Eat Beat: Kalamata's opens in Brentwood

KALAMATA'S HEADS SOUTH

Fans of Kalamata's fresh Mediterranean fare will be pleased to know that the popular Green Hills restaurant has finally opened the doors of its larger second location in Brentwood.

The new restaurant is on Franklin Road in Brentwood, in the strip anchored by Kroger. It has a roomier dining room but serves the same menu of healthy Mediterranean cuisine.

Like the original, the new Kalamata's doesn't serve alcohol, but does allow patrons to bring their own bottle of wine with a $5 corkage fee. (The money is donated to a rotating lineup of local charities.)

Kalamata's regulars will recognize most of the faces behind the counter in Brentwood, because owner Maher Fawaz has deployed a veteran crew (including himself) to get the new location off the ground. A relatively new face is Maher's sister, Ghada Fawaz, who moved to Nashville from Detroit to run the Brentwood location.

The new location soon will soon add live music, a popular feature at the original cafe. Look for Latin- and Mediterranean-influenced jazzy pop on Friday and Saturday nights.

The new Kalamata's is at 330 Franklin Road, Brentwood, 221-4002. Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday. The original is at 3764 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, 383-8700, www.eatatkalamatas.com.

 

BRICKS AND FIVE GUYS, TOO

Elsewhere in the same center at 330 Franklin Road in Brentwood, two more restaurants are poised to open in the next few weeks: local contender Bricks Cafe and national chain Five Guys Burger and Fries, a popular burger purveyor that's already invaded Green Hills and West End.

Bricks Cafe, which specializes in brick-oven pizzas and family-friendly American fare with Louisiana and Southwestern influences, will open its third location in the Brentwood strip by mid-November. The other two Bricks are at 2020 Fieldstone Parkway in Franklin and 6448 Nolensville Road in southwest Davidson County.

Five Guys is expected to open sometime in November or early December.

 

BRUMM GOES TEX-MEX

Jason Brumm, the chef-owner of wonderful upscale spot radius10 in The Gulch, has ended one aspect of his business while adding a new one. Brumm discontinued lunch at radius10 last week, but he's gearing up to launch a new catering operation starting Monday, Oct. 13. The company is called Riverwalk Catering Co., and its tagline is "Smokin' good Tex-Mex."

Although Brumm is a classically trained chef (with a degree from the Culinary Institute of America), he has long had an interest in Tex-Mex fare. Last year he announced plans to renovate the Tabouli's building on Belmont Boulevard and open a casual Mexican joint there, but that deal fell through. (Another incarnation of Tabouli's has opened in the space instead.)

Brumm describes Riverwalk Catering as Tex-Mex, with smoky Texas-style barbecue and Tex-Mex favorites such as a fiery queso dip. To learn more, visit the Web site www.riverwalkcateringco.com starting next week or contact the company any time at 815-7949 or info@riverwalkcateringco.com.

Brumm, who got married a few months ago, says it was time to reorganize his energies, and lunch service had to go. "Lunch was intended to increase our visibility, but it really didn't grow," he says, especially not with all the lunchtime competition on West End.

However, radius10's reputation is continuing to grow, with a nod in the New York Times magazine in September. The short article on the "culinary awakening" in Nashville also mentioned tayst, Ombi, Andrew Chadwick's on Rutledge Hill and miro district food & drink.

 

ES FERNANDOS RETURNS . . . KIND OF

East Nashville's fooBAR has just become a more interesting place to eat. The eclectically hip bar on Gallatin Avenue has added a new menu of Mexican food that replicates some of the favorites offered by late, lamented Inglewood eatery Es Fernandos, a Mexican restaurant that operated for 37 years before closing a couple years ago.

It was opened by Vincent Chaires, father of Ernie Chaires, who owns fooBAR as well as Rosepepper Cantina nearby at 1907 Eastland Ave. Ernie Chaires says neighborhood folk continually ask him to bring back Es Fernandos, so he decided to transplant a bit of that food to fooBAR.

The setup is complicated, since fooBAR is a straight-ahead bar, with smoking permitted and admission restricted to ages 21 and up. (State law requires that for smoking venues that have no patio.) While fooBAR doesn't open until the evening, the Mexican food is offered during the day, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.

Daytime customers can to enter the game room entrance of fooBAR, where the food is served. Smoking laws say the 21-and-up rule has to apply even when the bar is closed. Younger diners and families may take their food to go.

Bar patrons who arrive after the Mexican menu has ended for the day can order fooBAR's standard fare, pizza.

Confusing? Chaires says customers with questions can call Rosepepper at 227-4777. Meanwhile, fooBAR is at 2511 Gallatin Ave., 226-7305. Bar hours: 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Monday-Wednesday; 7 p.m.-3 a.m. Thursday-Saturday; 7 p.m.-1 a.m. Sunday.