I love everything about Franklin, TN. My best friend Amy lives there. My in-laws live there. And some of the best memories I've made with my husband and friends have been in either Nashville or Franklin. Franklin is one of the most charming small Southern towns of all. There is nothing like walking the Franklin Square during the holidays. Beautiful Southern women in cowboy boots and dresses walk in and out of perfectly stocked shops. My favorite restaurants on the square are Gray's Pharmacy and The Mercantile both pictured below. Gray's Pharmacy has the best shrimp and grits I've ever tasted. The Mercantile has a delicious breakfast. It's so homey and smells like an old house with an old fashioned breakfast from a gas stove ready in the kitchen.
The Mercantile for breakfast with best friend Amy Aston.
Below is Honest Coffee. The cappuccinos are so delicious!
Paul and I visited his parents for Christmas 2015 and I discovered some new places! Here is part of my Christmas travel diary for Franklin: We went to The Factory to look at antiques, home decor stores and a record store. We stopped for cappuccinos in Honest Coffee. This was a place in Franklin I hadn't been. On the carefully planned list I'd made for this 9-day trip I had underlined "try something new in Franklin." This was it. Honest Coffee roasts its own coffee and the cappuccino I had with my in-laws is to date the best cappuccino I've ever had. Mild with light foam. It needed no sugar. And it's a pretty space, easy to photograph. I bought a bag of their holiday blend to bring home and found a small journal for sale called 33 cups. I can't wait to write in this journal and make some for my foodie friends.
We opened presents and my in-laws gave me an Anthropologie gift card, Williams-Sonoma salted caramel hot chocolate and some salted caramel candies and so many other cute gifts. My mother-in-law made goat cheese and sun dried tomato stuffed chicken breasts, rolls and Waldorf salad. Later that afternoon my best friend Amy Aston drove over to pick me up and we ate dinner at Chuy's. I had the chicken flautas and a huge frozen margarita. It was such a treat to get to catch up with her and laugh and share all my secrets. Afterwards we walked around in Whole Foods and then went to Starbuck's on the Franklin Square to open presents. I had my first and probably last gingerbread latte of the season. (Ginger loves gingerbread lattes!) Amy gave me a box of Trader Joe's dark chocolate salted caramels and a small box of Frango dark chocolate mints (a great memory from our 20's when we went to Chicago all the time and walked into Marshall Field's for Frango in every flavor) and my big present was a pajama set with macarons on them. The macarons are even labeled in French! I was sad for the evening to end!
Wednesday morning Paul and I walked around the Franklin Square in the rain and we took Zeno in A Taste of Home on the Franklin Square where I bought a Cat Studio Mississippi tea towel. I wanted one more cappuccino at Honest Coffee and then we called in a to go order from Mellow Mushroom (pepperoni pizza and Hawaiian pizza for Paul). I washed it down with a Coke and a chocolate cupcake from Whole Foods. We left Franklin and drove to Memphis. I hated not hitting Trader Joe's before we left the Nashville area but it is just too busy and it is especially so during thre holidays. Paul and I called in an order of nachos from McAlister's in our old neighborhood at Poplar and Highland and ate them under the carport of our old house. We drove another hour south to Batesville, MS to stay with my Mom for Christmas. She took us to the new sushi restaurant Yamato in town and it was really delicious!
We opened presents and my in-laws gave me an Anthropologie gift card, Williams-Sonoma salted caramel hot chocolate and some salted caramel candies and so many other cute gifts. My mother-in-law made goat cheese and sun dried tomato stuffed chicken breasts, rolls and Waldorf salad. Later that afternoon my best friend Amy Aston drove over to pick me up and we ate dinner at Chuy's. I had the chicken flautas and a huge frozen margarita. It was such a treat to get to catch up with her and laugh and share all my secrets. Afterwards we walked around in Whole Foods and then went to Starbuck's on the Franklin Square to open presents. I had my first and probably last gingerbread latte of the season. (Ginger loves gingerbread lattes!) Amy gave me a box of Trader Joe's dark chocolate salted caramels and a small box of Frango dark chocolate mints (a great memory from our 20's when we went to Chicago all the time and walked into Marshall Field's for Frango in every flavor) and my big present was a pajama set with macarons on them. The macarons are even labeled in French! I was sad for the evening to end!
Wednesday morning Paul and I walked around the Franklin Square in the rain and we took Zeno in A Taste of Home on the Franklin Square where I bought a Cat Studio Mississippi tea towel. I wanted one more cappuccino at Honest Coffee and then we called in a to go order from Mellow Mushroom (pepperoni pizza and Hawaiian pizza for Paul). I washed it down with a Coke and a chocolate cupcake from Whole Foods. We left Franklin and drove to Memphis. I hated not hitting Trader Joe's before we left the Nashville area but it is just too busy and it is especially so during thre holidays. Paul and I called in an order of nachos from McAlister's in our old neighborhood at Poplar and Highland and ate them under the carport of our old house. We drove another hour south to Batesville, MS to stay with my Mom for Christmas. She took us to the new sushi restaurant Yamato in town and it was really delicious!
Christmas 2016 - The Red Pony
I was ecstatic when my father-in-law announced that we would be having dinner there because I've always wanted to eat in this restaurant. It's a beautiful place right on the Franklin Square. I ordered the beef tenderloin and it was as soft as butter and flavored with a bouquet of intense spices. I also had the kale, orange, fennel and feta salad which was amazing. Paul ordered a delicious cheese plate with smoked salmon that he was allergic to (so I ate all of it) and Korean BBQ sushi (which tasted like pork heaven) We all shared an assortment of small pieces of bread in different shapes and flavors. I washed all of it down with the Bordeaux my father-in-law ordered for the table and a cocktail called the Down Loe made with sloe gin. This is probably the best meal I've ever had in Franklin, Tennessee.
I was ecstatic when my father-in-law announced that we would be having dinner there because I've always wanted to eat in this restaurant. It's a beautiful place right on the Franklin Square. I ordered the beef tenderloin and it was as soft as butter and flavored with a bouquet of intense spices. I also had the kale, orange, fennel and feta salad which was amazing. Paul ordered a delicious cheese plate with smoked salmon that he was allergic to (so I ate all of it) and Korean BBQ sushi (which tasted like pork heaven) We all shared an assortment of small pieces of bread in different shapes and flavors. I washed all of it down with the Bordeaux my father-in-law ordered for the table and a cocktail called the Down Loe made with sloe gin. This is probably the best meal I've ever had in Franklin, Tennessee.
Puckett's Grocery is a cozy place for breakfast in downtown Franklin.