rolf and daughters

moving on the flavors less subtle, it should seem rather obvious that fried spring onions dressed in citrus and briny shaved roe presented a significant upgrade on standard restaurant rings and, although not exactly large enough to share amongst three as a few bites will only leave the diner wanting more, the tender rounds of sweet potato topped in spicy sausage and those same onions were absolutely brilliant, the heat only arriving on the finish as yogurt tinged in lime presents an up-front bit of tang.

one of the very best restaurants i've eaten at. all pasta is homemade, in house, to order. cocktails are mindbendingly good. my favorite place in nashville.

our meal at rolf and daughters was outstanding. the seasonally driven food was dynamic and thoughtfully prepared. the pasta is homemade. the cocktails are expertly crafted. the industrial chic warehouse space (a 100 year old factory building) in germantown was laid-back and inviting.  the memorable conversations flowed as the ladies and i savored our last dinner of the trip

one of my best friends lives in nashville, so i'm fortunate to be able to visit now and then.not only do i love this town because it means i get to see one of my best friends, i love that there's life and energy and amazing food.at the top of my to-visit list was rolf and daughters, which is featured on zagat.

coming back from memphis, we had another night free for a dinner. given our success with my pick of husk the night before, i was given carte blanche to pick a different spot to try. looking at all of the great restaurants that nashville has to offer (which are quite a few), i decided to go with something outside of the ‘typical’ southern fare but a current staple of the nashville food scene, chef philip krajeck’s rolf and daughters.

dining on creative dishes of “food” small to large portions we worked our way through the menu starting with fantastic shishito and ham followed by burrata and tuna and ending with the highly recommended gargenelli verde, their signature pork ragout pasta dish, which was absolutely sublime – a must try menu item!

loved the ambiance and the service. also love the chef’s different foods he puts together to make everything taste amazing. i got the chicken dish, which was a large only meat dish. it was delish, but would recommend sharing and getting a side.

i went here two years ago-the food was great, we spent over $600 for 3 couples, but the owner-chef was completely rude, from the reviews looks like nothing has changed-pretentious. the service and attitude distracts from the food.  i swore i would not return despite being out to dinner 2-3 times a week and i'm glad to say i haven't

for all the buzz and pretentiousness certainly nothing to write home about. tomatoes and pasta so over salted to be unpleasant. slapped by insensitive dosing of herbs they are so proud of themselves to use an old southern term

we drove 120 miles to eat here, and called en route. we were told no reservations were necessary and there was no wait. we arrived 20 minutes later, and were told there would be an hour wait, that they "just filled up 5 minutes ago." okay, have something to drink and wait. the first word that comes to mind is "pretentious." the atmosphere is one of a german beer hall without the down to earthiness. shared tables without shared experiences, just space. it's so loud that it's difficult to have a conversation anyway!

menu: seriously? who's wrote it? a 2nd grader? without a smartphone, with pictures, there is no way you can make sense of the half piece of paper and random words they call a menu. portion sizes are minute, although the food is tasty. my pasta was undercooked to the point of being woody in texture but the flavor was nice. my 17 year old son went away hungry, in spite of the $120 bill for the 3 of us (before tip): 2 appetizers and 3 pasta dishes + drinks. the service: waitress was very good; hostess not so much.

overall impression: meh

we opted to go for jeni's ice cream for dessert not far away. excellent.

i've no idea why this place is located where it is, other than the design of the place suited the owners' concept. while seemingly on the residential rebound, it's still a bit sketchy. the indoor space was medium-sized & warehousy, w/ a long bar, central community tables, & quite a few patio tables. the barmen (& their recipe books stacked on the shelf) & liquor selection explicitly announced this as a craft bar. i tried & enjoyed a few, notably the buon appetito ($10), a campari, grapefruit, etc. concoction. while the food was reasonably priced, going to r & d for a buzz will hurt your wallet. but again, if you're tired of the same old, they have the cure. tried the shareable pork terrine w/ warm country bread to get started. while well done, this was a touch bland for my tastes. to continue, i chose the garganelli pasta (i'd never had it either) w/ a pork ragout. top notch. i sampled both the fingerling potato & the pole bean sides, & both were great, especially the beans. all 4 of my fellow diners were happy w/ their choices, & r & d was a wonderful locale to spend 4-5 hrs catching up.

dining at rad is a little "hip" with a touch too much pretense for me,  but still a fun experience with some interesting, well prepared food, unique drink options and good service.   the open warehouse look with many shared tables can get a little noisy but that's part of the hip vibe.  go with it and it's fine.  there's also a nice outdoor area in front.  their menu is non-traditional in that it's not organized into usual categories.  it requires the servers to explain it to diners, which they do with a smile.  (but it must get old.)  there is an extensive cocktail menu with interesting "mash up" types of drinks.  one of my criticisms is while the dining menu has several light dishes to share, it doesn't have items that really compliment the cocktail options.  so, we skipped that and did wine instead.  (more on that later.)  the small sharing plates do, however, a good job of building a unique overall dining experience.  the squid and gardenia we started with is warm, nicely spiced and topped with this extremely fine chopped herb/veggie mix that ties everything together.  more like a gremolata than a gardenia, but we liked it no matter what you call it.  the sourdough bread with seaweed butter and flaky salt is not to be missed.   the garganelli verde with pork ragu was fine, but a little soft and one dimensional for what we thought would be a bold tasting dish.  the squid ink bucatini with octopus and n'duja, however, was rich, full of flavor and one of the most interesting things i've had for a long time.  (no wonder it was featured in bon appetite magazine.)   the tomato and n'duja sauce has a good spice that never gets out of hand, but continues through the dish.  great.  rad is very proud of their wines.  (i still can't understand these 3.5 and 4 times retail markups.)  we had a spanish red that was rather bland, and didn't support the food as was suggested it would.  disappointing.  our service, however, was very good.  attentive with out being obtrusive, and other than the wine suggestion (she was a server after all, not a sommelier) very informative about the food.   overall, rad is putting out some unique dishes and cocktails, but is also missing a few opportunities.  at this price point and with the recourses available to them,  they're coming up just a smidge short.   for the little misses, i've docked them one star, but i'd still recommend trying rad for yourself.

unless you are a total hipster, this spot is weird to say the least. a very eccentric menu, hand-crafted drinks reminiscent of cough syrup, and a little on the pricey side for the meal portions. i think they are trying too hard to think out of the box with the dishes. i appreciate farm to table and everything here is organic and locally sourced which is awesome. don't think i'll be going back though.

one of the best meals i've had. great service. very knowledgeable. ginger, mint and lime drink is a must!

average continued.. the ice. btw, the beef tartar was minced, and served as a thin layer on a small plate that resembled potted meat in appearance. comparing r&d's version to other beef tartars, this one lacked in flavor and presentation.


-----28 dec, 2014-----

average. i took my family to r&d and was rather disappointed in the experience. we began with the sourdough bread and seaweed butter. the bread was good, but the butter lacked in seaweed flavor. the beef tartar was served with one and a half small pieces of bread for four people. when i asked for more bread so each of us could have some, i was informed it would cost extra. entry portions are small. the pork tenderloin and sauerkraut comes with one slice of tenderloin and one slice of pork belly not listed as one of the dish items. i, personally, don't care for the thick fat of pork belly. squid ink pasta portions were also small, and for house-made pasta was not completely cooked. (i prefer my pasta firm and not overcooked.) the crab in the dish was minimal and as was the beef shank in the rigatoni. water was served at room temp, and when i asked for ice, our waitress brought ice cubes in a glass with no utensil to distribute