Steeplechase, Mom's Day, New Menu!

Tags Menu, Bar, Restaurant, Nashville, Website

Thanks to all our fabulous regulars as well as our hard-working servers last weekend for making suggestions as we tried out the new offerings. We wanted to make sure everything was just right before going to print with the menus. We’re still tweaking, and over the course of the summer we’ll have new and exciting nightly specials. With a new menu, though, I don’t believe in changing more than three or four items at a time. My experience has been that things aren’t right, and don’t become right, if you change more than that many at a time.

There are three new menu items you need to know about and sample:

—Our duck confit ravioli with Taleggio cheese, with sweet pea tendrils;
—Sauteed halibut with black rice, edamame, and a miso broth;
—And, something I’m particularly excited about, a beautiful rib-eye steak that replaced the filet on our menu.

What’s so beautiful about rib-eye is its wonderful fat content. There’s lots of marbeling, which helps keep the meat moist. I very often prefer it over a filet., because it tastes like… like good cow. It’s beefy. I’ve heard people say about filet, “Oh, it’s so tender, it tastes just like butter.” Well, I don’t want my beef to taste like butter! I want it to taste like steak! And that’s the rib-eye.

Rest assured we’ll also continue to offer the hanger steak, which is still just as popular as when we first opened. You can’t have steak frites without hanger steak.

As for other old reliables, a reminder that Ombi offers drink and food specials, in the bar area only, from 4–7 pm every day but Sunday. Terry’s delicious, Nashville Lifestyles magazine-featured D’Arbo cocktail will set you back $8, a $2 discount from the regular cost for that and other specialty cocktails. It’s $6 for your choice of premium vodka martinis, $5 for classic rye Manhattans, half-price for draft beer, wine by the glass and white sangria. And the whole bar menu is full of tapas and other discounted menu items, all under $10. What could be better

COMING UP:

—We’re getting more and more fired up for Generous Helpings 2008, 6–9 pm Wednesday, May 28 at the Nashville Convention Center Ballroom, which benefits Second Harvest Food Bank. I’m serving as restaurant chair for the event, and super sous chef Cooper Brunk representing Ombi. You can get tickets and read more about it at www.secondharvestnashville.org. Here’s a brief summary from the website: “Generous Helpings is a culinary benefit and silent auction supporting Nashville’s Table, a Perishable Food Rescue Program of Second Harvest Food Bank. A portion of the proceeds also benefits the Culinary Arts Scholarship Fund at Nashville State Community College. Now in its fourth year, Generous Helpings features “tastes” of gourmet appetizers, entrees, desserts and beverages by more than 30 of the area’s finest independent restaurants, wine purveyors and breweries.” Cost is $40 in advance, $50 at the door, VIP patron tickets are available for $125, which includes valet parking, special seating area, access to VIP bar, listing as patron in the event program, special wine selection and a thank you gift. Participating Restaurants: Ombi, Watermark, Mambu, The Culinary Arts Center at Second Harvest, Ovations Catering, Nashville State Community College Culinary Arts, Park Café, Chaffin’s Barn, Pied Piper Creamery, Cabana, Eastland Café, Midtown Café, Sunset Grill, Tayst, Tin Angel, Mirror, Kalamatas, Margot, Marche, Zola, Noshville, Chappy’s on Church, Flyte, Radius 10, and the Veggie Café.

—The previously scheduled May 20 tasting of Georg Muller wines has been canceled. Stay tuned to this space for announcements of upcoming tastings.

‘Til next time,

Laura Wilson

By Laura Wilson on May 9, 2008