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Only steps from the Frist, Union Station, a Wyndham hotel, 1001
Broadway, (615) 726-1001, fax (615) 248-6143, on the Web at
unionstation.citysearch.com, has been painstakingly restored from
its days as a train station. Among its highlights are a 65-foot-high
barrel-vaulted ceiling of stained glass and the original Louisville
& Nashville schedule board that hangs behind the front desk.
Request a room on the 10th Avenue side, since freight trains still
run by the other side — at night. The 124 rooms are decorated in a
variety of styles. Doubles: $149 to $199.
Budget: The location of the Holiday Inn Select, 2613 West End
Avenue, (615) 327-4707, fax (615) 874-1268, is hard to beat.
Directly across West End Avenue from Centennial Park with its
replica of the Parthenon, the hotel is also a short walk from
Vanderbilt University and good restaurants. Recently renovated, the
382-room hotel features an outdoor pool, a fitness room and a lounge
with live entertainment. Rates: $99 to $154, with full buffet
breakfast.
Luxury: The city's best hotel has consistently been the Loews
Vanderbilt Plaza, across from Vanderbilt at 2100 West End Avenue;
(615) 320- 1700, fax (615) 320-5019, www.loewsvanderbilt.com. It
features a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, a comfortable piano bar, and a
bit of history: Al Gore called George W. Bush from a suite at the
Loews to concede the 2000 presidential election (the first time).
The 340 rooms, with cherrywood furniture and down duvets, start at
$209 and rise to $800 for a suite, but on weekends can be as low as
$119.
The 90-year-old Hermitage Hotel, 231 Sixth Avenue North, (888)
888- 9414, fax (615) 254-6909, www.hermitagehotel.net, which was
home for eight years to Minnesota Fats and which has been host to
six presidents, has new ownership that will begin renovating it this
summer. The Beaux Arts structure has 120 suites, and about 85
percent of them will be turned into oversized guest rooms, still in
a variety of styles. Rates are $139 to $289.
Where to Eat
It's a 15-minute ride southwest of downtown to F. Scott's, 2210
Crestmoor Road, (615) 269-5861, and it's worth the drive. Jason
McConnell's superb menu focuses on grilled meat and fish, like his
tasty mustard-crusted grilled tuna, grilled scallops with a
ginger-soy reduction and Argentine-style (with chimichurri sauce)
beef tenderloin. The service is informed and attentive, and the room
is quiet enough for conversation. Enjoy an after-dinner drink in the
jazz bar. Dinner for two with wine, about $110.
The Mad Platter, 1239 Sixth Avenue North, (615) 242-2563, offers
creative entrees for lunch and dinner, including the Pasta Mad
Platter — with chorizo, artichokes, spinach and sundried tomatoes —
and grilled salmon. Salads are fresh and tasty. Lunch entrees top
out at $14; five- course dinner for two with wine, about $115.
Closed Monday.
The menu at Monell's, 1235 Sixth Avenue North, (615) 248-4747,
advises you to "come on in, grab a seat and start passing the
bowls," preferably to the left. In the quaint Germantown
neighborhood, just beyond downtown, meals are served family style at
long tables seating 12 to 16. The rotating menu features pork chops,
baked chicken, meatloaf, turnip greens and corn pudding. The
biscuits are particularly good. The prices, including tea but not
soft drinks, are: lunch and Saturday country breakfast $9; dinner
(Thursday to Saturday) $12; and a Sunday meal, from 10:30 a.m. to 3
p.m., $14.
Homemade pasta is the lure at Sole Mio, 94 Peabody Street; (615)
256-4013. Usually at least six different noodle types are made fresh
each day, including the penne Mamma Rosa, with a thick, creamy pesto
and tomato sauce. The lavender-walled restaurant, with a great view
of downtown, is closed on Monday. Pasta entrees cost about $10 for
lunch, and dinner for two, with wine, about $70.
Rotier's, 2413 Elliston Place, (615) 327-9892, a long-established
dive that has fortified generations of Vanderbilt students, still
serves one of the best grilled burgers around, as well as a variety
of meat-and-threes, like baked ham with creamed potatoes, squash and
fried okra. Virtually everything on the menu costs less than $10,
and there is an extensive beer list. Dinner for two, with beer,
about $25. Closed on Sunday.
