THE TURNIP TRUCK BROKE GROUND on its new location the second week of April, and with that, their new, much larger home at Woodland and Seventh (with 12,000-plus square feet of space over three stories) is officially on the way.
The East Nashvillian spoke with owner John Dyke late last year as plans were initially coming into focus, and he talked about some of the additions we can expect at the new location, including a large juice bar, hot bar, and salad bar, an expanded bulk foods section, a bakery, a full meat and seafood department, and a cafe. The new additions bring to the East Side some of the best-loved parts of their store in The Gulch, though our new Truck will be quite a bit larger than that location.
No time frame yet for when the doors will open (though eyes were on this summer), but Dyke did share his excitement about the tangible step forward.
“This May marks 14 years of The Turnip Truck in East Nashville,” he said. “As construction on our new building ramps up, we look forward to serving our community for many more years to come.”
In other neighborhood grocery news, a mini-remodel of the Eastland Kroger was under way this spring, including, according to corporate spokesperson Melissa Eads, new decor, shelving, lighting, and flooring. The renovations were expected to wrap around press time, in late April.
The Basement East, another much-anticipated addition to the neighborhood at 917 Woodland, kicked off a grand-opening week of shows on April 22 with sets from Chuck Mead, My Morning Jacket’s Carl Broemel, and a host of others.
Otherwise known as The BEAST, The East Side sister to The Basement, the long-loved haunt beneath Grimey’s, is a significantly larger space — at a capacity of 400, about four times the size of its older sibling — with a fittingly expansive deck and an already highly praised sound system.
Via Facebook, co-BEASTmaster Mike Grimes, who runs the space with Dave Brown, says he’s “looking forward to an amazing ride” now that he again has a venue on the East Side. (Longtime Nashvillians still tell wistful tales of Grimey’s former place, The Slow Bar, which occupied what’s now 3 Crow Bar’s home before closing in 2003.)
Visit thebasementeast.do615.com to keep up with The BEAST’s schedule; for booking, hit thebasement615@ gmail.com.
New bar Duke’s also opened in late April, taking over Nuvo Burrito’s former space next to Marche Artisan Foods at 1000 Main St. They’re serving beer and booze, and according to one of their posts on Instagram, they’ve got “a rockin’ sandwich situation” and “good vibes all night longggg.”
New owners will be taking over the circa-1898 Victorian at 1603 Woodland St., long known as the Top O’Woodland Historic Inn & Wedding Chapel. Its fifth-ever owner will be Lyon Porter, who currently runs Brooklyn’s Urban Cowboy B&B.
Porter wasn’t ready to share specifics about renovation plans yet, but he was ready to beam about his expanding business’ new home. “We are so excited to be coming to East Nashville and cannot say enough about how lovely and welcoming the community has been,” he says.
The expansion to Nashville was inspired by “an imbibed conversation” with Travel + Leisure editor Nate Storey last summer, then cemented after a fall visit with East Sider Ruthie Lindsey and “a bit of magic.”
Urban Cowboy B&B’s aesthetic is a bit different from Top O’Woodland’s — a “modern luxury Brooklyn townhouse with an Industrial Williamsburg/Adirondack/cowboy sensibility” — so it will be cool to see the kind of changes Porter brings to the historic manse. The East Side craft beer family is set to have two new members, joining Little Harpeth Brewing and Fat Bottom Brewing, which as our last issue noted may be on the way to relocating outside the neighborhood.
Smith & Lentz Brewing is expected to take over the Worm’s Way location at 901 Main St. Partners Kurt Smith and Adler Lentz, who come this way from Austin, are reportedly working on a small-batch brewery and taproom there, having turned Eastward after a fire damaged their original space downtown.
Heading northeast to Porter Road, the former Boone & Sons space is expected to be reborn as another brewery and taproom, Southern Grist Brewing Company.
No information on when they will open just yet, but stay tuned to our blog at www.theeastnashvillian.com/blog for updates as we get ’em.
A welcome goes out to accessories company fashionABLE, which moved its offices/showroom over to the East Side from 12South. The company’s scarves are handmade in Ethiopia — the bedrock of a mission of creating sustainable employment for women in Africa.
