A Chocolate Soufflé in Nashville - Part IV

Just up the street from BB King’s Blues Club we met our unofficial guide to Broadway and Second Avenue in the form of a retail sales lady in a high end western boot store. I don’t know how she knew we were tourists. Perhaps it was the cowboy hat I was wearing. Although you see cowboy hats on one in every three country western album covers, there are surprisingly few on the heads of folks walking on the streets of Nashville.

I would not presume to dictate anyone else’s itinerary while in Nashville, because there is so much to see and hear, however her suggestions were wonderful. She told us that we must go into the Stage, Robert’s Western World, and Tootsie’s, before we left this downtown area. She said that these were some of the places that the performers at the Ryman Auditorium would “wet their whistle” between shows. She told us to find the booth where Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson sat and wrote the song “Crazy”, which Patsy Cline had made famous.

She told us to go into these places through the front door, but be certain to go out at least one of the backdoors, which the owners continue to leave open, into the alley in order to see the Ryman Auditorium where you would see the stage doors that performers would come and go to take their breaks. Very nostalgic!

Nostalgia may entice you to visit, but it is the music that will bring you back. Whether you are on the fringe of belief that Country Western music is your “cup of tea”, if you truly love music you can recognize true musical talent. This is truly a music town, and it attracts tremendous ability from the performers on these little honky tonk stages. You are going to hear a variety of country, blues and rock & rock that will delight and entertain.

Julie and I were in town for three nights. The last evening we attended the Grand Ole Opry, which was an event all to itself. But on our second evening we had to wend our way back to the honky tonks. It was on our stroll that we happened to notice a Morton’s Steak House on a side street near our hotel. Not dressed for the occasion, and not being particularly in the mood for one of their wonderful steaks, we walked on. However, Julie said, “I would love one of their chocolate soufflés”. I said, “Why not!”

As we walked I “Googled” the Morton Steak House in Nashville on my phone, called the establishment and inquired about the possibility of having them prepare just a chocolate soufflé for us. No problem. If you have ever dined at a Morton’s before, you know that they will tell you at the beginning of your order to request a soufflé from the outset, because they take thirty-minutes to prepare. The maitre d’ told us to come back to Morton’s in about thirty minutes – Perfect!

We trekked down to a bar on Broadway, had a hamburger and fries, and then headed back to Morton’s for a piece of heaven in the form of the most delicious, chocolaty fluff, which was dusted with powdered sugar and drizzled with even more chocolate. When you have that and a cup of hot coffee, and a beautiful wife to gaze at lovingly, it makes for memories that will live forever in your dreams. I never would have imagined that we would be relishing a chocolate soufflé in Nashville.