EastNashvilleBlog.com » Five Points

The Groove Closing Down This Weekend

Jason Kirk — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:17:39 +0000

It's sayonara - at least temporarily - for our favorite Five Points record store.

Here’s the kind of bad news we hate to have to share: The Groove is closing down at the end of business on Sunday.

That’s right folks — we’re quite saddened to say it, but we will be leaving our current South 11th Street location behind at the end of this month…

We’ve had alot of good times here (as we hope you have too) and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the downtime is short and sweet, as we love being part of the Nashville music community and look forward to getting back in the saddle soon… As always, we will keep everyone posted as things unfold via our website and newsletter…

Meanwhile, we will remain open for business this entire week – with Sunday, June 20th being our last day for business at our current location (as we’re gonna need some time to pack all of this stuff!!)

In an attempt to make our load a little bit lighter, we’ll be having a week-long sale on everything in the store…

*25% off all New CDs, LPs & merchandise

*35% off all Used CDs, LPs & merchandise

Time to go pick up some records, Eastsiders!

East Nashville Arts Fest Recap

Rachel Hall Kirk — Tue, 25 May 2010 18:48:31 +0000

Humans and four-legged companions were equally welcome at the East Nashville Arts Fest. Several booths had water bowls and treats for the pups.

This entire collection of intricate collages and cards came from Chattanooga's Made By One Girl.

All right, I know some of you didn’t leave the house this past weekend because you were brushing up on six years of Lost in anticipation of the long-awaited final episode. (Why do you think we’re posting this on Tuesday instead of bright and early Monday morning?) Plus it was hot – oh, so hot – outside. But those of you who were brave and ventured out to Five Points on Saturday or Sunday probably noticed that the 1100 block of Woodland was closed for the first annual East Nashville Arts Fest.

Both sides of the street were lined with tents, and selected artists were able to hawk their wares from 11am-7pm Saturday and Sunday. Festival planner Maria Mariottini, a Chicagoan, put the event together at the request of some local artists who know her from their participation in other festivals. I think it’s safe to say that Maria’s hard work was well worth the effort, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event (same approximate time, same approximate place).

Maria Mariottini, East Nashville Arts Fest planner.

Yee-Haw Industrial Letterpress from Knoxville - what a variety of cool stuff! If you didn't buy that t-shirt or poster you wanted, no worries... they have a store on Etsy.com.

There are so many successful art festivals around town that I didn’t think this one would be any different, but the vibe of the East Nashville Arts Fest was fresh and exciting. It differed from the recent and well-established TACA Craft Fair and our beloved local Tomato Art Fest in that it was smaller (I have a hunch that once it’s established it will grow significantly) and the merchandise was eclectic and well rounded without a particular theme or heaviness on one artform.

Tiffany Ownbey has figured out a way to elevate papier mache to a new level. Her background in ceramic sculpture is evident in the surface textures and intricate forms - this ain't your typical coat-a-balloon mache.

We at East Nashville Blog are animal lovers and were drawn to the cute faces and trippy colors of Michelle Mardis' dog paintings.

No matter which art festival I go to, I enjoy seeing the same artist in the same tent location year after year; familiarity is comforting. And while there were some local artists with recognizable artwork in the East Nashville Arts Fest, many participants were from other states, which provided festival-goers an unexpectedly new and fresh supply of artwork to see and purchase. Of course we like to support our local artists, but I think we can all smile at the fact that our side of the city is happenin’ enough to attract artists from far and away, and our reputation as a city that celebrates the visual arts is growing ever stronger.

How about a stained glass window for that salvaged antique door you've been meaning to install? Artist: Alexander Roskowski, LX&R Studios.

Another exciting aspect of this festival was that it was made up of equal parts fine art and fine craft – which pleases me, because East Nashville Blog celebrates all things creative with no regard for the high-art/low-art dichotomy. The art/craft distinction was made even fuzzier with this festival because everything on display was of the highest possible quality, no chintz. There were beautiful things to wear, to hang on the wall, to put in your lawn… all made with care and great creativity.

Hella-cool pillows made from hand-dyed fabric brought to you by Hooey Batiks.

For a complete list of artists who participated, including contact information and website addresses, visit the East Nashville Arts Fest Facebook page.

