Lebanon Mayor Rick Bell and the husband-and-wife chef team, Nick & Audra Guidry, announced that a new restaurant and bakehouse will open in Historic Downtown Lebanon.
The Guidry’s are opening their bakery-coffeehouse Slow Hand Bakehouse in late 2022 and the Juniper restaurant in early 2023. Nick and Audra Guidrey are Lebanon residents and the owners of East Nashville’s Pelican & Pig and Slow Hand Bakeshop.
“Recruiting locally-owned, sit-down restaurants to Lebanon continues to be a priority for me.” Mayor Rick Bell said. “When Economic Development Director Sarah Haston and I met with Nick and Audra, we were able to provide them with options in Lebanon for their restaurant and bakehouse. I think the locations they have chosen to invest in will be the right atmosphere for their exceptional restaurant and unique bakehouse.”
Pastry chef Audra Guidry will operate Slow Hand Bakehouse at 111 S. Greenwood Street. The menu will consist of the quality baked goods guests have come to know from Audra, at her East Nashville location, with the addition of laminated pastries like croissants, as well as cakes (both whole and by the slice) and breakfast burritos, biscuit sandwiches, and coffee from NC-based Counterculture Coffee. A holiday-time 2022 opening is currently projected, as the site is turn-key.
“I am inspired by American comfort in my baking style but am driven by technique through my classical pastry training. So, expect things I have become known for such as my take on snack cakes like Swiss rolls and oatmeal cream pies, as well as all the cookies and cakes people know,” said Chef Audra Guidry. “Our coffee menu will consist of brewed coffee and classic espresso-based drinks like cappuccinos and lattes. As with our East Nashville location, all our flavoring syrups will be made in-house. We are focused on being a community space in a modern aesthetic and hope to become a community staple by also offering special-order cakes. In addition, we plan to grow into a limited fresh-baked bread menu and baking classes, including cake decorating, biscuit making, and techniques to improve your home-baking skills.”
Juniper, located at 124 N. College Street in the historic downtown district, will be operated by Chef Nick Guidry. Juniper will focus on the same quality and creativity that garnered Pelican & Pig the East Nashville’s 2019 Restaurant-of-the-Year award. The menu will focus on a coal/wood grill and a wood-fired oven. Expect meats grilled over an open flame with choices of sauces and toppings, composed entrees, house-made pasta, small-format pizzas, craft cocktails, a curated wine list, and more. Construction is underway, and an early 2023 opening is expected.
“Juniper will be a fine-casual dining experience we have all been wanting in Lebanon,” said chef Nick Guidry. “While the menu is still being further developed, guests can navigate through starters like wild boar meatballs, dirty rice arancini, wood-oven-roasted bone marrow, to vegetables like okra and whole-cauliflower roasted in our wood-fired oven. Entrees will range from a few curated pizzas to steakhouse-style cuts of meat grilled over coals, as well as composed dishes and house-made pasta like crawfish ravioli, mushroom agnolotti, and others we are keeping close to our chests until opening.”
