The Picnic Cafe reopens in new Belle Meade location

BY NICOL L E S. PRAINO

COOPER

A three-judge state court panel will meet next week to consider arguments by Metro Nashville, the state and the airport authority, now represented by outside counsel and intervening in the case on behalf of the state. The original board voted Wednesday to seek outside counsel of its own, though Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz offered his support of their efforts.

“We are working around the clock to prepare those final papers,” Dietz said of his office’s work ahead of next week’s court hearing. He will be responsible for hiring outside counsel for the original board, he said.

The original board was without members Bobby Joslin and Jimmy Granbery, who were appointed by state leaders to the new board. Their acceptance of the appointments, Metro contends, is tantamount to a resignation from the old board.

“I’m especially thankful to the board members today who have chosen to stand up and be counted to honor the oath that you took when you joined this board,” original board member Andrew Byrd said at the Wednesday meeting.

This story was first published by our sister publication Nashville Scene.

A local favorite has reopened its doors in a new location after closing for three weeks to move.

The Picnic Cafe opened on July 7 at 6000 Highway 100 near Belle Meade in the same building as Escape Day Spa and 360 Bistro. The space has room for indoor and outdoor seating as well as two check-out counters with one designated for to-go items and the other for dining.

Customers have already started lining up to dine at the new location as well as popping in to grab their favorite items from coolers and the dessert counter.

Previously, the cafe was located at 4320 Harding Pike at the Hill Center Belle Meade for the last 40 years. Owner Kathy Bonnet said that it moved within former buildings located within the Hill Center footprint, but the restaurant had been there since it first opened.

“We stayed inside the Belle Meade Drug Store for 24 years without a lease,” Bonnet said.

After that, the cafe moved to its former home — a building that is positioned to the immediate east of the main Hill Center Belle Meade structure (anchored by a Publix) and at which a laundromat previously had operated. The cafe did business there for the last 16 years prior to moving. In 2022, the Post reported the building could eventually be razed to accommodate a redevelopment of the site.

“They’re going to tear that down,” Bonnet said. “They’re going to build a complex there.”

Ascension Saint Thomas and H.G.

Hill Realty held a community meeting about the future Harding Town Center redevelopment plans in December 2022. For Bonnet, despite moving out of the longtime Hill Center space, the new location has been a blessing.

“It’s fabulous,” Bonnet said about the current spot. “We used to have it all jammed together. The food was on one side and you brought it to whoever would take you, and those long lines just didn’t work.”

According to Bonnet, the previous space became difficult to operate during the COVID-19 pandemic due to some of the restrictions, even though the restaurant was doing carryout. The business survived the pandemic thanks to not only the food but also other items like toilet paper, napkins, tissues, bleach and other household items.

“We delivered a lot during COVID,” Bonnet said. “We just said, ‘We’re going to do it. We’re going to make it.’ ”

The restaurant and catering company did survive, with enough patronage to follow the business to the current location. Bonnet said that Picnic Cafe was to have been closed for only two weeks between moving. But after having to resolve some issues in the new space, it took a full three weeks before the restaurant could reopen.

Bonnet said she is grateful for her employees who have been with her through all the change and challenges that 40 years of business brings. And Bonnet had a short message to end for those would-be customers who are just learning about the new location.

“Come on in. We’re ready.”

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I don’t know the personal backgrounds of all my fellow candidates, and they may be qualified to hold the position as leader of this great city.

Time has fermented for political parties to sit at the conference table, make friends, and negotiate our best choices for Nashville.

However, qualifications don’t naturally make a good mayor. My several years experience as a business owner and entrepreneur has been varied, living as a private citizen and never once living on the taxpayers dime as a politician. In that sense, I am grounded closer to reality with the citizens of Nashville in what we see as real problems and glaringly obvious solutions to our budget and growth plan. It only takes the courage of someone who does not want to play politics with those solutions.

Nashville has given birth to a multitude of growing pains. We’re business friendly and on the world stage in regards to Healthcare, Music, Sports, Hospitality, Entertainment and so much more! Time has fermented for political parties to sit at the conference table, make friends, and negotiate our best choices for Nashville.

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- Ken Brown