East Nashville Arts Fest This Weekend

Jason Kirk — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:00:31 +0000

East Nashville art lovers will want to set aside some time this weekend for the newest art event in our corner of the city.

The East Nashville Arts Fest is an outdoor fair featuring the work of 50 artists from across North America. Their work, which will be on display outside on Woodland Street between 11th and 12th Streets, runs the gamut from painting to photography to ceramics to jewelry – and anything that strikes your fancy can be bought directly from the artists all weekend.

Admission is free!

Among the artists who will be participating in this year’s inaugural festival are Melissa Banks, Teresa Petersen, Tiffany Ownbey, Dolan Geiman, Julie Bricher, Kirk Seufert and friend of East Nashville Blog Jeff Bertrand.

The festival is being organized by Maria Mariottini of grazia productions, an artist and graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who’s been working with Chicago’s Bucktown Arts Fest for the last 14 years. In recent years more Southern artists began applying to Bucktown and other art shows Mariottini puts together in Chicago, grabbing her attention and bringing her to visit our city – and she liked what she saw.

“I quickly realized East Nashville was ripe for an outdoor art fair,” she says. “It’s a hip, eclectic community that supports the arts with an active network of locally-owned businesses. I’m honored to provide a venue for so many talented artists from Nashville and beyond to present and sell their work in the amazing neighborhood of East Nashville.”

The East Nashville Arts Fest couldn’t come at a better time. It’s only been a week since the benefit art show at Billups Art, which raised more than $3,000 for Hands On Nashville, and next weekend will bring the May installment of ArtEast. We don’t know about all of you, but to us three weekends in a row of art shows is a fantastic way to shake off all this rain.

Come out to Woodland Street at Five Points on Saturday, May 22, and Sunday, May 23, between 11am-7pm. Admission is free.

Record Store Day Performance Schedule @ The Groove

Jason Kirk — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:35:46 +0000

It's a free live music bonanza today outside The Groove

For those of you who are planning to head out to Five Points and The Groove today to hear free music on Record Store Day, here’s the schedule:

12:00 Daniel Pujol
1:00 Illnana
1:50 Danger & The Steel Cut Oats
2:45 Emmylou Harris
3:15 The Grayces
4:15 Chris Crofton: The Alcohol Stuntman
5:15 The Distribution
6:15 Outlaw Lovers
7:10 Hans Condor
8:00 Tristen
8:50 Tallest Trees

The autographed Emmylou Harris guitar, provided by Fanny’s House of Music, will be given away before The Distribution plays at 5:15 – even more reason to stick around after Emmylou and check out the spiky art-punk of The Grayces and inimitable insanity of Chris Crofton. See you out there!

Emmylou Harris at The Groove on Saturday

Jason Kirk — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:30:34 +0000

Stupid day jobs, always getting in the way of what we’d rather be doing! They’ve turned the EastNashvilleBlog.com staff into busy bees the last few days, but we couldn’t miss the chance to spread the word about Emmylou Harris playing at Five Points. So here we are sneaking away from our regular duties and letting you know that the country music legend will perform at The Groove this Saturday afternoon in celebration of the third annual Record Store Day.

The legendary Emmylou Harris plays East Nashville this weekend

Emmylou Harris is an American music icon, a 12-time Grammy Award winner who has released more than 20 studio albums and collaborated with countless artists including Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, Carl Jackson, Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes, and Mark Knopfler. And The Groove, of course, is your local East Nashville record store.

In addition to Harris, The Groove will feature performances from Chris Crofton: Alcohol Stuntman, The Grayces, Daniel Pujol and several other acts. There’s stuff to be given away, food from Mas Tacos, a booth from our friends at the Tennessee Teens Rock & Roll Camp, discounts in the record store and all kinds of other cool things that you won’t find anywhere else on April 17th.

Get more info from The Groove’s blog, and head down to 103 South 11th Street to get in on the fun this Saturday. And please, please, please don’t tell the boss we posted this, mmmkay?

