Eating Out: City House, Knockout Wings, and The Tale of Two Taco Trucks.

City House: This restaurant is located in the Germantown neighborhood and is the brainchild of Chef Tandy Wilson. The restaurant declares itself as an authentic Italian restaurant that prides itself in using in-season locally grown produce and meats. Although the emphasis is Italian, the restaurant also offers it’s take on traditional southern foods. I really liked the décor of the restaurant. It was simple yet classy, without being stuffy or overly elegant. I was a little irritated that our table was not ready despite a reservation and the water is served with no ice. I cooled out a little once I got my Sazerac, the official cocktail of New Orleans. This drink is made of rye whiskey, bitters, sugar, and herbsaint. I was really impressed by the menu and chose to go with the Tennesse pork plate. This dish had a sampling of house cured pulled pork and house made sausage. It was served with aruglula that was cooked in a similar fashion to greens. It was very good-a little salty-but this should be expected when using house cured pork products. My cocktail and entrée ran roughly $30, which I thought was a bargin. I was also impressed that 20 year old Rip Van Winkle, the top ranked bourbon in the world, was offered on the desert menu. I’d definitely eat here again.

Knockout Wings: I’ve been trying to dine my way across two of the “ethnic cooridors” on my side of town. Jefferson Street is one of them. This is a predominately African American part of town that is famous for being the home of two traditionally African American universities: Fisk University and the Tennessee State University. Back in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s Jefferson Street was one of the most well known black neighborhoods in the southeast, famous for it’s jazz, blues, and R&B scenes. Jimi Hendrix, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, and Little Richard all played there. Eventually an interstate cut the neighborhood in half, and desegregation gave black Nashvillians the opportunity to shop in other areas of town. Knockout wings is located in the heart of this neighborhood. I ordered a dozen wings, half hot, half country. The first thing I noticed is that country means plain. The second thing I noticed was that the order only included drummies, there were no flats. The hot wings had decent flavor but didn’t blow me away and the famous biscuits were a little too sweet for my taste. Overall I found the restaurant to be a little overrated.

Charlotte Pike Taco Trucks: Charlotte Pike is one of the more diverse roads in Nashville. There are Hispanic, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and other types of cuisine offered on this street. I decided to start checking up some of the taco trucks located on this street. I’m not sure what the places true names are but I think the first one is called Tex-Mex and is located in about the 5800 block near the cluster of Vietnamese restaurants. I tried the steak (asada) and beef brisket bbq (barbacoa). They were 99 cents each and served with onions, cilantro, and a sauce. They were excellent, but upstaged by the truck in the 6300 block near the Sonic. This truck had a decent steak taco and a phenomenal carnita (roasted pork) taco. On top of that, the tacos were garnished with radishes and pickled carrots and they were only $1 each. I had a conversation with an acquaintance from Acapulco and he convinced me to go back and try some of the more exotic meats. In the near future expect reports on my experiences with tripe, beef cheek, tongue, and other strange meats!

The Best Parks in Nashville

On Saturday morning I went to the downtown library looking for a travel guide on Charleston. They didn’t have any on hand but I did stumble on a travel guide on Nashville. I had no intention of reading it, but I skimmed it over this morning to see if there were any major attractions I have missed out on. There was a section in the book regarding all of the nicknames this city has had or currently has. The list included: Music City USA, The Athens of the South, The Belt Buckle of The South, The Wall Street of the South (Nashville was a major player in southern banking before the shift to entertainment and healthcare) and The City of Parks.

City of Parks is an accurate description. The Nashville Parks commission states they manage 113 properties encompassing over 10,000 acres. In addition we have eight state parks the Nashville Metro area, numerous dog parks, and an aggressive plan in place to connect every part of Nashville through a series of urban greenways. Here is a list of some of my favorite parks in Nashville.

