Because one coffee shop in Nashville is never enough, Bri and I had to hit up one more before leaving town: Retrograde Coffee.

Retrograde Coffee is a very modern, clean coffee shop that has beautiful brass finishes and a hipster vibe.

Retrograde Coffee is here! Sure, we serve a mean cup of coffee, but the shop is about more than just that. It’s a place to bring people together, a place to pause for a moment on your daily path to collect your thoughts. We hope to see you soon!

Bri's friend works here, so she's super familiar with the menu, but I ended up going with the Smoked Shagbark Latte.

This latte has a sweet smoky flavor that was so, so good!

Like, I could drink this every day.

And, I went with one of these local cookies from HiFi Cookies.

We love David Bowie and you should too. Have you ever heard David Bowie live at The Rainbow? Well if you haven’t you should! Anyway this cookie is awesome, filled white chocolate chips and covered in rainbow sprinkles!

A delicious smoky drink and a sweet cookie? There's not a better combo.

After a super busy day of adventuring, I was exhausted but so excited that I woke up in Nashville. While my friend Bri slept, I went hunting for coffee with Liz.

We ended up at Frothy Monkey, a coffee shop with a number of locations in Nashville.

At Frothy Monkey, we have developed the recipe for the ideal dining experience: creative folks using quality ingredients to prepare original dishes served in a cozy and approachable atmosphere. Sounds great, right? Let’s be honest though. When you’re hungry, you just want tasty, fresh food, in your neighborhood at your favorite spot that’s, well, honest. It’s easy to be honest about our food. We have personal relationships with the people that grow and produce many of our ingredients and we combine them with our own hands in our own kitchens. And there it is. You have the freshest meals (preservatives always at a minimum) and the peace of mind that you know what you are eating. The best thing is you don’t even have to think about it. So, go ahead and be choosy about what you eat. We’ll create a conscientiously crafted food experience, breakfast through DINNER, every time.

The space has a cool, welcoming vibe with all sorts of seasonal drinks, signature coffee drinks and more.

Immediately, the turtle latte with espresso, steamed milk, housemade caramel, chocolate sauce and frothy monkey pecan syrup caught my eye.

And, I ordered a blueberry muffin, which they make in house! Both were fabulous.

While in Nashville, I managed to sneak in two great restaurants.

The Treehouse is a trendy, Zagat-rated spot that was hopping on a Saturday night.

Fans “adore” this “cool little” Lockeland Springs haunt, whose ultra-rustic venue (check the name) sets the scene for an “amazing”, “evolving” menu of farm-to-fork American fare featuring global accents that get more “playful” late at night; the “cozy” interior has a communal feel, and there’s “lots of outdoor seating” in the backyard.

We were led to a seat outside where there were giant heat lamps and had just about 5 minutes to get an order in before the kitchen closed.

I wasn't starving, but I could definitely manage another snack - especially at such a renowned place.

There were a few fun things on the menu, but the one that caught my eye was "DIY Steamed Duck Buns," which came with spicy sour cherry sauce, pickle, scallion and sesame. YES PLEASE.

Everything was fabulous, and I felt like a bit of a chef. But also, can I just eat steamed buns all day every day?

One of my best friends lives in Nashville, so I'm fortunate to be able to visit now and then.

Not only do I love this town because it means I get to see one of my best friends, I love that there's life and energy and amazing food.

At the top of my to-visit list was Rolf and Daughters, which is featured on Zagat. 

An absolute must“ for ”innovative“ New American cuisine, this upscale Germantown ”gem“ presents a ”heavenly“ array of shareable small plates, hearty entrees and ”incredible cocktails“ dispensed by a ”top-notch“ team; the ”industrial“ space in a restored factory building offers communal seating (as well as smaller tables) and a patio for ”people-watching“, but be sure to arrive ”really early" if you can’t snag a reservation.

We started with some sourdough and seaweed butter. SEAWEED BUTTER y'all - it kinda just tasted extra salty.

Then I had dry-aged beef tartare, lime leaf, peanut and mint. I'm not gonna lie - this looked like straight raw hamburger meat (which I used to steal from the pack when my mom was cooking) - but the peanut was crucial and gave it some crunch.

Bri ordered the sweet potato with golden raisin, chili and anchovy.

