OutFoxed

Our inimitable Scene food scribe, Carrington Fox, has outdone most of her culinary critic cohorts, taking home the second-place prize for food criticism in our division of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Awards. These winners represent the best of the best in our industry, so don't be takin' your girl for granted.

We'll probably celebrate with some combination of Mentos, Diet Coke and hood-fried egg.

Great work, Fox. We're lucky to have you.

New Day Dawns for Aurora Bakery Owner

It was with great sadness that I recently saw the shuttered Aurora Bakery on Nolensville Road. Aurora was an enchanting spot, selling traditional Mexican cookies and pastries with oddball names such as “ribs,” “kisses,” and “tongues,” as well as the traditional pan de muerto—colorful loaves of bread served around the Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos on Nov. 1.

Owner Patricia Paiva, a native of Sri Lanka, offers the following explanation of her decision to close her 9-year-old shop.

I closed it so I can be more directly involved in the
 international community. 

I have spent most of my life working with the integration of refugees 
and immigrants into the communities where I have lived, so I want to
 return to that. The cuisines of these newer ethnic communities are 
fascinating and mostly very healthy, and I know this first-hand, from
 coordinating international cooking classes over the years. I would like
 to do more than that, however, and hope to find a place helping enhance 
communication and understanding between these new communities and the 
mainstream one, whether it be in government, the school system or 
private enterprise.

Best of luck, Patricia, and keep us posted.

Mad House

In this week’s review of The Mad Platter, I mention in passing that owners Marcia and Craig Jervis (pictured here in the foreground) lately are spending more time in Costa Rica, where they are working to reforest a small farm.

Well, check out their little tropical getaway, Casa Moonvine. No wonder they're spending more time there. The good news is that you can rent Casa Moonvine for yourself.

Bites outing, anyone?

No Disputing Tayst

Tayst chef-owner Jeremy Barlow is now a sole proprietor, after he and co-founder Dan Morrissey recently parted ways. The amicable separation leaves chef Barlow in charge in both the front and back of the 4-year-old eatery, where he dishes up whimsical items such as Krispy Kreme bread pudding and gourmet-kitschy events such as the McDonald's Chant Dinner and a Movie Night.

In a recent email to customers and friends, Barlow was fairly tight-lipped about future plans for his restaurant. (But he was characteristically excited about the ramps coming in from the East and an early harvest of stinging nettles.)

Tayst is located at 2100 21st Ave. Phone: 383-1953.

The Man in the Big Hat

Next time you see Jack Cawthon and his black cowboy hat, give him a pat on the back—but wipe your sticky fingers first. Jack’s Bar-B-Que took home first-place prizes for its 
Carolina Mustard and Texas Sweet Hot sauces and won best gift pack at the recent National Barbecue Association Conference and Expo in Austin, Texas. Jack’s also took home third prize for its vinegar sauce and fifth place for its Music City White Sauce.

You can try these winning entries yourself at Jack’s two locations: 416 Broadway and 334 West 
Trinity Lane.

McCormack Nominated for James Beard Award

Congratulations to Margot McCormack, chef-owner of Margot Café & Bar, the only Nashville chef and restaurant to make the semifinals for the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards. McCormack is one of 20 semifinalists in the category of Best Chef Southeast. The only other Tennessee contender in the category is Erling Jensen from Memphis. Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn., is in the running for Outstanding Wine Service.

On Monday, March 24, the James Beard Foundation will announce five final nominees in each category, from which the winners will be selected and announced on June 8 in New York City.

For a full list of nominees and information about the awards process, see the press release.

Joining the Circle

Brett Allen, former owner of Wild Boar restaurant, has signed on as general manager and wine director of 360 Bistro. Allen will work with co-owner Nick Jacobson to expand the wine list this spring.
Last year, owners Jacobson and Joe Gordy brought on chef John David Crow to help reinvent the restaurant formerly known as The Grape, after separating from the Atlanta-based chain of The Grape wine bars.
Located at 6000 Highway 100 in Spaces shopping center (353-5604), 360 serves lunch and dinner seven nights a week.

Be Mine

Provence owner Terry Carr-Hall is getting all the love lately. Not only is chef Kim Totzke headed from Ombi to help him overhaul the menu, but Provence also recently lured pastry chef Andrew Manchester from Capitol Grille to spruce up the confections. If Valentine's Day is getting ahead of you, you might pick up a few of Manchester's chocolate baubles for your sweetheart. His French-style truffles (pictured above) cost $2.25 a piece and are only available at the 21st Avenue location.

Really Neely

Pat and Gina Neely, members of the Memphis family behind Neely's Bar-B-Que, are poised to join the pantheon of kitchen personalities when their new series Down Home with the Neelys premiers Feb. 2 on the Food Network. The Neelys, whose name now graces several restaurants in Memphis and one in Nashville, will launch a half-hour show, airing at 10 a.m. CST, that features recipes for their signature dishes such as Memphis-style ribs and barbecue spaghetti.

