The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Where to eat breakfast, lunch, dinner in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee comes by the nickname Music City honestly, with the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, all the honkytonks lining the neon-illuminated Broadway downtown and myriad smaller venues throughout the city featuring country ,b luegrass and indie rock. When you aren’t listening to music, you can shop at any number of new or vintage guitar stores, or spend as much as you want on a pair of boots and a cowboy hat so you look at home. But the flavors of the city have risen to match the sounds and provide the fuel needed for a night of dancing. It’s easy to get a good meal in Nashville, but that comes with a caveat: Most any place you want to go will involve waiting in line, so plan accordingly.
Biscuit Love
The menu presents a problem: The first two items under the “With a biscuit” section — and why are you at a place called Biscuit Love if you aren’t ordering some- thing with a biscuit? — are the East Nasty and the Princess ($10 each). The East Nasty is a biscuit with a fried chicken thigh, cheddar and sausage gravy. The Princess is an homage to the city’s signature hot chicken, pop- ularized at Prince’s, with a spicy fried chicken thigh topped with pickles, mustard and honey.
The length of the menu suggests there are other things available, but it’s a lready hard to choose between those two, so I stop looking. And I learn from a friend in town that you don’t have to: There’s a secret sandwich off the menu. Order the Nasty Princess ($10), and you get the spicy thigh with sausage gravy and cheese. It’s inspired decadence. These are presented as breakfast sandwiches, but good luck picking any of them up.
Give up immediately and attack with knife and fork —especially if you add the optional egg on top ($2). Three locations, including 316 11th Ave. S; 615-490-9584; biscuitlove.com
Arnold’s Country Kitchen
If you’re looking for a res- taurant that has the seemingly paradoxical endorsements of both the James Beard Foundation and Guy Fieri — and Nashville has more than one — get to Arnold’s Country Kitchen. It’s a no-frills meat-and-three that’s been around since 1982 with decor built on a palate of cinder blocks and plywood that may be trendy now but feels true to utili- tarian roots.
It’s open only for lunch and only on weekdays. Each day has f our or five meat options — roast beef is always one, and there’s some kind of chicken and seafood — and twice that manys ides, and the standard equation costs $10.74. You don’t have to get a meat, and you can get as many sides as you want, but really, it’s called a meatand-three, and it seems like we should respect protocol. When I went, it was chicken and dumpling day, so I got that, and my only regret was that there were unannounced pork ribs available further down the line. When picking sides, if you get white beans and turnip greens, you can take some chances with the third because you got those two rig ht. Dessert is extra, but just $2.75 for a piece of pie that will remind you of your best family picnic memories. If the spicy chocolate pie is among the rotating options, do yourself that favor. 605 Eighth Ave. S; 615-256-4455; arnoldscountrykitchen.com
Henrietta Red
The Ger mantownneigh- borhood just north of down- town is packed with dining options, and the one getting the buzz lately is Henrietta Red, which made the James Beard list of best new restaurants this year and is led by chef Julia Sullivan, who was just named one of Food & Winem agazine’s best new chefs. The oyster bar is the centerpiece of a pristine-white dining room and foretells the menu’s focus on seafood. The raw bar features oysters sourced from all along the perime- ter of the country ($2.75- $4 each), and the menu is made up of small, shareable plates with a laser focus on what’s in season now.
That almost comes to a fault during a visit at the height of peach season when we’re six plates in and realize that, inadvertently, we’re on our third in which the fruit plays an impor tant role. All is forgiven because they’re really good peaches, and each instance is a thoughtful use of them. Like the tomato salad ($14) w ith baked ricotta and peaches. And the polenta with sweet corn and peaches ($18). The fruity bits in the beautiful snapper crudo ($12) are actually Cara Cara orange. Desserts are mostly simple, elegant affairs, but a sundae ($8) with a mix of lime, caramel and coffee makes sense when you taste it. 1200 Fourth Ave. N.; 615490-8042; henriettared.com