A Taste of Nashville - Margot

1. Neighborhood: East Nashville at Five Points

2. History: 

Margot Cafe & Bar opened in June of 2001 by Chef Margot McCormack. It offers rustic French and Italian cuisine with an emphasis on the regions of Provence and Tuscany.

"Margot's philosophy on food and cooking is rooted in the cultures of southern France and Italy. It is based on seasonality and the very best ingredients. Margot is not looking to reinvent food but to reintroduce it in a personal and uncomplicated way" 

-Voted Best New Restaurant 2001 by Nashville Scene

-Voted Best Restaurant, Best Chef and Best Brunch by Best of Nashville 2005-2009

(information from website: www.margotcafe.com) 

3. Hours: 

Tuesday - Saturday: 6:00 - 10:00 pm (bar opens at 5pm)

Sunday Brunch: 11am - 2pm

Monday: Closed

4. Price:  

-dish to share: $3-12 (cheese plate, bread, chips, etc.) 

-first course: $6-12

-second course: $16-26

5. Parking: Parking was ok. They do have a TINY lot in front of the restaurant and free street parking on Woodland and Clearview. But if you are going on a weekend you may have to pay $3 for parking in a lot. 

6. Atmosphere: Atmosphere is perfect for a neighborhood gem. It is upscale but eclectic with individual vintage bread plates and everything. There were multiple dining areas. Including a small room upstairs. 

Source: Margotcafe.com

Source: Margotcafe.com

7. Service: The service was fine. You could tell they were well trained. But nothing really noteworthy.

8. Menu: The food was really well prepared. Chef is classically trained, updating her menu daily according to in-season, local ingredients. The food was the best part of the restaurant experience.

Sorry, the lighting was almost impossible for picture taking. Especially with my phone. 

Housemade Potato Chips with Aioli 

Fish Chowder with Bacon and Croutons 

Sopressata with Olive Relish, Arugula and Parmesan

We also tried:

-Pan Roasted Skate - potato cakes, spinach and caper brown butter

-Grilled Hanger Steak - Roasted Cauliflower and potatoes with Gorgonzola

-Bread crumb gnocchi with mushrooms walnuts and cream

All delicious!

*Well best part was our dinner guests :) Two of our team members from our Christmas Africa trip treated us to this amazing meal!

9. Ranking: 8 - We loved the food, loved our company and the atmosphere was great for a nice date night. It is not somewhere that I would go eat at often but it was worth our visit!

Thank you Gail and Randy for a wonderful meal and for helping us cross another restaurant off our list. 

We love you guys!

And we topped the night off at Jeni's Ice Cream....mmm

A Taste of Nashville - Etch

#2 Etch

1. Neighborhood: Downtown - Demonbreun and 3rd

(Ground floor of the Encore Building)

2. History: Another recently opened restaurant, Etch is run by Chef Deb Paquette. They offer bar seating, dining room and an open kitchen with bar seating as well. 

(information from website: www.etchrestaurant.com)

The Encore tower is right across the street from the Pinnacle building.

3. Hours: 

Monday - Friday : Lunch 11 - 2, Dinner 5 - 10 (bar opens at 4)

*Happy hour is 4 - 6:30

Saturday - just dinner

Sunday - closed, brunch coming soon!

4. Price:  $$$ = $15 - $35

5. Parking: Parking is a pain downtown. We ended up paying $5 at a lot and walked a block.

6. Atmosphere: Because Etch is located in the business district, the customers were professional and older. Pretty modern but not hip like most trendy Nashville restaurants. 

Photo credit: nashvilleguru.com

Bar at Etch
Photo credit: thedailymeal.net

7. Service: This one is hard to review because we stayed in the bar area, we were at a small table near the bar. We did not have traditional servers. But I felt like the bartender was not very professional. She always came to our table at weird times and carried herself pompously like we were bothering her.

