Restaurant “Bad Idea” is a Very Good Idea in Nashville

Feb 5, 2025 | Wine & Dine & More

By Michael Apstein

Nashville, a music destination—yes. A wine destination—no. There is a winery in Tennessee, but the state is far better known for beer and bourbon than Bordeaux. So, where do wine lovers who flock to Nashville for its music scene go for imaginative food accompanied by an equally imaginative wine list?

Wine Spectator didn’t bestow any Grand Award Winners in Nashville in their 2024 listing. The restaurants receiving awards in the other two categories, Award of Excellence and Best of Award of Excellence, include the usual steakhouses, such as Del Frisco’s Grille, The Palm Nashville, or Morton’s The Steakhouse. Granted, I’ve not visited all of the aforementioned places, but frankly, I can’t imagine a restaurant in Nashville with a better wine list than Bad Idea, a spacious wine bar/restaurant serving excellent, Laotian food—yes, you read that correctly—in East Nashville, an easy 15-minutes ride from downtown.

Bad Idea’s ever-changing menu is divided into two categories: nine small plates and a few of what they called, “Share-able Mains,” serving two. The fusion Laotian-southern menu was mostly incomprehensible to my daughter, Marissa, and me because of our lack of familiarity with Laotian food. Fortunately, our waitress was incredibly patient and excelled in describing the dishes. When we were there, the small plates included a sausage roll with a coffee emulsion, a mushroom tartare with dried shrimp and lemongrass, fish dumplings/fish cakes/gnudi (all of which looked similar, but tasted amazingly different), succulent BBQ quail, and a harmonious “Bahn Xeo” pork and shrimp terrine with sprouted mung beans and red curry.

The mains included a vegetarian “Ping Mak” butternut squash with tamarind and cashews, Wulf’s fish with Laotian spices and lime, “Ping Seen” grilled beef or pork from Bear Creek Farm with oyster sauce and Makrut lime leaf, or a Poulet Rouge from Joyce Farms served with “Thom Khem” soy sauce, foie gras gravy, “Pad Gai” fried wings, “Sai Qua” boudin with tamarind BBQ sauce, and Khao Piak bone broth with hand torn noodles.

We opted for six of the nine small plates, but our waitress insisted we also take the Thai Banana “Toastie,” which turned out to be an excellent suggestion. These subtly sweet, fried tiny bananas topped with a tiny dollop of caviar served as our dessert. These seven small plates were perfectly sized for the two of us and were uniformly delicious. Each was strikingly different.

The splendid wine-by-the-glass list at Bad Idea displays three dozen offerings, which sensibly can be ordered either as a 2.5 or 5 oz portion, and includes four bubblies, seven reds, seven whites, two orange wines, nine from Madeira, a Sherry, and a half dozen more prestigious labels accessed by Coravin. The bottle list is equally extensive, featuring a wide range of Riesling and other crisp whites, like Lambert’s mineral-y 2022 Brézé Midi from Saumur ($68) and an edgy 2023 Touraine from François Chidaine ($52) that are perfect for cutting through the multitude of flavors you’ll find on the small plates. Sylvain Pataille’s excellent and invigorating 2022 Bourgogne Aligoté ($84) would be another good option.

At the extravagant end, you can opt for Domaine Raveneau’s beautifully balanced 2022 Chablis Butteaux ($595), but I fear the spice in the food would overwhelm the nuances of that wine. Turning to the reds, a duo of Beaujolais cru wines, Sylvain Martel’s 2020 Juliénas “Bessay” ($99), or Domaine Chapel’s 2022 Fleurie “Charbonnière” ($99), with their combination of bright fruitiness amplified by brisk acidity, would suit the food nicely. Like the Raveneau, I’d leave the overpriced 2021 Sylvain Pataille Marsannay “L’Archestrale” ($415) for another time and place.

For music, reserve tickets for the Grand Ole Opry radio show when it’s broadcast from its original home, the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville. The show finishes just after 9 PM, giving you ample time to head to Bad Idea, which serves its regular menu until 10 and then a limited menu, with a full wine list, after that. For an even better music experience, reserve a table at Jane’s Hideaway, also in East Nashville, where you can dine on an enormous spiced fried chicken sandwich or jambalaya while listening to live country music. Although they have a crisp yet floral Anjos Vinho Verde in a can that’s well-suited to the spicy food, the beer and cocktail lists are far more imaginative.

Even though the music and venues are not in the same league as Jane’s Hideaway, a visit to the raucous and packed bars on Broadway is mandatory just to get a complete sense of the country music scene. Thankfully, since you may not want to spend too much time in any of them—finding a seat is always a problem—none that we visited had a cover charge, nor did they insist on a purchase. Tootsie’s, a multilevel establishment complete with a roof deck, has a band on each floor. Curiously, the sound emanating from one does not interfere with the others. You might even want to try the Recession Special at Robert’s Western World, consisting of a fried bologna sandwich, a bag of chips, and a beer—for $6. The Stage was the most civilized—more spacious—with places to sit.

In addition to music, Nashville is known for its unique hot fried chicken and smoky Tennessee barbeque. Head for Hattie B’s for the former—there are several locations around town—and Martin’s, located in downtown, for the latter. Locally brewed beer goes well with both.

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E-mail me your thoughts about Nashville and what restaurants you’ve enjoyed at Michael.Apstein1@gmail.com and follow me on Instagram @MichaelApstein

February 5, 2025