Smoked Old Fashioned
$16Bourbon, maple, aromatic bitters
Seasonal American cooking, wood-fired dishes, and an inviting dining room in the heart of Nashville.
Ember & Oak was built around a single, simple idea — that dinner should be cooked over a live fire, by people who care, in a room that feels like the best seat in the house. We opened on 12th Avenue South with a wood-burning hearth, a small open kitchen, and a bar built for long, slow evenings.
Our cooking draws on Southern classics, modern American technique, and the seasonal produce Middle Tennessee does better than almost anyone. The menu shifts every few weeks to follow what the farms are bringing in — tomatoes and corn through the summer, root vegetables and game in the colder months — and most of what leaves the kitchen passes through open flame before it reaches the table.
We believe in hospitality the way the South practices it: warm, unhurried, and intentional. Whether you are here for a Tuesday dinner at the bar or a celebration in our private dining room, the goal is the same — a meal that is generous, considered, and easy to remember.
Six dishes that capture the kitchen at Ember & Oak — built around live fire, seasonal produce, and Southern technique.
Charred lemon, roasted garlic, seasonal vegetables
Smoked onion jus, crispy potatoes, herb butter
Sweet corn, smoked tomato, aged cheddar
White bean purée, preserved lemon, chili oil
Vanilla cream, toasted pecans
Whipped ricotta, herbs, sourdough
Marcus Reed grew up between Knoxville and the coastal kitchens of the South Carolina Lowcountry, where dinner was always a fire, a knife, and a long conversation. He opened Ember & Oak to bring those two ideas — wood smoke and hospitality — into a single room in Nashville.
His cooking sits at the intersection of seasonal American produce and open-fire technique. Heirloom tomatoes in July, persimmons in October, and tubers through the winter show up on the menu the moment they are at their best, and the menu shifts every few weeks to follow what the region's growers are bringing in.
Most of the kitchen's work happens within arm's length of the hearth. The team butchers whole animals in-house, cures its own charcuterie, and builds sauces from smoke and stockpot rather than from a squeeze bottle. The goal, in Marcus's words, is to cook food that feels like it belongs to the room — warm, generous, and unpretentious.
“Cook food that belongs to the room — warm, generous, unpretentious.”
— Marcus Reed
The room was designed for one thing — long, easy evenings. The bar overlooks the open kitchen, the dining room is warm and low-lit, and the covered patio is strung with lights for warmer nights.
Most dishes pass through the wood-burning hearth before they reach the table.
Warm lighting, comfortable booths, and a dining room built for conversation.
A small, focused list of craft cocktails, regional wines, and zero-proof options.
Date nights, business dinners, and slow Sundays all feel at home here.
Our bar program keeps a tight, focused list — Tennessee whiskey, regional gin, and seasonal produce. Beyond the cocktails below, you will find a curated wine list, regional beers on draft, and a half-dozen zero-proof options that change with the seasons.
Wine
Small American & European producers
Beer
Tennessee breweries on draft & bottle
Zero-Proof
Seasonal shrubs, sodas & infusions
Bourbon, maple, aromatic bitters
Whiskey, citrus, ginger, sparkling water
Gin, blackberry, lemon, sage
Walk-ins are welcome at the bar, but reservations are recommended for the dining room, especially on weekends. Use the flow below to hold a table in a few quick steps.
Walk-in bar seating available nightly. Large parties and private events handled separately.
The Private Room
Seats 10 – 30 guests
From corporate dinners and rehearsal dinners to milestone birthdays, our private dining room offers a dedicated space, custom menus built with Chef Marcus, and a dedicated event lead.
A rotating series of dinners, tastings, and chef-led experiences. All fictional demo events — dates and details for illustration only.
A relaxed four-course family-style supper built around whatever came in from the farms that morning. Wine pairings available.
Six seats at the kitchen pass, with a multi-course tasting menu cooked directly over the fire by Chef Marcus and the kitchen team.
A seasonal five-course dinner paired with small-production wines chosen with our wine director. Limited to thirty guests.
Want first notice on new dinners? Subscribe to the table list at the bottom of the page.
Join the List“We sat at the pass for the chef's table and watched a whole ribeye come off the fire. That single plate changed how I think about eating in Nashville.”
Carter & Dana Whitfield
Anniversary dinner · Nashville
“Brought four clients expecting a safe business dinner and stayed three hours. The room is warm, the cocktails are serious, and nothing on the table felt generic.”
Janelle Pierce
Business dinner · Atlanta
“We had our rehearsal dinner in the private dining room. The team built a custom menu around our Southern family favorites, then made it their own.”
The Murphys
Rehearsal dinner · 22 guests
Fictional demo testimonials. Names and quotes are illustrative only and do not represent real guests or reviews.
We’re a few blocks off Division Street, with street parking after 6 PM and validated lot parking across the street. Valet runs Friday and Saturday from 5:00 PM.
Address
412 12th Avenue South
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone
(615) 555-0148Hours
You are here
Ember & Oak
412 12th Avenue South, Nashville
For reservations, please use the reservation flow or call us directly. For everything else, use the form and we’ll respond within one business day.