The July Hit List: June, Chauhan Ale & Masala House, Answer, and More

Nestled away on the top floor of Sean Brock’s popular restaurant, Audrey, June is the latest exciting project from the mind of the ingenious chef-owner. Offering a 20+ course tasting experience, June depends on creations from its in-house research and development lab to extract new flavors and textures from traditional Appalachian ingredients for use in the small plates, beverages, and single bites that make up the elements of the cohesive dining adventure. Diners also enjoy watching the chefs at work creating intricately-plated offerings in the open kitchen.

Tony Mantuano brings his Italian cooking expertise to Nashville from Chicago where he helmed the kitchen at the gone-but-not-forgotten Spiaggia. At Yolan, choose from the à la carte menu of seasonal Italian fare or splurge for the tasting menu that showcases different regions of Italy with dishes from small plate appetizers to decadent desserts. The kitchen has been looking forward to Middle Tennessee’s summer bounty of fresh produce, so don’t miss the chance to watch them show off.

Whether for a quick happy hour meet-up among friends, or a casual dinner of casual comfort food, Answer is literally the answer to the question, “How should we avoid heating up the kitchen with the oven tonight?” For another way to avoid turning on the stove, opt for one of answer’s pre-order carryout family suppers on Wednesday or Sunday.

Summer is the perfect time to visit chef Maneet Chauhan’s elegant Chauhan & Masala House for her take on the food of her native India. Start out with a cooling gol guppa shot, a semolina puff filled with refreshing mint-cilantro water and potatoes. Then turn up the heat with any of her curries or an order of spicy serrano pakoras with ghost pepper aioli. If you’re going to sweat anyway, you might as well enjoy it.

Just a few blocks away from the craziness of Lower Broad and steps away from the retro-cool of Printers Alley, Black Rabbit is a fine choice to duck out of the crowds for a unique experience. The historic building has plenty of stories to tell, and the menu reveals the philosophy of the kitchen’s love of cooking over open fire. A popular happy hour offers some of the best $5 cocktails around, and pairing those with shareable small plates while listening to live music on weekends makes for the perfect escape from the swarm of summer tourists.

Every menu doesn’t have to be multiple pages; a focused list of just a few dishes in the hands of a talented chef can be revelatory. That’s the case at Locust where Trevor Moran concentrates on a minimal offering of some of the best steamed dumplings in town, shrimp toast, noodles and chicken wings with shaved ice for dessert. When it’s this good, you don’t need extra choices.

The original location of Butcher & Bee in Charleston earned a finalist nod for Outstanding Restaurant in this year’s prestigious James Beard Awards, but the Nashville outpost is no slouch either, combining Middle Eastern flavor profiles with fresh local ingredients. Pro tip: Order all the small plates so you don’t miss out on any of them, and then go with the “Eat Like a Chef” option where the kitchen sends out dish after dish of their current favorites from the menu.

If you’ve only visited Arnold’s Country Kitchen for lunch, you’ve experienced the best of Nashville’s “Meat & Three” dining. But don’t miss out on the unique “Arnold’s After Dark” option where the kitchen goes beyond their usual rotating menu of Southern fare. You can still order Arnold’s famous fried chicken, but there are also smoked ribs, steaks, and tacos to choose from. Add in a full bar and a small stage that hosts musical acts, comedy nights, and bar trivia, and it’s a brand new world.

Remember that old admonition to only eat oysters in months with the letter “r” in them? Thanks to modern cooling and shipping practices, restaurants like Marsh House can serve fresh oysters and other seafood year-round, and their $1 oyster Happy Hour is a fantastic deal. Slide straight from a platter of goodness on the half shell to a full meal of Southern-inspired seafood delights accompanied by inventive cocktails and a deep wine list for a trip to the bayou without leaving home. (And with a lot fewer mosquitos.)

Summer is when plant-based restaurants like AVO can really shine. After the winter doldrums of root vegetables and greens, the kitchen finally benefits from the bountiful harvests of hot weather, when the herbs pack more punch and the tomatoes drip down your chin. Doesn’t a bowl of zucchini and kelp noodle cold pad thai sound refreshing right about now?