Long-awaited Pastis is cutting the ribbon on its white-subway-tile-clad bistro in May Hosiery Mills on June 26, making Nashville the fourth location to host the French-inspired nameplate.

At the festive red awning, illuminated by warm globe lights, expect a roster of Francophile favorites: onion soup, boeuf Bourguignon, duck confit, croque madame, steak frites, along with a European-flavored repertoire of cocktails and spritzes at a curved zinc bar anchoring the center of a mosaic floor.

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Originally launched in New York’s Meatpacking District in 1999 by restaurateur Keith McNally, Pastis became a recurring reference in Sex in the City as a brunch and dinner hotspot for Carrie Bradshaw & Co. Now under Stephen Starr’s Philadelphia-based STARR Restaurants umbrella, Pastis operates four locations, including New York (steps away from the original Meatpacking District address), Washington, D.C., and Miami. In Nashville, the newest Pastis will debut dinner service, with brunch and lunch on the horizon.

Meanwhile, guests at the weekend’s preview party are still talking about the bottomless buffet of oysters on the half-shell, crab claws, scallop ceviche, charcuterie, chocolate eclairs and vats of fluffy chocolate mousse, along with clever features such as watercolor portraitists and a poet tapping out verses on demand from a manual typewriter at a red leather banquette. The opening spectacle, with party favors including baseball caps and baguettes, was enough to send guests racing to make reservations, only to learn the Resy is already fully booked for the first month.    

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Fortunately, Pastis accepts walk-ins to dine at the 18-seat grand bar. And the brasserie will open a 75-seat patio in late summer, in time to celebrate the season en plein air with a taste of Paris, via Manhattan, in Wedgwood Houston.

Pastis is located at 512 Houston Street. In Nashville, that’s pronounced “Houston,” like in Texas—not “House-ton,” like in SoHo.