Fiddlecakes is on 8th Avenue South, in the cottage that used to house Savannah Tea Company. The owners have done some good work updating the shop; outside there’s a helpful sign noting that cars should travel only one way on the driveway that leads to the parking lot behind the store, which is much appreciated. Inside, you’re greeted with a display case of the goodies of the day, as well as a board noting other menu offerings. Seating has been updated with a lot of different options, including bar stool seating as well as regular tables. There’s a coffee-fixup area where you can add cream and sugar to your brewed coffee, and it’s helpfully out of the main traffic area, which I really appreciated.

The shop was already bustling when I got there soon after opening time. I ordered quiche ($2.95) and coffee for my breakfast, which I ate at the store. The quiche was fantastic – very flavorful and well-seasoned, and just moist enough. I’ve had my share of really awful quiche in my life and have gotten used to ordering with a degree of hesitance, but this quiche was really fantastic and had what is to me perfect texture. The coffee was very good too, with no bitterness.

On to the baked goodies. I picked up a selection of muffins, scones, and cinnamon rolls (all between $2.25 and $2.45) for my coworkers, and asked them to give me their opinions. Here are their comments:

Orange blossom muffin:  delicious – tasted like the cake from the 1950s!

Cinnamon roll: the perfect texture to have with coffee, the nuts were great, and the roll was not too sweet (which most of them are!)

Brie and date scone: delicious, with a nice balance of sweetness from the dried fruit and saltiness from the brie.

Blueberry scone: just right.

Bran muffin: the end-all.  Moist & tender, with a delicate hint of something that I couldn’t distinguish but absolutely loved.  I don’t generally like raisins in baked goods, but these were perfect. We had a bit of debate about that flavor we couldn’t distinguish in the bran muffin. Maybe it was bergamot?

If you’re driving into Nashville, Fiddlecakes’ location on the right-hand side of 8th Avenue makes it extremely convenient for a morning stop. In addition to the items we mentioned, they’ve got a great selection of cupcakes, sandwiches, and panini (for my next visit I’ve got my eye on the french toastie, which is made of  ham, brie, tomato, and blueberry mustard). We heartily suggest trying them out sometime!

Fiddlecakes
2206 8th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37204
(615) 457-2127

Open Monday-Friday 7am-3pm
Open Saturday 8am-2pm

Photo credit Flickr user ahoy_matey

Raz’z Restaurant & Bar will be featured on “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” on Friday, March 12 at 9pm on the Food Network. The live viewing party will be held at  the Murfreesboro Road location of the restaurant.

2241 Murfreesboro Road, Nashville 37127
615-399-8084
www.razbarandgrill.com

Chicken Man describes the hot chicken experience more frequently than insurance companies deny claims.  You arrive at the hole-in-the-wall establishment on the outskirts of downtown, dodge the major potholes in the extra-space parking lot, ignore many people just sitting in their cars because they’ve already ordered and are waiting; somehow you’ve miraculously found your way to the front of the line without much ado, and you eye the menu.  Before you order, you notice a plaque on the wall indicating that the humble place you’ve arrived also happens to be the Best Restaurant in Tennessee, according to the Tennessee General Assembly.  In addition to making sure we can drink at bars while packing heat, the General Assembly has spoken.

Chicken Man takes a deep breath and orders.  ”I’d like a quarter mild with mashed potatoes and slaw.”  ”We don’t have mashed potatoes.”  ”Oh, right…potato salad.”  Jeez its been a while, Chicken Man thinks, and wonders if he remembered to bring cash – which is all they take.  Once Chicken Man pays, the experience is just beginning, but that’s the most activity you will encounter for the next forty-five minutes.  After you order, you will hopelessly eye tables of people who are also waiting, wondering when you can angle yourself into a seat.  Be vigilant, and friendliness comes in handy.

Did you notice Chicken Man said mild?  Yes, there have been instances where he’s been known to go darker, but usually mild is all he can take without tearing constantly.  One of the best moments he’s had was being in line when some neophyte walked up to the window and casually said, “I’ll take hot.”  With the instant reaction from the staff,  ”You can’t handle it.”  The rest of us in line cringed, generating a moment of camaraderie between you and whoever heard the foolish Hot request.   It is possible to go extra hot, actually, but the person who last ordered it has not been seen in six months.  They’re still on the can.

