Anna Watson Carl is finally realizing her decades-long dream of opening her own cafe. She plans to open The Yellow Table Cafe at 1101 Chapel Ave. #107 in Eastwood Village this fall.
The daytime cafe will be inspired by Carl’s culinary background and education, which is largely rooted in French cuisine.
“The first time I ate crepes was when I studied abroad in Paris, and I just fell in love with them,” Carl said. “I ate at a specific creperie almost every single day, and I came back from that experience with this thought in my mind: It would be cool to open a creperie in Nashville.”
While it was not the right time back then for Carl to open her cafe, it is now. After more than 20 years of cooking professionally, working as a private chef, a food writer and a recipe tester, Carl is bringing her knowledge to her new Eastwood Village space to create a unique concept in Nashville.
The breakfast-and-lunch spot’s signature item will be French-style crepes. Carl plans to offer both sweet and savory crepes. Some staples of the menu will include egg, ham and cheese crepes as well as seasonal crepes — such as a savory crepe with butternut squash, spinach and caramelized onions — that will change throughout the year.
Carl aims to bring Nashville a style of crepes that they have not seen before in the area by producing French-style buckwheat batter for the savory crepes.
“There’s really no one in Nashville that has crepes in that style with the different buckwheat batter for the savory ones, so I’m excited about that,” Carl said.
The menu will also feature homemade baked goods, a full coffee and tea program and salads with both dine-in and grab-and-go options.
The cafe shares a name with Carl’s blog, The Yellow Table, where she posts recipes, and the cookbook she published in 2015.
“The yellow table is a physical table that I grew up eating around,” Carl said. “It was my mom’s table that she bought back in the ’70s. I really learned what community felt like, eating at that table where there were always friends, families and neighbors around the table. That made a huge impression on me. When I went into my cooking career, it was partially about the food but also about the community. So that’s always been my mission.”
The cafe will include an antique yellow table to honor the concept.
The space will have a European atmosphere, similar to small cafe spaces found in Paris. The cafe is only 830 square feet, so the dining place will have room for 12 indoor seats with several outdoor bistro tables as well.
“Having lived in New York and Paris for a long time, I’m used to those tiny little urban spaces and I love them,” Carl said. “I think they’re so cozy, so I was drawn to the idea aesthetically.”
The cafe will be open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with the potential to eventually expand to additional days. In the evenings, Carl plans to use the space for private events.
While the opening timeline depends on construction, the team is aiming for a late November opening date.
The Yellow Table Cafe will join businesses at the Eastwood Village such as Novelette Booksellers and Refinery Fragrances. Carl, who has lived in the neighborhood for six years, is excited to be joining the lineup of owners at the Eastwood Village.
“I’m excited to create a space where people feel really welcome and transported,” she said. “I want people to feel like, ‘I am in Nashville but I am also faraway.’ I want it to feel very magical, like you are transported by walking in the doors.”
