For chef Nicky Miscia, the most memorable dining experiences inspire conviviality — a celebration of culinary artistry and the company you’re with. This is precisely what he aims to evoke with Bacco, a brand-new Italian steakhouse inside the Four Seasons Hotel Nashville.
Named after Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and revelry, Bacco honors the warmth and abundance of Italian tradition. Everything from its bountiful menu to its Spaghetti-Western-inspired décor is rooted in Miscia’s Tuscan heritage, which he skillfully translates for his Tennessean clientèle.
“Italy is not just a country,” he says. “It’s a bunch of regions that come together with different identities.” Miscia and his team offer distinct Tuscan flavors in ways that somehow feel traditional, fresh and authentically Nashville all at once.
Take Bacco’s brunch menu, for example, which Miscia created because he knows how important brunch is to Nashvillians. Offerings include ricotta pancakes with candied lemon rind, steak and eggs with Italian salsa verde and charred tomato, and a frittata with potatoes, onions, braised lamb, arugula and fontina cheese.
“Bacco is offering something quite unique, because it brings together Italian hospitality and Southern hospitality,” he says. “Tuscan tradition grounded in Tennessee and Nashville reality.”
Surprise and Delight
While luxe and elegant, Bacco’s atmosphere conjures the feeling of stepping into a friend’s house. Textured materials, warm tones, custom furnishings by design firm AvroKO, and a newly opened all-seasons terrazza encourage you to relax and let your server (aptly called your “captain”) steer your experience.
When guests approach the host stand, they’re greeted with complimentary Crodinos — legendary Italian bitter aperitifs — to prime the palate. “Since the ’60s, everybody from kids to senior citizens in Italy drinks it as a moment of relaxation,” says Miscia.
Bacco’s team focuses on creating a comfortable experience while still offering elements of surprise. Out-of-the-box presentations set even a simple bread service apart. Fluffy pizetta bianca is meant to be torn and paired with an olive oil topping that’s shaped like tiny olives and spreadable like butter (“a secret recipe,” says Miscia). And only at Bacco will your crispy artichokes arrive in a vase, intricately carved like flowers and adorned with citrus-coriander aioli and fried rosemary.
“As much as we want to be true to ourselves [and] keep our feet in Italian tradition, it’s nice to have fun,” says Miscia. “Why not play a little bit with our experience?”
A Family Affair
Bacco offers premium steak and seafood options, like coriander-cured tuna loin, served with heirloom tomato hearts and lime. But Miscia’s favorite dishes to serve (and eat) are Bacco’s housemade pastas. Think spicy gnocchetti sardi and squash-blossom-and-basil-adorned conchiglie al pesto. “[There’s] nothing better than sharing some great pasta,” he says.
Everything, from antipasti to main entrées, is served family-style, mirroring Miscia’s upbringing, where he and his family would pass plates around the dinner table. “What we are trying is all about sharing,” he says. “Life is better when you share it with somebody else.”
His culinary process begins with considering what’s in season. He then collaborates with fellow chefs, such as Four Seasons Hotel Nashville executive chef Derek Simcik, to “make the ingredients sing” by bringing out their natural flavors with minimal modification. With a passion for supporting local meat and produce purveyors, Miscia seeks to honor both his Tuscan origins and current Nashville home on every plate.
“If you’re trying a Fiorentina steak from Florence, I can guarantee you most likely are going to know the name of the farmer making it,” he says. “And that’s the idea behind our meat program — being able to give back to the community, which gives us so much.”
Culinary Nostalgia
Many of Bacco’s dishes evoke “food memories” for Miscia. Take his bombolini, for example — a brioche dough delicacy coated in caster sugar and filled with pastry cream that he used to eat as a kid. “Whenever I get that first bite after working on the dish, my mind [goes] back to 1997, when we were summer vacationing in the Fiat Uno of my father without air conditioning,” he says.
Italian Bonelle gelée candies spark another such food memory, and Bacco diners receive them in glass dishes at the end of their meal. Miscia attests that the tender fruit-flavored gummies remind him of his Tuscan childhood — and are highly addictive. “Be careful,” he playfully advises.
When he’s in the kitchen, Miscia thinks back to the joyful reaction he got from his mom and sister when he first cooked for them. Providing that same joy to Nashville’s community motivates him to think on his feet and discover new ways to bring Tuscan tradition to an American audience.
“The sky’s the limit,” says Miscia. “[I] cannot wait for what is coming up for Bacco and for this great, amazing city.”
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