It's a matter of Degree

     Eager to begin my culinary research in Nashville it wasn't long before I had loaded up my Garmin GPS device with the address for Pepperfire.  It's small store front eatery that first opened its doors in 2010 by founder and owner Isaac Beard.  The place is known for the consistent and unique flavor of their hot chicken.

     While seemingly understated at the end of a small strip mall, Pepperfire has been the recipient of much acclaim.  They are locally ranked by Nashville Scene's "Best of Nashville" and were featured on Travel Channel's Chowdown Countdown.  Food Network's "Top 5 Restaurants" show hosted by Geoffrey Zakarian & Sunny Anderson also awarded their Tender Royale menu item as the #1 hot & spicy dish in America.  And they have been sanctioned by none other than the Hot Chicken Coalition.

     Brightly lit the walls are festooned with poster size prints depicting their famous and notorious varieties of Nashville's iconic meal.  Right beside the giant menu board hanging overhead was a listing of their degrees of heat.  From top to bottom it read:

Southernfied (no heat)

Light mild

Mild (noticeable heat)

Medium

Hot (painful for most)

X Hot!

XX Hot!

     
     I confessed to the counter person that I was a neophyte to all of this and inquired about the gradation of heat and where should I begin.  She candidly commented that their degrees of heat are about 2 levels above everyone else in the city, then offered to place some of the mild sauce on a slice of white bread for me to sample.  That sounded fair enough.  I asked for a smattering of the mild sauce which she kindly provided.  It was indeed warm, but not punishing.  That was until I had ordered a mild Tender Royale and sat down to wait for my meal number to be called.  The heat continued to grow inside my mouth until I needed a second drink, even prior to picking up my meal.

     Dinners are served with 2 sides of your choice with white bread and pickle slices.  That is, unless you order the Tender Royale.  In exchange for the white bread you receive a deep fried grilled pepperjack cheese sandwich beneath 3 huge chicken tenders.

     In addition to the 2 sides (baked beans and crinkle fries) I dug into the chicken tenders but was only able to down two of them.  Their heat warmed both my body and my spirit.  They were magnificent, juicy & moist with just the right amount of spices.  At the counter I returned after I had eaten my fill to pick up a take-out styrofoam container and loaded it up with the grilled cheese and the remaining tender.  They made a memorable midnight snack and vivid, virtually hallucinogenic dreams.