Area Restaurants are Breaking the Dining Mold
Published May 23, 2008
It’s no secret Nashville is a creative city – it’s a mecca for songwriters, artists and other inventive types. So it’s no secret that this creative vibe spills over into Nashville’s restaurant industry, where many popular dining spots are one-of-a-kind.
Take Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack, for example. Located north of downtown off Dickerson Road, Prince’s dates back to the 1940s and serves up crispy fried chicken that’s hot enough to make an Eskimo sweat.
“There’s just nothing like it anywhere in the world. It is a unique Nashville food not available anywhere else on the planet,” says former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell, who is a hot chicken devotee. “Once you’ve had it, you understand that it’s both different and better than any other food.”
Nashville-style hot chicken is also served at other local establishments, including 400° (where 100 degrees is mild, 200 is medium and 400 is hot) and Bolton’s Spicy Chicken & Fish. While the recipes remain tightly guarded secrets of the individual restaurants, lots of cayenne pepper is a common denominator.
Nashville hot chicken lovers are so enthusiastic about the dish, the first-ever Hot Chicken Festival was held July 4, 2007, as part of the city’s 200th anniversary celebration.
Dozens of other restaurants in Nashville also pride themselves on their originality. In fact, more than 30 of them joined forces in 2006 to form the Nashville Originals, a dedicated band of local restaurateurs whose goal is to sustain the independent restaurant as a feature and a fixture of local culture and community.
One such eatery is Provence Breads & Café, a popular gourmet bakery that specializes in artisan breads and delectable French pastries. Provence, which has five locations across the city, was started by Terry Carr-Hall in 1996, after he attended a baking school in France and fell in love with the breads and pastries of the country’s Provence region.
Today, the restaurant owner describes Nashville as “on the cusp of exploding when it comes to cuisine.”
“We have wonderful restaurants and a high-end clientele that really understands gourmet foods,” Carr-Hall says.
Tin Angel, a neighborhood bistro on West End Avenue, is another Nashville Originals pioneer.
Opened by Vicki and Rick Bolsom in 1993, Tin Angel is tucked inside a restored historic building with exposed brick walls, a freestanding fireplace and tin ceilings.
The menu changes seasonally to reflect foods that are fresh and available, but favorites include Chesapeake Bay style crab cakes, Inside Out Eggplant Parmigiana, Almond & Herb Crusted
Rainbow Trout and Fried Green Tomatoes.
Some of the other independent restaurant that are part of the Originals include Cabana, Caffe Nonna, Ombi, McCabe Pub and Jimmy Kelly’s.
For more information, visit www.nashvilleoriginals.com.
Story by Jessica Mozo
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