Oh Todd, Where Have Ye Gone?

Every autumn, we buy a Bigham's country ham on our way back from visiting family in Huntsville. I take it to Todd's Butcher Shop at 6682 Charlotte and have it cut into four steaks and a ham the right size for a small family.

I used to take it to the Compton's on West End (on a tip from John Egerton). If you asked nicely and brought your own sugar mixture, they'd bake and glaze it for you too.

When the Compton's was sold and changed formats, I moved to Todd's. He's a genius with all things carnivorous, and it was a joy to pore over every wonderful thing in the cases. I bought smoked pork chops, handmade hand-smoked andouille, and loads of other boutique meats.

But this year, Todd's shop is dark, and there's a "For Lease" sign on the door. Who's going to cut my ham? More important, where is Todd? Anyone? Anyone?

Oyster Cracker: Crescent Cafe Closes

Nobody will find any more pearls, alas, at the Crescent Cafe & Oyster Bar across from Vanderbilt, tucked away next to SATCO at 416 21st Ave. S. in the old Guido's Pizzeria space. We walked past this afternoon and found the windows and door papered over and construction materials on the side deck.

A group of unhappy patrons had just arrived and were shocked to find the place closed. A Boston man who introduced himself as the new owner said he bought it four days ago. He said it will reopen around Oct. 15 as the Music Row Bar & Grill, serving gourmet Southern cuisine. It will also host live performances, including comedy and Nashville's own local version of The Gong Show.

Crescent Cafe was opened by Scott Crane, who ran the now-defunct ’80s hangout Ace of Clubs. Calls to the number listed on the website and MySpace page reached a disconnected number. Neither site mentions the change.

City Paper Restaurant Retraction

(Dear City Paper: I wrote this correction for you. Feel free to cut and paste it into your “e-paper” or whatever it is you’re publishing these days. Ciao!)

In today’s City Paper restaurant review “Meatless in Nashville,” news correspondent William Williams writes, “Bethel, the underrated Ethiopian eatery in Midtown, offers a berbere-glorious meat-free lunch buffet on Wednesdays.” If Williams had been reading Bites, he’d have known that Bethel closed its doors for good over a month ago and hasn't served so much as a glass of water since.

Also, he probably shouldn’t have quoted those three random diners at the end of the story. While not technically an error, it added nothing and we still regret it.

Sleeping with the Fishes

If you were planning to visit New Orleans Manor before it shut down forever Wednesday night, don't bother. A damburst of visitors—most regulars from throughout the seafood parlor's 31-year history on Murfreesboro Road—cleaned out the restaurant's food supply tonight, effectively closing the place a day early.

"They wiped us out," the exhausted employee who answered the phone said. "We could've served 2,000 if we'd had the food."

The irony is that if the same people had come more regularly over the past year, the place might still be open. According to an employee, food costs inflated by rising gas prices took a heavy toll on the seafood restaurant, but the biggest problem was a steady decline in business that began last winter and never recovered. Even Valentine's Day, which should've been a killer, was off.

"Last weekend was the last straw," the employee said, stating they had only 30 patrons last Friday night in the spacious 115-year-old mansion. Another recent night had only seven. Even so, the employee said, the closing still came as a shock.

"There were a lot of tears tonight," the employee said.

More after the jump.