bag.

Flavor: 7 Hmmm. A mixed bag, this one. The innards of the patty tasted like what I've come to think of as typical Angus. A lot of places use it for the brand specialty but honestly, what it gains in texture is offset by the bland flavor. What separates the PM burger from, say, Hard Rock Cafe's or Ruby Tuesday's is the marinade (brown sugar-based bbq sauce?) coating, more caramelized than charred.

Atmosphere: 8. Like most of the other Belmont bungalows-turned restaurants, PM has character and instead of being in one big box of a room, the tables are spread about in several difference sections. It adds a feel of casual intimacy to the dining.

Digestivity: 9. No trouble with sluggishness, beef pangs or all-day-burger-taste in my mouth. But it was probably about an ounce larger than needed (okay, the sushi didn't help), so I was left with a little bloat. Side note: one of my dining companions noted that Americans are the only people in the world who complain portions are too big. The UK is the only place I've ever been outside the US and except for one colossally huge steak at a Rick Stein restaurant, the portions everywhere there WERE smaller — so of course no one complained. And who's going to moan about having to bring home a helping or two of marbled Prime? The problem is, no educated eater wants to bring home a box of leftover frozen Sysco nuggets.

Overall: 7. Pretty good. You could do a lot worse for burgers in Nashville, but with all the other interesting items on the menu, it's not the first thing I'll look forward to when I return. If I have it again and it's overcooked, I'll definitely send it back next time. By the way - the fries on the side were wonderful.

Update on the Nashville Hot Chicken Odyssey

© 2014 Mary Brace all rights reserved.

   Since I started on my Nashville Hot Chicken quest in July, I've hit almost all of the major places at least once. Pepperfire, twice. Tenn 16 twice. But I keep returning to Hattie B's Hot Chicken. And returning. To the point where, if I can go more than two weeks without a fix, either there's a ton of stuff going on, or I'm flat broke.
  More than any other Nashville Hot Chicken restaurant I've been in — and you are free to spit from the peanut gallery, because I still haven't gotten to Prince's — Hattie B's is consistently tender, consistently moist, and consistently flavorful. In all probability, I'll crown them champs, if only because it takes about 20 less minutes to get to Hattie B's midtown location on 19th (and soon, Sylvan Park) than it does to North East Nashville.

Just sayin' ...

Lucky Bamboo: Good Chinese and Nashville Food, Together At Last?

     Nashville restaurant goers pretty much gave up on having anything like a Holy Grail for Chinese food in the area, long ago. There have been any number of kitchens in every area — Nolensville Road, Green Hills, Midtown, North,  Downtown — over the years that serve passably okay meals. Buffets, more. What's typical is a restaurant will have one thing on their menu they do very, very well, but everything else, not so much. You'll get good Garlic chicken here, great green beans there, and amazing sweet & sour pork on another side of town. Cheap, frozen ingredients probably don't help.

All photos ©2013 Mary Brace all rights reserved.

    A lot of people did enjoy going to Lucky Bamboo for Dim Sum, though, and were disappointed when it shut down last spring. However, new owners have taken over, and it's the same crew that gave Chinatown (Green Hills) a make-over, much to the Scene's delight.

    Lucky Bamboo only re-opend on Thanksgiving Day of this year and the current verdict is: they're still finding their feet, but it's worth supporting while they try to work out the kinks. I went with a group of 8-12 on both visits and each time, some of us were thrilled with our take, and some were deeply disappointed.

   First a look at what Lucky Bamboo is doing right:

   Reaching for authentic: Appetizers include chicken feet (although I can't say I enjoyed it) and and wontons stuffed with real crab meat and two types of cheese, neither of which come in a little silver cardboard box and foil wrapper.

     Pretty much anything in chili oil seems like a safe bet, as long as you like spicy food. Wontons in chili oil, cold noodles in chili oil, and whatever meats they cook in chili oil are making people happy. The pic on the top left is Lucky Bamboo's Chongqing chicken and everyone enjoyed it. The kitchen will spice it up or down to order.

      Cold noodles: something I never saw on Nashville's Chinese  restaurant menus until now. Lucky Bamboo offers two versions, one in sesame oil and the already mentioned chili oil version for people who like it a little spicier.

     Firecracker shrimp was another winner, with a crunchy exterior and tender interior.

     What people are less than thrilled with, so far, are the doughy things. I was served curried potato puffs that were deliciously spiced but the dough was on the heavy, condensed side. Scallion pancakes were another disappointment, as they were too greasy to enjoy and weren't very flavorful to begin with.

     Service is also still very spotty. I get the feeling that they're still working out the plan for who does what, and have some inexperienced people on their wait staff.

    On opening day, the servers seemed flat-out overwhelmed by a packed house, so that was easily forgivable. There were mix-ups in who got what. On the second visit, I was a few minutes late joining my party and our waitress passed the table several times until I flagged her down. Another who arrived late had the same experience. After a water spill, the busser who came to clean up neglected to come back with a mop for the puddle on the floor. I had to get up and find a manager. Most eaters had some food delivered in a timely manner, while others were kept waiting for ages.

