5 days Ago By Chris Chamberlain
One major complaint many chefs have about food festivals is that they often emphasize out-of-town culinary talent over homegrown restaurants — and can actually pull potential diners out of local restaurants during the course of the festival. Well, the upcoming Music City Food & Wine Festival — brought to you by the events team at FW Publishing, the Scene 's parent company — is aiming to right that wrong by keeping Nashville chefs at the front and center of the proceedings. One way to spotlight homegrown heroes as part of the fest will be a series of special Intimate Dinners on Tuesday through Thursday nights, April 22 to 24, before the party moves to Centennial Park for the weekend.
The participating chefs have put together special pairing menus, and some have invited guests to join them in the kitchen as they prepare once-in-a-lifetime meals for attendees. Reservations for these events are separate from admission to the festival in the park, but you can (and definitely should!) make your reservations at the MCFWF website . Below is a rundown on the fun they have planned for you.
Tuesday, April 22: The Return of Chateau MarMar at Margot Cafe & Bar Chef Hadley Long is reprising his enjoyable pop-up within Margot, an evening of Chateau MarMar. The special menu for the evening will infuse elements of a down-home meat-and-three experience with the elegance of French cuisine, but don’t expect to take anything too seriously. Highbrow will meet lowbrow to create, I don’t know, mediumbrow? But you can bet it will be delicious and fun, especially because they’ll be offering special cocktail and wine pairings with dinner.
Seatings available all evening. Wednesday, April 23: Under the Sea at Maiz de la Vida Maiz de la Vida will become a Mexican Marisqueria for one night only, offering the chance to experience coastal Mexican seafood inspired by famed culinary regions in Mexico such as Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa and Veracruz. "Enjoy a four-course menu featuring a variety of prime seafood flown to Nashville from the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.
" Seatings available all evening. Travis Tanner Wednesday, April 23: A Cut Above: An Intimate Bourbon Steak Experience From the event description : "Bourbon Steak Nashville’s executive chef Travis Tanner presents an exclusive dining experience for the Music City Food & Wine Festival, showcasing his culinary artistry. "Set in Bourbon Steak’s Rye private dining room .
.. this intimate event features a meticulously curated five-course menu, available for one night only.
" Event starts at 6 p.m. Vivek Surti Thursday, April 24: An Evening of Indian Barbecue at Tailor with Chef Vivek Surti From the event description : "The menu will spotlight a combination of Southern and Indian grilling and smoking techniques and flavors and will end with a special dessert course collaboration with Van Leeuwen Ice Cream's pistachio flavor sandwiched between two of Tailor's signature nankhatai cookies.
A portion of the evening’s proceeds will benefit API Middle Tennessee ." Seatings at 5:30 and 8 p.m.
Thursday, April 24: A Culinary Collaboration Dinner Featuring Chefs Mark Grimes and Sean Finley Deacon’s New South’s chef Mark Grimes is teaming up with guest chef and master of wood-game cooking Sean Finley for a six-course dining experience. "This exclusive evening showcases the refined Southern elegance of Deacon’s, perfectly complemented by Chef Finley’s masterful approach to big game cuisine, delivering a menu that is both bold and exquisitely crafted." Cocktail reception at 6 p.
m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 24: Supper Club at NGBD x Barrique Brewing Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery is carving out a special edition of their weekly Thursday Night Supper Club offering for Music City Food & Wine along with special guests Barrique Brewing . They aim to "take you on an exciting adventure where craft brewing meets craft distilling. Following a successful collaboration on a barrel-aged barleywine and barleywine-aged bourbon, they’re joining forces once again.
Be ready to indulge your appetite and quench your thirst!" The fun starts at 6 p.m. Each dinner will feature special pairings provided by Music City Food & Wine Festival sponsors, and the chefs plan to go all-out to showcase the beverages along with the food.
For more information and to hold your spot at the table for any of these fantastic dinners, visit the MCFWF website and give back a little love to some of our local chefs who do so much to make the Nashville culinary community so special!.
