The Loews - EAT

Supposedly, the best hotel in Nashville is the Loews - Vanderbilt. It was built in the '80s, with valet parking, one bar, one restaurant, and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse next door. There is also a ballroom where many political fundraisers are held. I don't know much about those fundraisers because most fundraisers are $100s or $1000s, and that isn't how I would want to spend my limited funds. I prefer to spend my money on excellently made food, from a simple apple to homemade ziti.

When Ohio Ma and Pa came to town, they wanted to stay at the Loews because they got a really great weekend special! It really serves travelers well to call hotels directly to see if there is a special that is not advertised or on the internet, and sometimes there is a manager's special that can only be obtained by phone. Ohio Ma and Pa wanted to grab a quick breakfast before driving off into the sunshine, and they said it would be easiest to come by the Loews. What we saw at the entrance of the Loews was a set of concrete lions. The Valet told us that they have many capes for the lions, and everyday they put on different capes on the lions depending on what the lions may like for the day. This day was demin with a gold cord.

We went into Loews, and they have a naming convention for their restaurant and bar that I actually like. The bar is called DRINK, and the restaurant is called EAT. Simple, straight forward, and appropriate. The night before, we spent time in DRINK, and the wait staff was very good, and we were never thirsty.

In the morning, we went to EAT for breakfast. There was a huge room for a brunch buffet, and there is a menu. I think the brunch buffet was $35, and it included many warming trays of lunch foods, a carving station for roast beef and ham, omlettes made to order, chilled shrimp and mussels, fruit, and dessert. There had to be at least 100 items to choose from. The cost of the buffet was a bit steep, so we opted for the menu. I got a REALLY GOOD dish. I got Eggs Benedict Loews style. The poached eggs were lightly covered with a Hollandaise sauce, over lox, over a crispy herb potato pancake. Fantastic! I have never had breakfast like this! The potato pancakes were crispy on the outside, and light on the inside, with a nice flavor. I did not share them with anyone at the table because I was hoarding them, as they were so good. I would have never thought of putting eggs benedict on top of potato pancake. It was so much better than the buffet because some of the buffet food looked like it was sitting around for a long time, but my plate came out freshly made and hot.

I used to never go to USA hotel restaurants because I always thought that hotel restaurants are bad. Back in the day, USA hotel restaurants did not represent well because they didn't have to because they had a captive audience (hotel guests) who had no choice but to eat food at the hotel. Since hotel restaurants could serve scum and still make money, why would they spend time, money and energy to make their food any better than they had to for turning a profit? Well, since about 5 -10 years ago, I think that some of the hotel restaurants nation-wide have taken a turn for the better because hotel guests can just go somewhere else, and the hotel restaurants have to compete for the clients. I think the Loews EAT breakfast follows the trend that hotel restaurants need to deliver or lose the market share, and Loews EAT delivered a very nice breakfast to me!