The Best of Nashville

by aspoonfulofcoriander

I’ve finally done it. I’ve finally graduated from college. It feels so odd to not have any upcoming papers to write or tests to study for. Yesterday was one of the most exciting days of my life and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the rest. Hopefully now I’ll have more time to blog, I have a ton of recipes that I’ve made in the past few weeks that are demanding to be posted so expect a bunch of recipes in the next few days.

You’re probably wondering what this has to do with Nashville…A friend and I went to see Tyler Hilton’s concert at The Rutledge Friday night but before the concert we made a point to stop at some local restaurants that have recently been named the best of the Nashville food scene. They did not disappoint. The first stop was a food truck named The Cheeserie and OH MY GOD it was one of the BEST places I’ve ever ate. I’m so glad that I don’t live in Nashville because I would eat there every day and weigh 800 pounds. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat a regular old grilled cheese again. They use all local ingredients which I adore and was one of the main reasons for us stopping by for lunch.

We tried two different sandwiches, one was called The Local R.B. and the other was The Localiente. The first was local grass-fed roast beef in au jus with provolone cheese, caramelized onions, horseradish & garlic chive crema on sourdough.

The second, which was the star of the show and the weekly special, consisted of pepper jack cheese, house-made pork (Porter Road Butcher) Mexican chorizo,  avocado aioli, caramelized onions, and  pickled jalapeños on sourdough. Both paired with a Mexican Coke (no high fructose corn syrup!) and we were in heaven. If you’re ever in Nashville text CHEESE to 88000 to find their location for that day, you won’t regret it!

Just look at that avocado!

I love their stamped paper bags and I also think it’s awesome that more places have Mexican Coke!

Our next stop on the food route of the day was a cupcake bakery called The Cupcake Collection. The bakery is located in Historic Germantown and is built on to the family’s home! They have been such a success and now I know why. The wonderful made-from-scratch cupcakes are delicious and at only a $1.50 you can’t find anything better! I couldn’t believe how cheap they were, I’m used to paying over $3 for a single cupcake. Another thing that was impressive was how incredibly nice the staff were. If only they could deliver to Johnson City! They had some really neat flavors like pink lemonade, and sweet potato but I’m a sucker for a classic wedding cake cupcake so that’s what I had…and the red velvet but who’s counting? Not me. There was a perfect amount of icing and the cake was as moist as could be. This place will soar.

Perfection

For dinner we went to Merchants. They opened in 1988 out of the old Merchant’s Hotel, which was constructed in 1892. The building features exposed brick and gorgeous wood work which gives it a wonderful charm. They have two different restaurants in the same building with the “UP” being upstairs and more expensive and the “DOWN” being downstairs with more traditional fare and a little cheaper. All of the servers wear suspenders with the downstairs servers also rocking converse sneakers and the upstairs in a more polished black slacks and ties. We were not all that hungry after our lunch and cupcakes so I ordered the Duck Fat Tater Tots & and a side caesar salad. I’ve been on a duck kick lately and when I saw these I knew they were going to be good. The duck flavor was really pronounced in the dish and I wasn’t sure about the first couple of bites but paired with the chipotle mayonnaise that accompanied them, they were perfect. The salad had soft olive oil croutons which were amazing and the house-made dressing, while not authentic, was still delicious.

 

All in all we had a pretty great day with some awesome food. Get ready for a lot of recipes coming your way this week!

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