Nashville Food Friday: Lockeland Table

Last week Steve and I had an opportunity to finally try out the new-to-the-neighborhood Lockeland Table. I drive past it every day and I was excited to watch the progress. When it was finally ready to open, and the menu was announced, I was dying to stop in. I felt invested in this place having watched it grow up. Then pictures started showing up on Facebook and friends started going. I couldn't wait any longer so we stopped in for an early happy-hour meal.

The inside of the space is lovely. They really did a good job sprucing the place up. They made fine, clean decorative choices. I especially love the wood touches everywhere and the reclaimed wood wall in the back is a good focal point. The restaurant is divided, with the bar on one side and the dining room on the other with the pizza oven in the back. We had a reservation and we were lead to our table right away. The tables are really close together and when an adjacent table pulled up a 5th seat in the walkway, I felt squished. If the man lifted his arm, he would smack me in the head. We moved our table slightly over in the other direction which didn't really help the situation, as servers scooted in between me and 5th man now, bumping me.

I have to say that I wasn't that impressed by the regular dinner entree offerings. What really sounded good to me was the appetizer list. They have some of my favorite dishes of all time, like chicken liver pate and bone marrow. This is the type of place where I would make a meal out of starters and be very happy.

But we were there for happy hour so we ordered off the happy hour menu. Everything is $6, which is only one dollar more than the happy hour menu at Eastland Cafe. I can understand the prices being a little higher at Lockeland, as they are a new establishment, not that big, and probably have to start making a dent in their investment.

We started out with some cocktails off the happy hour menu, which were also $6. Steve had a ginger beer and rum thing, and I had their fancy version of gin and juice. I wasn't super impressed. The glasses were very tiny, filled mostly with ice, and they weren't very strong. The taste was good, but I wasn't blown away. I still think that the Tropical Martini at Eastland Cafe for $5 is a much better deal.

We started with the empanadas of the day, which had veggies and cheese inside. I was a really big fan of this dish. The crust was fried to perfection, the cheese melty and the chimichurri just the way I like it. This I would order again.

Next we had the oysters Rockefeller. This classic dish is one of my favorites and I was happy to see it on a Nashville menu. The first time I ever tried this dish my parents had to order me my own private dish because I was so obsessed. This was Steve's first time having oysters Rockefeller and I think he enjoyed himself. This dish is a standout on any menu.

Next we had the Korean pork tacos. The pork packed a strong pungent flavor. Really strong. But I loved these little buggers. The only down side, which you can't tell from the photo, was that they were super tiny. Itty-bitty. I could have used one or two more on the plate. Maybe that is just a testament to how delicious they are.

 

And for a splurge (and because I can't see it on a menu and not order it) we got the bone marrow. The marrow itself was really good. Really good. The flavor was impeccable. But, see that pile of bread? How much marrow did they think they gave us? This was a small piece of bone. And there was only enough marrow for about 3 pieces of bread. I was really disappointed by how small the portion was. For $13, that gets a boo from me. Also, our waitress totally forgot to give us marrow forks. I have no idea how she expected us to eat this. Suck it out? Always bums me out when I have to ask for appropriate silverware at a nice place.

Other downside, after eating ALL that food we were still hungry. We ordered a pizza because we wanted to try their fancy new oven. We got the Heirloom Tomato, Caramelized Onion and Spinach pizza and I was not impressed. The tomatoes were so large and soggy that the whole pizza tasted wet. There wasn't enough cheese and barely any spices. It was just bland. I ate it because I was hungry, but I'll be heading over to city house for my expensive pizzas in the future.

I hate to be a Debbie-downer, but our service wasn't that great. I know that Lockeland is new and they are still working out some kinks, but our waitress was everywhere else in the restaurant except at our table. I don't want to complain, but lets just say our waitress has a bit to work on.

Overall, I really liked everything I had except for the pizza. I plan on coming back and ordering off the regular dinner menu, maybe having a different server, and thus a totally different experience. This place is new, so I'll give it some time before I come back. But I'm very happy that it's in my neighborhood giving us more fine dining options.

August Flea Market Finds

This past weekend was the Nashville Flea Market. This is one of my favorite events and I try to make it each month. I think I'll start out with what I didn't purchase.

This is a black velvet painting of Stevie Wonder. I was so horrified/confused by this that I totally forgot to ask the price. I have a tad bit of regret for not picking this beauty up. I mean, it's so super strange. I hope someone that appreciates this snagged it up.

 

I love this 1970s tin cake plate. The crazy floral pattern is really my style. But my kitchen counter is really full and I would have no place to display this beauty. Also, my cakes never last long enough to require special storage.

 

This little fellow is Doolittle and belongs to one of the guys that I regularly buy stuff from. Doolittle is a really friendly guy and he just spends the day chilling on a display case of knives.  I'm really loving the DERP Doolittle is giving me in this picture.

Now lets start with the goodies that I did take home. I've been collecting animal skulls for around a year now and I always find some good options at the flea. Usually they are overpriced, but occasionally you find something in your budget that is in good condition. This little feller will be joining the 3 other ones on the wall about my TV soon.

