Charleston Living Magazine May-June 2023

National Museum of
African American Music
were deceivingly simple, like my butternut squash, which had been
roasted in maple syrup until it couldn’t hold another drop. It arrived
warm, atop a pool of homemade butterscotch pudding, with a scoop of
butter pecan ice cream melting alongside. Instead of putting the dish
over the edge, the accompanying drift of whipped cream served, oddly
and happily, as a palate cleanser.
Like many creative types who have made Nashville their home,
Chef Brock found himself drawn back to the city by its energy and
spirit. “There’s a lot of creative momentum in Nashville right now,” he
says. “For people with big dreams, it’s the place to be. •
Grimey’s New
& Preloved Music
record store
I spent one entire day eating food prepared by Chef Sean Brock,
who got his start cooking in Nashville, became a legend in Charleston
with the restaurant Husk and, in 2014, returned to Nashville.
My first two meals were combined into a brunch of champions
at Brock’s kid-friendly Joyland that included an egg, bacon and cheddar
sandwich on a meltingly soft biscuit, a malted milkshake, part of
a cheeseburger and too many fries to count. Dinner was at Audrey,
which Brock opened in 2021 as an ode to his grandmother, who taught
him both to taste and to cook. Her legacy lives on at the restaurant,
which serves perfect iterations of classic Appalachian dishes, but with
dashes of brilliance that transform each dish from simple to sublime.
Truffles, it turns out, give chicken and dumplings a shot of umani that
make a great dish better; horseradish sabayon bathes oysters in silky
warmth that still allows their sweetness to shine through. Desserts
Harriet’s
Rooftop, One
Hotel Nashville
May/June 2023 | 95