A new online network has been established to connect business professionals in the Nashville area. Merrell Ligons, Director of Interactive Media at News Channel 5, created NSIDE Nashville Business to foster business relationships and the exchange of ideas in the local market. Ligons hopes the network will become “a lot of very intelligent, influential people gathered in one place sharing ideas, doing business, and making what I hope to be life-long friends.”

In addition to his responsibilities at WTVF, Ligons also writes the New Media Marketer blog where he discusses how the Internet is rapidly changing the advertising industry. In the blog, he encourages readers to share real world experiences, ideas, and opinions about Internet advertising and new media.

Participation is key to the success of the new business network. “The thing about networks is that the more people that participate, the more each member gets out of it,” says Ligons. “Because NSIDE Nashville is about making connections, the more people that participate in the NSIDE Nashville network, the more we will all benefit.”

Sound interesting? Join NSIDE Nashville.

Letters were mailed on January 11 from Mayor Karl Dean to all Davidson County registered voters whose identifying information was likely listed on the laptops that were stolen from the Davidson County Election Commission offices over the Christmas holiday. The letters offer a year of identity protection service from Debix Identity Protection Network at no charge. Included in the protection are: warnings by phone whenever someone attempts to open credit in your name, optional placement on the National Do Not Call Registry, and $10,000 of identity protection insurance (although the Debix website indicates $25,000 of coverage will be provided). In addition, Debix will place a fraud alert on your account with each of the three major credit bureaus and renew that alert every three months.

I received my letter recently and went to the Debix website to learn more.
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Attention fans of tequila, margaritas, and southwestern tapas: Agave Tequila Lounge is open, and as of my most recent visit, things seem to be in full swing.

I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical when I first heard about Agave. Not because I didn’t like the concept - indeed, I’ve been eager for something other than Las Palmas-style, semi-crappy Mexican food in Nashville. But I was a little put off for that same reason, worried that however strong the idea was, there might be some issues with execution. And I’m happy to report that I was wrong.

First of all, the old Pie Wagon space has been magnificently transformed. Agave’s owners, which include a number of music industry execs and Gulch developers, basically stripped the Pie Wagon building to the core and rebuilt it from scratch. An expansive roof was added, making the place seem much bigger than it actually is, and several garage doors were put up front. In nice weather this is particularly pleasant - and in cold weather, their patio heaters still do the trick.

Then there’s the food. I was pleased with our homemade chips and salsa, and my chorizo chicken was a refreshing change from the sloppy enchiladas I usually get at Cinco de Mayo. (The crowd’s beautiful people certainly distinguish this joint from other Mexican outposts, as well). And though I didn’t have any tequilas straight up since it was a work night, my two different margaritas, both on the rocks with salt, were quite tasty. Though they don’t beat the Margarita Fresca at Rumba, they were as close as any other restaurant in Nashville has come.

I should note that the place is really more bar than restaurant. Though they clearly do focus on the food, with excellent results, the atmosphere is more geared toward facilitating interaction between Nashville’s attractive, young elites. They’re succeeding. Welcome to the Gulch, Agave.

Those of you that have been lamenting the closing of the driving range on Charlotte — well, too bad. You’ll have to continue wandering the city, zombie-like, as I am, searching for another outlet for golf. The driving range won’t be back. What will take its place, though, is apparently a new $250M development taking advantage of the riverfront property:

Plans are in the works for a $250 million development on the Cumberland River that would include live/work units, condos, restaurants, retail and boat homes.

…

Dubbed The H20 Urban Waterfront District, the project would be on a 35-acre wedge of land tucked away from the strip retail stores of the Charlotte Pike corridor at the site of an abandoned golf driving range.

Sounds like it could be kinda cool.

If you’ve driven on West End Avenue between I-40 and Vanderbilt at all in the last few months, you’ve seen it. Big and blue and neon green and, well, kind of ugly… it’s the new Hotel Indigo at the corner of West End and 18th Ave. The former office building (and, as some of you may remember, home to a gentlemans club on the top floor) has been completely repurposed by Atlanta’s Wesley Hotels Group and is home to the boutique concept Hotel Indigo as of last Friday. The girlfriend and I had lunch at Atlanta Bread Company across the street on Saturday and therefore had the chance to look around the place.

