Boeuf bourguignon
The excitement about Pastis Nashville’s opening has been, properly, buzzing for a very long time. The Scene first reported on it in 2022, however the rumors started in 2021, when famed restaurateur Keith McNally posted a photograph that appeared to have been taken in Wedgewood-Houston, suggesting that Pastis may be headed to Nashville.
In June of this yr, the French bistro restaurant lastly introduced it might be opening later that month, after which opened reservations on Resy. Within the first three hours of availability, Pastis Nashville had greater than 8,000 reservations booked, and had some reservations on every of its first 90 days in enterprise (the interval for which spots had been made accessible). That’s based on Pastis common supervisor Tyler St. Denis. “That’s insane, and we’re very grateful,” he says.
The unique Pastis was opened in 1999 by McNally, a well-known — and polarizing — restaurateur. It closed in 2014 and reopened in 2019, this time together with STARR Eating places, helmed by Stephen Starr, one other well-known restaurateur.
McNally, who was additionally behind well-known eating places together with Odeon, Balthazar and Minetta Tavern and has gained a number of James Beard Awards, is understood for eating places that provide the visible particulars of a stage set, with no aesthetic factor ignored.
Starr says McNally shouldn’t be an proprietor of Pastis Nashville, however has licensed the restaurant title to his firm, STARR Eating places, and is consulting with Starr on the Nashville opening. AJ Capital Companions is the owner for the 8,400-square-foot house, which is within the historic Could Hosiery Mills advanced on Houston Avenue.
McNally was not accessible for an interview with the Scene. However in his memoir I Remorse Nearly Every part, revealed in Could of this yr, McNally writes that whereas at the moment there are a number of Pastis eating places outdoors of New York — together with in Miami and Washington, D.C. — he doesn’t consider that eating places ought to create carbon copies of themselves in different cities. Each St. Denis and Starr subscribe to that philosophy. St. Denis labored at Pastis in Miami and D.C. and noticed the methods these eating places tailored to native markets, whereas holding the Pastis vibe and fame intact. For instance, Pastis usually doesn’t have pasta on the menu, however when Miami diners requested for it, it was quickly added.
However Pastis Nashville does seem like the opposite Pastis eating places, with its French bistro aesthetic, together with a zinc bar, white subway tiles and tin ceiling.
“The designers did an unimaginable job,” St. Denis says of the house. “It seems prefer it has been right here perpetually, although it’s brand-new.”
The menu is chock-full of dishes that individuals anticipate from Pastis, or any good French bistro for that matter, together with day by day specials handwritten on classic mirrors. Favorites embrace each steak frites and lobster frites, and boeuf bourguignon, which Starr says people had been ordering with abandon even when the surface temperatures had been near 100 levels. “It’s not 98 levels within the restaurant,” he says, “and a part of what we do on the restaurant is transport you to a distinct world.”
The escargots and sardines, each classically French appetizers, have additionally bought very properly, provides St. Denis. “Not everybody is aware of eat escargots, so we information folks within the expertise and pair it with toasted baguette and a number of the best butter.” Desserts are extra French favorites, together with profiteroles, frozen citron with lemon sorbet, and choices of cheeses.
Lobster frites
The menu is overseen by government chef Mark Coleman, who labored at Bar Continental most just lately earlier than becoming a member of STARR Eating places. Earlier than that, Coleman spent three years in kitchens in Italy — from conventional osterias to Michelin-starred kitchens in Tuscany — and labored at numerous New York eating places, together with Rezdôra Osteria Emiliana and Forsythia Restaurant.
Coleman is growing relationships with native purveyors, including extra Tennessee elements to the basic menu.
“We don’t wish to disrupt the neighborhood that’s [already] there, however we wish to be a part of it,” St. Denis says.
Along with their meals, Pastis areas are recognized for being see-and-be-seen spots. The checklist of celebrities who’ve dined there and raved about it — from Demi Moore to Sarah Jessica Parker and Cyndi Lauper — is lengthy. McNally is understood for sharing photographs of celebrities at tables of his eating places.
The unwritten Nashville code isn’t to interrupt well-known musicians when out and about. Bus excursions of stars’ properties don’t have the identical cachet as they do in different cities. And lots of of Nashville’s most well-known names are songwriters and producers whose faces usually are not instantly recognizable to most of the people. However Starr says Nashville celebrities don’t have to fret about discretion with their dinner at Pastis.
“Servers have been skilled to not gloat or hover,” Starr says. “We’re superb at this. We’ve handled presidents and rock stars. Nashville isn’t any totally different from New York in that manner.”
Ideally, St. Denis says, Pastis Nashville must be someplace that welcomes vacationers and locals each — someplace you would possibly take your dad and mom for a birthday celebration and in addition someplace to have a martini on the bar earlier than heading elsewhere for the night time.
Starr is especially excited concerning the Nashville location of Pastis as a result of he grew to become enamored of town through the years the mission was in growth. He likes the massive inhabitants of younger individuals who reside on the town and the emphasis on creativity that’s a part of town’s ethos. “I like to be round inventive folks. I discover enterprise folks and legal professionals boring. It feels actually good in Nashville.”
Starr additionally likes how passionate Nashvillians are about their metropolis. “I discuss to individuals who have been there for 15 years and fell in love,” he says. “I didn’t understand how particular it was earlier than I got here right here. With out making the opposite markets really feel dangerous, I really feel an power that transcends all of the others.” Actually, Starr is so star-struck by Nashville that he plans to open an outpost of St. Anselm, one other one in every of his eating places, within the close to future.
Pastis Nashville is at the moment serving solely dinner. Plans are to open for lunch and weekend brunch within the subsequent few weeks, and a brand new patio for out of doors eating is at the moment below development — the workforce hopes to open that in August, although current rains have slowed out of doors development. Starr says opening for breakfast is a risk too.
Whereas Pastis Nashville has been widespread in its first weeks, it’s potential to get a desk for dinner with out an excessive amount of bother. There are tables frequently accessible on the 170-plus-seat restaurant, significantly for those who dine after 8 p.m. And that’s when issues actually get good. Eating later is cosmopolitan, sure. It’s additionally some extent of distinction for Pastis Nashville. Whereas Decrease Broadway is a late-night, almost-always-open vacation spot, it may be difficult to discover a restaurant open late in lots of components of town — significantly in Wedgewood-Houston.
On a current Tuesday night time, Starr says, the restaurant was “packed” close to midnight. Elton John’s “Rocket Man” began enjoying. “Your entire crowd began singing collectively,” Starr says. “It’s actually a celebration. You step in a Pastis, and the night time is a celebration. The power makes you wish to smile and have a very good time.”
