Vegan Weekend in Nashville

I spent last weekend in Nashville eating (and drinking) all the vegan things! Paul works in Nashville and wanted me to attend his work holiday party. So I headed over on Friday afternoon and stayed through Sunday night.

When I arrived on Friday, Paul was still at work. So I made a stop at Avo for a lovely, fancy dinner with myself. I had the Kale Caesar, Mac & Cheese, and a pale ale. Avo has the BEST kale caesar ever with homemade cashew parm, sundried tomatoes, fried chickpeas, and roasted garlic. The mac was gluten-free with made-in-house coconut cheese (and it was on their happy hour snack menu!).

After Paul got off work, we met his friend Collin (pictured) for a flight of beers at Growlers, our fave bar in Hendersonville (the Nashville suburb where Paul lives part-time).

Paul had to work for a few hours on Saturday before his party, so I slept in and then went for a 4-mile run on the Hendersonville Greenway. Yay! I'm running again!

After I showered, I drove into the city for lunch at The BE-Hive — a pop-up deli/vegan butcher. They have the BEST Mozzarella Sticks, made with their homemade coconut cheese.

I ate all of those, plus this gigantic Breakfast Burrito with their house-made seitan sausage, tots, tofu scramble, and vegan queso. Such a big ass lunch but so worth it.

Paul got off work at 5 pm that day, and we headed to our hotel — Loews — in downtown Nashville. The party was there, and we got a room so we could just head upstairs afterward. No driving needed. Good thing because we had a lot of cocktails at the open bar.

The party included one of those catered sit-down dinners. You know, the kind that typically are not vegan-friendly. Everyone around me was served chicken, and I wasn't expecting to be able to eat. Honestly, I was still full from lunch, and I'd already found a Pizza Rev down the street for emergency vegan pizza if needed. But when the server tried to give me a chicken plate, Paul told her I was vegan. And she said, "no problem!" And then she came back with this — Quinoa Burger, Roasted Potatoes, Steamed Asparagus and Carrots. AMAZING! It's a new world we're living in folks. Paul tried a bite and said it was much better than the chicken he was served!

The next morning, we met one of Paul's co-workers for brunch at Graze, our favorite vegan brunch spot in Nashville. I got the Breakfast Bowl — a biscuit topped with tofu scramble, veggie sausage, tempeh bacon, and hollandaise. I added avocado!

Graze has $5 bloody marys on Sundays too, so I always have to get one of those!

Graze is located next door to Five Daughters Bakery, which has vegan doughnuts! YAY! I got a Chocolate Peppermint Doughnut to go (and enjoyed it later that afternoon).

Paul and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody on Sunday afternoon. Afterward, I'd planned to drive home. But I knew I needed to eat one more time before I hit the road. Unfortunately, after all the deliciousness of the weekend, I couldn't imagine eating anything that wasn't green. So I made a little salad from the Kroger salad bar! Just what I needed.