First of all, kidding about the blue and green stucco aside, the exterior of the hotel isn’t particularly inviting. There’s no focal point at the building’s front, so it’s hard to tell where the main entrance is. The front doors look like the front doors of any average retail shopping center - certainly not the impressive entryway a hotel charging $250 per night should posess. Also, with all the money they spent on the renovation, they didn’t spend money to fix the roof of the solarium next to the front entrance. Seeing broken roof flashing before you walk in the front door of a hotel is never a good sign.

Upon entering the building, however, things improve dramatically. I’ve been in this building before when it was mainly office, and the transformation of the space is nothing short of dramatic. They’ve added an impressive staircase to the second floor directly in front of the entrance, and filled the walls with colorful, music-oriented murals - a nice touch. The softly colored wood floors were another plus, though you could tell they were a little cheap. Overall the lobby felt very hip, exuding a bright, casual but crisp ambiance that definitely impressed me.
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Today is Blog Action Day, and over 15,000 bloggers will be talking about the environment. Here’s how you can take a step in the right direction here in Nashville to improve the environment.

Surf
Check out the newly launched Greener Nashville for all of your green needs.
Visit my own CoolPeopleCare for daily tips on making the world a better place.

Donate
Support organizations doing great environmental work, such as:
Cumberland River Compact
Tennessee Environmental Council
Nashville Tree Foundation
Middle Tennessee Clean Air Partnership
The TMA Group

Socialize
Gather some buddies together and watch Kilowatt Ours by local filmmaker Jeff Barrie.
Check out Green Drinks once a month and meet some cool green folks in the city.

Nashville’s getting greener - leave a comment below and let us know what’s hip in Nashville when it comes to the environment.

I am not much of a restaurant reviewer. My typical reviews of restaurants or music tend to be “it was good. i liked it”. But, I had a good experience I thought I’d relay.. I always pretty much ignored Chez Jose when it was in the little corner spot on Elliston, and thus I never paid much attention to the restaurant that replaced it: Tangredi’s — a little italian place.

Last night, some friends and I were going to go to Chili’s (no, I don’t know either. it wasn’t my idea), and of course it was packed to the gills. Shocker! So, we wandered down to Tangredi’s. We approached with some trepidation, because it’s a fairly small place, and by the looks of it, the entire staff was on a smokebreak out back. But, we were seated promptly in a cozy table. The place was pretty much empty, which is also always cause for alarm. Their bar is pretty expansive, but no beer. Just liquor and wine. I started with scotch and soda and a diet coke. (We were going to a haunted house, so I wanted to make sure to mix some relaxation with a heightened sense of awareness.) I ordered the linquine and clams, the rest of my table had “penne a la vodka” — which looked like penne in some marinara sauce — and a crawfish dish that looked awesome. The clams were great, in a light white wine/garlic sauce. It was tasty.

The place started to fill up later as the Vandy game crowd decided to get food. The menu was reasonable.. $13-17 or so entrees. Nashville is not really known for its Italian food, so I was surprised to find this place. It wasn’t half bad. Good service, good food.. cute waitress, to boot. I’ll be going there again.

Clark & Co Hair & Nail Design

4004 Hillsboro Pike

Nashville, TN 37215

(615) 269-5599

The last couple of weeks haven’t given me time for much, but what time I have had to explore the city has been spent on finding a decent place to get a hair cut.

At first I looked into, and even tried some of the more popular salons in and around the West End. Ultimately though, I was unable to find a place that could match its stylists skill to the zeal in which they selected their decor. That is, until someone tipped me off about Clark & Co.

Situated in a non-descript retail strip across from Green Hills Mall, Clark & Co, sports a modern but understated interior and a staff that is both friendly and skilled. On a recommendation, I booked an appointment with Brian and I have to say it’s probably the best decision I have made in some time.

He sat me down, immediately assessed what needed to be done and confidently gave recommendations based on the look I was trying to achieve. Having my hair done by the same guy in DC for 5 years, it’s tough to articulate the exact details that I wanted. Lucky for me, Brian honestly knows how to match hairstyle to personality and beyond giving me some great insight into Nashville culture, worked his magic as if I had been going to him forever.

