Gray & Dudley Announces Collaboration New Conceptual Director

Cater Hach of venerable Hachland Hill joins restaurant team

NASHVILLE, TN (April 26, 2022) - Today Gray & Dudley and 21c Museum Hotel Nashville announced the addition of Nashville food heir, Carter Hach of Nashville institution, Hachland Hill has joined the Gray & Dudley team. Hach will serve as the Restaurant Manager and Conceptual Director. In this role, Hach will be responsible for overseeing and further developing the unique dining experience at the 21c Museum Hotel Nashville dining hotspot.

Hach comes by his knowledge and love of southern cuisine honestly. As the grandson of Hachland Hill founder, Phila Hach, Cater Hach spent his time growing up in his grandmother’s kitchen. He later studied at the University of Mississippi which led to a career in writing in his early days as well as travels around the world to learn more about international cuisines and cultures. On returning to Nashville and his roots, Hach took over as Executive Chef of Hachland Hill. After getting married and with a baby on the way, Hach began to look for ways to expand into the city of Nashville when the opportunity to work with Gray & Dudley presented itself.

As Gray & Dudley, like many restaurants in Nashville, began to expand offerings, Executive Chef Matt Bell saw a chance to bring a more Tennessee focused menu to the Gray & Dudley experience. “Carter brings an authentic persona to Gray & Dudley that fits well with our mission and vision” said Bell. “Carter’s unique history and heritage in Nashville made him the ideal person to bring this concept to life.”

One way Hach plans to pay homage to his grandmother Phila at Gray & Dudley is by expanding the dessert offerings. He plans to incorporate her Butter Pound Cake and Ozark Pudding into the menu. He also has plans to offer a modern take on one of her most storied cocktails - the Mint Julep Frap. This cocktail is the stuff of Nashville legend.

The story goes that after Phila was asked to cater the 1976 visit of the United Nations to Nashville, specifically Centennial park, she discovered she could not serve alcohol. The solution was to serve Mint Juleps in milk cartons. The new cocktail at Gray & Dudley will be a frappuccino version of the popular southern mainstay and will be served in a milk carton. The cocktail is set to launch May 1, 2022.

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About 21c Museum Hotel

Nashville 21c Museum is a multi-venue museum located in nine cities, with a tenth location debuting in St. Louis in late 2022. One of the largest contemporary art museums in the U.S., and North America’s only collecting museum dedicated solely to art of the 21st century, each property features exhibition space open free of charge to the public, combined with a boutique hotel and chef-driven restaurant. It was founded in 2006 by Laura Lee Brown and Steve Wilson; philanthropists, preservationists, and collectors, committed to expanding access to contemporary art as a means of catalyzing revitalization and civic connection. 21c presents a range of arts programming curated by Museum Director, Chief Curator Alice Gray Stites, including both solo and group exhibitions that reflect the global nature of art today, as well as site-specific, commissioned installations, and a variety of cultural events. The organization collaborates on arts initiatives with artists and organizations worldwide, including North Carolina Museum of Art, MASS MoCA, Contemporary Art Museum Houston, The Barnes Foundation, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Creative Capital Foundation, Creative Time, and others. For more information, visit 21cmuseumhotels.com/nashville/.

About Carter Hach

Nashville native, Carter Hach, grew up cooking with his grandmother, the legendary Chef Phila Hach. After graduating from Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, he went on to study journalism and public relations at the University of Mississippi. After a Semester at Sea, Hach began his culinary tutelage at French Culinary Institute where he studied breads and pastries. In Nashville he staged at a variety of restaurants under the likes of Sean Brock and Kirstie Bidwell. He has served as Executive Chef of Hachland Hill for over five years and continues to touch events that take place at the property. Carter has a deep respect for the land and food that he calls home and is looking to the future of Tennessee foodways.