Yolan

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A Love Letter to Italy, Written in Nashville

Yolan describes itself, without irony, as "a love letter to Italy" — and the restaurant earns that phrase. Situated inside The Joseph, a Luxury Collection Hotel in downtown Nashville, it is the property's signature Italian restaurant, named in honor of Yolanda, wife of the founding family. The name carries real weight: the menu, the wine program, and the warmth of the room all trace back to that personal heritage rather than a generic idea of Italian dining.

Forbes Travel Guide recognized Yolan with a Four-Star award, a distinction that reflects both the kitchen's ambition and the consistency of its hospitality. The recognition sits naturally alongside what the restaurant actually delivers: refined Italian cuisine served without stiffness, in a space where the sommelier team and the service staff seem genuinely invested in the evening.

The Food and the Cheese Cave

The menu moves confidently through Italy's regions. The cotoletta alla Milanese — a breaded veal chop finished with lemon and seasonal greens — is one of the most talked-about plates, its inspiration drawn directly from versions tasted across Milan. Classic pastas anchor the menu: bucatini all'amatriciana, cacio e pepe, and a hearty pappardelle with white Bolognese represent the kind of cooking that rewards attention to detail over novelty.

One of the more striking features of the dining room is a large glass-enclosed cheese cave, stocked with Italian selections including Pecorino Toscano, caciocavallo, Alta Badia, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. It is the sort of thing that makes ordering a cheese course feel less like an afterthought and more like an obligation.

The Sicilian influence runs particularly deep in Yolan's programming. A Sicily wine tasting — themed "Forged by Fire" and focused on Mount Etna's volcanic terroir — anchors the restaurant's monthly regional wine series, which rotates through Italian and international regions with guided tastings and wine dinners. Nerello Mascalese and Carricante from Etna's slopes are among the varieties explored, and the Sicilian kitchen tradition also shapes seasonal menu updates.

The Team and the Experience

The team page reveals a kitchen built on diverse, serious backgrounds. Sous Chef Andrew Chojnacki came up through Chicago's acclaimed Vie before moving to Nashville; Sous Chef Volkan Aktas brings training rooted in Turkish hospitality and fine dining resort kitchens; Pastry Chef Janrich Amaro approaches Italian pastry with a philosophy of evoking memory through restraint and technique. Director of Outlets Delphine Coadic, who previously owned a French bistro in Manhattan for fifteen years, oversees the floor with a stated philosophy of seamless, warm service.

Beyond dinner, Yolan operates across the full day: an espresso bar and pasticceria opens at 6 am, weekday lunch runs through the afternoon, and a daily aperitivo hour bridges the gap before the evening à la carte and tasting menus begin. Monthly pasta-making classes and a chef's table experience in the kitchen round out an offering that treats Italian hospitality as something to practice at every hour, not just at dinner.