I cannot resist cheesy cat art. This piece set me back a whopping $3 and it was worth it. I love how demure and proper this lady is. I have to find a nice spot at eye level to hang her.

More state travel plates! I've been gobbling these up lately. I have a plan to cover a blank wall in my kitchen with a whole bunch of these. Since they are pretty cheap, our collection is growing rapidly. In a few more months I may have enough to start putting them up!

And finally the piece that I am most proud of, Prince. I've always been iffy on taxidermy animals. Something about them being really life-like freaks me out. But I guess through collecting skulls I've warmed up to the idea and finally broke down and purchased this dude. He is in great condition and I got him for a song. Steve wasn't quite so keen at first, but I think he will learn to love Prince.

We gave prince a place of honor above the couch.  I think he will enjoy his new home. Let's just hope he likes the same shows as me.

Farmer's Market #9

August is drawing to a close and that means summer is ending. For me, that means fewer fresh veggies in the coming weeks. We have started to get the end of season crops. Gone are the squash and most of the tomatoes. But it's OK. I'm ready for the change. Plus, with such good stuff in my basket- why complain?

This week marked the first arrival of broccoli. The amount we were given wasn't enough for a full side dish so I just mixed it up with other veggies in a couscous. We got another acorn squash and a pumpkin. I'm hoping to roast them all this weekend and figure it out from there. We got one large eggplant this week which I'm pretty stoked about too.

Also, OKRA! Okra is my favorite and we got a nice little bagful this week. I cooked some up in a pasta dish and the rest I battered and fried up all southern like. Plus, I gave one of our green tomatoes the same treatment and it might be the most delicious thing I've cooked up this summer. Why do fried foods have to be so tasty?!

Crafty Ladies make Pasties

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Crafty Bitches. Yes, that is the name. It's a collaboration between the girl geniuses at OMG and the brewing extraordinaires at Jackalope. For $30 you learn a craft, get two beers and some good girl hang time. Two of my darling hooping buddies, Lauren and Meridith accompanied me on this nipple-covering journey.

Jackalope has really good relationships with the local food trucks. Most nights you can find a truck parked in front of the brewery. Which is great, because you are allowed to bring outside food into the tap room. On our night, the Wrappers Delight truck was there. I had just arrived from the gym and I was starving. I wanted the triple-six-tilapia, but they were out. I wound up getting some hawaiian chicken thing that I did not enjoy all that much. The chicken was dry and the sauce was overly sweet. But hey, I will be back for the fish wrap, for sure.

Our project was making pasties with the talented BeBe McQueen of Music City Burlesque fame. I immediately had an immense girl crush on her as she was funny, pretty, talented and super helpful. BeBe laid out all of our supplies at one table and then the mad dash to get everything was on. A bunch of 20-30 year old ladies were going bananas for glittery things. No joke. It was like the running of the bulls for the glitter foam.

I'm a classy lady, so I picked pearls for my pasties. We bundled up our beads and made tassels out of them. Mine were very long. I knew they needed a trim, but for some reason opted for the long version. Since I have yet to actually put these on, I have no opinion on my decision. After making the tassels we made some foam nipple-covering cones.

Then we took these foam things and bedazzled the shit out of them. Mine wound up looking like something Kanye West would wear on his ears. I glued jewels all over it and then gave it a generous dusting of silver glitter. I was overzealous with the glitter, as I'm still finding some in my hair, on my kitchen table and in my car.

We then attached the tassels to the decorative nipples and viola- pasties. I couldn't even touch mine since they were so overloaded with the massive amounts of glue necessary to make a pound of fake gems stick.

Every lady made a different pasty. Isn't that nice? You can tell a lot about a lady by how she chooses to spice up her areola.

Lauren looking mighty fine with her finished product

Meridith showing off her "Valentine's Day" Nips

Overall, this was a blast.  The room was filled with awesome, amazing, crafty women who just wanted to get down and have a good time with some elmer's glue. Ain't nothin' wrong with that. If you are in the Nashville area, I highly recommend checking one of these out. They do about one a month and it's a different craft each time.

The fine hooping ladies showing off their goods

One small step

This was a very busy weekend. It was the Nashville Flea Market, the Nashville Cream 6th Anniversary party, a housewarming, a baby shower and Scale Model's EP release show. So let's just say I'm pooped. I was working out what to wear for the Cream party when I heard that Neil Armstrong passed away. Steve and I are pretty big space nuts (one of our first dates was to the Huntsville Space Center) and this news made us sad. But we were mostly happy for the amazing life that Mr. Armstrong had. I put on my most "space" appropriate outfit and we hit the town to shoot. We made sure to drink a toast to his honor later that night.

Leggings: Romwe

Shirt: Old Russian Space Shirt (Steve's, altered by me)

Boots: Nine West

Bracelet: Old

A special thanks goes out to Steve who got me these leggings as a present and let me steal his old shirt and chop it up. What a perfect gift from a "science fetishist".

Also! On a even more exciting note- Modcloth is having their BIG SALE right now. 75% off most stuff!!

Check it out here!