The Southern Steak & Oyster, the new downtown restaurant on the ground floor of The Pinnacle building, comes to us by way of Nashville restaurateur and movie-set catering veteran Tom Morales of TomKats Inc.

1. http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120425/LIFE02/304250046/The-Southern-Steak-Oyster-leaves-
door-open-creativity?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CEntertainment%7Cs

2. Sneak Peek: The Southern Steak and Oyster: The latest culinary creation from well respected
Nashville restaurateur and movie set catering veteran Tom Morales, is set to open on April 18 on
the ground floor of the Pinnacle Building in the SoBro district of downtown Nashville.

3. The Southern Steak & Oyster, the new
downtown restaurant on the ground floor of
The Pinnacle building, comes to us by way of
Nashville restaurateur and movie-set catering
veteran Tom Morales of TomKats Inc.
In charge of the kitchen, you’ll find Matt
Farley, who previously worked at The Loveless
Cafe, a property that Morales helped re-brand.

4. How did you learn to cook?
I started as a dishwasher in upstate New
York. Then I moved to prep cook and
eventually worked my way around the
several stations in a few restaurants. In 1996,
I moved to New York City and went to The
French Culinary Institute. I worked around
the city a bit and became the chef at The
Noho Star, where I stayed for about seven
years. So to answer the question, by doing it
and keeping my mind and eyes open.

5. What’s your culinary philosophy
at The Southern?
The culinary philosophy at The Southern is
much like what is in my background, which is a
huge focus on ingredients. The Southern will
source as much product from local farmers as
possible. We are getting beef and some pork
from Bear Creek Farms (Williamson County),
eggs from Willow Farms (Lawrence County),
Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese (Barren County,
Ky.). We will also be direct sourcing shrimp, crab
meat and some oysters from Louisiana.
Sustainability is very important to our company.
As much as possible, we are using green
products, paper goods, detergents, etc.

6. What are some of your favorite
items on the menu?
Obviously, I like a bunch of the items on
the menu, but if I have to choose, I’d say
the jumbo lump crab cake with hominy-
red pepper relish and chili-lime beurre
blanc, or roasted halibut with sweet
potato, Falls Mill grits, braised cabbage
and tasso vinaigrette. Or the Bear Creek
14-ounce rib eye steak. All the steaks are
top notch!

7. What’s the biggest surprise guests
might experience about dining at The
Southern?
I think people may be surprised with
some of the twists and interpretations on
some Southern classics. Tom Morales
came up with The Southern’s moniker,
“South of Somewhere,” which leaves a
door open for us to do whatever we want
on the culinary side. I have an absolutely
killer support staff with a very eclectic
background that we will draw from to
help create what this restaurant will be.

8. If you could cook for anyone, who
would it be?
I would probably want to cook for my wife
and children, because I usually NEVER
cook at home, and my wife hates to cook!
I would make them whatever they wanted
to eat.

9. What are your favorites at the moment in
the following categories: ingredient, tool,
book.
 Ingredient: The head-on shrimp we are
getting from Louisiana.
 Tool: Seven-inch shun vegetable cleaver.
 Book: My favorite book for a long time now is
Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry
Cookbook (Artisan, 1999).

10. If you could choose your final
meal, what would it be?
That’s a tough one, but probably a pizza
from Nino’s in New York City, and a good
beer.
— Jennifer Justus,
The Tennessean