Their space at 900 Lischey in Cleveland Park is shared with artist/designer Lindsay Sherbond of Lindsay Letters. To learn more about fashionABLE’s work and check out/ purchase their scarves, bags, and jewelry, visit livefashionable.com.
The Greater Grace Temple Community Church at 901 Dalebrook Ln. is set to be redeveloped by Bristol Development Group into 15 condo units, with four or five additional single-family homes on the nearly two-acre property, according to The Tennessean. Work isn’t expected to begin until 2016.
Real estate investment group Corner Partnership LLC recently purchased a .66-acre hunk of property in Riverside Village for $1.3 million, The Tennessean reports. Said hunk includes recordsand- more shop Fond Object and The Red Arrow Gallery. No word on any changes in the works.
The past six months or so have brought a lot of change to Inglewood’s Riverwood Mansion, since chef Debbie Sutton and the 8 Lavender Lane Catering and Event Planning staff took over the place, and that’s only continuing. Sutton and chef Trey Cioccia of The Farm House have partnered to create a garden on the Riverwood grounds, with an aim of bringing super-fresh ingredients to diners at both chefs’ places. Ground on the new garden broke in early April.
“Fresh produce will be grown, harvested, and then served at Cioccia’s restaurant and incorporated into Sutton’s catering menu,” a release from Riverwood says. “We’re excited to be participating in this important initiative and to use our land in a way that supports local businesses bringing the community fresher food.”
The East Side outpost of salon and shop Local Honey opened officially on April 6 at 519 Gallatin Ave., near Barista Parlor. Not familiar with the Local Honey oeuvre? Their tagline is quite helpful: “We sell clothes. We do hair.” The new location is open Monday to Friday, 9 to 7, Saturday 9 to 6, and Sunday noon to 4. More at www.lhnashville.com. The original Local Honey is at 2009 Belmont Blvd.
Roy Meat Service recently opened a new space at 605 South 19th St. near Shelby Park, sharing everything from ribs to steaks and other forms of “pure meat goodness.” Request said goodness at the shop or by calling 615-227-2583.
Barnes Produce also recently moved from the Nashville Farmers Market to Inglewood, setting up at 4000 Gallatin (at the corner of Ardee and Gallatin). They’re carrying a mix of fresh regional and local vegetables (everything from beets to broccolini) along with eggs, meats (like jowls, sausages, and bacon), local honey, jams, jellies, and more. They’re open Monday to Sunday, 8 to 6.
East Nashville-bred dog boarding and daycare space The Dog Spot has yet another new location to boast about. In addition to their original location in the neighborhood and their Mt. Juliet space, there’s now a Spot in West Nashville at 5001 Alabama Ave. Those folks celebrated its grand opening on Saturday, April 25, with a party and open house.
The Nashville Sounds’ new home, First Tennessee Park, hosted its first home-game crowd in mid-April, and though the ballpark’s opening isn’t exactly East Nashville-related, some of its in-house food offerings are. East Side mainstays Pepperfire began their run as the “Official Hot Chicken Provider of the Nashville Sounds” with the stadium’s first season. Snag some Pepperfire at any of the team’s upcoming home games (schedule at NashvilleSounds.com), or at the restaurant (2821 Gallatin Pike).
Shortly prior to Logue’s Black Raven Emporium’s shuttering late last year, its longtime downstairs partner, Cult Fiction Underground, announced plans to move to a larger space on Trinity Lane in the former Southern Bred restaurant location at 1048 East Trinity Ln.
The opening of that expanded home for the grind house theater has hit a few snags, and in order to complete the necessary repairs to get approved by the city, Cult Fiction is seeking help via a crowdfunding campaign.
Launched in April, the campaign vaulted to its $5,000 goal with a big donation at the end of the month, but friends and supporters can still chip in and snag donation rewards, spanning from buttons and stickers to free movies and private screenings once the doors open at 1048 E Trinity Ln. For more info or to contribute, visit gofundme.com/rah8ns.
East Side business Storage Treasures, which stocked a wildly varied trove of storage auction-picked goods at 2501A Gallatin, closed in March. Owner Mike Hendershot shared via Facebook: “I just can’t focus on it anymore because my construction business has took off so hard.” The shop opened in 2013.