Eleven11 is doing something Nashville doesn't have enough of: an 11-seat counter where a serious chef — Son Pham, who came up at The Catbird Seat — cooks Vietnamese-influenced food in front of you at a pace that feels like a meal rather than a transaction.
The garlic noodles are hand-cut and tossed in butter and fish sauce. The local ribeye is portioned and cooked at the counter if you're sitting in the right seat, and it's the highlight. The tomato rice is a fried savory comfort dish that reads more like a hash brown than rice in the best possible way. The ginger tofu ice cream is served on a cold stone that keeps it from melting. Every dish is Vietnamese-inflected without being limited by the category.
The same experience then flows into the connected cocktail bar and dance floor operated by Alexis Soler (Old Glory) and Michelle Pham. The Phams and Soler built a room that is somehow intimate fine dining and neighborhood party bar simultaneously, which is an achievement.
Hand-cut garlic noodles in butter and fish sauce, local ribeye cooked in front of you, tomato rice that eats like a hash brown, ginger tofu ice cream. Chef Son Pham (ex-Catbird Seat) is doing real work at a counter that seats 11.
