Patrons can walk to Husk from downtown area, particularly if they stay at a hotel near Broadway (such as the Omni or Hilton). However, because we stayed at the Doubletree, we took a taxi. The taxi cost $10 and took a long time because of all the street closures for the holiday street party. Perhaps on a normal day, you could travel to Husk for $5 or so. We walked home, which provided good exercise after our filling meal.
The restaurant is located in a restored home in the Rutledge Hill neighborhood, just a few blocks south of Broadway. The historic part of the home adjoins a modern two-story room with a vaulted / cathedral ceiling and two walls of windows. Two dining rooms exist in the original house on the street level, along with the kitchen that diners walk past to reach the lower level. The land on which the restaurant sits slopes so that the lower level is actually a “walk-out”. Husk has a small bar and an outdoor patio on the lower level where guests can dine and / or drink. (If you simply must dine at Husk Nashville and you cannot get a regular reservation for a standard table, you can dine at the bar.)
Our server exhibited odd mannerisms and a pretentious attitude. In addition, we encountered some issues with his actual service. For example, we each ordered dessert, but the waiter served our dishes in succession, not concurrently. The waiter apologized for his mistake, and said that he entered it incorrectly in the computer. We would rather that he held the first dish until the second was ready instead of having one of us eat our dessert course while the other person watched, and then vice-versa. Also, when the waiter delivered our bill, we noticed that the restaurant charged us for four appetizers (two each of the same two dishes). In actuality, we ordered only two total appetizers (one of each dish). This time the waiter blamed the computer system, and he said that it was not the first time that day that the computer had double-billed. (If that was the case, then he should have proofread / reviewed each check before he delivered it.) After hearing and reading so much about Chef Brock and Husk, we had higher expectations for service.
As for the food... The restaurant serves freshly baked and still-warm Parker House rolls and homemade butter as guests peruse the menu. We shared two appetizers: Husk chicken skins, and crispy pigs ears, neither of which we adored. Both were a bit too flavorful and / or spicy for our taste. The portions were enormous, but the dishes were not delicious enough to make us want to devour every bite. The crispy chicken skin was not “all that”. In our opinion, a certain famous fast-food restaurant uses more tasty chicken breading. Regarding the pigs ears, we felt that both the menu description and the server’s supplemental information were misleading. When it was delivered, we saw that this item was really a lettuce-wrap type appetizer, a dish that was similar in concept to an appetizer that we ate at Merchant’s the evening before, and therefore, it seemed duplicative rather than inventive.
Our entrees were more successful than our appetizers. We selected a pork dish and a beef dish. The pork was served with a succotash of hominy and butter beans, accompanied by onions. The beef dish was accompanied by onions and pea shoots. Plating / presentation was rustic, and the chef used eclectic ingredients. For dessert, we ordered one chess pie (a custard-type pie accompanied by peaches, cream, and lemon sorbet), which was average. The waiter delivered the second dessert (the cheese plate), approximately 15 minutes after the first dessert arrived. We wonder why the cheese board took so long to prepare because none of the items required cooking-to-order.
Husk uses unique serve-ware: some “plates” look like cross-sections cut from logs. However, the wood slices are so large that it was difficult to fit them on our small table and still have room for our drinks and cutlery. Table placement was somewhat tight, too.
We are glad that we dined at Husk, but we held higher expectations for our overall experience. Still, patrons receive a good meal at Husk for a fair price.
