During an October visit to Nashville, I was hoping to check out the new restaurant where longtime Twin Cities chef Erik Anderson had landed.
Anderson (second from right) had won friends and wowed foodies during his recent stint at Sea Change. Those in the know always knew that the best strategem there was to sit at the raw bar and put themselves in Erik's hands.
He landed at Catbird Seat, where 32 patrons are seated in a semicircle with a view of the kitchen, and pay $100 for a multi-course extravaganza.
Only one problem: getting in. When I arrived in my birthplace, there were no openings on any of the nine nights of my visit, or for pretty much any night in October and November. It's the by-far hottest ticket in town -- move over, Kenny Chesney -- at least in part because Nashville never has seen anything like it. But mostly, I imagine, because of the food.
One rave review has emerged, plus some more personal ones from friends of mine ("Holy Red Foley," one said). And less than two months after opening, "The Today Show" has aired a feature.
Obviously, our great loss is Nashville's great culinary gain.
