Holland House, Nashville

Holland House is known for its potables, but it should be known for it's bread pudding!  I can't believe I didn't find it on any of the lists.  I just happened to stop in and saw it on the menu.  Again, it reminded me why I'd rather have a forkful of bread pudding than a drink any day.  And why my tour of bread puddings this month has got to end!  I'm on a roll and don't want to gain a roll.

This was elegant in name, execution and taste.  Warm cocoa nib bread pudding featuring chocolate chunks, walnuts, Nutella brittle, chantilly cream and chocolate ganache.  It was a mouthful to read and a mouthful of pleasure to taste.  Please forgive the to-go box for not giving it the setting that it deserves.  Whoa - this was not some thrown together dessert with bits of whatever the cook had handy.  This BP is at a whole other level, and I again had to up the fork-quotient to give it its due.  My goodness, the description can't even do justice to the complexity of textures and tastes that abounded in this treat, but it's a start.  It made me wish I was a real food writer. Nothing in it was off-balance, it was a new combination of wonderfulness with each forkful.  Ahhhh.


Price: 8.00 (well worth it, unlike Chappy's)
Raisins: No
Sauce:  Chantilly creme, chocolate ganache
Ice cream: No
Visited: October 2012


Holland House Bar and Refuge

Copper Kettle, Nashville

Ok, it might look unappetizing, but this here reminded me of why bread pudding is my drug of choice.  Just think of this, a red velvet bread pudding with Goo Goo Cluster sauce.  Ok, even that might sound unappetizing but the sauce was only the chocolate from the Goo Goo, maybe with the marshmallow, but definitely not the peanuts.  It's the Goo Goo Cluster 100 year anniversary and Copper Kettle's dessert chef is making sure she pays homage.  Copper Kettle, by the way, always has bread pudding (unlike these sometimey places like Silo), with a new flavor each time.

I got the last serving, and was moved to share a taste with an extremely disappointed woman who wanted some also.  She had better be glad she had the first bite because if I had tasted it first, I would not have offered.  I must say I was doubting that this could taste good.  I was blown away.  Now, the red velvet flavor was very subtle, though the color kept reminding me.  The texture, sweetness and drizzle of chocolate Goo Goo were marvelous.  I am so glad I only got an order of their tasty greens and then went right into the dessert.  It was a balance I highly recommend.


Price:  3.99 (a total bargain)
Raisins:  No
Sauce:  Goo Goo Cluster
Ice cream:  No
Visited:  October


Copper Kettle

Chappy's, Nashville

I was wandering one night, with a good book and nowhere to land, and found Chappy's listed on another bread pudding site.  I had been here for food years before, but it didn't leave a lasting impression.  This time it did as the hostess was ever so solicitous and set me up in the cute little sitting area to enjoy my dessert as if I had a private lounge.  What she brought out was yet another strange manifestation of BP, more like a bread pudding stew.  The dessert chef made the bread pudding, then chopped it into small cubes, which were then drenched in the sauce.  When the hostess saw the quizzical look on my face, she asked how it was.  I told her the BP was delicious, but that I was surprised by the presentation.  She said she had them add extra sauce (she had no way of knowing I am do not like an excess of sauce, and usually eschew sauce, on any food).  In short, this deconstructed traditional bread pudding with praline sauce tasted lovely, but fell short on the soupy plating.

Price: 7.95 (pricey, but thankfully that was all that I ordered)
Raisins: No
Sauce: Praline
Ice cream: No
Visited: October 2012

Chappy's on Church