Marche’ Artisan Foods – 11.07.08

Irony hung thick in the air as we entered the door of of today’s lunch spot and spied this sign awaiting our arrival.    

It is almost as though the man upstairs had been reading our mail.  Nashville Eats It’s ABCs  was out on a special birthday edition of our alphabetical lunch saga as  tomorrow is Eddie’s FOURTIETH birthday.  Eddie got to pick out any restaurant staring with the letter M and he wisely choose Marche’s Artisan Foods for the very last lunch of his 30s.  But before we get down to the brass tacks of our food extravaganza, let’s take a moment for you to get you know Eddie a little better, shall we?  

In the tradition of banal, myspace profiles, here is a Q&A snapshot of our fairly reserved and always frugal Eddie….    

Music: Sarah McLaughlin 

Movie: Tombstone 

Book: The Icarus Agenda by Robert Ludlum 

TV: The Office 

Hero: My grandpa  (both of them, actually) 

Who I’d Like To Meet: Tiger Woods 

Hometown: Albany, NY 

Height: 6’ 2’ 

Smoke; no 

Drink: no 

Children: more than 4 

Education: Canadian community college, eh? 

Favorite childhood activity: riding bikes 

Favorite color: silver 

Sport played: Basketball 

Favorite Nice Dinner Out: Cheesecake Factory 

Junk Food: Peanut Butter M&Ms 

Best Thing About Turning 40:  gray facial hair 

Can’t Stand The Thought Of: listening to the girl from Sugarland sing (Jennifer Nettles)     

And now that the world knows Eddie a bit better, here are our thoughts on Marche’ Artisan Foods…   

Hank: 

Marche has become one of my favorites by far.  It's the closest thing to a European café' that you'll find in Nashville.  I haven't been able to find something to complain about in all the times that I've been there...and that's a rare thing for me.   I went with our server's recommendation and got the Roasted Butternut Squash Bread Pudding that came with a spinach salad that was topped with a warm hazelnut vinaigrette.  Bread pudding for lunch sounded a little strange...but honestly...it was one of the best lunches I've had in a long time!  The best way I can find to describe it is...3 parts savory to 1 part sweet...all parts freakin' good!  (My mouth is watering as I type this)  And for only $8...I thought it was a deal.   It's also worth mentioning that they've got a great breakfast menu and one of the best cups of coffee that I've had.   Check it out...tell them Hank sent you.  They'll reply..."Who is Hank?!?"...and you'll say..."I don't know!".  Then there will be an awkward silence.  At this point...feel free to talk about the weather, the economy or politics...those are always good conversation fillers.   

Frank: 

For me, Marche’ will always be the place where Jack White first had the opportunity to shake my hand.  (lucky devil)  But besides that, Marche’ is certainly now (and hopefully, will always be) my favorite breakfast place of all-time in Nashville. This is the one place that my Williamson County friends are truly envious of.  Great, imaginative food, consistently good service and a panoramic view of Main Street…  what could be better?  In Nashville, not a whole lot.  Other than Crema, this is the place I try and schedule the bulk of my morning meetings so as to enjoy the company, atmosphere and food.

For lunch today I had the Boar’s Head Hot Roast Beef Sandwich.  It was great.  And by great, I mean awesome.  What else do I need to say?  I suppose if I were forced to make a critique about lunch, I would have preferred that the baguette be toasted, but that would have been the icing on the cake.  But the cake was delicious.  And by cake, I mean the roast beef sandwich.

One request for Margot though,  please bring back the poached eggs on creamy-tomato-polenta.  I’ve tried to recreate this at my house (came somewhat close) but I really need this back on the menu.  Seriously.  Best breakfast ever...

Oh, and happy birthday Eddie!  You’re getting OLD.   

Eddie: 

Mmmgood.   

Thanks Eddie for that illuminating review.  And that does it for another installment of Nashville Eats It’s ABCs.  Next time won’t you eat with….