A weekend in Nashville is not nearly enough time to see and eat all that Music City has to offer, but here are some highlights that will certainly prove you gave it your best.
What food is synonymous with Nashville? Why HOT CHICKEN, of course! Here’s a little background on the rise of this red-hot bird whose appeal is due partly because “it can be a punishment and joy at the same time”, according to Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack owner Andre Prince. The Prince family has been selling hot chicken for more than 70 years and is thought to have conceived the dish. “Prince’s is the ground zero for hot chicken,” says Timothy Davis, author of The Hot Chicken Cookbook — the Fiery History and Red Hot Recipes of Nashville’s Beloved Bird. {Source: NPR}
A little more digging found that while Prince’s may have been selling hot chicken for 70 years, it was made and sold primarily in the city’s black neighborhoods. Only in the past decade has Nashville’s signature dish spread its wings to set the general population on fire and become a global sensation – you can find Nashville Hot Chicken joints in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and even Australia. New places have taken off locally as well with Bolton’s, Hattie B’s and others, all with their own special recipe.
My Nashville Hot Chicken experience came at the Music City Food & Wine Festival with Hattie B’s serving up Hot Chicken Jambonettes topped with a dill pickle and cheesy grits. At Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, a relatively new establishment in Nashville, the specialty comes paired with Southern sides like black-eyed-pea salad and pimento mac and cheese.
Having purchased a ticket in advance, we braved Music City Food & Wine on a rainy Saturday afternoon – an uncommon occurrence for Nashville at this time of year, but what are you gonna do? The four of us: my blogger friend, Angela Roberts who tempts us with pies and such at Spinach Tiger, and two friends of hers, also Nashville bloggers had a fabulous time chatting up the vendors, noshing, imbibing and singing in the rain! Angela and I have conversed online since 2010 and finally got to meet in real life – the friends you make through your online presence is definitely one of the most rewarding aspects of blogging. The only unfortunate part was the festival seemed to have ignored the forecast and had no plan for minimizing the muddy mess that ensued. But whatever, that’s not going to happen to you!
Granted, if you don’t spend an entire day at Music City Food & Wine, you’ll have more time to sightsee, but there’s nothing like a food festival to get a first hand look and taste of the cuisine and libations that define a city.
And then, there’s BBQ, or Barbecue, or Bar-B-Que. Any way you like it, whole hog is king here and Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint‘s pitmaster Pat Martin and friends had Bicentennial Park smoking as they talked with guests about their approach to low and slow, live-fire cooking. I actually stumbled across their newest location in downtown Nashville (410 4th Avenue South) after leaving the Country Music Hall of Fame on Sunday. I needed a cold beverage and, sitting at the bar perusing the menu with the Titans squeaking by the Lions in the background, the Redneck Taco was speaking to me, but settled for a cold beer sinc dinner was less than 3 hours away….
As you would expect at any food and wine festival, a wide array of scrumptious food and libations. Clockwise from top left: Nomadic Tea Party Firepot Chai Bourbon, Jiovanni’s Hudson Valley duck confit with spiced balsamic and honey over polenta, Green Market Tacos with Crema, and a Dark Chocolate Panna Cotta by Etc. at the Williams Sonoma booth.
Chocolate Panna Cotta: Earl Grey caramel | whipped orange creme fraiche vanilla bean meringue | chocolate crumble | prepared by Megan Williams
Thoughtfully crafted cocktails by Hendrick’s Gin, Wild Turkey, and Virgil Kaine were stellar.
Now if you don’t spend your Saturday at a wine and food festival, this is Music City and there are several places you should go – you don’t have to be a country music fan to appreciate the history behind Ryman Auditorium, the “Mother Church of Country Music”, and the impact that this uniquely American music had on icons Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and later, Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Southern rock bands like Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Marshall Tucker, and which continues to influence musicians of all genres today. Many years ago, we were there for a corporate event and were given a private backstage tour and saw Lee Ann Womack perform. Ironically, Brian Wilson was performing Pet Sounds the weekend of my visit, which would have been incredible to hear in the excellent acoustics of Ryman Auditorium!
Built in 1892 and a National Historic Landmark, Ryman Auditorium was the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943-1974 when the Opry moved to its current location on Opryland Drive near the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center.
Just yesterday, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill announced a surprise Ryman show (previously under the name Sam & Audrey) for today, and it sold out immediately once word got out that Sam & Audrey were indeed, Tim and Faith.
UPCOMING EVENTS AT RYMAN AUDITORIUM
- Tim McGraw & Faith Hill – October 4th
- John Hiatt Trio – October 5th
- Opry Country Classics: Connie Smith, Rhonda Vincent & More – October 6th
- Todd Snider – October 7th
- Kansas – October 8th
- Switchfoot and Relient K – October 9th
- Opry Country Classics: Crystal Gayle, Charlie Worsham & More – October 13th
- Local Natives – October 14th
- The Head and the Heart – October 15th – October 16th
- Elvis Costello – October 17th
- An Evening with Bob Weir – October 19th
- Opry Country Classics: Lorrie Morgan, TG Sheppard & More – October 20th
If you don’t go to see a show, then of course you have to hit Honky Tonk Row. Just be forewarned that it has somehow, in the past few years, evolved into a giant Bachelorette Party. My Lyft driver was the first to tip me on this as we followed a double-decker bus with a passel of waving, screaming women sporting Daisy Duke’s with princess tiaras and bridal veils. But hey, it’s exhilarating to see people having a great time – Honky Tonk Row is like Las Vegas South, locals are calling it Nas Vegas!