If you haven't tried Neely's yet, you might take advantage of the unseasonably nice weather to visit the Nashville outpost in MetroCenter. Regardless of how you like your 'cue, it's hard to argue with the serene deck perched over the man-made lake of the erstwhile Fountain Square. You've got less than a month to get there so you can say you knew Neely's before it was as big a name as Paula Deen.

It Takes a Village

Juanita Lane, the pastry maven behind Dulce Desserts in Edgehill Village, is carrying her wares across the street to Rosario's, to add a sweet note to the Mexican menu that has suffered from a shortage of desserts. Now you can top off your mole and enchilada verde with a coconut pie, chocolate truffle cake and cupcake of the month. After the holiday rush—when Lane will no doubt be up to her eyeballs in bouches de Noëls—she'll add a little Mexican flavor to the offerings. Think chocolate cupcakes with a hint of cayenne, maybe a dulce de leche de Dulce?

Rosario's is located at 1200 Villa Place, phone: 329-1977. Dulce is located across the street, in the blue building at 1207 Villa, phone: 321-8700.

The Fat of the Land

What do bike lanes have to do with restaurants? Responding to the Forbes ranking of Nashville as the nation's 7th most obese city, and speaking as "one who falls into the category of obese," the blog Only Wonder Understands has a few ideas (and mentions a couple of bygone Nashville restaurants that came up in that previous thread). Here's an excerpt:

When one looks around town, we quickly realize that there are few healthy alternatives where we can meet. Some of the great alternatives — the Grateful Breadbox, Country Life, etc. — have been run off by higher fat alternatives. Vegetarian or healthy lifestyle restaurants are few and far between . . . and if one moves out of the trendy areas of Hillsboro Village, East Nashville, or Waverly Belmont, it becomes even harder as family owned alternatives have been run out of town by the mega restaurant chains built on large portions and high fat content. Combine all of that with an overworked culture of persons with long commutes, a lack of neighborhood cohesion, and lifestyles that demand too many meals in car from drive-thrus, and you have a populus [sic] that is too heavy.

Ready for a Throwdown!

Like so many unsuspecting victims of Food Network surprise, I arrived at Fido today for a low-key taping of a segment for Brain Freeze Stunt Week, only to learn that I was actually a judge on Throwdown! With Bobby Flay.

Flay, pictured here with sisters Norma and Irma Paz, took on the ladies of Las Paletas to see who could make the best ice pop—the brand name Popsicle was strictly verboten during the taping! While the Paletas gang knew the Food Network was coming to town to profile them, they were stunned to find Flay standing by, ready for a spontaneous throwdown.

Slow Food maven Robin Riddell and I had the honor of taste-testing two delicious frozen concoctions.

And the winner was...You'll have to wait until Brain Freeze Stunt Week rolls around in the summer. We'll keep you posted.

Conversation Bites: Jeremy Barlow, Topic 2

Here are some questions that play off a recent comment on Bites: What signifies a creative chef? Is there a point at which food is no longer food?

Let's set a few guidelines before we answer the question.

First, assume there is no new food and that everything has been done before—a common belief in the food industry.

Second, feel free to incorporate fads and the evolution of dining throughout history.

Third, creativity without execution is just plain bad cooking.

Conversation Bites: Guest Chef Jeremy Barlow

Welcome to Jeremy Barlow, chef-owner of Tayst restaurant, who joins us as our guest chef today. Jeremy will pose a couple of questions this morning and stop in periodically to weigh in.

Topic 1

I am a staunch proponent of local foods and local businesses, and I believe the majority of food bloggers tend to feel the same way. If you want to talk about food when you're not eating it, you're probably a foodie. If you're a foodie, you probably frequent restaurants that serve local product because local food is better. (How's that for paying attention in my logic class?)

Anyway, it's a constant battle to stay true to this belief due to all sorts of challenges, from developing relationships with farmers to sourcing asparagus in the winter to coping with a drought that freezes then dries up again; however, as my whole staff recently discovered while eating baby carrots right out of the ground at Farmer Dave's, every bit of extra work that goes into buying local is worth it.

I see the nation and particularly Nashville at a culinary crossroads. On one hand, you have a portion of the population following independent restaurants that are pushing toward using all local ingredients while continually supporting the local community in numerous ways. On the other hand, you have corporate chains numbing the country's palate with their collective "American menu" and at the same time slowly sending the independent restaurants the way of the neighborhood hardware store and movie theater. As "greening" becomes the hip thing to do in this country, and as the voice of the "locavore" gets louder, by virtue of its role in the greening, my question is this:

Does our community—and the nation as a whole—have the ability to return to the ways of old, i.e. eating seasonal food at local places? Or are we doomed to follow the path of cattle in a feedlot, supplementing our diet with antibiotics and diet drugs while we eat the same menu at every restaurant?

