but where will the hipsters throw their dance parties

was never a fan
not even a tad

The Trace was a breath of fresh air when it opened in 1997 under young, energetic and foreward thinking owners Greg Shockro and Herb Allen and opening chef Freddy Booker. People forget, or don't know, what the restaurant landscape in Nashville was like 12 years ago---pre Zola, Caffe Nonna, Park Cafe, Yellow Porch, Mirror, Margot, Mambu, Germantown, tayst, etc. The Trace was an important stepping stone in the development of Nashville's independent restaurant world, and particularly in the revitalization of Hillsboro Village. Greg and Herb deserve much credit for only recycling a building (Faison's) that held such an important place in thrusting Nashville into modern dining and providing a fabulous creative bohemian playground for the 20 and 30somethings of the 80s and 90s, into a new playground just right for their generation of 20 and 30 somethings. It slipped in the last year or so of their ownership and capsized when Danny York bought it. But I applaud Greg, Herb and Freddy for their place in the Nashville restaurant timeline.

what a difference a word can make...should have read

Greg and Herb deserve much credit for [delete only] recycling a building (Faison's) that held such an important place in thrusting Nashville into modern dining and providing a fabulous creative bohemian playground for the 20 and 30somethings of the 80s and 90s, into a new playground just right for their generation of 20 and 30 somethings.

multi-tasking not good for writing....

Ate there with sister and hubby about six weeks ago. After 7 on a Saturday evening, the lights were bright and the Muzak blared -- talk about lack of atmosphere! Food was average, prices were high, and the place was mostly empty. We had a bad feeling about it then.

yeah well, nect time they recycle a building to that degree, perhaps they can make it up to codes and have one friggin bathroom that is even close to being wheelchair accessible.

shame on them and their (?) bohemian playground...

They mixed me the first bona-fine dry grey-goose martini I ever drank.

For that, and for once being a fine place to meet women with long lashes and smoky voices, I will miss them.

by the way - was there 2 years ago during my short stint at being single and the place felt like a joke. granted it was merely 9 pm but the place reeked of desperation on many levels.

just because 12 yrs ago it was better than nothing, means - well, nothing...

i totally get that nostalgia and loyalty are a beautiful thing but if it's all wrong - you're cooked. bad music, lighting and mediocre food - AND bad art is a lethal combo.

next...

Claudia, are you sure you weren't at the
Vanderbilt Holiday Inn?

And I think the whole spiel was about being the end of an era, when The Trace, Boun'dry and (forgot the name of the other place) were the places to eat and be scene. Get it? Scene? I can be soo clever!

elZ - might as well have been... and i'm just thrilled the era is over.

so i repeat:

was never a fan
not even a tad

and i've lived here 14 years

whew.....attaching head back on shoulders...Remind me to get out of Claudia's way should we ever be in the same building.
I didn't say it was better than nothing 12 years ago. I said it was good, and it was, as even the people whose opinion you respect and you like would tell you, should you ask. As I noted, when Greg and Herb sold it at least 5 years ago, it went downhill fast. The bohemian playground was Jody Faison's creation, 27 years ago. Just noting what The Trace meant to Nashville at the time...nothing to do with nostalgia. Whether or not you have any interest or regard for what happened before you arrived, the path to Margot, Watermark, Ombi, Caffe Nonna, Eastland, etc, is paved with Faison's, Trace, Sasso, Cakewalk, Cafe 123, etc...i guess you had to be there.
Handicapped inaccessible so noted...forgive me for being so hideously insensitive.

ok kay, i forgive you for being hideously insensitive. glad your head is easily reattached - you must be quite the delicate flower...

and i actually was there/here. i ate at all of the above... many times. some were better than others, the best were inconsistent - at best. tough biz. no doubt.

so i applaud change. change is good. go change.

I'm not sure what I have done to inspire your anger and disdain. My original post was offering a shout out to what the Trace was when it opened, not what it became well before it closed. It was not an attack.

I am far from a delicate flower, but I am no match for your wit, your wisdom, your wrath and your prodigious word count.

You win.

geez kay
once again - relax!

i have like zero anger or disdain
nor did i feel attacked
it's all cool...

and there's like nothing riding on this. it's just food. they're just opinions about food and where you eat it... it ain't no thang.

plus, i always thought that if you dish it, you could probably take it. you put yourself out there in the blogosphere and one might expect some degree of repartee. i believe i have been on the receiving end of a few thrashings...

oh and thanks for all the compliments, but i think you've got me on the word count.

I drank my first under-age martini at Faison's, and, if memory serves, my dad choked on a hunk of food there and was given the Heimlich by a server. Chances are he choked because he took too big a bite of something, but it might have been all that Belle Meade-apricot paint. Then again, it was the 80's. He was probably wearing Belle Meade-apricot cords.

Kay, what is it they say about wrestling with a pig?

this little piggy is definitely lovin' that comment...

I was an occasional server at Faison's (I was at 12th and Porter mostly but occasionally crossed the line and went over there when they needed someone) and after F's closed I could never quite bring myself to step into The Trace. Years passed by and I sort of forgot my silent boycott and one night ended up there with friends. Uh, okay. I think I missed the glory years of The Trace because I felt a little like I was at a Pargo's from days of yore.

It's always sad when an indie closes, but I can't say the Nashville dining scene will suffer significantly.

The trace was great when it opened. I was the opening sous chef and burned my chops(ha ha) there for sure. To me it was always more of a bar then a restaurant and I think its real downfall was its brief stint as part of a big evil corporation. I honestly do not remember going back since I left after the first year. It was always fun hearing the stories though, and who can forget upstairs at the trace.:)

So the Trace may have had different meanings for different peeps....I LOVE Freddy's Brooker's food and still miss those damned green beans...and for a time it was a pretty fun hangout...celebrated my 39th birthday there and they let us close the place with our own cd's (when Santana was making a comeback), clear all the chairs out of the front of the dining area and create a makeshift dancefloor. Even Uncle Jerry played along. Ah, memories of my long ago youth.

Haven't been there since the Perry guy took over---heard too many nightmare stories.

After Sweet Cheeks was born, dinner at the Trace with friends was our first major outing. I ate a great steak, drank and socialized and felt like a grown up. Sorry to see another indie go. In there here and now. I'm enjoying watching Claudia push Kay's buttons. Ringside seat, no ticket needed.

I'm with Fluffernutter, go Claudia. Continue to flaunt your skills.

(whistles, busies himself with dusting)

Claudia and Kay, I love you guys both, and I hate to tell ya, you have been in the same room at the same time. I was a just a little nervous to tell you. Come have a peace drink at Ombi!

This is really just a warm-up for Carrington's next round of Same But Different.