Strategic Hospitality has opened the New French-style Le Sel restaurant within a condominium in Nashville’s midtown area.
“Le Sel is our interpretation of a French restaurant,” says Benjamin Goldberg, co-owner of Strategic Hospitality. “Both the food and the atmosphere are created to feel traditional and familiar, with a very playful and forward-thinking vibe.”
Conceived by Nashville-based designer Benjamin Vandiver, the eatery is a multilevel space comprising a main dining floor, a lower-level bar, and a 24-person private dining room.
The late artist Donald Judd, famed for his industrial-inspired minimalism, served as Vandiver’s primary inspiration for the main dining room, where a palette of red, pink, and salmon is juxtaposed with black and white striped flooring. Its focal point is an eight-person oyster bar with black penny tiling, pink grout, and a long, salmon-colored banquette. Several other salmon-colored banquettes provide additional seating with black tabletops.
Accessible via the main dining room or a separate entrance outside, the Bar at Le Sel is a moody and intimate space that features a long leather couch on one wall with groupings of chairs and side tables throughout. Its highlight is a bar topped in copper, complemented by a dark green back bar.
A private dining space off the main dining room stands out with red walls and abstract patterns.