   So, it's not the Holy Grail. Not yet. But it's still worth going back to be taunted a third time.

Taj: Nashville Gets a Second Indian Restaurant Worth Returning To (especially for meat eaters)

     It's long been a gripe of mine and a number of others' that what was said to be the best Indian cuisine in town was at Woodlands, a vegetarian restaurant located inside a tower near I440. For my vegan friends, I'm happy for them that they got to have something to themselves, for a little while.

    The rest of us, our problem? The typical Nashville experience is to be served with an entree swimming in curry soup.
 
    I was a happy enough camper to find Bombay Palace on West End. It was the first place in Nashville where I found something that began to approach the quality of ingredients and preparation of what I'd been treated to in the UK.

All photos: ©2013 Mary Brace all rights reserved

                  Meanwhile, Nolensville Road's reputation for ethnic food  was sealed somewhere back in the late 1990s when its Mexican immigrants' culinary contributions were joined by Ethiopians and Thai. As Turkish and Middle East got added to the mix, more of Nashville's adventurous eaters flocked over. Most of what's available is street-food quality, but it's very good street food. The high end, though, has been lacking.

   It looks like, with the opening of Taj sometime in the middle of 2013, two birds have been hit and now can wind up on your dinner plate. Walking in, I was bowled over by the scent of spices in the air and could tell I was going to be in good hands.

    It was a weekday afternoon and I bypassed the buffet to order off the menu. What came out as the equivalent to chips and salsa were papadums and condiments; pickled onions, a yogurt sauce, and a hot pepper sauce. The second of the three, the green stuff in the top photo, didn't do very much for me, as I like it very spicy.


     My appetizer was Khasta Kachoti, a puff-pastry filled with unidentified spices and fruity things, and it was delightful. Joining it shortly after was Coconut Soup, and that was the only soupy thing I saw the whole meal. Both were fabulously light, neither were overpowering, and heat wasn't a factor.

     Where the heat did come into play was my entree, Hariyali Chicken. This is one that comes in a thick, yogurt-based curry sauce and I was asked at the time of ordering, how hot did I want it? (Answer: hot.)

    And it was hot, but not so much as the typical Nashville Hot Chicken dish. The poultry was about as tender as any you could find west of Franklin Road (which is another way of saying, most of the meat you're going to find in the Southeast quadrant of town is cooked in such a way to compensate the lack of freshness/quality). Rice, non-remarkable, garlic naan, colorful.

    Final take: it's not a surprise that a tasty new ethnic restaurant opened on Nolensville Road. But that it's Indian cuisine of this caliber, ought to make East and West Nashville both very, very jealous.

Nashville Hot Chicken Day 5: Pepperfire

All photos ©Mary Brace 2013. All rights reserved.

For this one, it's back to East Nashville, the acknowledged home of Nashville Hot Chicken. Pepperfire restaurant, on Gallatin Road, opened in 2010 as a walk-up, cinder-block joint with a barred window. The barred window is still there, as a reminder that hey! you're on Gallatin Road! In East Nashville! and you just have to deal with it.  Improvements have come in the form of a covered shelter and picnic tables so that, if the barred window doesn't put you off, you can eat in.

 

       Pepperfire has two things on its Nashville restaurant menu that you do have to try at least once in your life: Tenders Royale, which consists of chicken tenders served over a deep-fried, grilled cheese sandwich (it's hard to wrap your brain around it without actually seeing it) and Applefire, which I had on the day of this visit. Applefire is a take on chicken & waffles, but with apple pie filling as the sweetener instead of syrup. Of the two, it's probably the one you're more likely to ever order a second time, if you're not a frat member.

     Pepperfire serves its heat 5 ways: mild, medium, hot, extra hot, and extra, extra hot. I've always ordered hot, and had a bite of a friend's extra hot and wondered if they had the orders mixed up. Pepperfire's hot is DAMN hot. And they don't have a soda fountain, so you don't get free refills. Just warning. They'll tell you at the window that their heat level will be equal to two steps up from the average Hot Wings order. As finding genuinely good, hot, Buffalo style wings is a quest of its own, in Nashville, I'd say they are perhaps one degree above.

Tenderness: 6. Decent, but not exceptional.

Moisture: 6. Again, not remarkable. Definitely not dry, though.

Grease: 10. This is one area where Pepperfire excels. They don't use breading to coat, and what goes on the chicken after its fried is a pretty dry rub. There's very little coating, beyond the rub itself, to hold grease.

Flavor: 7. You will notice the actual chicken flavor for up to 5 seconds before the heat kicks in.

Atmosphere: 5. In spite of the barred windows, it's not a bad space. It's just pretty obvious that it's not a space where the owners want anyone hanging out for long periods.

Sides: 8. I've never actually had any of their sides, but am giving Pepperfire's Nashville Hot Chicken  bonus points for creativity with Applefire and — yes — the Tenders Royale.

Overall: 7  I don't think Pepperfire's chicken is the best in town, but the overall vibe, originality and affordability make it worthy a return trip, anytime.

