Girls' Weekend in Nashville

Lately I have been making more of an effort to put my thoughts into action instead of just sitting on them and waiting for the "perfect" opportunity to arise. There will always be a reason to shoot down that event/trip/whatever that you have talked up but never committed to, but I'm not getting any younger and don't want to miss out on these opportunities anymore. So, this past weekend I finally made the long-overdue road trip to Nashville for a girls' weekend with two good friends who currently live there, Caitlin (SAA friend) and Caroline (W&L friend). 

I hit the road for Nashville a little after lunch on Friday with prosecco and housewarming gifts in tow (a gesture Mother taught me and which I am trying to practice on the reg now that I am a wife and I guess a grown up). Even though Nashville is not totally foreign to me (I am from Memphis and spent many summers in Nashville with my aunt, uncle, and cousins), I was excited to get back and experience the Nashville scene as an adult. 

(Disclaimer - I am still trying to figure out the best approach to taking pictures for the blog without becoming "that girl" who roams around and bugs people while snapping pictures of menus, doors, artwork, place settings, etc. Caitlin and Caroline were terrific sports (and I am grateful for that!), but I did not take many high quality pictures this weekend. We didn't even get a group pic, so here's a picture of Caroline's cat, Pepper)

We all gathered at Caroline's house Friday evening to sip our prosecco and catch up before our 8:30 p.m. dinner reservation. Once the prosecco bottle ran dry, we headed over to Whiskey Kitchen in an area of town called "the Gulch" for another pre-dinner cocktail. Caitlin and Caroline love a good meal at a popular restaurant just as much as I do, and they thoughtfully made reservations at two hip Nashville eateries for Friday and Saturday night. Up first was Adele's, a lively restaurant with an expansive interior also located in the Gulch. I think it used to be a mechanic's shop, hence the multiple garage doors that line the facade. 

I was bummed when I realized that the menus I had religiously perused a few days before my trip (who doesn't love doing that?) were outdated, so they no longer had the gin/caramelized peaches/basil cocktail that I had been pining after. They also didn't have sauvignon blanc (panic mode!), so I took one for the team and became the least classy of our trio by ordering an IPA from Yazoo Brewing Company, a local brewery. Caitlin ordered a delicious cauliflower salad that we all nibbled on while we sipped our drinks. Our waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu and I was appreciative when he steered me clear of the deceptively spicy shrimp risotto. Keeping in line with my barbaric beer drinking ways, I decided to go for it and order the beer-braised pork ribs with polenta and a peanut salad.

Oh my gosh. This dish was AH-MAH-ZING. The pork was tender and juicy, falling lovingly off of the bone and into the embrace of my awaiting fork (and stomach). The polenta was buttery and creamy and balanced the pork nicely. I didn't know what a "peanut salad" would entail, and wouldn't you know it, there were just peanuts on the plate! Duh! Truthfully though, the peanuts added a nice crunch to a dish that was otherwise soft and delicate. If you ever go to Adele's, I beg of you, release your inner fat girl and get the braised pork ribs!

After dinner we headed to the Red Door Saloon to finish out the night. If you go to this bar, check out the hole in floor that supposedly looks down into a basement with bones...

There's bones down there!

Caitlin had to work until noon on Saturday, so Caroline and I tackled our hangovers by going on a long walk throughout Nashville and enjoying the absolutely gorgeous fall day. We strolled through Vanderbilt's campus and naturally I snapped a picture of Vandy's Theta house.

We also passed a lot of the record labels, each one proudly displaying a banner for their golden child artist.

After about 2 hours of walking, we arrived in an area of town called 12 South, which had a ton of cute stores and lively restaurants that reminded me of the Virginia Highlands neighborhood back in Atlanta (there is even a Taqueria del Sol here!).