Five Points Still Doesn’t Get The Drift Of Barbecue

Bobby Shamwell — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:39:51 +0000

Editor’s Note: What you’re looking at here is almost as much a review of all the East Nashville spots owned by Matt Charette as it is a look at his newest place, Drifters. But Bob’s review of Drifters depends pretty heavily on a familiarity with those other businesses, so I’ve left the whole thing intact. – JK

My EastNashvilleBlog.com foodie colleagues and I recently sampled the fare at Matt Charette’s newest Five Points eatery, Drifters BBQ. Before I get into my review of Drifters, let’s take a quick glance at all of the other Charette-owned East Nashville establishments.

Beyond The Edge: This sports-themed restaurant has absolutely the dumbest theme going in East Nashville. Its logo is of a rock climber rappelling a distorted martini glass. The theme matches poorly with its pub fare food – burgers, fries, pizza, quesadillas, and various sandwiches, most of which you can tell just gets microwaved.

Beyond The Edge does thrive as a drinking establishment with good alcohol variety and popular drink specials. This is the only reason to go. They should ditch the “extreme sports” schtick and simply call themselves The Place That Doesn’t Call Last Call Early. They should also stop trying to feed us.

Battered n’ Fried: The Battered n’ Fried portion is decked out with Boston-themed kitsch. Before the Red Sox won their “miraculous” World Series those several years ago, it was rare to see anything Sox around the South. Afterwards (and continuing still), all of the “fans” have come out of the woodwork. Nothing is more annoying than being surrounded by the bandwagon when you just don’t care, and B n’ F’s Boston fetishism is no exception. Another corny theme from Charette.

Food-wise, seafood lovers like myself will definitely try this place once. While B n’ F can sometimes satisfy a rare craving, frying absolutely everything on the menu gets old quickly. There’s not much variety, and southerners already deep fry everything anyway – which makes the Boston theme even more confusing. East Nashvillians who want a good pan-seared or baked piece of fish will get no help from Battered n’ Fried.

Wave Sushi Bar: Sharing the building with Battered n’ Fried is Five Points’ only other seafood option, Wave Sushi. I have to say that the rolls I’ve had from Wave are quite good. The taste has consistency; the problem is the portions you get for the price. There are endless sushi options in Nashville that are just as good, more filling, and much better-priced. Wave Sushi Bar is like eating appetizers for dinner. The appetizer bill is well over fifty bucks, making you wish you had stayed home and rolled your own.

Watanabe: In Riverside village is Watanabe, Charette’s second sushi zone and possibly his tastiest restaurant. Watanabe has Wave prices, but more variety, better portions, and better atmosphere. (It helps when you’re not eating sushi beneath Boston newspaper clippings.) I dropped a lot of money there on my birthday, but I had a good time and felt it was worth it. Mmmmm, sea urchin.

With Drifters BBQ, Charette has added another finger to his gradually-forming stranglehold over East Nashville, but can he up the already limited, and boring, food ante? Riverside Village’s Watanabe is delicious, but despite East Nashville’s reinvention of tattooed, bohemian yuppification a lot of people around here simply can’t afford to eat at places like that all the time. Can Drifters make its mark in Nashville’s barbecue world? This review is going to split hairs, but when it comes to southerners rating their beloved BBQ, that’s just how it’s gotta be.

This review is actually a culmination of two visits. The first being with my ladyfriend a few days after it opened and the second a few nights ago with my two foodie colleagues.

When entering Drifters BBQ you can be a bit impressed at its improvements if you’re aware of what it was previously (the Alleycat Tex-Mex Lounge). Then you’ll be slightly saddened at the fact that Alleycat’s darkened drinking hole really is gone. It is much cleaner though. The Drifters logo is reminiscent of the Harley Davidson logo (groan), implying that Drifters is gearing towards that biker market. There are even a few spots reserved for motorcycles in front of the restaurant. From a culmination of two visits, and a few times walking by, I’ve seen no bikes. Not saying bikers don’t go there, just not on my schedule.

Both visits we sat in the back patio, where a small stage has been set up against the adjacent building that has been decorated on one side by a bizarre mural that’s only about 5% interesting. There is a smoker in the back (which looks like Alleycat’s old smoker), but rather than being used to cook food it’s serving as a prop for the dining tent. This is not a good sign. USE THE DAMNED SMOKER, DRIFTERS! YOU HAVE IT! USE IT!

