Food and music — it’s a combination known throughout the centuries for its ability to pack the house. Whether it’s a celebration, a casual backyard gathering, or even a less joyous occasion, food and music are there with us and for us. They comfort us and compel us to enjoy life; they allow us to express ourselves and celebrate our cultures, and, most importantly, they bring us together.
With multiple options for attending music and a constant buzz surrounding the culinary delights on every corner of our fair city, it goes without saying that both spoil us. So when BMI Nashville hosted Sync THIS!, they chose to give their guests a true taste of Nashville.
Sync THIS! was a two-day affair designed for the top music supervisors in film, television, and advertising to meet face to face with local songwriters and publishers. The event catered to more than just interviews and meetings. The goal is to foster relationships, build community, and support opportunities. With this in mind, BMI built an itinerary filled with exclusive performances, as well as private dinners at two of Nashville’s most talked about resturants.
The first dinner was held at East Nashville’s Little Octopus — a perfect venue for showing off our city’s culinary creativity. For the event, owner Sarah Gavigan and executive chef Daniel Herget delivered a menu full of fresh and wholesome dishes with an array of flavors that did not disappoint. The opening act was their specialty cocktail, La Pantera Rosa, paired with a featured acoustic performance by The Roosevelts. The intimate show set the mood for dinner, which featured a variety of delectable choices, including a gazpacho with almonds, grapes, and spiced date oil, a pan roasted chicken with a salsa verde, herb salad, and our featured recipe, the Koji marinated skirt steak. The rich flavor, crispy outside, and satisfying finish, had everyone savoring each bite.
Celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan hosted the second evening at her Nashville restaurant, Chauhan Ale and Masala House. Chauhan’s love of food and her pursuit of creative cooking have taken her all over the world. She is also a featured judge on TLC’s popular culinary show Chopped. Enough said.
The atmosphere was brimming with appetite as hors d’oeuvres such as lamb keema masala tarts, and petite potato samosa’s were passed around during a performance by Shawn Conerton. Dinner was served family style, and guests shared an assortment of colorful dishes like chicken tikki masala, saag paneer, daal tadka, basmati rice, and naan. If you are not an indian food enthusiast, you might not be completely familiar with these dishes, but they were delicious and just about everyone helped themselves to seconds. For dessert, Chauhan served saffron mango kulfi, a traditional indian delicacy and a perfect finish to the evening. Her mango kulfi was cool and refreshing while sustaining the same buttery texture as the mango itself. Chosen as our second featured recipe from the event, this saffron mango kulfi was a beautiful way to surprise and delight.
Though each evening was completely unique in flavor, tone, atmosphere, and style, both provided an experience that brought us closer. You would never believe some attendees were complete strangers because in that moment, as they peered into their dishes with mouths watering, they were family. Roles and titles had been put aside. They were no longer mingling artists, supervisors, BMI executives, or chefs. They were people, simply enjoying life and each other through the passions they share. Author Gregory David Roberts may have put it best when he said, “Food is music to the body, music is food to the heart.eart.pletely uniquewas more than an event, it was a gathering of passionate professionals that had space to become family thanks to their hosts: food and music.
