Tuesday, November 10, 2026, target 6:30 PM. Dinner with the MDH (MiDataHub) team: Bryan Smith, Kevin Bullard, Tony Howard, and Dirk Bradley (vegetarian), plus internal attendees. Working count 12 to 15; most inquiries went out at a party of 14. The Etch and Sunda options hold only at 12 and require controlling the internal list.
Venue names link to each restaurant's own site. Status as of Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
| Venue | Priority | Cuisine | Room / capacity | Status | Minimum / pricing | Menu format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adele's | Upgraded | New American | Private room, 36 | Inquiry sent, awaiting reply | Unknown | Unknown. Their current menu has two real vegetarian mains (mushroom sisig, JW gnocchi). |
| Butcher & Bee | Upgraded | Mediterranean / Middle Eastern | Mezzanine, 16 | Replied with full terms | $2,000 minimum waived with a group menu; food tiers $80 / $100 / $115 per person, drinks on tiers or consumption | Group menu required at 10+. The chef's menu here is the best experience at this restaurant; open question is whether it can be plated individually rather than shared passing dishes. |
| Etch | Upgraded | Contemporary eclectic | Intermezzo Room, 12 max | Replied with terms | $1,000 F&B minimum before tax and gratuity | Full menu at 12 or fewer; 13+ forced to a limited menu. Seating windows are 6:00-8:30 PM or 7:00-9:30 PM only. Guidelines PDF: contract + card on file, no booking fee; final headcount due 48 hours before; full $1,000 minimum charged on cancellation within 14 days (cliff Tue Oct 27, 2026). |
| Moto | Upgraded | Italian | Chef's Room, 14, semi-private | Inquiry sent, awaiting reply | Unknown ("contact for pricing") | Unknown. A larger private room seats up to 40 if the count outgrows the Chef's Room. |
| Zaytinya | Standard | Eastern Mediterranean | Private dining room, 18 | Inquiry sent, awaiting reply | Unknown | Unknown. Mezze format is structurally the strongest for a vegetarian guest. Tuesday dinner service ends 9 PM. |
| City House | Downgraded | Italian | Upstairs room, 16 | Inquiry sent, awaiting reply | Deposit is the room fee, per their terms summary | Family style required at 10+ |
| Husk | Downgraded | Southern | The Stables carriage house, 28 | Replied: web form first | No terms yet | Unknown. They want the private-dining form completed before discussing terms. |
| Sunda | Downgraded | Southeast Asian fusion | Main room, or private room (24) | Replied with both options | Private room: $1,200 minimum plus contract. Main room: none | At 12, the main room is a normal reservation on the regular menu. They asked which direction we want. Downgraded on the open-check risk: sashimi defeats both natural brakes on ordering (it is light enough to eat in quantity, so satiety does not limit it, and the expense brake does not bind when guests order on the host's dime). |
| Chauhan | Dropped | Indian fusion | Private room, 40 | Dropped | n/a | Both published email addresses bounced (550 access denied from their mail tenant); the web form route was declined. |
For anyone meeting these names for the first time.
Zaytinya and Butcher & Bee are cousins in format, both built around shared Mediterranean small plates. Zaytinya is a Jose Andres concept inside the W hotel in the Gulch; Butcher & Bee is a Charleston-born local favorite in East Nashville.
Etch is the most formal of the set, chef Deb Paquette's downtown flagship. Husk is the Southern flagship, built on heirloom ingredients and seed preservation. Moto and City House are the two Italian options: Moto more polished, in the Gulch; City House more rustic, in Germantown. Adele's is Jonathan Waxman's wood-fired New American spot in the Gulch. Sunda does modern Southeast Asian in the Gulch, with a dedicated vegetarian and vegan program.
Newest first. This log is how the table above stays honest.
Etch guidelines PDF extracted: contract + card on file, no booking fee, 20% gratuity requested, final headcount due 48 hours ahead; the full $1,000 minimum is charged on cancellation within 14 days, so the decision cliff for Nov 10 is Tue Oct 27.
Matt's initial prioritization, stated as provisional: upgraded Adele's, Butcher & Bee, Etch, and Moto; downgraded City House, Husk, and Sunda; Zaytinya left unranked. The table gained a Priority column and was re-sorted to match. Matt's stated reason on Sunda: he was otherwise leaning toward it, but on an open a la carte check guests could go crazy ordering sashimi on an open a la carte check.
Tracker created from the venue summary table. Eight inquiries are live (Adele's, City House, Husk, Butcher & Bee, Etch, Sunda, Zaytinya, Moto). Replies with terms are in from Etch, Sunda, and Butcher & Bee; Husk replied asking for its web form first. Chauhan was dropped after both published email addresses bounced. A drafted reply to Butcher & Bee (plated vs shared format, deposit and cancellation terms) is held, not sent.
Matt's note on Butcher & Bee: the group chef's menu there is the experience he chooses himself and is not a demerit; the concern is only the shared passing format with a professional group. Recorded in the table.