Local Restaurateurs Find a Recipe for Success with Nashville Originals
While attending a baking school in France in the mid-1990s‚ Terry Carr-Hall fell in love with the breads and pastries of the country’s Provence region.
Carr-Hall did something about his newfound passion: He returned to the United States and launched Provence Breads & Café‚ which opened its doors in March 1996 in Nashville’s Hillsboro Village.
Today‚ with five Music City locations‚ Provence is an active member of Nashville Originals‚ an organization self-described as “a dedicated band of local restaurateurs‚ dedicated to the challenge of sustaining the independent restaurant as a feature and a fixture of local culture and community.”
Carr-Hall delights in the use of the word “originals” in the group’s title.
“That’s what we are‚” he says. “We’re the pioneers.”
The restaurant owner describes Nashville as “on the cusp of exploding when it comes to cuisine.”
“I think now‚ looking at the food scene in 2007‚ we’re there‚” Carr-Hall says. “We have wonderful restaurants and a high-end clientele that really understands gourmet foods.”
That’s why the time was right for Nashville Originals‚ founded in January 2006 as a chapter of the Council of Independent Restaurants of America‚ trademarked as Dine Originals™. The organization boasts about 700 restaurants in more than 20 cities.
Rick Bolsom‚ one of the Nashville Originals’ founders‚ says the structure and guidelines of DineOriginals™ made it easy to take that system and adapt it to Nashville’s eateries.
“Essentially‚ the groundwork had already been laid‚” says Bolsom‚ who owns the neighborhood bistro Tin Angel on West End Avenue.
Bolsom says the national organization helped Nashville Originals establish qualifications for members and set up its unique fundraising strategy based on gift-certificate sales.
Member restaurants donate gift certificates in denominations of $25 and $50‚ which are sold quarterly at a discount of 33 to 40 percent via the Web site www.nashvilleoriginals.com. In April 2007‚ 95 percent of the gift certificates sold in just 65 minutes.
“It’s a way to support our organization and also give back to our supporters in the community‚” Bolsom says.
Nashville Originals members‚ more than 30 so far‚ benefit from the Web site‚ part of a cohesive marketing strategy that also features a job board that advertises members’ open positions.
“A year from now‚ if you’re a person looking for a job in the restaurant industry‚ we hope that the first place you go to look is the Nashville Originals Web site because those are going to be premier jobs at the premier restaurants in the city of Nashville‚” Bolsom says.
The organization is also coordinating food and equipment purchasing partnerships to level the playing field against chain restaurants‚ which have an advantage.
While Bolsom acknowledges that Nashville Originals members are‚ in fact‚ competitors‚ they are also friends.
“We are a very close-knit community‚ with camaraderie and a fellowship of interests‚” he says. “For the most part‚ we are also friends and supporters of each other.”
Part of the mission of Nashville Originals is to make friends and sup porters of Middle Tennessee restaurant patrons‚ too.
“When you drive down the road and look to the left and look to right‚ and you don’t know if you’re in Nashville‚ Omaha or Sault Ste. Marie‚ I think that’s a sad state of affairs‚” Bolsom says. “We’re getting that message out there‚ so people will say‚ ‘Yes‚ that’s important‚ and I’m going to vote with my tummy to keep my favorite local restaurant in business.’ ”
