Loveless Café
Coffee
Unlimited Buttermilk Biscuits with Housemade Strawberry, Blackberry, Peach Jam
Pecan Pancakes with Maple Bacon, Sorghum
French Toast with Housemade Sausage and Sorghum
Biscuit Sampler – Fried Chicken, Pulled Pork, Aged Ham, Pimento Cheese & Fried Green Tomato with Cheese Grits
Pecan Pie, Chocolate Chess, Banana Pudding
Chess Pie
Conveniently located just off the route from Nashville to Memphis, Loveless Café and the small village of stores around it are nothing short of a Tennessee Landmark, and fresh off the redeye from LAX our arrival at the former hotel preceded its opening by a mere fifteen minutes, a line of six already formed with the sizable restaurant nearly 100% full by the time we left just after 8:15.
Featuring concepts of sustainability, scratch-based cooking, and a menu of Southern diner classics spanning from breakfast through lunch to supper, it was almost immediately upon seating that water was poured while coffee was readied and although the brew itself was a bit acrid without sweetener the refills were spot on and spontaneous, though food did take a bit longer than would be expected as our server was spread thinly throughout the largest room in the house, at times even drawn to the al fresco seating to assist others at a table of twelve.
Sipping coffee with orders placed it would not be long before a plate of Loveless’ signature buttermilk biscuits was delivered, and paired with a trio of housemade jams plus requested sorghum and honey it goes without saying that the fluffy golden rounds are indeed quite delicious, though for my money there are better to be found not only in Nashville but also parts of the Carolinas as well as at Yardbird, still the reference standard, though admittedly theirs are not refilled freely on request.
Moving on to entrees, another piping hot cup of coffee poured, it was largely a matter of sampling widely that led to an order of even more biscuits and with each of the four golden rounds topped differently one would be hard pressed to name a winner amongst the group, the crispy chicken and tender pulled pork rousing curiosity of just how good a full plate dinner at Loveless might be while the tart green tomato topped with spicy pimento cheese was as ‘Southern’ as it gets, certainly not the sort of stuff you see served for breakfast anywhere back home.
Moving next to the French Toast and Pancakes, suffice it to say that both are competent takes on classic American breakfast staples, and with the buttermilk fresh plus the bread homemade the only real question is whether to indulge in Maple Syrup, local Honey, or thick amber Sorghum as the topping of choice, from my standpoint a decision that entailed a little of each before deeming the decision a tossup, the Sorghum almost a bit *too* sweet on the vanilla and cinnamon dipped toast but absolutely delightful when mellowed by the ample amount of toasted pecans added to the pancakes for just a buck.
Unwilling to forgo desserts, 7:45 in the morning or not, what started as a sampler of three miniature pies and puddings quickly expanded to a quartet when the server brought chocolate chess instead of original, and with a pure butter crust serving as the base to both reference standard iterations it speaks volumes that the pecan pie was actually the best of them all, a dearth of ‘filler’ allowing the caramelized nuts and brown sugar to shine without being overly sweet – a similar degree of subtlety offered by banana pudding that used house whipped cream and softened vanilla wafers amidst thick chopped fruit and a smooth yellow base to deliver an experience that was not only texturally pleasing but also shockingly natural, a quality far too infrequently found in a dessert where boxed pudding is far too frequently meant to suffice.