1. Centennial Park: (West End and Natchez Trace) I live two blocks away from Centennial Park and it is easily my favorite park in town. In my opinion, Centennial Park is the heart of the city. On any given day you can find numerous people taking advantage of what this area has to offer. The Parthenon, a replica of the Greek landmark that remains from the Exhibition, is its cornerstone. It houses the statue of Athena, a museum, and an art gallery. Lake Watuga is probably the second most notable feature and you can often find people fishing, feeding the birds, or relaxing on its banks. The park also boasts acres of green space, gardens, walking/running trails, and many other attractions. The park sponsors most of Nashville's key events including Earth Day, Movies in the Park, The Shakespere Festival, The Italian Festival, The Country Music Marathon, numerous chairity walks, and many other events. The park was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1972. In 2008 Mayor Karl Dean announced a major initiative to restore and preserve the park.

2. Shelby Bottoms: (Shelby and 20th) Shelby Bottoms is amazing because its 810 acres of undeveloped land located in an area where land would probably sell for a hefty price. It has five miles of paved and unpaved trails making it popular amongst runners, bikers, hikers, and birdwatchers. On the weekend, I often ride my bike across the river through Shelby Bottoms, and into the Stones River Greenway. Shelby Bottoms is also located near Shelby Park which is popular because of its playgrounds, baseball field, lake, picnic areas, and boat ramps.

3. “Dragon Park”: (Blakemore and 24th) The actual name of this park is Fannie Mae Dees Park, but it’s better known as “Dragon Park.” When I lived in Hillsboro Village I was only a block away from this park. I’ll admit that there are nicer parks, but I think this one is probably the coolest one if you’re a little kid. The highlight of the park is “The Dragon,” a giant sculpture of a sea serpent covered with mosaic designs. A lesser known fact is that the park is also the home to Tennessee’s first “Boundlessness Playground.” The playground is the brainchild of a local mom who was concerned because there was no play area that was accessible to children with physical and developmental disabilities. Through her hard work and the support of her community “Lily’s Garden” was constructed and named after her daughter.

4. Radnor Lake: (Granny White and Otter Creek Road) Radnor Lake is a state park located in the Oak Hill community. The lake is actually manmade, it was constructed by a railroad company to supply water for it’s steam engines. Eventually developers tried to make the area into suburban tract housing, but the public prevailed and it’s now one of Nashville more popular parks. The area is always packed with walkers, hikers, and birders taking advantage of the several miles of paved and unpaved trails. The area also boasts a large selection of wildlife including birds, otters, and deer.

5. The Warner Parks: (Highway 100) Edwin Warner and Percy Warner parks are located in West Nashville, and when combined is one of the largest parks in the US. Currently the park is at 2,684 acres with negotiations underway to purchase another 324 acres of ancient forest from the HG Hill family. I don’t make it out to this park as much as I would like but it’s very popular. It has several miles of hiking and equestrian trails and hosts the Iroquois Steeplechase.

Honorable Mention: Sevier Park, Beeman Park, Hall Of Fame Park, Hamilton Creek Park

Weekend Update: Record Store Day, Earth Day, Bre Aid, Lollapalooza

1) Record Store Day at Grimey’s was awesome. I saw a great performance by the Avett Brothers, bought “It’s Blitz” the new album by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, bought “Separation Sunday” by The Hold Steady and 10 used CD’s (at an amazing $2 a pop). Nashville is pretty lucky to have several great music stores in my opinion. It should also be noted that Grimey’s got some pub in a recent Spin article about the 15 best indie record stores in America (side note: I’ve been to five of them including Goner, Grimey’s, Ear-x-tacy, Reckless, and Amoeba)

2) Earth Day was pretty cool. This event was definitely improved over last year. Exhibits of note included some cool electric cars, a neat booth about invasive species, and the local farmers. I also got to see some great performances by Autovaughn and Charles "Wigg" Walker and the Dynamites. I picked up a copy of Local Table while I was there, reading it makes me want to join a CSA (Consumer supported agriculture). These are programs where an individual purchases “shares” of a farm from a local farmer. In return the farmer gives the shareholder a portion of the harvest, equivalent to the number of shares the individual owns. It sounds like a great way to get fresh, local produce on a consistent basis. My worries are that I may not be able to consume my share fast enough and I could possibly get tired of eating the same vegetables over and over, especially in the winter months when fewer crops are harvested. My Earth Day Pledges were to sign up for a few kilowatt hours of green power with the local electric company and to get off as many junk mail lists as possible.

