Flyte

Flyte

718 Division

Nashville, TN

615-255-6200

local veggie salad

Matt Lackey, Executive Chef of Flyte, is the real deal.  He is excellent.  He is so good at what he does. I am in love with Flyte and Matt Lackey's food.  There was a dark period for Flyte before Matt Lackey came to run this kitchen, and everyone knew it.  People, that time is over, and the the light is shining bright on Flyte once again because Matt Lackey is at the helm. 

local tomato salad

 Early on, about a year ago, just about the time when Matt Lackey came to Flyte, I was at a going away party for my friend Marne.  Marne was all about promoting local farmers at the farmer's market, urban chickens, bike Nashville, and sustainability.  Many of her friends at the going away party are about the same thing.  We were and are sad to see her go to her next life adventure, but happy she is happy doing what she is doing.  While at the party, I was talking to Nancy Vienneau, caterer, food blogger, and food writer for the Tennessean.  We were chatting about what restaurants are good and if there were any best kept secrets out there.  She said to me that she finally tried Flyte with the new chef Matt Lackey and she said it was really really good meal, and she was wondering why she did not try  Flyte earlier.  Then a few weeks later, I was chatting with Laura Wilson, who is really my all time favorite chef in Nashville, and asked her if there was any good restaurant of note.  She said, hands down, Flyte, and that Matt Lackey is so good, and I need to go.  Then through the winter and early spring, I was chatting with my farmer friends from Bells Bend Farms, and everyone there said that I must try Flyte because Matt Lackey is so good, and he really respects local, local organic, and local organic biodynamic ingredients, and Matt Lackey will be totally on the up-and-up when it comes to his ingredients.

local pea and radish soup

For many years, my household has been using locally sourced ingredients in everything I cook, and prior to that, for many years in Massachusetts, in both Boston and Northampton, I enjoyed locally sourced ingredients.  My neighborhood in Boston had a real farmer's market ever since I could remember, and we would stop in to the market on market day.  And anyone who has ever been to Amherst and Northampton know that there are many residents there who are very particular about the local, organic, sustainable, and ethical growing practices.  These areas are what formed by food habits.  And those fortunate (or unfortunate in some cases) enough to dine with me know that I do not tolerate lies such as the words farm-to-table, when the food is sourced from industrial Sysco which uses GMO industrial complex.  I will eat GMO industrial complex ingredients, but I want to know when I do, so I can choose accordingly.  I just ask for the truth.  For example, on occasion, I will eat, and enjoy thoroughly McD's French fries because they are truthful of the industrial potatoes, and the fries are designed to be addicting.  I probably would not eat them if they claimed they are local organic potatoes because that is a lie.

local pork three ways

It is so refreshing to go to Flyte, and have Matt Lackey tell me the truth behind the sourcing of the ingredients in the restaurant.  When I first seriously started to source ingredients locally, there wasn't all the the farmer's markets we have now in Nashville, there wasn't the Local Table magazine, there weren't an abundant number of CSAs, and the only games in town was the Produce Place, which is so helpful and honest about where the ingredients come from.  I ended up asking Produce Place who I could talk to to meet farmers, and slowly I started meeting local farmers, and my circle grew and grew.  I have met the farmers and have gone to most of the farms I source my meat, veggies, eggs, and milk.  Matt Lackey does the same, he knows his farmers, he knows his ingredients and he knows what is in season.

sustainable single diver scallops 

This midweek evening, I have to admit, I may have tricked the original waitress who was assigned to our table.  I asked her where the duck is from, knowing very well Ecotone no longer has duck, and I know of no duck farm within 100 miles.  She claimed that it was Wedge Oak Farm from Southern KY.  I know Wedge Oak Farm, I love Wedge Oak, and I love the meat I get from Wedge Oak, they are in Mid-TN and do not raise ducks.  I made her go ask the chef where the duck is from, and funny thing, she never returned to my table, and Matt Lackey came out to set the record straight.  Wedge Oak is in TN, and duck is currently being sourced from Indiana, and prior to that New York, which makes a whole lot more sense and is the truth.  Thank you.  Matt took time to explain some of the ingredients, including the scallops.  He sources them from a single diver who harvests scallops sustainably.  He leaves enough scallops in the beds to reproduce, and does not wipe out the whole population.  The beets this particular evening were from Bells Bend Farm, my CSA, and I love beets especially Bells Bend.  The chorizo is house made using local, hormone free hogs, and the chorizo was delicious.

local berry rhubarb dessert

This evening we started off with the beet salad and the spicy tomato salad.  The beet salad was sweet from the beets, tart from the strawberries and balanced with goat cheese.  The tomato salad was Farmer Dave (he only sells to restaurants) tomatoes with spicy dressing and goat cheese.  Again, the goat cheese comes into play, but this time to offset the spiciness of the dressing.  I really wanted to try the peas soup because I think I missed spring peas while I was traveling out of town, and this may be the only time I could get local peas this year.  This pea soup was a whole pea soup in a broth with sliced radishes, and Oregon morels.  I love peas, and I loved this soup.  For our main courses, I got the single diver scallops, and the Man got the pork three ways.  My scallops were seared beautifully, and perfectly  cooked.  The scallops came with a cream and chorizo sauce.  I did not eat too much of the the cream sauce because the scallops were so delicate and I wanted to just enjoy the natural flavor.   The Man's pork dish included pork three ways.  One way was smoked and the the pork had a pleasant smoke and slight vanilla nose to it, and in my mind was just perfect.    I love the fava beans that came with the pork because in the light of the Flyte dining room, they glowed green.

special dish for us

For dessert, we shared strawberry sorbet with a yogurt cream and strawberry rhubarb sauce.  I believe it was the last day for this dessert because it was the end of the strawberry season.  I loved it because it was light, not too sweet, and the true fruit flavor really came through.  On top of the dessert, Matt Lackey sent out a special one bite treat for us, it was a strawberry jelly candy.  He reduced down the strawberries into a very big and bold strawberry flavor and then made it into a jelly candy a little bit like a Turkish delight.  I wonder how many berries went into the little bite sized candy.

This meal will go down in the history of memorable dinners.  It was so nice, to finally meet Matt Lackey and try his food.  Everything about the evening was so special and nice, and we felt like a million bucks during the evening.  The memory of the meal puts me in a good mood.   I will say this, the price point at Flyte is on the higher end in Nashville, but it worth every last cent.  We will have to budget well while I am sequestered on furlough, and save our pennies to be able to go back to Flyte, but I will.  Believe me, Laura, Nancy, and Loran when we say that Flyte is one of the most exceptional meals we have had.