taste of nashville 2014 recap

Over the weekend, Anthony and I had the opportunity to check out Taste of Nashville.

This is the 13th year that The Phoenix Club of Nashville has put on the event. I guess 13 is supposed to be unlucky, but it looked like everything ran smoothly to me :).

The event sold out the night before, and Rocketown was filled with foodies. And actual food, of course!

(Pancetta & condensed melon – Ristorante Rivello)

It’s hard to say what our favorite “taste” was, because there were too many to choose from. I was blown away by the sheer amount of local restaurants serving at the event. We tried to taste them all, but a few got away from us! All this eating is hard work.

(Hot chicken & beignets – Party Fowl)

In addition to endless food, an open bar kept us well hydrated. Union Common‘s bourbon cocktail kicked off the night pretty powerfully! Plus their bartender had an awesome skull ring. Extra points for that.

It clearly made me smile.

Moving on to this awesome tuna tartar/pork rind combo from 1808 Grille. I’d say it was my favorite dish of the night! Loved how the serving table was covered in sesame seeds — creative, eye-catching, and totally practical too.

(Tuna tartar – 1808 Grille)

Anthony is obsessed with hot wings, so it’s not surprising that the “KFC” (Korean Fried Chicken) wings from Riff’s Fine Street Food were his favorite.

(Korean Fried Chicken – Riff’s)

Among lots of mac ‘n’ cheese, chilis, bbq, and other slow cooker-type, easy-to-serve dishes, we were pretty impressed with the assembly of gourmet burgers and fresh sushi from Lucky Belly. A small line formed for these beauties, but it was worth the wait!

(The Belly Burger – Lucky Belly)

There was a LOT of cheese at Taste of Nashville (they must have known I was coming), but MOTO’s house-made burata butternut squash was the creamiest and coolest of them all IMO.

(Burata butternut squash agrodolce — MOTO)

We were pretty stuffed at this point, but had to power on through dessert. Etch’s chocolate pretzel bar did us in!

(chocolate pretzel bar — Etch)

Thanks for a delicious evening, Taste of Nashville!

• Locals: Have you been to any of the restaurants above?
• What city do you think has the best food scene?
• If you had to eat ONE type of cheese for the rest of your life, what would it be?