I was in search of a summer romance — an escape from record-breaking heat and numbing heartbreak. Since we lost Mom, I’d been going through photographs of her (and my) youth. Feeling nostalgic and hopeful, I accepted an invitation to Modern Love, a time portal that opened this month in Nashville. I was already a fan of The Fairlane— perfect for solo travelers with its prime downtown and fantasy pop-up bars. In the last year, they’ve been lauded by Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Condé Nast, and Travel + Leisure, but I had to see what Ben Clemons and Jamie White (minds behind East Nashville’s Pearl Diver and Tiger Bar) had created. According to Clemons, “Modern Love is more than just a lobby bar and restaurant. It’s a love letter to the 60s, to music, to the art of gathering.”
If any era could inspire me — give me creative energy for work and my next act — this was it. I needed to feel like me again, so I went back to the future.
1960s Culture: Elegance and Edge
I’ve romanticized hotel lounge culture since watching films with Mom in the 1960s — the Golden Age of Couture, Cocktails, and Cool. We were mid-century modern girls (she in her prime and me an impressionable kid) living in a ranch watching Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren, and Brigitte Bardot. These “gorgeous dames” (as my grandmother called them) swept into hotel lobbies for lunch and dinner dates. Across Hollywood, Vegas, and Miami, couples danced in hotel nightclubs as the Rat Pack crooned, Elvis twisted, and jazz, bossa nova, and mambo bands played. Years later, I became obsessed with Woodstock and counterculture icons — the Beat poets, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, and Bob Dylan. Modern Love celebrates the duality of the decade: timeless elegance and bohemian edge. Plush velvet, leather, and faux fur couches; globe lights; mod patterned carpet; and sleek design transported me to vintage Palm Springs. A portrait gallery of Studio 54 regulars was a trip to retro Midtown Manhattan.
Best of Nashville
The food presentation, innovative menu, and exceptional service were on par with Chicago’s fictional restaurant/series The Bear. But best of all, Modern Love is the Best of Nashville. Local art, an enthusiastic staff providing service from 7 AM until after midnight, and local patrons made me fall in love again with the welcoming and creative community we have here. In this space, Zoomers to Boomers feel at home to work and play.
Chef Jon (see Instagram reel) is passionate about their local and global cuisine and committed to individualizing the menu for customers’ dietary preferences/needs. He served the best French Toast I’ve ever eaten (blueberry lemon mascarpone, peach compote, lavender honey). As a literature lover, I’m thrilled their summer craft cocktails are named after authors and novels. Bartender Kyle served refreshing In Watermelon Sugar, based on Richard Brautigan’s 1968 novel. He told me the back story of Vollmer’s Spritz. I knew Beat Poets John Bowles and William Burroughs lived in Tangier. I’d forgotten that William Burroughs accidentally killed his wife, Joan Vollmer, at a party where she asked him to shoot an arrow through an apple on her head.
Early Bird, the bar/cafe side of the lobby, serves coffee, breakfast, lunch, and mid-day cocktails from 7 AM to 3 PM. Night Owl provides a Happy Hour from 3 PM to 5 PM; dinner featuring local favorites and global cuisine; and weekend DJ dance parties and 60s films. Check out Facebook and Instagram.
