Date Weekend in Nashville

Paul and I had plans to celebrate Valentine's Day on Saturday with a date night dinner at Kayne Prime. It's a fancy steakhouse in Nashville with vegan options, and he had a huge gift card that he'd won in a work contest. Wouldn't have been our first choice, but free food and drinks!

But I arrived in Nashville on Saturday afternoon, about four hours before our dinner plans. And I was hangry. So I made a pit stop at The Southern V. I was planning to order their Fried Chick'n Salad since I figured that'd be a lighter option before dinner. I mean, it's still topped with fried seitan, but you know, greens make it light, right? This was perfect with their vegan ranch! And I added a little hot sauce to the chicken to make it Nashville hot chicken.

They do sell a Nashville hot version of this salad, but I prefer to add hot sauce to taste. The salad was all I was planning to order. But when I got to the counter, I saw Glazed Vegan Doughnuts. And, well, I just HAD to. Y'all, this was the best doughnut I've EVER had — better than Voodoo, better than Revolutions, better than Five Daughters. The Southern V only makes them on Saturdays, so if you're ever planning a trip, go there on Saturday!

Our reservations at Kayne Prime were for 7:45 pm, but it was closer to 8:30 before they were able to seat us. Good thing I ate all that fried food! I started with my new cocktail of choice, an Old Fashioned.

Last time Paul and I ate here, we started with the Truffle Fries & Sambal Ketchup, and they were our favorite part of the meal! These are drowned in truffle oil. So good. Of course we had to get some again.

Last time I was there, the daily Green Plate (the veg option) was the most delicious cauliflower steak! But this time, they were offering a less exciting Pasta Primavera with roasted veggies and mushrooms. It was good, and I loved the rolled pasta. But this was a little oily for me. The cauliflower steak was definitely my fave of the two. 

Unfortunately, Paul wasn't happy with his meal at all. So it was kind of a bust. But we went out for beers afterward and made the best of it.

The next morning, we'd planned to go on an 11-mile run together — the last long run in our training cycle before the Little Rock Half-Marathon. But Paul has been having calf issues and decided to sit it out. So I headed out on the Hendersonville (that's the suburb where he works) Greenway on my own. Had a lovely run and saw lots of native birds and even some seagulls (yes, we have those in Tennessee in the winter!). After my run, I was famished, and we headed to Graze, our usual vegan brunch spot. There was an hour wait for a table, so we had a couple beers at the Mexican joint across the street while we waited.

I ordered the Tofu Rancheros — corn tortillas topped with tofu scramble, black beans, salsa, guac, and cashew cream. So good! And a nice healthy, whole foods-y change after a day of fried food and oily pasta. Worth the wait!

Paul's family made plans for us to all go out to Bavarian Bierhaus, a German restaurant in the Opry Mills Mall, for dinner. When I heard about this, I was a little concerned. What on earth could I eat there? Besides pretzels and beer? But lo and behold, they had a VEGAN MENU! Of course, I still started with an appetizer of a Giant Pretzel.

And a beer.

From the vegan menu, I chose the Tempeh with Veggies. This was a sauteed tempeh with asparagus, red pepper, and spinach. Very good! Probably not really German, but that's okay. I'm so glad they had options!

Here's a family shot! Everyone else was eating schnitzel and currywurst. Paul's family hails from the Netherlands (where his dad met his mom while he was serving in the US Air Force), so they all spent plenty of time in Germany eating this way. Notice the men in lederhosen on stage playing traditional German music. :-)

It was such a fun experience! My mom's side of the family came over from Germany several generations ago, so it was cool to get a little taste of my family's culture. They even had a small shop selling German treats, and I got some curry ketchup to take home. Love that stuff!

One more thing — on the way to Nashville (and on the way back), I stopped at the Pilot gas station in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee (a tiny town that's also home to Loretta Lynn's mansion). And look what I found! VEGAN CREAMER!! I didn't even know this was a thing!!!!