It’s been a while, but since the sun is out and summer has officially begun we thought it was time to bring back the food trucks. One of the coolest things about food trucks being all over, is the vast variety of different options you can have in any one location. This week the three trucks I chose to feature are Bahn-Mi & Roll Factory, a Vietnamese food truck, Funk Seoul Brother, which is Korean and Japanese street food, and Et Voila, which serves French cuisine.

These trucks are bringing cuisine from countries far away directly to your nearest neighborhood. That is amazing! These trucks are also making these cuisines more accessible. I have never been to Vietnam or Korea and I am not very familiar with their cuisines. So, if I’m about to drive all the way to a restaurant, odds are I am going to try and go somewhere more in my comfort zone. It’s different with food trucks. When there are a lot of food options directly in front of you, I think it makes it easier to branch out and sample new cuisine. Even if you find you don’t like something, there is always another option you will enjoy just steps away. The NFTA (Nashville Food Truck Association) has a lot of trucks that are doing this same thing. Bringing foreign cuisine to Nashville and making it easy, affordable, accessible, and delicious.

Shooting these trucks this past year and getting to sample all of these mobile chefs creations has definitely helped spark my culinary curiosity. So next time you’re at an event, step a little out of your comfort zone and I bet you’ll be surprised and pleased with what you find. These chefs are doing amazing things. Now go expand your palate (and your stomachs)!

– John

(P.S. – See more food trucks here.)

BAHN MI & ROLL FACTORY – VIETNAMESE

FUNK SEOUL BROTHER – KOREAN/JAPANESE

ET VOILA – FRENCH

Photography by Kyle Dreier

Ladies and gentlemen it is time to get your doughnut on! Not for any particular reason… other than it’s National Doughnut Day! And let me clarify, I’m not talking about driving a car in tight circles in a parking lot while you become masked in a smoke screen of burnt rubber from flaming tires. (Although that sounds like a pretty rad thing to do… I’m getting off topic, haha.) I have often wondered, is it “donut” or “doughnut,” so today of all days seems appropriate for me to finally seek out the answer. Well, drumroll please… according to numerous dictionaries Doughnut is the proper, formal spelling of this irresistible treat. However (don’t you love a plot twist?!) the shorter spelling of “donut” is perfectly acceptable too. It came about in the late 1800’s as a shorthand nickname. Either way you spell this pastry icon, doughnuts or donuts always work out to a be a yummy, doughy choice to satisfy one’s sweet tooth. Sounds like a win-win to me!

Another fun fact I discovered is that National Doughnut Day was started back in the late 1930’s by The Salvation Army as a way to raise funds and help those in need during the Great Depression. The effort continued into WWI and volunteers would serve donuts to hungry soldiers on the battle front overseas. The female volunteers who traveled to the front lines of France to serve these baked goodies became affectionately dubbed by the servicemen as “Doughnut Dollies.” While I’m not sure being called a “Dollie” nowadays would pass, I’m still impressed that the humble donut served many in need and helped in lifting the spirits of hungry men in service!

In honor of this momentous day in pastry history, I’ve gathered up some glazed and decorated treats for a photo montage of sorts. Feast your eyes and why not surprise a friend with a donut to share? 🙂

– Emily

Photography by Kyle Dreier | Styling contributors Callie Blount, Teresa Blackburn, Courtney Whitmore, Caroline Brewer and Dreier & Company

There’s something about the coming of Summer, this delightfully sunny season, and the dewy humidity in the air that says one thing: BAR-B-QUE. It’s definitely the most wonderfully meaty time of year and lets be serious… meat on the spit sounds like it would be the perfect meal at almost any event. With today being National Brisket Day, how can we not have the best of bar-b-que on our minds?! Another reason to love the great city of Nashville, is its only a few hours drive from Memphis, the home of BBQ… but no need to drive out of town, we certainly know how to give West Tennessee a run for their money! Here are just a few (strong emphasis on few, there are sooo many good ones!) local barbecue eats you should seek out when in the neighborhood:

1. Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint… An undisputed champ of pure, whole hog yum! You’ve probably seen them featured on several Food Network shows and deservingly so.
2. Hog Heaven… Don’t let the size of the small white shack fool you, this place has a wide variety of deliciousness to choose from that won’t disappoint.
3. Smoke Et Al… Barbecue on the move! Follow them on Twitter to cite their location. We suggest the brisket tacos and fiddler’s biscuits.
4. Jack’s Bar-B-Que… If you have visions of dry rub and that perfect hickory smoked ring, Jack’s is a must.
5. Peg Leg Porker… A powerhouse of passion goes into this West Tennessee style barbecue and can be found in the popular Gulch neighborhood.
6. Jim N’ Nicks… Although these guys started in Birmingham, we forgive them for not being Tennessee natives since their low and slow style is so darn good!

Here are a few shots captured by Dreier & Company that make us all crave that smell of sweet, meaty bar-b-que smoke and sauce!

– Dreier & Company

Photography by Kyle Dreier | Food Styling by Teresa Blackburn & Whitney Kemp

Meet John. He’s Dreier & Company’s go to guy for digital assistance and getting any to-do list done behind the scenes. Technically, he’s our Chief Assistant & Digital Tech. Low key, easy going with a penchant for turning apple crates into bongo drums… let’s see what John had to say with his answering of our company questionnaire!

-Dreier & Company

The old addage goes “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Well, when you have a giant box of croutons left over from a shoot, you make a stop motion video with them in the starring role. We know you’ll be “crou-ning” for some crunchy croutons after watching this (totally corny we know! hah!)… we suggest hitting the closest Ruby Tuesday to get your salad bar and crouton fix! Happy National Crouton Day!

– Dreier & Company

For Dreier & Company music is an integral part of our everyday studio life. On set we are always streaming from our seemingly endless array of Pandora stations and still finding more hidden musical gems to share as background music for photoshoots. Seriously, we’ve got it covered from Americana to Zydeco, we can inspire any mood! When it’s just our team in house, you can pretty much bet on each of us bouncing in our seats with headphones as we work away on our computers. (Erica can even be caught from time to time having herself a little sing-along session in her office, hehe!)

So, it came as no surprise when Kyle showed up to the studio recently with a record player. Kyle and John set about installing the perfect “music station” and voila! We joined the record business. Only one slight problem… we didn’t have any records. Thankfully, Nashville has several sources for quality new and used records. All this to say, the Dreier & Company crew loaded up for a field trip and headed straight to Grimey’s to pick out some records. Since this inaugural trip we’ve added more to our collection, but we encourage friends, crew, stylists and clients to bring their favorite albums and give them a spin!

Our selections?

• Emily: Springtime Carnivore | Self-Titled
• Erica: Shovels and Rope | O’ Be Joyful
• John: The War on Drugs | Lost in the Dream
• Kyle: R.E.M. | Document

– Emily