Sauces: We ordered our beers and food and then were presented the sauce spiel by our friendly server. There is Tennessee sauce, a vinegar-based classic that should really be called Middle Tennessee sauce since Tennessee sauces become more tomato-based when you get near Memphis and become more Carolina-style, mustard-based as you head east. Next on the list is Texas sauce, a sweet and smokey mesquite – not bad, but they don’t seem to be smoking it in the smoker. Then there’s the “Georgia” sauce, mustard based – probably my favorite, though I always thought mustard sauce was from Carolina. I can’t say I’ve ever had Georgia sauce to be honest. Finally there’s the New Mexico sauce, with a kick that I usually prefer in sauces; however, I think the jalapeno flavoring is dull. I think one of the other foodies liked it though. (There’s also a bit of Sriracha mixed in with this sauce, which is the main reason for it tasting good. – JK)

Now the culmination of foods we ordered were pork (two different times, both a little different), brisket (Jason will cover this one, I didn’t try it), baked beans, cole slaw, hush puppies, blackberry cobbler, barbecue tofu, and cherry cheesecake bread pudding.

The Pork (the kicker): The pork, as I’ve stated before, is not smoked. It is oven roasted for 16 hours. When I first tried the pork on my first visit it wasn’t sloppy (which is good), but was slightly crisped. It wasn’t quite dry, thankfully, but those crispy bits tend to be a lot better when the pork is smoked; smoked barbecue’s crispy bits tend to be from a rub and can pack a good flavor. The oven roasted crispiness with Drifters’ pork seemed to not offer any real additional zing to the meat.

On the first visit, the pork did retain a satisfying flavor. But during our second visit the pork was a lot soggier, which is a problem. It would seem to be an attempt to keep it from drying out, which is understandable, but sometimes sogginess can reduce flavor. Sogginess can also leave a weird taste similar to dry meat; while the meat isn’t actually dry, it becomes a bit bland due to over-moisturization. Anybody can cook pork, but nurturing it helps to toe that fine line. If you’ve ever tried to cook pork or brisket, you know these can be easy mistakes to make. Drifters gets an average rating for the pork the first go-round, a sub-par rating for the pork a second time around.

The pork-plate portions are not what barbecue fans are used to. But in Drifters’ defense, these are actually reasonable in terms of the amounts of food people should consume. I just can’t picture a biker being thrilled at a barbecue joint eating his beloved pork with even the slightest bit of pretentiousness. The pretentiousness isn’t extreme, but it’s there; for just one example, the sides in the plastic little ramekins may be a bit too adorable for a barbecue joint. The “high end” aspect of Drifters doesn’t mean anything when the “low brow” barbecue joints are serving consistent meat every time. You could serve your barbecue from a bathroom for all I care – so long as the meat is perfect every single time, I will always come back.

Brisket: Nobody who’s ever spent time in Texas eating real brisket would be satisfied by this offering. First of all, it’s not even true barbecue; our knowledgeable waiter told me that like the pork, the brisket is slow-roasted all day long. While I appreciate the work that goes into a slow roast, you should call it what it is – a roast. Maybe you could get away with passing it off as brisket in some other part of the country where people don’t know anything about barbecue, but doing this in a town like Nashville where there’s already so much good barbecue around is borderline shameful. So far as slow-roasted beef goes, though, it’s got decent flavor. Unfortunately, much like the pork it was on the soggy side. – JK

Baked Beans and Coleslaw: The baked beans were tasty. The cole slaw was cole slaw. I’ll let my colleagues handle the sides in more detail, due to lack of specifics regarding these foods in my memory banks. (The baked beans had more than enough bacon to satisfy the soul, and their sauce was well-seasoned; I found them to be the best part of the meal. The cole slaw, though, was so drowned in mayonnaise that it lost any other attempt at flavor. Skip it and go for something else if you have the choice. – JK)

Now for the good news…

BBQ Tofu: My vegetarian ladyfriend was thrilled to be able to eat something at a BBQ joint. Drifters wins big points for this. Dry rubbed rectangular cuts with a decent spice, the crispy edges work well for tofu. This option does distinguish Drifters from all other BBQ joints. Satisfying for veggie-heads who aren’t into the flavorful wonders of animal flesh.

Hush Puppies: Spot on! Served with a tasty, white Alabama sauce, these were perfectly shaped and not too greasy. These are the style of hush puppies I always liked growing up. Well done.