I have to say that it was a bit pricey ($45 for a men’s cut) but it was worth every penny. Ultimately, Clark & Co. is the kind of place that knows its good and doesn’t need half a dozen flat-panel televisions and a waterfall out front to prove it.

Brian is great but so, I am told, are the rest of the stylists there. I highly recommend giving them a call (you’ll probably talk to Fran who is great and will be more than glad to set you up with an appointment) and seeing the difference, yourself.

Technorati Tags: Nashville, Clark & Co., stylists

One of the things I’ve always really liked about Nashville is that it’s a great city to play golf in. Now, I don’t know if any of the other MetBloggers are golfers (I don’t think they are), but my experience has been that it’s generally really easy and really cheap to play a good round of golf in this town. I’m originally from Atlanta, where all the public golf courses are terrible and overcrowded, so the fact that I’m able to go out to McCabe Park Golf Course and play nine holes for $10 borders on the miraculous.

For the almost seven years McCabe has been my home course, since I’ve never lived more than a mile or so from the clubhouse. But yesterday, McCabe was hosting some sort of tournament, so I wasn’t able to play a late afternoon nine. I was directed instead to Ted Rhodes Golf Course, another Metro-owned and operated facility located between MetroCenter and TSU off of Ed Temple Blvd. I was surprised to learn that I could take 28th Ave. N from the West End area and be there in about seven minutes. I was even more surprised when I teed off - yet another Metro course in great shape (even after a horrendous drought this summer) that’s accessible to anyone for amazingly low greens fees.
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Ever since I moved to Germantown (and no doubt well before that), I’ve been hearing folks talk about how much they want a coffee shop in the neighborhood. We had a tease a while back when one of the retail spaces on the street level of the Summer Street Lofts had a sign saying that a coffee shop was “coming soon” (and then, mysteriously, later said “pending“… and then disappeared entirely). And the new Starbucks at 8th and Dominican in Metrocenter is almost close enough to count, but even if it were right next door, most of the locals would prefer a locally-owned place.

So it was a pleasant surprise a few weeks ago when I noticed the “cafe” sign on a historic house at Jefferson and 7th. The rest of the signage identified the business as “Chocolate Expressions,” an African-American art gallery and bookshop… with free WiFi. Nice. My hometown in the south suburbs of Chicago had a book room and tea shop (though without the WiFi), and it looked like this might have a similar multi-purpose feel, so I was curious to check out the vibe inside. I went by once or twice hoping to catch them open, but the hours weren’t what I expected: the shop doesn’t open until 10 AM. (Which strikes me as a bit of a problem, but I’ll get to that later.)

I did stop by yesterday on the way back from the craft fair at the Farmers Market. The space is divided into two rooms, front and back, with the front room being used for selling books and art (of which the owner, Mark Miller, tells me some is locally created so that’s definitely a good thing), and the back room is where the coffee and food is served. I had a cup of coffee, which is served from vacuum pump pots. I didn’t notice espresso machines so I’m not sure specialty coffee drinks are served, but the coffee was pretty good. (The cups, however, are styrofoam. Hopefully that’s just a temporary accommodation that will be replaced with something both more eco-friendly and more palatable as resources allow. If you can, bring your own cup in the meantime.)

The posted hours show an 8 PM closing time on most days, so this isn’t exactly a night owl place, either. But from the looks of it, the focus will be on the early evenings for regular events. Here’s a sampling:

Thurs, 9/20 - Networking Night 5-8 PM
Fri, 9/21 - Wine Tasting 5-8 PM
Sat, 9/22 - Germantown BBQ 5-8 PM
Sun, 9/23 - Book Reading 2-5 PM

and so on.

Back to the late opening hours. If this business has any hope of satisfying the neighborhood cafe demand — and to be fair, I don’t know that they do have that hope — it’s almost a foregone conclusion that there will need to be earlier hours. As one of my neighbors quipped, “See, the thing about coffee is…” You don’t need the rest completed for you — it’s a morning beverage for most folks.

On the whole, this looks like a solid addition to the neighborhood business profile — not to mention a great resource for African-American books, art, gifts, and community. I strongly encourage folks in north Nashville especially to check it out, buy some coffee, meet Mark Miller and Frederica Hall, and let them know you plan to be back.

Chocolate Expressions
624 Jefferson St. Suite A
Nashville, TN 37208
615-291-6561