A part of the mystique of these chicken places rests in the secrecy of their recipe, the humility of the location, and the lengthy wait that is usually just as famous as their selections.   On our recent trip, the Foodie team had had a grand total of a cupcake to eat that day – we were there for dinner, and we had all just finished moving furniture to a new place for most of the day.  Chicken Man’s good nature was on trial, and he kept the smile on the face and the lingering anticipation of a great meal up for about 50 minutes.  Then the arch-nemesis Hour Wait arrived and took control, relinquishing it’s hold on us fifteen minutes later.   It is possible to call ahead and avoid some of the wait…give it a shot.  Also on the planning side, bring your own platoon of napkins.

It was good, but not great as the memory of visits past.  The cole slaw and potato salad were welcome relief from the spicy version of the chicken, which is mild in name only.   Sadly, Chicken Man’s piece had been overdone and overbreaded, leaving a very difficult crunch to get to the meat within.  Its also possible that Chicken Man’s taste has changed due to further explorations in the foodie world.  If that’s the case, its probably because he passed the frog-leg space/time continuum in previous episodes.  (See our review of Miel).  There are some doors you just can’t turn back from.  If only he had known.

All in all, its tough to call yourself a true Nashville Foodie if you haven’t tried at least one of the hot chicken places in Nashville.  Prince’s is the champ, but consider avoiding the massive wait by hitting up Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish, 400 Degrees, or perhaps King Fish on Rosa Parks.   While our experience this time around was mixed, we’ve never been disappointed before, and we certainly wouldn’t want anyone to skip the memorable event.  Also consider marking your calendar for the Third? Annual Hot Chicken Festival (usually in early July).  Just get there reallllly early if you want chicken without a massive wait, never knowing if they’ll run out, and bring ample cash for true sampling.

Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack
123 Ewing Drive
Nashville, TN 37207
(615) 226-9442

JD Country Milk is a family owned and operated farm just across the Kentucky border that provides their milk on each Saturday in the Nashville Farmer’s Market.  We’ve been getting our milk from them for the last few months, and we wouldn’t go anywhere else if we could avoid it.  Word on the street is that they’ll soon be sending their stuff over to Whole Foods, as they’ve already hit up local favorite The Produce Place on Murphy Road.  (Anyone that supplies The Produce Place is O.K. in our books.)  As the demand has skyrocketed for their products, it will get harder and harder to get your hands on their milk.  It’s better than anything else we’ve had – and here’s why.  They do everything in the way you would do it if you thought of yourself as a farmer.

Most importantly, the milk is fresh.  They bottle on Thursdays, pack on Fridays, and sell on Saturdays.  So it’s within two days that you get a fresh bottle of milk.   They also bottle in glass, so you don’t get any plastic aftertaste.

It is significant that the milk is non-homogenized.  We recently had a nutritionist friend tell us the problem with homogenized milk – it’s a process that encapsulates particles that would separate and clump together at the top of the milk.  The somewhat shocking collateral damage from this process is that those same particles can’t be digested by the intestine after homogenization, so they get into your bloodstream where they damage your body as cholesterol build-up and other problems.   Given this side effect, if it were up to us, we’d never go back to homogenized.

Finally, the milk is just better because the cows are happy.  If I were a cow, I’d like roaming around the farm at my leisure, being free-range, having non-chemical grass to eat, and getting some vitamins to boot to keep up my health.  That’s why the farm never uses synthetic hormones or anitbiotics…and that’s why we think the milk tastes great.

So on our recent trip to the Farmer’s Market, we decided to introduce ourselves as members of the foodie team and ask how things were going. Our regularly present family member, who is extraordinarily kind, told us about their plans and successes (even with a long line behind us).  So afterward, as only purebred foodies would do, we grabbed a brochure and called the number to ask if we could come by for a tour.  Even on short notice, Edna arranged for us to be shown around on that same Saturday.  Wow.  So off we went to Russellville, KY, for our own private tour and chance to meet and play with these happy cows.

Turns out they make all sorts of things that are doing well at markets.  A few weekends ago a Louisville paper wrote an article on them, and now grocers are practically screaming for their milk.  They sell out each week, and as you’d expect, corporate grocers are the biggest hold up.  We heard that Whole Foods in Nashville is now switching to their label – after already selling it under another brand – so things are looking up in the Nashville side of things.  We have just bought some of their free range eggs and sea-salt butter for the first time, we’ll let you know how it turns out in comparison to our Avalon Acres crop-share experience for two years.  They also sell unsalted butter, sour cream, and some homemade granola.   When you buy the eggs, your family member will inspect them for you to make sure you’re getting a quality batch after the morning road-trip.