Michael Ruhlman Comes to The Viking Store

Bestselling author Michael Ruhlman will conduct a demonstration class at The Viking Store, Nov. 15, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Focusing on his book The Elements of Cooking, he will prepare a menu of lardons salad with spinach and arugula; pancetta-cured bacon; blanquette de poulet with fresh noodles, sauteed mushrooms, roasted shallots and gremolata; and cinnamon-sugar choux doughnuts with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Ruhlman is the author of 12 books, including The Soul of a Chef, The Making of a Chef and Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing. He is also an occasional judge on Iron Chef America.

Space is limited. For reservations, call 599-9617. The Viking Store is located at 230 Franklin Road, Bldg. 13 in the Factory at Franklin.

Eight Arms to Hold You

Just because it keeps coming up here in different threads...here is a behind-the-scenes clip of filming the notorious "octopus scene" from Park Chan-wook's delirious revenge thriller Oldboy. Not for the squeamish—and definitely not approved by the ASPCA.

No, no, it's nothing. Really.

Something to Crow About

John Crow, the chef who quickly earned rave reviews for his menu at Wildwood Oak-Fired Kitchen in Bellevue, will step into the kitchen at 360, formerly The Grape, for a three-month engagement to overhaul the menu.

No longer a part of the Atlanta-based Grape chain, 360 is undergoing a revolution as owners Nick Jacobson and Joe Gordy recast the restaurant as an independent brand. Among other changes, 360 will add beer to the extensive offerings of wines by the glass.

Crow, who relocated from Seattle to launch Wildwood in September, developed an early following thanks to his creative menu featuring local and regional products. (Click here to read the Scene's review.) Starting next week, Crow will introduce a fall dinner menu with hearty entrees such as lamb shank, duck breast and beef short ribs, as well as seafood with a Seattle twist.

Crow is bringing two members of the Wildwood staff with him to 360, and his wife Sarah, a sommelier, will be on hand to consult on wine dinners and special events.

Located at 6000 Highway 100 (phone: 353-5604), 360 is open 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Table Manners

Kay West will sign copies of her new book, Around the Opry Table: A Feast of Recipes and Stories from the Grand Ole Opry, tonight at 6 p.m. at Davis-Kidd Booksellers. Kay promises to have snacks on hand from the book's many star-studded recipes. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get some of Alan Jackson's pimiento cheese.

For a fun diversion, turn to page 101 of Around the Opry Table and try to figure out what Scripture Cake is. Here are the ingredients for Johnny Cash's mother's version of the cryptic recipe:

Judges 5:25 last clause, ݠcup
I Samuel 14:25, 2 teaspoons
Jeremiah 17:11, 6 separated
I Kings 4:22, 1 ݠcups
Amos 4:5, 2 teaspoons
II Chronicles 9:9 to taste
Leviticus 2:13, pinch
Nahum 3:12, 2 cups
I Samuel 30:12, 2 cups
Numbers 17:8, 2 cups

Hint: This site might help. (It's not every day you get a guide to scripture on Bites.)

A Satisfied Mind

Like everyone else this morning, we were thinking about the late Opry legend Porter Wagoner, who died last night at age 80 after one of the defining careers in country music. By chance, we found this recipe Wagoner submitted in Kay West's new book, Around the Opry Table: A Feast of Recipes and Stories from the Grand Ole Opry. It made us smile, and it made us picture the man in all his star-spangled, good-humored glory. Here, without ado, is Porter's Chocolate Fudge.

2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. Log Cabin syrup
Milk
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 c. English walnuts, chopped

Mix sugar, cocoa, salt and syrup together in a saucepan, then add enough milk to make it soupy, but very thick. Bring to a boil, and boil until sugar is dissolved (4 to 5 minutes). Test by dropping small spoonfuls into water until it forms a ball. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir until it begins to cool. Add peanut butter and walnuts. Pour into large platter, and hold a gun on yourself so you'll wait until it cools!

Spudz Owner Eric Brown Murdered

Eric Brown, owner of Spudz potato restaurant, was found fatally shot in the alley behind his Charlotte Pike store today, according to a report on WKRN. Brown later died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Brown, 36, studied hotel and restaurant management at TSU before launching into a series of restaurant jobs. Eager to start a business with a product that was affordable and unorthodox, he borrowed money from his aunt and launched Spudz, the one-stop potato shop, in June 2006.

When I interviewed Brown this summer for a review of Spudz, it was about 100 degrees inside his un-air-conditioned store. Brown popped his head out the window and rattled off some dozen stuffed potato combinations—everything from barbecue to Philly cheese steak. He couldn't pick a favorite, he said. If it was there, he assured me, it was good.

Brown was extremely proud of the success he was having—he had quickly repaid his aunt—and he enjoyed talking about taste-testing recipes with his kids. He was kind enough to share his recipe for a perfect baked potato: wash the potato twice, then wrap it in aluminum foil and cook for an hour-and-a-half at 450 degrees.