Behind the plate: Nashville's Pastaria focuses on fresh, seasonal and simple
When James Beard award-winning chef Gerard Craft brought Pastaria to Nashville’s OneC1ty in 2017, it was the restaurant’s first location outside St. Louis, Mo.
With a menu replete with house-made pastas, sauces and Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizzas, the fine-casual dining establishment gained fast popularity for its fresh takes on regional Italian cuisine and warm hospitality.
Evelynn Hadsell came aboard as sous chef in 2021 and felt like she’d found her culinary home. Her enthusiasm for exploring the history and recipes of the different regions of Italy has inspired her kitchen team. And her work has paid off. In June, Craft appointed her as the restaurant's executive chef.
The Tennessean sat down with Hadsell to discuss her past, her work and, of course, her food.
How did you find this culinary path—or how did it find you?
It’s like it was always there. I grew up around food. From the time I was little, I always wanted to be involved in the kitchen. I’d push a chair to the counter, climb up and ask to join in whisking pancake batter, stirring sauces—whatever I could do at a young age. My grandmother owned a restaurant and bar. I’d spend summers there, and I’d help out: setting tables, cutting fries from the wall-mounted slicer when I was old enough.
I got my first “official” job as a line cook when I turned 18. After six months, I realized how much I enjoyed the fast pace, and that this was my calling. I went to work washing dishes for a higher end restaurant. I figured I’d learn more there. In no time, I moved on to prep, then grill, then fry cook. I was off and running.
More: Behind the plate: Meet Adriana Ortega, chef and co-founder of Succulent Vegan Tacos
More: Behind the plate: Steam Boys team levels up Chinese comfort food
What brought you to Nashville?
I’m from the Berkshires in Massachusetts, and while I love my home, it does have limitations, if you are in food. There are maybe two seasons where you’d be busy, three, if we’d get decent snowfall so folks would come to ski. In 2016, I traveled to Nashville to visit a friend. And the culinary scene here was just blowing up, incredible. I thought, being here would be good for my career. I changed my plans, and made the big move.
Can you talk about your approach to cooking?
I think what drew me to Italian cuisine is its simplicity. And, that doesn’t mean you can’t mess it up. When there are just a few ingredients involved, you can’t hide it if it’s not right. Use the best ingredients, and the proper technique, to showcase a vegetable or protein’s best version of itself. I let the key ingredient speak, tell me what it needs. I think it’s important to use as much local produce as possible. We are lucky to have such a long growing season.
Do you have a favorite kitchen tool?
Tweezers! I love our pasta station, and I love working our pasta station. Here, tweezers are essential. They are an extension of my hand.
What ingredient would you feel lost without?
For me, personally, it would be garlic. For the restaurant, in general, it would be tomatoes. And when you think about it, one is often prepared with the other!
Tell us about some must-have dishes at Pastaria
Well, we are PASTAria, so it would have to be one of our pastas — but don’t sleep on our pizza! I tell guests to order a pasta and a pizza and share. With only six ingredients, our Chitarra al Pomodoro (guitar-string pasta with tomato sauce) is simple and straightforward and so flavorful. We’ve brought back Bucatini all’ Amatriciana, a classic Roman pasta made with tomato, onion and Guanciale, an underappreciated ingredient in the U.S. We use Guanciale from Smoking Goose. My favorite pizza right now is the Salumi Beddu Nduja. It’s spicy from the Nduja, sweet from drizzles of honey and we import Sicilian oregano, which is very special and gives a nice herbal note.
What plans do you have for Pastaria?
We’ve just launched Roman Pizza and Pints on Wednesday nights. In Rome, pizza is baked in a rectangular tray. They use scissors to cut it into squares, add more ingredients, weigh it, flash it in the oven to return the crust to its crispiness—it’s so delicious. Get it with a Peroni and what else do you need? We’ll rotate, offering a different meat and vegetarian topped pie each week.
We will hold more Wine Dinners, likely on a quarterly basis. Our “Taste of Rome,” where we partnered with Chef Andrew Whitney and Black Hawk Farms, was fun and a huge success. It’s a great opportunity to stretch ourselves, learn more about the authentic dishes of a region and the wines to pair with them. It’s knowledge we can translate to our guests to make their experience more enjoyable. I’d like to focus on the Emilia-Romagna region for the next one.
Mostly, I plan to keep changing the menu with the seasons, using what is fresh and local. That is in the true spirit of Italian cooking. Our slogan is “Sorta Close to Italy” and that’s what I want to bring to Nashville.
Pastaria Nashville
8 City Blvd in OneC1TY, 37203, 615-915-1866
Hours: Lunch: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday. Dinner: Open 5-9 p.m. daily
Reservations: Accepted
Payment: Major credit cards accepted
Parking: On-site garage
Kids menu: Yes
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's Pastaria focuses on fresh, seasonal and simple tastes
