Monday Munchies- Once Upon A Time In France

I have been waiting for the last three or four months to write this article. From the moment that Hillary mentioned that an authentic French bistro would be opening on the East side, we have been eagerly awaiting the day that we can go and make the experience. And that’s exactly what it was- an experience. I’ll paint the scene before we get in to the food. For who knows how long, there had been a little shack on Gallatin in East Nashville literally just called, “Steak and Pizza”. To go alongside the name, the food was pretty simple, but still decent. It was a fairly popular spot among the locals because they had huge portions for small prices. They closed down out of nowhere at some point last year, and the French bistro rumors began swirling. If you can imagine a restaurant the size of most living rooms, that’s about the size of OUATIF (the acronym I’ll be using to save time for us all). They open at 4:30- which is exactly when we arrived- and within 30 minutes the place was full and they were turning patrons away for the next hour and a half we were there. They’ve already received complaints about the small size of their establishment, lack of a waitlist or reservation service, and the “non-rush” atmosphere to usher customers finishing up their meals on so that new ones can sit down. If you’ve been to France, you know that the style of the place and how it carries itself is very customary. We ate, drank, and enjoyed this atmosphere for nearly two hours and never once felt rushed by the staff or overcrowding making you feel bad for overstaying your meal aka any other small place in Nashville. So if you’re planning on going, just get there early, save the headache for yourself and the complaints to the staff. Everyone walks away happy.

To start, we were greeted with the customary bonsoir, meaning “good evening” and were ushered to a corner table along the window. The ceiling is covered in antique metal siding, a very French aesthetic. The walls were plastered with vintage French signs, from street signs to movie scenes. The musical ambiance transitioned from French songs all the way to “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison. Hillary got to speak some French with one of the owners, discussing where she had spent her year post college and the different types of food she ate specific to the region. We ordered the charcuterie plate aka what Hillary’s last meal would be if she ever ended up on death row for me beating her at chess. It was full of fantastic cheese that we enjoyed guessing through the types and different cured meats that paired perfectly. And of course endless baguette slices with whipped butter. Pair those things with $5 glasses of wine, and I think that we could have stopped there and been happy with our experience. The house wine was perfect enough for us, but they also have plenty of under $10 options for single glasses, and a wide array of other imported French wines that go well up the price scale if you’re celebrating a special occasion.

After the hour that it took for us to finish our charcuterie plate, we got to dive in to our entrées that we had been looking forward to. Hillary ordered the boeuf bourguignon, and if you’re unfamiliar with what that is, it’s beef tips slow cooked in red wine, along with carrots, mushrooms, pearl onions, and linguine pasta. I obviously tried some and the flavor was outstanding. The sauce was creamy while at the same time thick and substantive.

For my entrée, I obviously went the less adventurous route and went with the Steak Frites. Pretty plain and simple here- a twelve ounce steak (mine probably wasn’t this large because I was able to put it away with ease) and bistro fries. For the sauce on the steak, they have four options; I went with the peppercorn sauce but there was also a delicious looking cheese option. On the subject of the fries- and I am sucker for some great fries- these are now my number one fries in all of Nashville. From the first one, it was no longer a contest. Salty, well-cooked, didn’t even need a dipping sauce. Beyond compare. Scrumptious.

At the end of our entrées, and two hours later, we didn’t end up with room to be able to have dessert thanks to how many baguette slices we put down. However, the table behind us had both the crème brule and the coffee and ice cream dessert options and confirmed that they were both delicious. So, next time, we will be powering through it and getting the sweets. Overall, the entire experience couldn’t have gone better. And I think that’s really hard to find when there are so many quality options competing for attention in Nashville right now. OUATIF was just wonderful, and we could tell that everyone around us thought the same. This is another one that if we had pushed through and gotten the dessert, it would probably get a perfect ten from me. We loved our meal, the interactions we had with the staff, and the atmosphere of the bistro as a whole. We are already looking forward to what different items will be on the menu when we return again very soon.

SCORE- 9.6/10