Then I had "Cecamariti," which was a handmade pasta made from sourdough - how cool is that. It came with cultured butter and pepper.

These were tapas-style, so not huge portions. That made me feel better about ordering dessert.

So I went with the pear with buttermilk ice cream, katafi and spice honey. Wow, this is one of the tastiest things I've had in recent memory.

Have you been here?

Richard Blais owns a burger joint in Nashville called Flip Burger Boutique.

Blais, a mainstay on Bravo's Top Chef, open the burger-focused restaurant with three locations in Atlanta, one in Birmingham, and the newest location in Nashville. Flip Burger Boutique is a modern restaurant - stark white and bright red in a futuristic format - that puts a modern spin on the classic burger.

So, I went with the Butcher's Cut, which came with their signature black angus blend beef burger, emmi roth buttermilk bleu cheese, caramlized onions, soy truffle vinaigrette, frisee, pickled shallots and red wine jam. This was a pretty darn good burger. A little sour - but sweet with the jam. Good overall. A side of macaroni and cheese was good - nothing totally special but good.

And, I couldn't decide whether I wanted the nutella + burnt marshmallow or the turtle milkshake. Our waitress saw my indecisiveness and said that if we each got one, she could halve it out and we could get half of each. Definitely loved the turtle one; the nutella was a bit too chocolate overload for me.

Flip Burger is good. Is it great? I don't know. It doesn't help that I had a ton of great burgers in Nashville and that I was super full by the time I even got to dinner here. It was a good burger, and it had some great qualities. But overall, I think it was a solid B.

Grade: B

Have you ever been to a restaurant that changes its menu every day? What about twice a day?

Seriously.

Husk is one of those places I dream about. A beautiful, elegant building with brilliant lighting, exquisite decoration, and forward-thinking dishes all with the culinary vision of a genius.

Husk Nashville is actually the second location of Sean Brock's restaurant - the first being in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2010, Brock won the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Southeast Chef. He has also been nominated for Outstanding Chef and Rising Star Chef. Bon Appétit Magazine named Husk (Charleston) the “Best New Restaurant in America” in 2011. He's kind of a big deal.


The restaurant is beautiful with lots of lighting, a walk to the table takes us through the kitchen, and an upscale comfort minus the snootiness permeates the dining space. "The design of the Husk’s interior spaces enhances the building’s roots while demonstrating a sense of Southern style, modernity, energy, and cosmopolitan flair," according to its website.

Once we were seated downstairs, we took a look over today's dinner menu. Yes, the menu changes from lunch to dinner that day. THAT's how fresh and seasonal they are. The menu is ingredient driven with a focus on heirloom products that emphasize Southern food.

Our first bite came in the form of buttermilk rolls with sesame seeds, smoked bourbon sea salt and the most silky honey butter you've ever laid eyes on. Gahhh so good.

First up was shrimp and grits for me. What appeared was this plate of foam with a black nugget in the middle. Shrimp foam and a confit egg took this classic Southern dish to the next level. Perfect variance of textures and flavors and this smokey deliciousness was just beyond.

My main dish was the Pit Roasted Springer Mountain Chicken, Jimmy Red Corn, Morels and Spring Greens. It was hard for me to pass up morels. And, while the chicken was chicken, that little assembly of gnocchi and greens and sweet and sour and crunch and creamy was the bomb.com. Like, in the top 5 things I've ever eaten in my entire life. I wish I knew all that was in it, but it hit every single texture and flavor in a combined harmony that just was perfection.

With a meal this good, how could I not get dessert?

So, I had never heard of a Pavolva before, so I went for it. Blueberry ice cream, lemon sable and thai long peppercorn combined to form this beautiful dollop of meringue, but inside:

Just wow. It's beautiful, for one, and for two, it was sweet, but not overly sweet, and super refreshing. Ah, just, yes.

And, when Brittany got up to use the restroom at one point, the server came over to her chair and folded her napkin and placed it back on the table. How lovely. AND, a manager came by to ask us how we were. When I mentioned I was visiting, and my friend was new to town, he personally gave us some recommendations for where to go. That is going above and beyond.

Service was great, the atmosphere was great, the food was phenomenal, we didn't even get a chance to try the drinks. But all that does come at a price. But, I would do it again and again. Absolutely amazing, and if you ever get the opportunity, GO.

Grade: A