Miel Restaurant

This place has been in business for over 10 years and I think they are getting better and better. The food was perfectly portioned, the server paired a great wine. I had the theater menu prior to a show and it was a pallets delight. Great for a romantic evening or date. Take your time and enjoy. Photo of the brisket. I will go back for any event they host.

ELEVATED DISHES, COMFORTABLE SETTING, SEAMLESS HOSPITALTY I’ve been eating at Miel for several years now, at least a couple dozen times all-in-all. The vision and commitment of its creator/owner, Seema, at which she succeeds consistently, is to serve great food while seamlessly making customers comfortable. That’s not in any sense by just serving “comfort food;” instead, it’s a very carefully crafted approach to how each dish is constructed, with equal, dovetailed care given to the setting and to each customer’s experience of the food and service in the setting. Food, setting, service, and customer care come together to form an organic whole (and that’s “organic” in its other sense, not USDA Certified Organic.), a whole that is qualitatively more and better than the sum of each of its fine parts. The menu changes a lot, I’m guessing because Miel starts from their opportunities to source the highest quality ingredients, which has some unpredictability. They seem to start with a star ingredient for each dish, but then also make sure that each supporting ingredient is also fresh and flavorful. The influences are clearly French, Italian and Northern California Nouvelle cuisines, but there are also dishes not cut from that cloth that surprise. The wine list is carefully curated by the owner (perhaps with help from the sommelier who told me about Miel, one of the best sommeliers in town). Nothing has disappointed over the years. Everything ranges from very good to died-and-went-to-heaven good. I've been known to order and eat two different desserts. And that’s just the beginning. The commitment to customer comfort at Miel means that many dishes are structured so that they can be adjusted to accommodate dietary restrictions, and yet still work. My wife is vegan, and has been well-fed every time we go to Miel. Still, that’s not the whole story. There are many places in town that will adapt to dietary restrictions, but that’s not front-and-center in other venues’ approach to customer comfort. At Miel, the servers know what all the kitchen can adjust in most instances, and will volunteer it matter-of-factly, without any, “Let me go ask,” and also without any fanfare or theatrics. Customers feel special in a valued way that blends in naturally, with no risk of standing out uncomfortably. And then there’s the setting, done in warm yellows and browns with lower lighting, that puts you at ease without drawing special attention to itself. I looked closely only recently, and realized that this location may well have been a light industry machining shop in its last life. The walls are cinder block. The floors are that kind of sealed concrete that’s used in shops and in warehouses, the kind that can withstand heavy things being set or even dropped on them. Notwithstanding all those hard surfaces that reflect sound, there are other materials that absorb sound so that, even when packed, hearing each other at the table is not an effort. There are some rectangular patches on the floor where a mill or a bandsaw might have been; and there’s exposed plumbing, with the tables and banquettes cleverly positioned so that the pipes are now foot rests. It’s an artful recycling of an industrial space—and you have to look closely to see that—into a setting for a fine, relaxed dining experience. In sum, Miel manages to be equally and strongly focused on elevated food and customer comfort, and combines these elements seamlessly, without ever crossing the line into being cloying in any way. They make it all seem very natural; and yet, when you take step back to think about it, there are so many ways restaurants can and do screw that up, as to make Miel, Seema's vision and the team's execution a rare gem. It’s not the kind of comfort where you can count on some favorite dish always to be on the menu. Instead, Miel starts from creating an exceptional, often unexpected pleasure in your mouth, a different one each time, and then works out to enfold the whole person in a delightful dining experience.

In a word AMAZING! Went here and they’re still operating under pretty strict Covid guidelines which I appreciated. All that aside the food was outstanding! I do wish our server had a little bit more knowledge and guided us through things a little bit more but we ended up ordering most of the menu anyways. Only critique was the octopus was very over charred AKA burnt and that’s all you could taste, otherwise extremely happy experience!

Our friends had been absolutely raving about Miel since their first visit, so we went with them last night to see what their hype was about. And they had every reason to rave about it, because we ended up also falling in love with Miel!! We started with happy hour and got drinks, mussels, squash hummus, Miyagi oysters, olives, and sourdough bread with fermented butter. We also all ended up ordering the $8 (YES!! Only $8) burger and you would’ve thought we all died and went to heaven. This burger is one of the best burgers I’ve had in Nashville, with the meat coming from bear creek farms (local) and being aged for around 40 days, then topped with a stunning aioli on a fresh bun. We all were so happy with our decision to order it. We ended the night with a bottle of the domaine les gryphées Beaujolais, the peach basil cake, hazelnut- dark chocolate Pot du Creme, and a French press of decaf coffee. Everything was incredible and the wine choices and each dish had so much thought out behind it. We were also able to meet the owner, Seema, and she was so knowledgeable and kind, and she told us all about the beautiful garden space and where a lot of the foods were sourced from. You can tell her passion is what fuels each dish and choice, and it’s delightful to see. Anyways— make a point to come here. Start at happy hour and work through slow courses and enjoy each bite. It’s wonderful! (I hate that I didn’t take better photos, but alas- I was too busy enjoying the burger)

Carrots and octopus were great. Fermented butter too salty. Scallops overcooked and too salty. Tagliatelle not salted at all. Shrimp overcooked. Ceviche... good flavor, but most ceviche is light in color (shrimp or whitefish) while this was dark---a little unappetizing. Slow service. We went on a friend's recommendation. No longer a friend. 😂