They sell whole “cream line” milk, 2 percent, skim, chocolate whole, lowfat chocolate, sweet buttermilk, half and half, heavy cream, and fresh egg nog.  We have already been hooked on the whole milk and chocolate for so long that we purchase a half gallon of each weekly.  Can you imagine what the egg nog must be like?  Since we’ve just finished the holiday season, our recent trip to the grocery to find egg nog is fresh in our minds…we looked at the ingredients…and found high fructose corn syrup and several other preservatives on every style available.  Since we loved it so much we bought it anyway, especially after our own efforts at making it produced a good sample, but we couldn’t get the result uniform enough to avoid some small chunks.  So with that in mind, here is the total list of ingredients in their egg nog: whole milk, egg yolks, cane sugar, pure vanilla, nutmeg.  Sound good to you?  Here are the ingredients for Sweet Buttermilk: cultured whole milk, salt.

Anyway, that’s a part of the reason the line is getting longer on Saturday mornings.  Be sure to bring back your glass jars.  After the small deposit on the jars, you can get a quart of chocolate milk and a half gallon of two percent or whole milk for a grand whopping total of four dollars flat.

Well, we did find a small secret, and it just makes us more glad to be a customer.  We learned that they donate any milk from their operations to the Nashville Rescue Mission.   We are impressed.  That’s a bit of a drive, but we’re glad to hear that the folks at the Rescue Mission are getting some great products and support.

We’ll post soon on the results of our trip to the farm.  Until then, happy eating.

commenter #4, Melissa, is the winner! Congratulations! Melissa, please email us today so we can get your information to the Red Pony folks.

Thanks for entering everyone, and we hope that you’ll try out Red Pony soon!

It’s been quite a week for Franklin restaurant Red Pony. Their half-off Groupon offering sold out, and now Chef Jason McConnell is hosting a special “Appetizers 101″ event next week, March 4. He’s invited Nashville Foodies readers to enter a drawing for one free ticket!

Here’s more info on “Appetizers 101″:

Searching for the perfect appetizer for entertaining guests? March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo—there are plenty of occasions for parties coming up, and with the help of Red Pony’s Chef Jason McConnell, hosts can surprise guests with innovative and delicious hors d’oeuvres.

On Thursday, March 4, Chef McConnell will host Easy Appetizers 101 and walk guests through the development of three simple, yet savory appetizers. Guests will enjoy tasting and learning with friends, while sipping on suggested wines to pair with each dish. The event costs $20.00 per person and includes three hefty portions of the featured appetizers and three wine tastings. Additionally, patrons will leave with the recipes and will also receive 15 percent off on all food purchases at Red Pony, SOL or 55 South for the following month. The cost includes tax and gratuity. For reservations or more information, call 615.595.7669.

We are pleased to offer through this drawing one ticket to Appetizers 101. To enter, comment below by Tuesday, March 2 at 11:59pm Central time. We will choose a commenter randomly, announce the winner on March 3, and you’ll pick up your free ticket at the door on March 4. Please note that you must be 21 or over to enter the drawing. And even if you don’t win, we hope you’ll stop by Red Pony  or its sister restaurants SOL and 55 South soon!

It can be difficult to dine out on holidays. It seems as though a lot of places are closed (which we would expect, because who doesn’t want to have some down time?) However, if you do want to eat out it is often challenging to find a place, and to find a great place is even more difficult.  We found ourselves wanting a meal out on New Year’s Day but almost every place we looked was closed! Happily, we found success at Franklin restaurant Red Pony and serendipitously chose a restaurant to which we’ll be sure to return. Josh and I had a great meal there with some members of his family.

We started our meal with the beef tenderloin pizza ($12), and we really like the flavors it contained, especially the bleu cheese and caramelized onion. The pizza was great, but I would have been happy with just the bread basket that was also brought (and is included with your meal). It included a wide variety of tiny savory muffins and slices of bread along with some inventive spreads, such as one made with lima beans.

For entrees, I ordered the Red Pony “BLT” ($27), which is Red Pony’s twist on the term. The dish is comprised of ravioli stuffed with Yukon Gold potatoes, topped with bacon, lobster, and tomato. A corn cream sauce finishes the dish and is a nice change-up from stuffy alfredo-type sauces which often accompany pasta dishes at some restaurants. Josh had the wood grilled beef tenderloin ($28) which came with bleu cheese-sweet corn risotto and asparagus, topped with a lemon butter. I was holding my breath on this one, because Josh is known to not really like dishes that include lemon flavors, but he pronounced it just right.

