When planning our Boys trip to Nashville, there was one place I wanted badly to try out for dinner. I had heard about Husk and Chef Sean Brock through some articles and most recently the last season of Chef’s Table. Although he is not longer really involved with Husk since 2018, I loved the premise of how Husk looked to reconnect with the basic tenants of Southern cuisine and heirlooms ingredients. My knowledge of Southern cuisine from Montreal leans heavily towards fried chicken, bbq, etc. so the idea of a ‘different’ kind of Southern meal really intrigued me. So I convinced my friends that Husk would be our first dinner in Nashville.
Located on Rutledge Hill, a few blocks south of the ‘Historic’ Nashville and Broadway St, Husk is housed in an old Southern home built between 1879 and 1882 that at one point was the home of Mayor Richard Houston Dudley when he was first elected in 1897. The house is beautiful and evokes that old Southern mansion feel with the high ceiling, crown mouldings, old fireplaces and its old arched brick entranceway and porch. The kitchen is open in the middle of the first floor and there are different seating areas elsewhere in the house – including a bar area in the basement.
As mentioned before, Husk is all about exploring the reality of Southern food through the use of heirloom items, in-house pickling and charcuterie creation amongst other means. The menu is an interesting mix of ‘classic’ Southern dishes and dishes that use local producers and ingredients to create some cool plates with a Southern bend.
Our appetizers were an interesting blend of these ideas. First up, a more refined take on shrimp and grits – beautifully tender shrimp with some rich and creamy cheesy grits. A perfect combination that finally made sense to me trying here in this setting.
We then had the hickory smoked wings with Alabama white sauce. The wings were crispy and tender. I loved the spice mix overtop which provided tons of smoky heat. This was paired with the Alabama White Sauce which is a zesty and tangy white BBQ sauce which I had never had before but found to be wonderful with the smoky hot wings.
We shared a hearth cornbread as well which was excellent – not too dry and had a nice sweetness and hardiness to it. I’ve always enjoyed cornbread so it was great to finally one in its area of origin.
Lastly for the starters, we had a plate of Tennessee charcuterie with cheddar biscuits, spicy rilettes and pickles. The charcuterie was excellent – tons of great rich flavours and textures. The spicy rillettes were excellent as well and I just love a good cheddar biscuit – super buttery and flaky with that hint of cheesy goodness. Round 1 was in the books and we were very happy so far.
Our mains continued the great use of local southern produce. First up, we had some North Carolina catfish served with blue barley berry cornbread, peaches, snap peas and basil butter. The fish was amazing – super flaky and tender. The cornbread was more of a corn pancake but excellent regardless. The peaches added a touch of sweetness and the basil butter was super interesting – a combination of richness but with a hint of coolness and freshness. Excellent dish all around.
Our second dish was seared Bear Creek Farm beef served with Farmer Dave tomatoes, ramp kraut and embered okra. Personally for the table, the thickness of the beef was such that it was served a little too rare which made it less enjoyable to chew. The rest of the dish was excellent – I really loved trying okra in this fashion. It had none of the sliminess that many people associate with that vegetable.
Our main final was grilled Bear Creek Farm pork served with Farmer Dave spaghetti squash, smoked spring onion and pork belly. An excellent cut of meat cooked perfectly. I loved the addition of the pork belly overtop to provide a different texture and that paired well with the sweetness from the smoked onion.
After all of this, we were stuffed but we saw this on the dessert menu and couldn’t help but want to try it: Oatmeal raisin cookie soft serve with RC cola marshmallow and rum raisin caramel. A very unique idea for ice cream but the flavour really came through and caramel and the sweet marshmallow with the little roasted top matched well to it. Great finish for our meal.
Husk met my expectations and become a wonderful discovery for my friends. It was great to try Southern cuisine in a different way than what I was used to. We left full, happy and looking forward to what else Nashville had in store for us.
Cheers!
Husk
37 Rutledge St.
Nashville, TN
615 256 6565
Ramblings from the Complex Mind of a 30 Something 