Nashville Chef Tomasz Wosiak knows how to tell a story with his food. More specifically, he knows how to tell a country music star’s life story through a Lower Broadway bar menu.
His most recent work in the culinary arts was one that came with a lot of expectation, excitement and some disdain from Nashville City Council: Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen.
Wallen announced the venture, named after one of his 2019 hit songs, earlier this year, though the concept has been in progress for more than a year. On June 1, This Bar opened its doors to a line down the block — even after a seven-day delay from the planned Memorial Day weekend opening.
Over the last decade, Wosiak has worked with celebrities like Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson to open their Nashville bars and restaurants with TC Restaurant group, but he said This Bar wasn’t quite the same experience.
“Every artist has a different style. Some artists are more involved on the food aspect, some less,” Wosiak said. “With Morgan, that’s the artist we worked the longest with.”
Because the six-floor, 30,000-square-foot venue was a ground-up build, Wosiak said he had plenty of time to craft the narrative of This Bar’s menu, perfecting every recipe.
The final draft includes dishes like Morgan’s Spaghetti, Mamaw Boots’ Biscuits and Gravy, braised beef short rib and Tennessee hot chicken macaroni and cheese. On the co*cktail list, every $15 or $16 specialty drink bears a name inspired by Wallen’s lyrics, from the tequila passion fruit Ain’t That Some to the gin lavender Chasin’ You.
“Really, it’s fun to work with the artist and you know just by eating his New York strip or eating his spaghetti, that’s truly him,” Wosiak said. “You can make barbeque or meatballs 100 different ways, but this is his favorite.”
Inside the process
Before Wosiak and his team ever met Wallen, they had already put in hours of work trying to make educated guesses about his likes and dislikes. They scoured the internet to find every article and interview where he had mentioned food, and they took notes.
“On the first day, the first time we met, we just tried to surprise him with the dishes we think he likes based on the data we collected,” Wosiak said. “The first meeting is all about just to get to know him and just see what he likes, the childhood favorite memories, of course, around the food and things of this nature”
Growing up, Wallen’s favorite thing to eat was his grandmother’s biscuits and gravy, so they evolved into a cornerstone item on the menu. Wosiak didn’t want to simply offer good biscuits and gravy. He wanted to offer Meemaw Boots’ exact biscuits and gravy.
“It really took us three months,” Wosiak said. “We tried to replicate his memories. When he closed his eyes, he ate it, he wouldn't see a difference between his grandma's and his own.”
The chef listed several other menu items with similar stories, like a memorable fish fry Wallen loved that led them to incorporate local catfish into the menu or the decision to bring on a popular East Tennessee pitmaster to curate barbecue reminiscent of Wallen’s hometown favorite.
“Morgan loves Tennessee,” Wosiak said. “We just try to promote Tennessee and Nashville.”
This Bar’s seven bars, four stages and more
With neon lights, a logo including the outline of the state of Tennessee, rustic wood finishes, massive screens for sports games and walls lined with Wallen memorabilia, This Bar embodies the singer's aesthetic.
A few fun touches include massive sunglasses mounted behind a bar alluding to “Whiskey Glasses” and a cowboy boot decorated with the words “Sand In My Boots.” On one floor, a framed photo of Wallen smiling with Tennessee football alum Peyton Manning overlooks bargoers, and on another, there is his outfit from the album cover of “One Thing at a Time.”
When it came to This Bar’s layout and design, the ground-up build allowed Wallen and his partners in TC Restaurant Group to key in on the specifics.
The first two levels are intended to be honky-tonk style with bars, stages, casual seating and tailgate food up for order. On the third story is the Tennessee Kitchen, an elevated dining experience where diners can order from Wosiak’s full menu. There, visitors can find a quieter restaurant environment, booth seating and an extensive whiskey selection.
The fourth and fifth floors are for clubbing and dancing, with another two bars, more open spaces and a designated sky box labeled “Morgan’s House” for when Wallen is in town.
At the very top, the rooftop bar looks out onto Lower Broadway, with views of neighbors like Country Music Television, Miranda Lambert's Casa Rosa and Blake Shelton’s Ole Red.
Opening weekend record
This Bar broke TC Restaurant Group’s record over opening weekend for the most retail sales in one weekend. Apart from apparel, merchandise on sale includes This Bar’s peach habanero barbecue sauce, Tennessee whiskey barbecue sauce and a whiskey dry rub.
A spokesperson for TC Restaurant Group said the wait for the restaurant was over an hour long throughout the weekend.
Now, This Bar is open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday through Sunday.
Hadley Hitson covers trending business, dining and health care for The Tennessean. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to The Tennessean.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Morgan Wallen's This Bar in Nashville is a nod to Tennessee roots