The service was great at Red Pony. Our server was attentive but not hovering or pushy. Overall, we had a very nice, pleasant evening, and recommend Red Pony if you’re looking for a Franklin restaurant.

Red Pony Restaurant
408 Main St
Franklin, TN 37064
www.redponyrestaurant.com
(615) 595-7669

Photo credit: Flickr user LAYeiser

Consider having a special meal out on a day other than Valentine’s Day, maybe sometime in the week after. There will be much less pressure and the restaurant staff will likely be much more relaxed. We’ll make some recommendations below, but to be sure  it won’t be a travesty if you don’t get in on the actual day. When you love someone, February 17 or March 24 or July 6 should be just as special as February 14.

So here’s my recommendations for a nice dinner out this week.  Be sure to check the restaurant websites so you can confirm open/close day and times.

Marché Artisan Foods: We keep going back over and over again, and I think I can say with confidence it’s my favorite restaurant in Nashville. We love the very reasonable prices for good quality food. Some might say that the ambience isn’t really romantic, but we like it very much, and this would be our first choice for a Valentine’s Day/week after meal out. It would also be nice for lunch or brunch, depending upon what your schedule allows.

Tayst: Even when there’s a bustle of people around you in this restaurant, your own little corner feels quiet and private and the staff take great care of you. The menu is carefully compiled; to me, it’s a kind of cerebral approach to food choices that will leave you pondering and enjoying the flavor combinations.

Flyte: We haven’t yet reviewed Flyte, but we visited a few weeks ago and were really impressed by our meal. The service is outstanding and the seating area very cozy.  We recently visited on a Thursday night after a very busy day, and I left relaxed and very pleased with the meal. Ask for a seat in the comfy banquette. I recommend pairing the Salad Flyte, which is a portion of all three of their salads, with an appetizer for a great combination of flavors and textures.

Such a simple description for Southern hospitality; such a core concept.  Perhaps that was the moment that I really began to love food.  For me, it meant a new way to understand this new home, a welcoming place where people take care of you even when they don’t know you.  I’ve been looking for those eateries ever since then, where they fill you to the brim and don’t leave any vacancy down below, no matter who you are.  They enjoy doing it and getting to know you too.

I think that mysterious Southerner would have enjoyed eating at Bro’s.  Bro tells me he arrived here right around the time I did, so I doubt the passenger would have had the pleasure at the time.  For those of you who are familiar with Bro’s, you know how hard it is to walk out a stranger.  They certainly don’t know me from Adam (ha ha pun…if it was your name you’d think the phrase was weird too), yet it is not hard to catch a conversation or a smile from either the proprietor or the fellow customers.  It just makes you feel right at home.

In my case it’s not far away from my literal home in Sylvan Park.  Just a few seconds down Charlotte lies the humble Bro’s Cajun Cuisine tucked on the underside of the 440 overpass near Sylvan Heights.  It’s off to the right coming from town, has a small and tight turn off Charlotte to navigate before you reach the main parking, and can be somewhat off-putting from the looks of it.   I had done my homework, however, and knew that the place was open for lunch most weekdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. …. so I pressed on, passing by the Bro’s hitched boat in the front car spot, the Bro’s huge smoker which looks like it doesn’t understand the meaning of “I’ve had enough”, and rambled my way around to the far side of the restaurant where the Louisiana spirit really begins to sink in.  Practical tip: park right below the main entryway.  You’ll be grateful for the downhill approach upon your exit – easier for the stomach.

Walk inside and swing the door wide – this is the type of place that doesn’t mind if you announce your presence and the fact that you’re hUNnn gry.  You’ll be greeted by the aroma of Creole goodness and by Bro (Chef Breaux) if he’s around.  We don’t use real names here.  That would be far too formal.  Just walk in and sit down in one of the curved wooden slate benches.  Eye the whiteboard near the register for the day’s specials.  Apart from the main kitchen, there are also two other rooms that seat customers.  They’re just not as likely to spark conversation as the main area, so pick your bench and sit your butt down.  Notice the entire roll of paper towels on your table, as well as the Tabasco, Tennessee Smokehouse Sauce, file, and other options strewn within your colorfully draped table basket.

