NOLA's Cochon Butcher to Open Nashville Location

Popular New Orleans' meat purveyor and sandwich shop Cochon Butcher (whose head butcher is Eater Young Gun Leighann Smith) is expanding to Nashville, Tennessee. According to Eater Nashville, co-founder and owner Donald Link expects to open the new restaurant in Nashville's Germantown neighborhood next Spring. The Times-Picayune notes that it will be a partnership between Link's restaurant group and the Fresh Hospitality Group which is co-owned by Nick Pihakis. Link and Pihakis have already partnered before on the Fatback Pig Project which, according to the official website "supports regional production" of heritage pigs to increase access to high quality, heritage-bred pork.

Link has attempted to bring Cochon to other cities before: He opened a location in Lafayette, Louisiana but closed it last year because it was "too dependent on personnel from New Orleans." He tells the Times-Picayune that because Fresh Hospitality can provide the man power and because they can provide their own meat, thanks to the Fatback Pig Project, that he decided to attempt expansion again. The paper notes that Link hopes the union between his restaurant group and Fresh Hospitality will lead to even more locations of Cochon beyond Nashville.

· Cochon Butcher Is Indeed Headed for Germantown [Eater Nashville]
· New Orleans' Cochon Butcher is Expanding [Times-Picayune]
· All Expansion Coverage on Eater [-E-]