And the best news of all…

Dessert (Blackberry Cobbler and Cherry Cheesecake Bread pudding): On the first visit, I topped off my very typical barbecue dinner with the blackberry cobbler. One thing I should say about the desserts: while the dinner was of average portion, the desserts don’t hold back on immensity – so make sure you share. This won’t be a problem seeing as my blackberry cobbler was very delicious. The amount of cooked fruit and crust were very well-matched, and the crust itself was perfectly flaky throughout every bite. It was easily the best thing I ate that evening, though I’m not used to eating blackberry cobbler without seeds. Growing up, all the cobbler I ever had was from hand-picked wild blackberries; country folk don’t bother straining out the seeds, and us youngsters didn’t seem to care. The seeds weren’t present at Drifters, and that’s good; a country kitchen is one thing, but a restaurant should make sure they get those pesky things out.

Dessert on our second visit also didn’t disappoint. They were out of the cobbler so I gave the Cherry Cheesecake Bread Pudding a try. Hot damn! Another big portion that looked heavy as a brick, but had a very delicate texture. Much like the cobbler the ingredients were very even throughout. Whoever is making the desserts at Drifters is on their game!

So all told, Drifters isn’t a complete failure. Some items on the menu are well done, but they lack heavily where it counts most – in the meat department. This place is a barbecue joint, after all. You’ve got to get that pork right or you just wont draw in the barbecue aficionados. I recommend you get your meat somewhere else, and then stop by Drifters for the bad-ass desserts.

With its kitchen staying open until midnight, Drifters is probably the second-best place to get some food at Five Points after 10pm – but that really isn’t saying much. Food is never the pull for Five Points; it’s the drinking that brings us in. If you’re drunk enough it doesn’t matter to anyone what you shove down your gullet. Unfortunately, Five Points relies too much on this. The only good food there comes from those who keep it simple and sweet: I Dream of Weenie, Mas Tacos Por Favor, and Pied Piper Creamery (not a suitable dinner, but still pleases).

I will be giving Drifters one more shot in the near future. I’m still curious about the Danish Rub Baby back Ribs, but they’d have to be damn good if they hope to move Drifters’ meats out of mediocrity.

You Say Tomato, We Say Fun: Tomato Art Festival Recap

Jason Kirk — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:57:18 +0000

Historic East End, home of the Tomato Arts Festival

Folks from all over Nashville flocked to East End on Saturday for the Tomato Art Festival, one of the biggest parties of the year on this side of the Cumberland. That’s no surprise given that it’s been voted Best Festival in the Nashville Scene Readers’ Poll two years running. After a pre-festival gathering with some local artist friends, we walked down to Five Points to take in all things Tomato.

We caught some of Tommy Keenum's crooning when we arrived.

Music played on three separate stages scattered around the Five Points area for most of the day. The August sun was brutal on one of the hottest days of the year to date, so we give credit to all the performers who put in their time providing free entertainment for the thousands of people in attendance. Last year an estimated 12,000 people showed up, and it wouldn’t surprise us at all to find out that this year’s number was even larger.

The festival is billed as “costume friendly,” and there was plenty of evidence to support it. From adults decked out in red costumes to kids (and dogs!) with their hair dyed red, yellow, and green, enthusiasm for the day’s theme was on prominent display.

Did we mention that Saturday was hot? Luckily there were plenty of chances to cool down, from the local Five Points businesses who threw open their air-conditioned interiors to the public, to the vendors selling refreshments, to the fine folks at Love Thy Pet who provided a pool for everyone’s dogs to find some relief.

'Dog Days' indeed.

And what would an arts festival be without some art? All the local galleries invited the public to come in and sample some of the local fare, including Art & Invention Gallery and its Tomato Art Show. There was also a silent auction of pieces out at the Art Institute‘s booth, which featured the piece below.

She may hate tomatoes, but Nashville loves them.

We thoroughly enjoyed our two hours at the festival, and the rest of the crowd seemed to be having a great time, too. Like some friends that we ran into in a shady spot as we headed out, though, we wondered why the festival has to be scheduled for the hottest time of the year. Is it to make sure that we stay as red as the tomatoes for the next week or so? There are already so many ways the festival will stay with us – we could probably do without this one.