Robert’s Western World and Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, side by side on Broadway, are equally famous. but I found a seat at the end of the bar at Robert’s Western World and, according to locals I chatted up that night, Robert’s is the all around best of the original honky tonks. What exactly is a honky tonk, anyway? Wikipedia defines “honky tonk” as “a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons” while Urban Dictionary says it’s, “A loud, rowdy bar that plays ‘honky tonk‘ country music. Typically full of drunken hillbillies having a good ole’ time”. LOL – there were local folks and tourists and I guess hillbillies sport tats now, because there were lots of very intricate tattoos!
The buildings on Broadway are steeped in history, with some of them serving as hospitals during the days of the American Civil War. The building that is now home to Robert’s was used as a warehouse, office space for river merchants, and for a variety of other purposes. From the late 1950s to the early 1980s — the heyday of country music — the building served as the home of Sho-Bud Steel Guitar Company.
Nashville’s hotels tend to be on par with Chicago, San Francisco and New York City price wise and there are a number of familiar names downtown that put you within walking distance of much of the action and main attractions. I stayed at the Hilton Nashville Downtown and was pleased with the room – it’s an all-suites hotel – and how conveniently located it is to Honky Tonk Row, Country Music Hall of Fame, Ryman Auditorium, the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge, Bridgestone Arena and more.
That was all on Saturday!
I started Sunday meeting up with Angela for brunch at Josephine located in Nashville’s creative neighborhood of 12 South. Josephine is listed among The 18 Essential Nashville Restaurants by Eater Nashville and, not by design, but so are the other two that I’ve mentioned (Hattie B’s and Martin’s Bar-B-Que).
“Josephine, the second restaurant offering from Community Hospitality (Burger Up, Prima), just keeps evolving. Executive chef Andy Little draws inspiration from his time spent cooking in Pennsylvania-Dutch country, the results of which are dishes and flavors you won’t find anywhere else in town. And with the addition of his 10-course tasting menu “x|x”, Little is helping to push the boundaries of local diners’ expectations.”
I read somewhere that dinner at Josephine is a coveted reservation and a favorite with local celebrities, but I was there for coffee and something reasonably healthy to offset yesterday’s indulgences, so I don’t know about that.
I had to go light: Crab Cake | mixed greens | lemon-mint vinaigrette
Then Angela went and did this: BLT | heirloom tomato | Benton’s bacon | basil mayo
We couldn’t help ourselves and even tried two of the cocktails… But then off to conquer the County Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
A must-see for any music fan, I enjoyed this museum immensely! With hundreds of exhibits, it delivered far more than I expected largely due to the current special exhibit, Dylan-Cash and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City, which catalogs Dylan’s relationship with Johnny Cash and how his decision to record in Nashville in 1966 provided a major catalyst for bringing many others to Nashville to record. Despite Nashville’s reputation as a conservative town, removed from current trends in popular music, it was home to a coterie of the very finest session musicians who had a huge influence on other music scenes of the era.
Bob Dylan recorded four defining albums in Nashville beginning with Blonde on Blonde in 1966, followed by John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline, and portions of Self Portrait. Artists who followed Dylan to Nashville to record or to appear on Cash’s show were rewarded with the opportunity to work with world-class musicians. One section of the exhibit takes a look at artists who came from music scenes in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto and London to record with the Nashville Cats, some produced albums that ranked as career highlights. The exhibit runs until December 31, 2016. Read more: Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats: A New Music City.
Other smaller exhibits center on Blake Shelton, Charlie Daniels, Alabama and the Zac Brown Band, in addition to the core, permanent exhibit which tells the story of country music from its pre-commercial roots in the nineteenth century to today’s vibrant scene. There are tons of artifacts from Carl Perkins’ blue suede shoes to several of Taylor Swift’s stage costumes. But any museum that includes Elvis’s gold piano – a gift from Priscilla on their first anniversary, and his flamboyant 1960 Cadillac series 75 Fleetwood with gold-plated trim and accoutrements (small refrigerator, shoe polisher, record player and radio phone in the rear of the limousine) deserves to be at the top of the list of places to visit in Nashville! I haven’t made it to Graceland yet, but Memphis barbecue and a visit to Graceland is forthcoming.
The grand finale to my hot fun weekend was dinner at Moto and off to the legendary Bluebird Cafe to get in line for songwriter’s night. Sunday’s are first-come-first-serve and with only 20 tables, 10 bar seats, and eight short church pews, you need to join the line by 6:30ish for the door to open at 7:30 (the second show starts at 8:00 p.m.). Established in 1982, The Bluebird Cafe is well known for featuring original music by the world’s best songwriters and it achieved legendary status after Garth Brooks was discovered there in 1988 and, then, Taylor Swift in 2005. Unfortunately, We didn’t arrive until 7:00 and were hopeful as the line moved and people were seated, but ended up being within spitting distance of a seat – they don’t do standing room only. Next time! (Reservations are available Tuesday-Saturday, so check their performance schedule!) There are outside speakers and we listened for about an hour and then decided a good night’s sleep was in order. Now, if only Garth Brooks had made a surprise appearance that night, like he did this past Monday! Stuff like that happens at The Bluebird Cafe.
Donald Willis
Great story! Sounds like fun.
sippitysup
You got to hang with the SpinachTiger. How fun. I have to ask (changing the subject) have you had Howlin’ Rays Nashville Style Fried Chicken here in LA yet? I wonder how they compare. GREG
Priscilla
Hi Greg – We had a blast! And, no I haven’t tried Howlin’Rays – may be a good reason for a trek to LA 😉