it’s hard to believe that it’s been over two months since i last posted a review on ilwb and i have to be honest, even getting this one finished was a challenge… hopefully though its easier to keep going now that i’m back on proverbial ‘bloggers’ horse. you see, life has somewhat done a 360˚ on me in the past 2 months. since january 5^th to be exact, when my husband and i were approved for visa’s to the united states! an absolutely dream come true, and one we’re still quite shaking our heads about, wondering if we’re going to wake up from this dream and find ourselves back in melbourne. so in amongst booking flights, selling (almost) all of our earthly belongings, driving my car from melbourne to brisbane (with broken air-conditioning!), packing our 4 suitcases and 4 guitars and jumping on a plane to nashville tennessee, all within the space of 2 ½ weeks, there hasn’t been a whole lot of time spare for writing! and then there’s been: finding a new apartment, buying a car, buying furniture, figuring our way around a new city, getting used to america’s (mostly-archaic) banking system and trying to meet some new friends so that we don’t feel utterly homesick everyday… you get the point.

(photo credit: marathon music works)

anyway, the blogging hiatus is over, and i’m super excited to be sharing my food journey of america with y’all (see i’m getting the hang of this!?) – we’re planning to travel a fair bit while we’re here and so far have trips to chicago, new york, new orleans, austin, la (and hopefully somewhere tropical too!) this year so i hope to experience a lot of the foodie world over here in the usa…. and i hope you’ll come along for the ride! since first visiting nashville 4 years ago, i’ve been pleasantly encouraged over the past month by just how much the food scene has picked up here. whilst it is still definitely dominated by southern cuisine and lots of fried chicken, and presentation and visual appeal leave much to be desired in about 80 percent of the places we visit… there is definitely a buzz starting about the farm-to-table philosophy, share-style menus and (finally, thank god!) good coffee!

which is why i was so excited to receive an invitation from popular nashville coffee shop, revelator coffee company a couple of weekends ago. relevator’s philosophy is to cultivate meaningful experiences with shop designs that embody this belief – bright, open and with plenty of stay-awhile appeal. on first impressions, this has definitely been achieved in the hillsboro village store (on 21^st ave s near both vanderbilt and belmont universities). a large coffee bar invites customers to converse and discuss with the barista all aspects of their coffee, and the food cabinet displays a selection of pastries and food from local food purveyors – another one of revelator’s philosophies.

this particular morning, we went with a ham, cheese and mustard croissant and a delicious quiche lorraine. there are plans to add a kitchen in the shop soon, in order to provide a more diverse food program – including a smashed avocado on toast that i know i want first dibs on!

however, it really was the coffee that excelled during our visit. with an approach to seasonally source the best quality beans from the best regions, the spring season will see a change in coffee offerings… however the end of the winter season had me drinking a: prospera pour over made from chirinos peru region beans with beautifully fragrant tasting notes of fig, plum and brown sugar.

and whilst flat whites are not a ‘normal’ american coffee offering, i am pleased to see a couple of places now serving up my favourite drink using the same seasonal peruvian beans in the espresso variety.

great care was taken by both baristas in the making of each of my cups of coffee, and the staff genuinely appear to enjoy their work. i think the addition of a more extensive food menu, to compliment the exceptional coffee, will make this store a huge attraction to food and coffee lovers alike! and with 5 locations currently in the states: birmingham alabama, chattanooga tn, new orleans, atlanta as well as the nashville store – these guys are going to be seeing a lot more of me!

verdict: i found melbourne-worthy coffee in nashville (hooray!)
find: http://revelatorcoffee.com/
follow: @revelatorcoffee and @revelatornash

(note: inlovewithbrunch dined as a guest of revelator coffee nashville, however all remarks and reviews are honest and genuine)