How We're Eating Now: Forks in the Road

The Instagram post read, “Ended up with 22 cheesesteaks. So, I will sell them today starting at 12:30 until they’re gone.” This was on @slocosammies, the Instagram account of Sloco sandwiches on 12 South. Like so many chefs, Jeremy Barlow has pivoted. After selling food (all locally sourced) for a number of years, he closed up shop, then came back as “Insert Chef Here.” Today he cooks what he wants and how much he wants. He also hosts other chefs to cook what they want. Such is the restaurant business post pandemic.

There’s likely no business more creative and versatile than the food business. The events of the past year have permanently changed how chefs cook and serve as well as how we eat. With the high cost of operating a restaurant and the fickle nature of the public, chefs realized the need to be transient, serving creatively at tables without walls. It’s cheaper, less risky, and more flexible. In fact, some of the best food in town is found at unlikely places like warehouses, parking lots, and farmers markets.  And we couldn’t be happier.

Service and menus are changing as well. Many spots have opted for QR-code style menus, skipping the printing cost, headache of making quick changes, and germs of paper ones. The style of service Locust offers is inevitably the future of the American dining scene, or at the very least one sustainable solution. A small staff with an open kitchen and no servers, the cooks wait on tables and describe the dishes of a small, condensed menu designed for the diner to order all of it. Automatic gratuity is split between the entire staff, creating a supportive and non-combative atmosphere, while promising a livable wage. It’s economical, too. A whole hog is purchased, and dumplings are made from whatever part of the pig they are using that day until it runs out and they move on, each day using a different part of the pig.

Here are just some of the creative ways we’re eating now. You won’t find these advertised in many places, so the best bet is to follow them on Instagram (or better yet, follow us).

Chef Jeremy Barlow reopened his Sloco sandwich spot in 12 South as “Insert Chef Here” which hosts other chefs and his latest venture Fryce Cream, fries and soft serve that you eat together. Follow @slocosammies and @frycecream.

Nathan Gifford of Gifford’s Bacon has put his fantastic space at Prime South Meats off Gallatin Pike to good use by partnering with local chefs for innovative pop-ups. The first was a collaboration with East Side Bahn Mi and the most recent, The Three Amigos, was a food fiesta featuring tacos, pretzels, and beer. Follow @giffordsbacon.

Michael Hanna of St. Vito Focacciaria had a “pizza residency” at Vandyke Bed and Beverage in East Nashville, serving his fluffy focaccia-style Sicilian pizza to hotel guests and the public alike. You can now find him at Hathorne on Charlotte Pike on Sundays starting July 18th. Follow him @st.vito_focacciaria.

Alebrije, an authentic Mexican city inspired street food pop-up, serves regularly on Sunday nights at the upscale Bastion in Wedgewood Houston. Follow @alebrijenash and @bastionnashville.

Aaron Distler started making pasta pre-pandemic and is now cooking out of TKO in East Nashville, where he makes pasta and bagels, all delivered to your home. Follow him at @mraaronsgoods.

Edible chef Skylar Bush has been popping up at Honeytree Meadery in East Nashville, debuting his creole po’boys that will appear in his stationary food truck, 9^th Ward Po’boys. The name is a tribute to the 9^th ward in New Orleans that was a casualty of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Follow him @9^th_ward and @iamskylarbush.

Tantisimo is the brain child of Ana Aguilar, a Mexican chef who started baking when she noticed a lack of desserts at all the taco pop-ups. She is also half of EL Leon Dorado (known for their Taco Bell tributes). With Tantisimo, she makes cakes and a variety of traditional Mexican desserts, including her sure-to-sell-out Alfajores, made with decadent dulce de leche. You can find her at the East Nashville Farmers Market, Hunters Station Community Market every Saturday, and Honeytree Meadery every Sunday night starting July 11. Follow her @aytantisimo.

The Band Box at Frist Horizon Park (where The Sounds play) is hosting chef pop-ups every week all summer long with chefs from around town. For the line-up, follow @thebandboxnashville.