Nashville Hot Chicken Day 4: 400 Degrees

All photos @Mary Brace 2013. All rights reserved

Today's Nashville restaurants venture comes from another of the spiritual grandchildren of Prince's Hot Chicken: 400 Degrees. Owner Aqui Simpson grew up on Princes and now has her own place, tucked in a stand-alone food court at 4th & Peabody. I'd never been in a food court that wasn't attached to a mall, and while the signage for Quizno's and Nuvo Burrito was clear, I had to do a double-check to make sure I was at the right location.

400 Degrees is ready-made for franchising, if you're interested. I'm even tempted. For the record, we got the medium hot, 200 Degrees.

Tenderness: 8 ... this hot chicken could have been made by one of those food scientists you hear about, who come up with ways to give consumers something that's both crispy and tender at the same time.

Moisture: 8 That also was good although honestly, it was partly due to the sauce.

Grease 6: On the downside, there was more of it than I'd have liked. So much grease went into the underlying bread that it became easy to resist the urge to gobble up all of that, too.

Flavor: 9 A simple combo of cayenne & paprika, according to their literature. Like the saying goes, if all you've got are three chords, make sure they're good chords. 400 Degrees does it right.

Atmosphere: 6 Food court. Pretty anonymous homogenous.

Sides: Sides were limited, so I declined. Not taking any points away or giving.

Overall: 7.5. Love the dish, dislike the corporate atmosphere.

Day 10 - Burger's Up: Mary's Notes

Our intention this day was to visit another of Nashville's traditional burger dives, but the hours listed on the web were wrong and we needed something that was open already at 10:30. So we drove from the Nolensville Road area to Melrose and our second choice wasn't open yet, either. Went four streets over and Burger Up, the new venture from the owner of the Frothy Monkey, was unlocked and ready for business, or at least it was ready to serve a margarita. Here's how it went:

Juiciness - 6. Most of the 1/2 teaspoon or so of drippage was in the form of grease more than juice.

Flavor - 10. There it is, finally, a 10 from me. Local, grass-fed beef flavor wins out. Burger Up's basic cheeseburger adds caché name-brands Jack Daniels for ketchup, Cabot's for cheese and über-hip (for Tennessee foodies, anyway) Benton's bacon; I'm pretty sure the burger would have tasted just fine without them.

Attractiveness - 7. It was a lovely burger. It was ordered medium rare and appeared to have the texture of a medium-rare but the meat was suspiciously grey, not pink.

Atmosphere - 9. Very 12 South; matted steel with some vintage wood thrown in and public-house style seating.

Digestivity - 5. Getting some pangs. I'm not sure if it was from the beef, grease from the bacon or the French fries, which, by the way, were seasoned with truffle shavings. Major points on the foodie scale, for both of the latter.

All photos ©Mary Brace 2013. All rights reserved

Overall experience - 8. In spite of finally finding a burger with flavor that beat out Dalt's (which will make all of my hipster friends very happy with me) the overall experience was brought down by two things: the above-mentioned pangs and the less-than-stellar margarita.  Burger Up's margarita seemed to venture too much into screw-driver territory. The $11 price tag on the burger can be justified by the gourmet burger craze, the $10 inferior cocktail, not so much.

afternote: this review was written in June but circumstances prevented posting it. On a return trip the burger was just as good, and no pangs. I don't get the margarita anymore, and it's a 10 every time.

update Dec. 2011. After Burger Up! we pretty much stopped rating Nashville burgers because nothing else we'd had up to that point could touch Miranda Pontes's burger in quality. Still, the Nashville burger universe is ever-expanding and if a great one is found, I'll write about it in the future.

Day 5: Rotier's - Mary's Notes

Today we took on Nashville's most famous burger joint in its most infamous neighborhood (prior to the rise of East Nashville, Elliston Place was renowned as the "Rock Block" for decades). What makes the Rotier's burger is that it's one of the few - maybe only - in Nashville that's freshly ground on-site; you really can taste the difference.

Juiciness - 10. When you pick up your burger and two-three teaspoons of deep reddish, brownish juice spill out on your plate, you know you're in good hands and the cook hasn't been flattening your patty with the spatula. 


Flavor - 4. I've had Rotier's on several occasions and while today's burger had as much old-fashioned hamburger taste as any other day's might, it also carried a trace of "meat sat in the refrigerator one day too long" taste. Not enough to send it back, but to make me think that I might not want to return early in the week, if you know what I mean.


Attractiveness - 6. It looks like a real-burger burger, but the French bread bun it's supposed to be famous for was disappointingly un-French breadlike. Next time I'll happily settle for the plain-bun bun.


Atmosphere - 9. Awesomely divey, with wood paneling, Christmas tree lights, neon signs and booths.Good beer selection, too.

Digestivity - 4. Another area that disappointed me today. Maybe the meat did, indeed, sit one day too long.

Overall experience - 6. I want to specify this being judged on today's - and only today's - meal. Now that we're comparing all these great places side by side, or meal by meal, this was a real disappointment. Come on, Rotier's, you can do way better than this.