3) I think Bre-Aid was a great success. This event was a fundraiser for my friend Bre Andrews. Bre, who is 28 years old was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She was 15 weeks pregnant at the time. Bre has been going to her treatments and is expecting to deliver in a few weeks. The treatments haven’t been cheap though and her friends and family have been rallying to help her out. It was cool to see her small town get behind her and put an event like this on. I’m guessing that somewhere between 300 to 400 people showed up for the event. If everyone contributed the suggested $20 then there was probably well over $6,000 raised.

4) Bought my Lollapalooza tickets today. The lineup didn’t blow me away, but it’s pretty solid. The bands that I’m most excited about seeing are mostly bands I have seen before like the Beastie Boys, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Band of Horses, TV on the Radio, The Decemberists, and The Gaslight Anthem. There are several bands that I’ve never seen I’m interested in, including Janes Addiction, Snoop Dogg, Vampire Weekend, Animal Collective, Of Montreal, and Fleet Foxes.

Nashville Scene agrees with my position on lofts

The Bites Blog on the Nashville Scene agrees with me. Lofts are full of douchebags. The scene shares this joke with us: What's the difference between an apartment and a loft? Everything's exactly the same, except a pretentious asshole lives in the loft.

I also wanted to include this part of the Scene's Ubran Flats review:
The surprise came when I asked my dining companions if they would drive back to the Gulch for dinner at Urban Flats. "I love the food," one person said, "but I don't get in my car and drive to dinner at any of those suburbany-feeling places."
Suburbany? But this is Urban Flats. It's in the Gulch, for Pete's sake. It's full of stained concrete, glass and industrial-height ceilings. You think it feels suburbany?
Well, yeah, maybe a little—only because everything at Urban Flats is new and still has that just-add-water-and-pendant-lights sheen to it, like so much suburban strip-mall architecture. But the restaurant isn't a phony. It doesn't pretend to reclaim an old industrial space, as do so many new projects—which reminds again me of that joke about the difference between lofts and apartments.

The Gulch and why it sucks.

I’m going to take this opportunity to vent a little about the Gulch. I’ve been spending more time than I like there lately and think it by far the most overrated area of Nashville. My reasons:

• It’s way overpriced. A 600 sq ft condo with a poor view will run you $200K. Your association fee will run you another $200-$300 a month on top of your mortgage. You want assigned parking, get the checkbook out because it’s going to cost you as well.
• It’s like living in a giant hotel. I’ve only been to a few units but my impression of the residential area is I feel like I’m in a giant Marriott hotel.
• It’s basically the suburbs in the city. Why do people move to the suburbs? The most common reason is to raise children, which I can understand to an extent. In my mind it’s because they are scared of the city. They are scared of the possibility of crime and run-ins with people who are not like them. They want to be adventurous, but are scared to be. They are image conscious and have a manufactured sense of self importance. They want cool but it’s got to be new construction.

To me this embodies the mindset of those in the Gulch. It’s where suburbanites can live before they get pregnant and have to move to Brentwood. Let’s look at the similarities.

• Image consciousness: In Brentwood you drop half a mill on a 4K sq ft home. In the Gulch you drop 200K on a 600 square foot condo. In Brentwood you park your car in your three car garage. In the Gulch you put in the private parking spot you dish out $100 a month for. The same Gulch-liver who brags about living in the ICON will eventually go on to brag about living in the Governors Club.
• Chain Restaurants: Gulch-dwellers love to tell you about their restaurants. If you assess the situation you will see there is an abundance of national chains like Cantina Laredo, Sambuca and Urban Flat Breads. There are also a handful of regional chains Ru San’s and the yet-to-be-opened Casablanca Coffee.
• Crappy nightlife: The best bar in the Gulch is the Bluegrass Inn, which is not frequented by most that live in the area. Outside of that they have Mai, a terrible ultra-lounge, and Sambuca, which is more restaurant than bar.

To me the Gulch is a soulless area for people who want the suburbs in the city. I’m glad we have it though because it keeps those shitty people out of my areas of the city.