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We used to share news about local chefs appearing on food television competitions and shows often here at Bites, but danged if there aren’t just a whole lot of them now! However, when a local hero actually wins a month-long cooking competition involving some of the most notable celebrity chefs in America, that’s still pretty newsworthy.
And that’s exactly what happened over the weekend, when chef Maneet Chauhan was crowned as the winner of Food Network’s Second Tournament of Champions, rising as the cream above a roster of chefs that included James Beard winners and Iron Chefs like Amanda Freitag, brothers Bryan and Michael Voltaggio, Jet Tila, Antonia Lofaso, Cat Cora and last season’s defending champion, Brooke Williamson.
McCormack:
Cafe Rakka for baba ganoush or chicken on the sajj [tenderloins in saffron, herbs, spices and yogurt].Â
Newton and Nguyen:
Folk for pizzas and veggie-forward dishes.
Singto:
Weger:
East Side Banh Mi. Gracieâs Big Salad with tofu [papaya, pickles, fried shallots, citrus-soy vinaigrette]; any of their veg specials; and always the gluten-free cookie!Â
Surti:
Deg Thaiâs new spot on Nolensville is incredible. I get tom yum or kra prao moo [stir fry with pork, holy basil, garlic, chilis, Thai-fried egg]. Their chili tray also has some of the best spicy condiments in town.
City HousePhoto: Daniel Meigs
East Nashville, a Year After the Tornado Looking at some of the East Side restaurants and food businesses affected by the March 3 storm Tweet Share The steeple from The Church at Lockeland Springs in East Nashville was sitting on the ground near the church for nearly a year, one of many reminders of the March 3 tornado’s destruction. But a couple weeks ago, a crane lifted the steeple back up to its perch. And several weeks before that, the rehabbed neon sign at Weiss Liquors ripped from its longtime home by the tornado’s deadly winds lit up Main Street again. The steeple and the sign reach toward the sky over two different but historic establishments the church was built in the early 1900s, and the liquor store has been in its East Nashville location since the mid-’60s. They’re beacons of “normal” in a neighborhood ravaged by the storm almost a full year ago.
Nashville Tennessean
Penney Rudicil s mother used to on a rare occasion spend the day whipping up a lasagna for her family as a labor of love.
So it caught her attention when she learned about Lasagna Love, a California-based nonprofit that brings homemade lasagna to those in need of a warm meal. I thought, I can do that, said Rudicil, who lives in Hendersonville.
As the coronavirus pandemic has crippled the economy, forcing some people out of jobs and creating new barriers for those in need of services, the nonprofit has emerged with a big goal it hopes to accomplish through a simple act: feeding those who lack food security with a homemade lasagna.
Charlie Rotier
Rotier’s proprietor
As part of the second generation of the Rotier family to operate their iconic eponymous diner, Charlie Rotier was personally responsible for feeding decades’ worth of Vanderbilt and Father Ryan students (before the high school made its way out to the ’burbs in the early 1990s). Rotier’s signature French-bread burger has probably also been responsible for part of the earnings of some of those Vandy students who went on to become cardiologists, but it remains a beloved part of the city’s culinary history from long before retro “smashburgers” began to appear on the menus of fine-dining establishments.