Perenn at Cheekwood Cultivates a Picnic-Worthy Menu

If either Claude Monet or Édouard Manet had scouted locations in Nashville for their respective paintings entitled “Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe,” surely the 132 acres of Cheekwood Estate & Gardens would have topped their lists. Of course, the Cheek family didn’t wrap construction on their great American country place until 1929, decades after Manet’s controversial 1863 impressionist naked luncheon in the grass and Monet’s cheeky 1865 response to it. Still, who doesn’t stroll the wooded and meadowed acreage of Leslie and Mabel Cheek’s legacy landscape and daydream about a perfect picnic?

With such sylvan snacking in mind, Perenn bakery on the Cheekwood campus is adding an easygoing edible element to the elegant al fresco environs.

“Where you choose to spend your time is really important,” says Aubrey O’Laskey, who co-owns the Perenn family of stores in Nevada and Tennessee with her husband, Tyler. “We want to encourage people to spend more time outside in nature.” 

After launching in Reno in 2018, the couple, who met at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., expanded their bakery-based brand to Middle Tennessee in 2025. They planted their first flag in Franklin, at a full-service restaurant with outdoor seating along the bank of the Harpeth River. Next came the spacious Berry Hill store, which houses bread ovens and equipment for pastry production, along with ample and hospitable seating. Perenn at Cheekwood followed in May 2026. And even before the Wedgewood-Houston market opened, Perenn became legendary in WeHo for caramelized croissant crumbs served atop frozen yogurt at Culture Club next door.

Perenn’s multi-hyphenate prowess in bread-baking and place-making is transforming  Cheekwood into a dining destination, with a menu as fresh, natural and elegant as the native perennial gardens.

“We find a lot of inspiration from England,” says Aubrey, who visited the United Kingdom this summer to explore dairy butter. She describes the tradition of garden centers in the Cotswolds that marry horticulture, dining, design and social experiences. “That’s something we want to have as our presence at Cheekwood,” she says.

Housed in the Frist Learning Center, facing the historic stables, Perenn fills the space formerly occupied by Café 29. Tiled floors and soaring ceilings create a peaceful retreat for morning coffee and tea, breakfast sandwiches and warm brown-butter croissant-cinnamon rolls. Meanwhile, the all-day space provides respite — not to mention hot cocoa — during busy tours of harvest- and holiday-related outings.

Naturally, artisanal breads and pastries anchor the menu, which includes items cooked to order, along with grab-and-go offerings in the cooler. Baguette sandwiches layer combinations such as butter, prosciutto, comté cheese and cornichons, or brie with rosemary-fig jam and prosciutto. There’s a chicken salad croissant, avocado toast, a breakfast sandwich (available on a croissant or an English muffin), a leek-and-garlic grilled cheese and a Cheeky Club with rotisserie chicken, bacon, comté, tarragon green goddess dressing, pickled red onion and herb salad on a toasted country loaf.

Anything prepared in the kitchen can be wrapped up to carry out into the gardens. Meanwhile, the refrigerated cases abound with picnic-ready takeout boxes, including kid-friendly PB&Js, charcuterie and festive assortments of finger sandwiches — perfect for snacking with a Cheekwood latte or brown sugar-cinnamon cider. Perenn focuses on organic and local ingredients, with no seed oils or dyes.

“When we looked at being Cheekwood members ourselves and what we want to experience, we thought, they’ve always done teas,” Aubrey says, referring to the finger-sandwich legacy of the bygone Pineapple Room. “That’s how Cheeky Tea came about.”

Don’t take “tea” too literally. Cheeky Tea for Two can just as easily fuel a wine lunch or happy hour — thanks to a roster of mimosas, beer and wines in cans and on draft — or perhaps a prosecco-popping proposal. In fact, it’s not unheard of to see a newly engaged couple celebrating at Perenn after a plein-air betrothal or wedding portrait session.

Someday, there might be even more tables beyond the Frist Center courtyard, for luncheon and teatime among the wildflower gardens and sculpture trails, Aubrey suggests hopefully. “The goal is to make the café more around the whole grounds, so you could have a picnic anywhere.”