The environment is not to be missed. Look around and see the signed shots of stars on the wall, the chef clock, and the lightly playing radio.  Then catch the sign above the kitchen – BRO – Never Trust a Skinny Cook!  Bro and his fellows take this reprobation to heart, as their appearance is enough to make most people agree that they’ve found the epicenter of foodie goodness.  The friendly proprietor and his buddies remind me of Swamp Santas, with all the accompanying good vibes and openness, just without the red suits.

The menu is small but the dishes aren’t.  The starters are Gumbo ($5ish), Red Beans and Rice ($5ish), and Boudin ($3ish).  The Boudin description is worth repeating: A link of handmade sausage stuffed with rice and spicy ground pork.  For drinks, I would suggest the sweet tea and/or water with lemon.  Main dishes range from the Veggie Plate ($6ish) to the Crawfish Etouffee and Shrimp Creole (both around $14), with bigger versions of the Gumbo and Red Beans and Rice available for $9 and $7 respectively.  French Bread Po Boy sandwiches ($10ish) and pork, brisket, and ribs are always available.

I had the Beef Roast Special for $9 and chose the Red Beans and Rice and mashed potatoes as sides.  Bro wanted to know if I wanted onions on the Red Beans and gravy on my potatoes.  I told him not to skimp, I look skinny enough as it is.  By the time he was finished, I had a plate full of over-sized servings such that he commented, appropriately, “I almost put too much on there.”  I told him this was just fine with me, because he was right.

My waiter had not been nearly as friendly.  I couldn’t get a smile out of him.  He just kind of went about his business, and never chose to refill my sweet tea.  I almost choked when a regular rambled in and said, “Hey, Smiley!” Ahhh-haaa.  It was no secret, and I wasn’t the only one to notice the different tonality.  That cracked me up.

The beef roast was exceptionally good, easy to cut with the fork, but not overly done with any particular seasoning so the beefiness is the main sensation, with the soft carrots also coming through. The mashed potatoes were also the real deal, with the gravy carrying most of the flavor to compliment the smoothness of the starch staple.  The Red Beans and Rice came with onions to provide some texture and compliment the deeply-seasoned red beans and andouille slices.  With this type of cooking, I’m usually looking for a melded experience, with the only separateness coming from the last minute options that don’t cook for the lengthy time with the other ingredients.  That was what I got, and the flavoring was just spicy enough to be noticeable, such that it didn’t require any of the additions offered on the table, but also didn’t have me wishing for more water.  The cornbread finished off the plate, and I was slowing down towards the end.  Someone noticed with a smile as he caught my eye.

“You need some help over there?”  Bro was on top of it.  Oh no, I said, I’m too thin.  He laughed and sat down with the lady in front of me.  She had just told him that she was ready for her red beans, and he was making sure she felt welcome.  In my brief time there, Bro must have talked with half of us.  One man had Bro concerned so he got the direct question: “Did you get enough to eat?  How were those wings?”

I finished off and grabbed the paper check, but I felt bad because I took Bro away from his chat with the lady about Louisiana parties.  So I took my opportunity to tell a few stories at the register and find out more about Bro.  He was trying to explain to the woman that parties in Louisiana just have a certain feel to them that’s impossible to describe.  I’ll bet he’s right, and I feel like this post suffers from the same limitation.  When you go, you might learn about Bro’s time in the Navy, and that he never wanted to be the cook, but they found out about him and didn’t let him out of the kitchen.  You might learn that he swore never to cook again.  And he’s been doing it everyday since.  My inquisitive side is wondering what brought him to Nashville.  Maybe you’ll find out on your next trip.  To me, it didn’t really matter.  I just told him, “We’re glad you’re here in Nashville.”  He said, “So am I.”

And that’s the secret, isn’t it.  You just don’t know it until you live here.  Maybe someone will read this, and remember that waitress who called them honey for the first time, or that meat’n’three that sent along an extra smile.  Maybe you’ll find out in your own way that Nashville has its welcoming places.  Maybe you’ll pass your own stories on to those who are coming into town and don’t know what to expect, just as I did all those years ago.  Maybe you’ll show someone a second side to their new home before they ever arrive.  I promise you, it can mean the world to them.  It’s what home can mean for us Nashvillians who enjoy our food.

Bro’s Cajun Cuisine

3214 Charlotte Avenue

Nashville, TN 37209

www.broscajuncuisine.com

(615) 329-2626