Butcher & Bee
902 Main Street
Nashville, TN 37206
P: 615.226.3322
W: www.butcherandbee.com
Hours
Mon-Thu: 11A-2P; 5P-10P
Fri: 11A-2P; 5P-11P
Sat: 10A-2P; 5P-11P
Sun: 10A-2P; 5P-10P
For someone who operates a food blog – and also loves to eat out – I’ve done a horrible job lately of getting out to new-to-me restaurants. Having a 15-year old who is super-involved will do that to you.
Last Saturday night, I finally got to go to a place about which I’ve heard great things – Butcher & Bee in East Nashville. Butcher & Bee began in Charleston in 2011, primarily as a fresh, local sandwich restaurant. Since then, it has grown to a multi-location, two-state operation that serves way more than sandwiches, sourced from local farmers and producers.
The owners also operate The Daily, a modern bodega and coffee shop in the Charleston area, and they are soon to open The Red Headed Stranger, a casual taco shop in East Nashville. Clearly, they have a good thing going.
On a perfect Spring Saturday in Nashville, we had dinner with my mother who is visiting from her home in Florida. Immediately upon entering the restaurant, I fell in love with the atmosphere and design. There are cozy booths, multiple bar areas for dining, and a huge bar for drinking – and dining. The patio where we ate was comfortable and covered. It very much had a courtyard feel.
Butcher & Bee serves tapas and shareable dishes that are brought to the table as they are ready. This means you may get your Whipped Feta appetizer after you’ve eaten most or all of your entree, but somehow it works.
We began our meal with some local craft beers and ciders, and we ordered the aforementioned Whipped Feta, which is just what it says, topped with black pepper and fermented honey. It was served with pita bread, but you can get cucumber slices if you’re averse to gluten. The feta was at once sweet and cheesy and quite creamy. We could not stay out of it, and I’m sure we will get it again on our next visit.
We decided to share three entrees between the four of us, which proved to be the perfect amount of food.
The first entree out was the Rainbow Trout, which was my favorite of the night. It was blackened and served atop hay-smoked potato salad. I’ve never heard of hay-smoked potato salad, but I will definitely be having more of it.
Next up was the Avocado Crispy Rice, served with steak. This dish is Carolina Gold crispy rice, collards, peanuts, and serrano chilies. It was served slightly chilled and had a wonderful Asian flavor.
Our final dish of the night was the Pork Tenderloin, which is sliced and consists of fennel, apple, pickled plum bbq sauce, and creole mustard. I found the flavor to be outstanding, if just a little too salty for my taste. I don’t consume a lot of sodium, so others may like it. It was absolutely tender and delicious, though.
The menu doesn’t overwhelm you with way too many choices, and you should be able to find something to suit your tastes. For a look at the Nashville menu, click here.
Later on, after dinner was over, and we were visiting with my mom, we all agreed that our meal at Butcher & Bee was one of the best dining experiences we’ve had in a long time.
Haute Flavor 