The Mercy Team Travels to Nashville
Well, the saga continues! Half of the Mercy team traveled to Nashville, Tennessee for a long weekend to visit our brother, Bucky Barrett. We found out that Brother Bucky was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. What an honor! We hope you have had the pleasure of experiencing Bucky's playing. If not, go out and buy the duet with Roy Orbison and k.d. Lang. Bucky won his Grammy for the guitar work on that song. Look for him live at Mercy in the near future.
OK, so on to the culinary delights of Nashville. Our all-time favorite place is the Boundary. What an incredibly cool space, and the food and wine are just superb. This is probably the hippest spot in all of Nashville. Now if hard core country music is more toward your liking, then Tootsie's is the place. Wear your boots, hat and crease those jeans. Not so at the Boundary. Hip and cool are in at the Boundary. A two-story restaurant with a third-floor, very very cool, tree-top bar. You feel like you are in a tree house with open air all around you. Several ideas for Mercy were inspired by this great place. Wine selection for the night was a Melbec, 2001 Cetena from Argentina. Wow, this was a very yummy wine. I must admit we drank a couple of bottles, it was so good. OK, we started with a 2000 Shafer Merlot. Very nice way to start the evening. The wine selection is outstanding with many things that are unique to one or two restaurants in the state and the Boundary has them. Very nice wine list by the glass as well! They also have over 100 beers from around the world. Here is a great tid-bit of news on the Boundary: the accountant is also the #1 poker player in the world. For those of you who watch poker on ESPN you'd recognize Chris Money Maker. Yes, he just won the world championship of poker. Very nice guy - well, he may have been bluffing with us also!
Evening #2 found us in another great restaurant in Nashville, Café Margot. Now, here is an interesting story. This used to be an old-time gas station on the corner and was converted over into a great little restaurant. Good-size bar with a few tables downstairs and a mezzanine with tables upstairs as well. We have our favorite table overlooking the bar from the top. Great food, continental gourmet cuisine. Elegantly done! Very nice wine selection and that night we enjoyed a '99 Tenuta, Guado al Tasso, Antonari. A very big but delicious selection.
Evening #3 found us back at the Boundary for one more great dinner before hitting the Grand Old Opry. Yes, you got it, the Mercy Boys + Bucky did the Opry. Saw some great talent and some well... let us just say not-so-great talent. The reason we did this little gig was to hear the group The Mavericks. Recently reunited, the lead singer is a RoyO protégé named Raul Mayo. A first for the boys. Afterward back to the Boundary's sister restaurant, Southstreet. Who was camped out in the corner? Raul and Mavericks. We journeyed over and introduced ourselves and had a great visit with these super nice guys. If you haven't had the pleasure, get some of their music. Recently released CD has them on tour promoting it. Well worth a listen to!
A great time with great company in a great city. Unique from anywhere else in the US. The music influence is everywhere! Love it!
Stay tuned. More to come!
Glen
