Iggy's, new restaurant from Ryan and Matthew Poli, opens this week. Here's what to expect

Matthew and Ryan Poli's working style is as much a mind-meld as anything else.

The culinary brothers, who worked together at The Catbird Seat — Matthew as beverage director and Ryan as executive chef — will on July 5 open iggy's, a 65-seat, pasta-focused restaurant in Nashville's growing Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.

There they will have the same roles when it comes to the kitchen and dining room, with Matthew Poli behind the beverage menus and hospitality and Ryan Poli leading the food menus and kitchen.

Iggy's is an exploration of the way the brothers work together. It's a study of classics — Italian dishes, cocktails and wine — and of the Polis' creative minds.

"The way that the two menus are going to complement each other I think is just going to be great," Ryan Poli said.

The best way to illustrate the brothers' synergy is through one of the weirdest-sounding dishes Ryan Poli created at The Catbird Seat: coffee-roasted beets with white chocolate-potato foam, salty dehydrated olives and lime zest.

"It sounds disgusting," he said. "But somehow it worked and people were losing their minds over it."

The chef mentioned the dish to his brother in passing.

"And he comes back a week later and goes, 'Hey, when you're ready to taste that dish, I think I have a great wine for it,'" Ryan Poli said. "And then my ... brain exploded because it was the best pairing the kid ever came up with. The pairing outshone the dish."

At the center of Ryan Poli's menu will be handmade pasta, though the menu is not limited to noodles. The theme is everything the Polis enjoy, including steak tartare, arancini stuffed with buttery escargot, bucatini alla carbonara, and more challenging hyper-seasonal pasta plates, too.

"This is a celebration of all the things that I love," he said. "Working with my brother, cool music, great space, pasta and hospitality."

The brothers also have a big love of music and have poured time and energy into a sound system they promise will sound perfect but won't overwhelm the experience. They put together dozens of hours of music for a playlist before the menu was even written.

They're hoping for an elevated but unpretentious vibe, an experience where the music, food, cocktails and wine weave together seamlessly.

Making sure that all comes together is Matthew Poli, whom his brother said is "hands down the best front-of-the-house guy in the business today."

"You know, making sure everybody leaves on a high note, nothing is left unchecked," Ryan Poli said.

Matthew Poli said the playlist and food are similar in that they'll strike you as familiar but somehow different.

"Like, this is a Beatle song, but it's different because it's mixed differently," he said. "This is the shape of a pasta I know, but the dish is made completely different than I've ever had before. Oh, this is a classic cocktail, but I've never had an Old Fashioned this good — how did you do it?"

Poli left the corporate world to join the team at The Publican in Chicago in 2008, rising through the ranks to become assistant manager. He also worked at Frasca Food and Wine under master sommelier Bobby Stuckey and, in 2016, he joined his brother in Nashville at The Catbird Seat as beverage director. For the past four years, he worked as head sommelier and beverage director at Blackberry Mountain.

Among other credits, Ryan Poli has worked under Thomas Keller at The French Laundry, at Jean Banchet’s Le Francais and under Michelin-stared chef Martín Berasategui in Spain. In Chicago, he opened Butter and Tavernita. Poli has also worked with Dan Barber at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Noma in Copenhagen and Japan, Brea in Australia and refined his pasta techniques with Marc Vetri in Philadelphia.

This will mark the first time they've come together in one restaurant as owners. Ryan Poli said he couldn't do it any other way.

"The amazing thing about the synergy between the two of us — I don't know if in passing we had chatted, if we had a concept or an idea — but the way that I looked at the menu is exactly the same way Matthew was looking at the drinks," Ryan Poli said. "Matthew was looking at the drinks as very classical, some out-of-the-box stuff and maybe some challenging things, and we put them together I was like, 'We share the same brain.'"

About iggy's

Founded by hospitality veterans and brothers chef Ryan Poli and general manager/beverage director Matthew Poli, iggy’s is the latest concept to open in Nashville’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood.

Focusing on inventive Italian cuisine, iggy’s will feature handmade pasta, craft cocktails, an eclectic soundtrack and genuine hospitality in what the Poli's call a fun, energetic and memorable dining experience.

Iggy's will open July 5 at 609 Merritt Ave. More at www.iggysnashville.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Iggy's from Poli brothers opens in Nashville this week. What to know