We posted up for lunch at a funky bar/grille called 12 South Taproom. This restaurant has a dog-friendly patio that a lot of Nashvillians were taking full advantage of on this sunny Saturday. We opted to sit inside and began perusing the extensive beer list and menu. For my hair of the dog beverage, I selected a Pumpkin Ale from Czann's Brewing Company, another Nashville brewery (and one of the better Pumpkin Ales that I have tasted). My cheeseburger was seasoned really well and was delightfully delicious, a diamond in the rough compared to the food that other bar/grille restaurants produce. The vinaigrette-based pasta salad was a fresh accompaniment to the burger and also had a great flavor.

We finished up our leisurely lunch, migrated to a different bar to watch the first half of the Alabama game, and then headed home to get ready for the evening. Our dinner reservations were at a European-chic 9:30 p.m., so we picked up some cheese and crackers to munch on while watching the Ole Miss-Tennessee game. We then Ubered off to our Saturday night dinner locale, Rolf and Daughters, located in the Germantown area of Nashville. This is apparently the hot new restaurant, and I was very excited to try it out!

Our table wasn't ready when we arrived, so we hit up the bar for a pre-dinner cocktail while enjoying the early-2000s jams playing throughout the restaurant (Destiny's Child, Sisqo, you name it). Why did no one tell me that specialty cocktails, when made with tender love and care, are so delicious! I have been living in a world of alcohol fear and thus stick to the beers/wines that I know, nothing more. I honestly didn't know most of the ingredients included in my drink, but I remember it having Pimm's, mint, soda, and lemon. It was crisp and refreshing and did not have that strong alcohol taste that makes you wince when you take a sip. I could have drank about 3 more of these, but the $12 price tag held me back. The bartender at RAD was like a drink magician, mixing whimsical, colorful concoctions three at a time and pouring them into funky glasses with ease.

My drink

Caitlin's drink was too pretty not to document

The hostess offered us a seat at the long communal table in the middle of the restaurant in case we did not want to wait for our individual table to open up. We politely declined (we weren't committing to a 9:30 reservation to be plopped down at a communal table!), and I am glad that we did because this group of guys who awkwardly stared us down without shame as we walked into the restaurant sat down at the communal table a few minutes later.

The only complaint that I had about RAD was our waitress, who was painfully awkward and did not introduce herself to the table or try and engage us. She simply came over to the table and asked us if we knew what we wanted without explaining how the menu worked (the top half are plates meant for sharing, the bottom half are pastas meant for individual consumption). Given that most of the descriptions on the menu included food that I had never heard of, it would have been nice for her to walk us through it with a little more enthusiasm. She would also slowly stroll past our table throughout the evening, staring us down and looking to snatch up plates before we were finished. This is a very minor complaint as everyone else who worked there was very friendly and approachable.

Once we figured out the menu, we each ordered an appetizer to split with the table (a mozzarella-esque cheese plate, blood sausages, and a salad of fresh lettuces). I would love to give you the exact name of each dish, but RAD's online menu isn't up to date and like I said, most of the ingredients were totally foreign to me.

Fresh lettuces salad

For my main course, I ordered the garganelli verde with pork ragout. You could tell that this pasta dish had been lovingly prepare by the chef: fresh homemade pasta, a light pork ragout that gently coated each noodle, a fine dusting of cheese. This restaurant is all about providing you with a dish that is beautifully presented, simple yet rich in flavors, and deceptively filling (no Cheesecake Factory, diabetes-ridden portions here, folks). I'm disappointed that I hit the food-coma wall and could not finish my last 6 noodles, which we jokingly considered asking our lovely waitress to box up.

Since we are over the hill and couldn't handle another night of going out, we ended the night by watching an episode of Happy Endings (RIP) back at Caroline's house. Gosh this show was funny, why oh why did they have to cancel it! If you liked HE, then check out the new comedy Marry Me on NBC which stars HE's Penny.

On Sunday morning I packed up my things and said goodbye to Caroline and Pepper. I drove over to my aunt's house to visit with her and my cousin, and the three of us went out for an early brunch at BrickTop's. It was really nice to get in some family time on my trip to Nashville!

Thank you Caitlin and Caroline for being such great hostesses! The invitation is now open for y'all to come down to Atlanta for another foodie weekend!