The Meal That Heals

2019 CHEFS Blog

We are sure that you have noticed, Nashville is changing.  From the influx of bachelorettes and Airbnbs, to the great restaurant expansion in the last decade, many folks are both excited and bewildered with the transformation of our wonderful city.  We want the The Meal that Heals to showcase how Nashville chefs are embracing that change by creating a partnership with each course.  Two chefs, one a stalwart in the Nashville scene, the other a relative newcomer to the town or to the business, work together in a nod to Old School/ New School Nashville in support of a great cause.

Jeremy Barlow

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Jeremy C. Barlow

Chef/Owner, Sloco | Author, Chefs Can Save the World         

Spending summers on Nantucket in his youth, Jeremy Barlow washed dishes at the White Dog Café, moved quickly to cooking and continued working summers while attending Vanderbilt University.

After graduation, Jeremy attended the Culinary Institute of America, where he worked with some of the world’s best chefs and graduated with honors, receiving the Francis L. Roth award of excellence for academic and extracurricular performance. He interned at the Inn at Blackberry Farm with John Fleer. 

After six years in various chef positions in Nashville, Jeremy opened his first restaurant, Tayst Restaurant and Wine Bar, in February 2004, just south of Hillsboro Village in Nashville.

In 2008 Tayst was the first in Nashville to become a Certified Green Restaurant (www.dinegreen.com). It represented Jeremy’s dedication to sustainability – an emphasis on local food served in a restaurant operating with environmentally responsible practices.

Jeremy was named the 2011 and 2012 Sustainable Food Leader of the Year by the Lipscomb University Institute of Sustainable Practice’s Green Business Leadership Awards. He was named a “40 Under 40 Chef” by Mother Nature Network in 2009, and he was winner of the 2009 Iron Fork competition in Nashville. In 2010 Jeremy was named to the “40 Under 40” list by the Nashville Business Journal. Jeremy and Tayst received many awards during their time together, including Best Restaurant by Nashville Lifestyles magazine, Best Trendsetter and Best Environmentally Friendly Business by Nashville Scene, Most Creative Chef by the Nashville Scene, Best Menu Award by the Flavors of Nashville and Best Culinary Instigator by the Nashville Scene.

In October 2011, Jeremy opened his second restaurant venture, Sloco, a sandwich shop in the 12 South live/work/play district of Nashville. With Sloco, Jeremy is proving that local and organic food also can be affordable and fast. To spend more time on his “food fast” concept, he closed Tayst at the end of 2012.

In 2011, Jeremy was a featured chef at the revered Beard House in New York and in 2012 prepared the James Beard Foundation Leadership Dinner, with Jeremy Bearman of Rouge Tomate.

Jeremy serves as co-chair of the Food Policy Council for Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. The council was formed to advise the city on policy decisions involving food-related matters. He is also working on the development of a statewide Food Policy Council for Tennessee.

In 2012, Jeremy released his first book, Chefs Can Save the World, a call to action to everyone who dines and those who cook for them to use their collective power to change the food system and ultimately solve the most pressing crises of our time. The book’s foreword was written by renowned food activist Kelly Brownell and has received endorsements from food justice champion John Egerton and prominent sustainability chef Michel Nischan.

In the summer of 2012, Jeremy attended the Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change hosted by the James Beard Foundation and sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust. The event trained 13 like-minded chefs and other food professionals to be effective advocates for food system reform.

Jeremy speaks regularly on the topic of food system restoration. Recent appearances have included the keynote address for the Tennessee Organic Growers Association, featured author at the James Beard “Enlightened Eaters” series and speaking engagements at Vanderbilt University, Lipscomb University, Belmont University and University School of Nashville.

Jeremy and his ventures have been featured in the New York Times, Zagat online, the in-flight magazines of Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Continental Airlines, CNN, Martha Stewart Weddings, Cooking with Paula Deen, Breathe magazine, Plate, USA Today’s Guide to Green Living, Food Network Magazine and Food + Wine.

Caylen Sanots