I have written before in these pages about declining standards in the restaurant world, which has less to do with the food than with the whole “experience” of dining out: the lack of tablecloths, the napkin-wrapped silverware, the to-go boxes, the slovenly informality of staff and customers alike. I stand by every word of it, which is why discovery, or rediscovery, of rare holdout occasions, in this diner-out, is sheer joy.
One such exception, long known to me, Jimmy Kelly’s Steakhouse in Nashville, is exceptional in another sense, too. It has been in operation without interruption and under the same family ownership for eighty-nine years. This is an exceptionally long run in a notoriously short-run industry, and I wonder about the connection between how they have done what they do, and how long it has worked.
Nashville is known worldwide as “Music City, USA,” an affluent boomtown built on the country music, healthcare and education industries. It’s also where, these days, there’s no excuse for having a bad meal. Fancy, or at least expensive, restaurants abound. The frequency of their appearance (and often disappearance) suggests the “let’s put on a show!” spirit of those old Andy Hardy films from the 1940s, with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland hitting the boards in a spur-of-the moment, flash-in-the-pan production in somebody’s garage, in support of Bundles for Britain or some such rousing cause. In a town of fast-changing fashions, most Music City eateries don’t make it for more than a few years. In recent times, lockdowns and the mysterious labor shortage have only added to the churn.
Read Full Article »
