Unconventional Convention Food

 

Gestalt, an organized whole experienced as more than the sum of its parts. Two gifted chefs -- Executive Chef Max Knoepfel and Executive Sous Chef Oliver Henry-- bring Gestalt to the unconventional cuisine scene at Music City Center, demonstrating on a daily basis that quality need not be sacrificed on the altar of quantity.

 

We gather in the Tasting Room, a quiet space set apart from the bustling beehive that is the Center’s enormous kitchen. Tempting local delicacies like jams and jellies, sauces and sausages fill the surrounding shelves like an old country store. But they are not mere decorations, these products are representatives of the chefs’ mandate to source locally and sustainably, honoring the foods that grow from our surrounding Tennessee soils,—our “goût de terroir” as Chef Max, born in Switzerland, puts it.

 

“We want to have a positive, local impact as much as possible,” says Chef Max. “We hire local chefs and we build our meals from the bounty of the local lands. Drip by drip we make an ocean.”

 

It is a policy that is working. Chefs Max and Oliver proudly point to the Eat REAL certificate on the wall, the only convention center in the United States to have earned this prestigious recognition for following sustainable practices essential to a healthy food system.

 

But sustainably sourcing does not mean that taste is shortchanged. Nor do the vast numbers that the chefs serve mean that artisanship is sacrificed. With best practices from Mary Molt’s classic book, Food for Fifty, second nature to each, Chef Max and Chef Oliver lead the scores of individuals who make up their culinary team to plate and serve the highest quality food at quantities that could literally feed an army.

 

“It’s a lot of math,” says Chef Oliver with a grin, the one in charge of procurement. “I am very careful to get the numbers right. We don’t want to waste food.”

But when there are leftovers?

 

“We donate to places like Nashville Rescue Mission,” says Chef Max. “One of our recent deliveries was crab cakes and beef medallions.”

 

“We also support minority- owned local businesses,” Chef Oliver interjects. “Thirty percent of our orders go to these companies in Davidson County.”

 

Chef Max nods and smiles. “At the end of the day,” he reflects, “what’s the big picture? What are we passing on to the next generation? It’s very important that we do the right things right. My motto is: be a good steward to the environment. To the land. To the team. To yourself.”