8. Menu:

Another tricky category to give an honest answer. Michael and I just wanted appetizers and a drink so we did not dine at Etch. Their dinner menu looks tasty, including: 

However, we found the Happy Hour menu to be really delicious. Here is what we enjoyed:

Pork Belly - We really liked the combination of cilantro, raisins and nuts but didn't care for the tofu.

Duck Confit - Delicious with the candied orange peel and orange bread. I loved the balsamic blackberries.

Butter Tasting - So good. This is on the dinner menu and it was the first thing Michael saw when we were browsing restaurants in Nashville. We had to keep ordering bread to finish it because we didn't want it to go to waste. It is like getting a cheese plate for dessert. Goat butter, truffle butter, smoked plugra butter, duck butter...mmmm.

10. Ranking: Based solely on atmosphere and our Happy Hour experience, we would give it a 6.5 .

The food was good, but we weren't blown away and the service was mediocre. We feel like we need to have a true dining experience to really say whether or not we would go back. 

A Taste of Nashville - Silo

Due to popular demand, Michael and I are going to start adding blog posts about the restaurants in Nashville we have tried. We created a list of 60 and have already visited many of them. And we will definitely be adding to our list!

We will share: 

1. The Neighborhood

2. History

3. Hours

4. Price: 

         $ = $5-$10

         $$ = $10 -$25

         $$$ = $15 - $35

         $$$$ = $20 - $45

5. Parking... I like to know what to expect :)

6. Atmosphere

7. Service

8. Menu

9. Extra info - 'Must Order'

10. Ranking 1-10

Many people have asked me for a copy of the list. So here you go. 

*Note: #40. Fish and Co. is no longer open. We will replace that restaurant with a new one. 

#1. Silo

Neighborhood: Germantown

History: Recently opened, Silo claims to be elevated southern cuisine, a 'farm to fork' restaurant. The Executive Chef, Clay Greenberg, changes the menu daily to take advantage of seasonal produce from local Tennessee farms. Paul Cercone, collaborator and Artisan Baker, explains the name of the restaurant by saying, "Silos speak to things worth saving, like the Southern traditions of working hard, having fun and enjoying what you've grown or raised around a shared table."

(info from website: www.silotn.com)

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday at 5pm, Sunday brunch at 10:30, Closed Monday

Price: $$

              -Appetizers: $5-$12

              -Entrees: $14-$28

Parking: Street parking in the Germantown neighborhood. It was free but we had to walk a few blocks.

Atmosphere: Cool and contemporary with southern flair. Cedar board paneling on the wall. Water poured from Bullet Rye whiskey bottles. Servers wore jeans and plaid shirts. 

Service: The service was awesome. A lot of Nashville restaurants have really solid food or hip atmosphere but they usually lack on service. Our server was professional. You could tell he has been in the business for a long time. He was on the mark. We were so impressed by the server, the first thing we did when we got home was write a review on Open Table raving about the service. 

Menu: Simple, upscale southern. Flavors were on point. 

The menu the night we ate at Silo. It changes daily, so there is always something new to try out.

I keep forgetting to take a picture of my food before I eat it... But this is tasty Falls Mill grits topped with an onion jam. DELICIOUS! Silo has side dishes which are huge portions to share with the table. So we ordered grits to share.

Best appetizer hands down. These are crawfish beignets, like a savory donut. It was served with a delicious remoulade, sort of like a fancy tartar sauce.

I ordered Black Grouper which was set with parsnips, bacon, orange and jalapeño salad. It was fresh and yummy. This, again, is photographed after I had taken a few bites. The portion sizes were really generous.

Not pictured: Hanger Steak, confit fingerling potatoes, caramelized onions, Asher blue cheese sauce

Must Order: 

-Appetizers: Crawfish Beignet

-Side to share: Mac n' Cheese. Ok, we didn't actually order this because I was really craving grits but from all who have eaten at Silo - best Mac n' Cheese in Nashville!

Ranking: A solid 9.
We will definitely be going back.