Take notes. You’re going to want to know about this restaurant the next time you’re going out with the girls or planning an evening with your boo.

Monthly date night in the Persinger home has been a game-changer. This rhythm has introduced us to new restaurants and adventures tucked away in corners we love to visit but just don’t get to in the bustle of our routines.

When Travis suggested Edessa Restaurant for this month’s date, I was immediately sold. He’s a person of comfort and I knew it took a lot of love for him to suggest somewhere new – not just new because we’d never visited, but new because the menu is unlike anything we usually eat.

But wow, did he provide.

Nestled in Nashville’s diverse Nolensville Pike corridor, Edessa Restaurant boasts of authentic Kurdish and Turkish cuisine.

As most of the best eateries go, Edessa looks ordinary from the outside. You could pass it and assume you didn’t miss out.

But friends, let me lovingly tell you: turn the car around. You are in fact missing out. 

The secret to the best authentic restaurants in town is not in a frilly menu or fancy storefront. You won’t find them featured on the trendy Nashville blogs or accounts, and you won’t run into a bachelorette party there.

The secret to the best authentic restaurants in town is their food and their people. Point blank. The food speaks for itself, and the cultural immersion shows us how to appreciate our neighbors. Fancy signs and big advertisements are not necessary to draw people in.

That’s Edessa. It’s ordinarily simple from the outside and would be easy to pass if you didn’t know to look for it. But the opportunity for an authentic Kurdish and Turkish dish, prepared by hands who may be a different color than you, is endearing.

And that’s how you find the best, sincerest restaurants.

We were greeted with the warmth that Middle Eastern folks emulate best.

From the moment we stepped in, we felt welcomed. I want to emphasize this, because that can be the hold-up for some folks considering an ethnic restaurant. But I want you to know that our hosts received us warmly. They would for you too.

If there’s one thing you should know about Middle Eastern culture, it’s this: the hospitality is unmatched.

When I asked Travis what I most needed to share with you, he reminded me that every waiter served us. Unlike American restaurants where you’re assigned to one waiter, at Edessa we were greeted throughout our meal by a few different guys. Someone new brought each portion of our meal out, and more than one person topped off our water. The guys together served us.

It didn’t feel clunky. It just felt natural. Right. Fitting.

At one point during our meal, I looked around the restaurant and noted who I saw: a Black family, an older white couple with grandkids, a white couple with a couple of Middle Eastern guys, a Black couple, a few Muslim women donning ornate hijabs, a few other women not covering, and then the bearded guy across the table from me.

It was beautiful. My soul felt at ease in the mix of so much diversity, and I savored the fleeting taste of heaven as I sipped on a cup of coffee dressed in a detailed, tiny Turkish mug. In my long and flowy, long-sleeved dress, I felt right at home in this little corner of Nolensville Pike.

The real foretaste of heaven happened as we threw down.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for: the food review. 

Travis and I had looked at the menu prior to our date, and still needed more time as we sat in the booth. The dilemma was not too few options. The dilemma was knowing that we wanted to try everything. Literally everything.

We started with the easiest option: the Turkish coffee. Served in *the cutest* tiny mug, this coffee is very finely ground and drinks more like a shot of espresso. To quote Travis, “Even the sludge in the bottom is good.”

We went a little wild – it was date night, after all – and ordered an appetizer: sigara boregi. These phyllo dough rolls were stuffed with feta cheese and parsley, and served with classic cucumber dip. All our assumptions about the goodness of feta cheese were further confirmed.

After much debate we finally decided on the Kabob Festival for our main entrée. According to the menu, the Kabob Festival is the perfect choice for those who can’t make up their mind, and we fit the bill so we went for it. And friends, it was worth every penny.

The meal started with an appetizer platter of haydari, hummus, ezme, baba ghanoush, and a salad. It continued with a soup, which Travis and I both opted for lentil. It. Was. Amazing. I’ve never seen Travis throw down on lentils like he did that lentil soup. Simply superior.

Our main entrée, served on a large wood try, included adana, chicken, kofta kabob, and lamb chop, as well as rice. My eyes were as big as my belly when that tray of goodness landed on our table. It felt like a sweet nod to the communal meals that this culture values.

And for the end of our feast, which I couldn’t have picked better myself, our Kabob Festival included some good ole, classic baklava. 

They say Chinese food will be in heaven, and I agree. However, I feel compelled to believe these same trays of hummus and lentil soup and kofta kabob and baklava will be there too.

We were full and satisfied.

Everything about the date delighted us.

The food, the service, the experience of feeling as though we’d stepped into another continent – everything about the dinner delighted us. As each component of our meal landed on our table, we just looked up and smiled at each other, wide-eyed and amazed that we live in a city where Edessa exists and that we get to journey through this city together.

I’ll close with this final remark: Middle Eastern folks are not in a rush. One of my favorite parts of the date was that we never felt like an inconvenience or like we were being hurried out of our booth. The ambience made us feel like we were right at home.

And home is where it’s okay to linger over dinner together.