Cauponor rests in the belly of Nashville’s Neuhoff District, a former slaughterhouse turned unlikely dining and shopping destination. Finding the 14-seat restaurant takes a bit of patience, but the payoff is the feeling of discovering something few people know is there.
The seven-table restaurant from the team behind Peninsula sits behind a wooden door at the bottom of the staircase leading to Close Company, its entrance marked only by a small brass plaque engraved with its name.
Beyond the door, an amber-lit hallway, plastered with earth-toned clay, opens into the dining room. Inside, the light has the quality of golden hour filtered through curtains, even though there are no windows. The sound system is warm and resonant, filling the room without overpowering conversation…