The Chef and I

A great foodie spot offering fine dining quality food set in a casual yet elevated atmosphere. Came in on a Wednesday night and were seated at the chef's counter which allowed for an interactive culinary experience as we could watch our food be prepared in front of us! It was nice to chat to the chefs as well and see them them work their magic.We ordered the 5 course tasting menu and then the elk filet, brussel sprouts, and watermelon/arugula salad. I had a bit higher expectations for the tasting menu as nothing was a standout/would order again but it had unique dishes and flavor profiles to try and was a good intro into the restaurant. The elk was delicious and might have been my favorite- gamey with an earthiness flavor to it and I loved the corn it was served with. Brussel sprouts were tasty- I really just loved the in house bacon in there. The watermelon salad was tasty and light. I overall enjoyed the regular menu (changes) more than the tasting but the whole experience, service, food, and ambience was sO much fun! I definitely want to come back for happy hour and to try more menu items!

Adventurous but developingLove the concept and style of this restaurant. They bring in chefs and let them be creative. There were food attempts and the service was friendly. But ultimately this can be better. Mango Gazpacho was the best dish by far. And I don't like gazpacho generallyThe duck dolmas was wrapped in cabbage. Cabbage rolls don't present well. Venison carpaccio was interesting with the white chocolate. Kudos with the experimentation on an appetizer.

We got the tasting menu and the chef was really gracious and let us change a lot of the menu items to accommodate being vegetarian. We had the cauliflower crostini, soup, fried ravioli. Both my friend and I found the flavors to be too heavily spiced, salted, or heavy from being fried. For those looking for a refined experience I don't think this is the place to go. Especially with our limited time in town and unlimited other options.A friend of mine took a bread making class here and said she loved it, so maybe classes here would be the way to go.

Did tasting menu. Total was about $400With a couple drinks. Ate canes later... great food just not a lot of it

#fatjared say...food was great, overall experience was average. I would definitely come back, and have lots of good, but for a top tier restaurant it was middle of the road.I have a very strict grading criteria that I have stayed true to my entire career on Yelp. the best you can give is 5 stars, so that requires no mistakes, a perfect experience. The worst I can give is 1 star, which means I have 0 good things to say, and 3 stars is middle of the road average. I also take into account the expectations for the restaurant prior to coming, and knowing the type of restaurant you advertise as.When you look up this place you automatically think fine dining. No doubt about it from the reviews, from the menu, and from marketing. And I agree on most fronts. It is a small room that is well decorated, intimate, well thought out, and honestly beautiful. It is a small menu which means they have intentional chefs and focus on flavor profiles and take time to create a "perfect bite".Here are my complaints about the experience we had, and I will say this is really unfortunate because I can't think of a bad bite of food I had all night. We ran out of water, our order came out wrong, a refund on the order was promised and then missed, bisque was brought out with no spoon to eat it with, a pen exploded on me, and an order came out completely wrong. While these don't have to do with the food and the taste, except for the order coming out wrong and tasting bad, these are also things that a true fine dining experience will not allow to happen, PERIOD. Disagree with me if you would like, but for what you pay to eat here I have no doubt that the people who work here hold themselves to a higher standard than those.NOW...for the food. We ordered the brussels and shishitos, cauliflower, lobster bisque with side of house made bacon, and lamb meatballs. Before taste detail, I will also say that I believe the pricing on the shareables menu is VERY FAIR and the best option for a date night. Left feeling satisfied but not grossly full.Brussels were perfectly cooked, slightly below crunchy, perfect charr on shishitos, cashew creme with manchego was genius, and a light bite of tasty deliciousness. The lobster bisque had a great amount of meat in it, not too heavy on the butter flavor, balanced and complex in flavor, and when I had the smoked bacon on the side the surf and turf were a super cool compliment. The meatballs had just enough of a hint of spice, felt authentic to Mediterranean flavor, strong lamb flavor which I love, and the portion was awesome. The rockstar of the night though was the cauliflower. There are about 5 different aspects to the flavor profile, some sweet, some savory, but the overall component mix and precision was truly a masterpiece. I would eat 4 pounds of it if I could!I enjoyed my experience, and know that 3 stars is not what I even wanted to review here, but it had to be done when thinking of overall experience. HIGHLY suggest making a trip. It's a fun date and I think worth what you get price wise on the shareable menu!

I have been here twice now. Once at the one place that was very small but super charming and once at the new place. Love the food, didn't love the new place where I sat but I didn't walk around to see the new chefs table. Both times I've had the tasting menu and been pleased with the service and choices. I would recommend this place if you are not in a rush, are a foodie and definitely if you want something different for a date night.

Went here on my birthday and it was absolutely A+! Every single thing we ate was incredible. Since it was a special occasion we ate at the chefs counter and even the kitchen staff were so fun and amazing, it definitely made my night. Service was great and the energy was fun. They also have a great happy hour which we will definitely be back to try!

Food has always been my passion while traveling so I did some research on where to eat. Read great reviews about this place and seemed like a great choice to end our trip to Nashville, but kind of disappointed.... Had 5 course tasting menu, but found a Groupon for it at 25% off, I was pleasantly surprised!!! Maybe because it was Groupon, every course we had was very underwhelming and not very flavorful... especially the last course, which was "Adobo lamb rack", the seasoning was not even Adobo!!! I have had lots of Filipino food and that was not Adobo.... This is very confusing to me because the review for this place is so good yet the food is disappointing, was it because it was Groupon and they cook differently for Groupon users???? We (a party of 4) walked out, all looked at each other and puzzled at the quality of the food.... This is suppose to be $95/person????? Services and the Chefs are very friendly.. so I feel bad for leaving this review and I have to say I don't get "disappointed" often but this is one of the time for how much it costs vs what we've received/tasted.

I visited the Chef &I for a team building experience and it was so much fun! Chef Eric was so much fun and the food was amazing. I would love to do the cooking competition with my team again!

It's always an amazing experience at The Chef & I. Make sure to request to sit at the Chef's Counter downstairs in your reservation!!!From the decor, to the service, to the experience watching the chefs create every dish, I'd definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who hasn't been yet.