Walk through the buzzy cocktail bar to find this stylish restaurant in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. Bastion offers a single tasting menu featuring contemporary Southern cooking that is approachable yet playful. This is a kitchen that isn't afraid to take risks. Dishes arrive in waves, and the product focus is on full display in a stunning plate of yellow peach and tomato with strawberry miso mayo and mozzarella marshmallows.

Reservations are a must at Chef Trevor Moran's compact, Japanese-influenced spot. It's laidback and just a little bit quirky, the kind of place where the full menu is also offered at lunch and they're only open a few days. There is a simple elegance and a clear attention to detail in every dish, all designed for sharing. Beef tartare hand rolls, a house classic, always delight. From there, explore seafood like Maine diver scallops with shaved green apple.

Memphis-born but Sicilian to his core, Chef Michael Hanna opened St. Vito’s in the Gulch with one mission in mind: to bring his version of sfincione, a Sicilian street food, to Nashville. It's far from your average slice of pizza. Instead, imagine focaccia studded with fontina and then topped with breadcrumbs and pecorino. It's all on display in the exposed kitchen where you can watch the chefs fold the dough. There are four varieties, such as spicy tomato with burrata or roasted potato cream.

There is typically a line out the door at this Cleveland Park spot. Named for a Willie Nelson song and album, the vibe is laidback and slightly quirky (think diner style with chili pepper lights strung above). It's a small spot but great care is taken with everything from house-made hot sauces to tortillas. Watch the chef making those terrific flour tortillas in the main dining room or sit outside on the patio to savor Chef Brian Lee Weaver's Tex-Mex menu.

At first glance, it might be easy to dismiss this restaurant set at the base of a nondescript apartment building in East Nashville, but don't. The first bite will certainly convince you otherwise. Broadly focused on the Iberian Peninsula, the cooking is creative and pulls influences from around the globe for its tapas-style dishes. Buckle up for plates powered by character that take unexpected twists and turns, as in a bold opener of endive, fried and covered in a koji foam.

Married couple Brian Lea and Leina Horii are behind this popular restaurant that fills quickly and doesn't accept reservations. It's all about Japanese comfort food, with a nod to a kissaten, or a cozy tea shop. Their menu is concise and designed for sharing. This a team who cares about the details, and from ingredient quality to execution, it's all done with a simplified finesse. Don't miss the onigiri with three triangles of rice with different fillings.

This restaurant promises something different, specializing in authentic Uzbek cuisine in a space with a stunning patio. Originating in Islamic China and traveling across to the Middle East, this is a cuisine that features some of the usual suspects (think kebabs) as well as standouts like Uyghur-style, hand-cut noodles. Kick off the meal with a tandir samosa, a flaky shell stuffed with ground beef and onion and sided by a spicy red sauce.

Fried chicken in Nashville is far from a stretch, but SS Gai deals in Thai street-style fried chicken for an unexpected twist. Located in a refurbished car wash with vendors in the former bays, this spot has a one-track mind. It's all about Thai-style chicken, and while fried is the signature, it also comes grilled. Order at the window and select two or four pieces of gai tod that's impossibly crispy and bursting with flavor.

The curious name of Chef Sean Brock's pizza restaurant is derived from the Japanese word “shokunin,” which represents a person’s full commitment to every detail of a craft. This is indeed a thoughtful approach to Neapolitan-style pizza, but with its own distinct personality. It starts with the dough, slowly cold fermented, then baked in a wood-fired oven, resulting in a light, tender, utterly appealing crust.