Southern Country Cooking from the Loveless Cafe: Fried Chicken, Hams, and Jams from Nashville's Favorite Cafe

Beginning as a party house in the forties, the then private home had one of the largest hardwood living room floors around, perfect for dancing the night away. In the fifties it was known as the Harpeth Valley Tea Room owned by Lon and Annie Loveless. In 1951 it became the Loveless Cafe and in the seventies and eighties "the modest roadside eatery that once had been Nashille's secret went national. Discovered by food writers . . . the Loveless found itself recognized as a precious cultural institution." As fast food gained popularity travelers were looing for old-fashioned country cookin'.

The Loveless Cafe is like stepping back in time, where the biscuits and jams are made from scratch and the pork is cooked until the meat falls off the bone. It's an institution in Nashville and a favorite destination of celebrities and locals alike. The Loveless offers an authentic experience that reminds people of their childhood and of great southern traditions.

"One of the five 'Best Places in America for Breakfast.'" ?CBS This Morning

"If you want to taste the best country cooking anywhere, you just need to go to my favorite restaurant, The Loveless Cafe. Everything they serve is great. I guarantee it! Do yourself a favor and pay them a visit." ?George Jones

"Loveless Restaurant, the real McCoy of Southern cooking." ?USA Today

Michael Stern was raised at a Heartland table of square meals. The Sterns’ monthly “Roadfood” column in Gourmet magazine has earned them three James Beard Awards for journalism. They are heard weekly on Public Radio's The Splendid Table.

Jane Stern was raised in New York City and southern Arizona, learning to love both hot pastrami sandwiches and bordertown chimichangas. She met Michael Stern when they were graduate students at Yale University, at which point the couple set out on a lifelong quest to find the best American food and to write about it.