White Limozeen, the rooftop bar perched atop Graduate Nashville in Midtown, threw open its pool deck Saturday evening for the Peaches & Cheese Grazing Party, a $50-per-ticket spread of peak-season produce, artisan cheese, and live bluegrass, with proceeds benefiting hospitality workers facing financial emergencies. The event ran from 5 p.m. under the shadow of the venue's towering pink chicken-wire bust of Dolly Parton, a fitting backdrop for a bar that built its entire identity around the country icon.
According to Nashville Lifestyles, the party was curated by White Limozeen executive chef Nick Fisherkeller alongside guest chef Carter Hach, who runs the kitchen at Hachland Hill, an 80-acre historic retreat and bed-and-breakfast in Joelton about 20 minutes outside downtown Nashville, according to the Nashville Scene. Hach's culinary pedigree runs deep in Middle Tennessee: his late grandmother, Phila Hach, hosted Kitchen Kollege on WSM-TV from 1950 to 1956, the South's first televised cooking show, and went on to write 17 cookbooks after penning the airline industry's first in-flight catering manual, per Vanderbilt University. She died in 2015 at age 89 after decades as a prominent Southern chef and caterer.
A Grazing Table Built From Regional Farms
The spread leaned heavily on local sourcing, with the grazing table including cheeses from Sequatchie Cove Creamery, a 100% solar-powered operation on a 300-acre farm in Sequatchie, Tennessee. The creamery is known for its Tomme-style Cumberland and its whiskey-soaked, fig-leaf-wrapped Shakerag Blue, according to Culture Cheese Magazine. Bourbon brand Angel's Envy served a specialty Smoked Old Fashioned, a drink typically prepared by inverting a glass over smoldering wood chips or infusing bourbon with charred cherry wood smoke, simple syrup, and bitters, as described by Garden & Gun Magazine.
Live music came courtesy of The Heartstrings, a Nashville-based all-female old-time and bluegrass band led by award-winning guitarist and singer Liz Pickard, per GigSalad. The group focuses on authentic traditional roots music rather than Broadway cover sets, giving the rooftop party a distinctly old-time Tennessee soundtrack rather than the honky-tonk standards common downtown.
Where the Ticket Money Actually Goes
All ticket proceeds, sold through Resy, went to the Southern Smoke Foundation, a national nonprofit supporting food and beverage workers in crisis. The Houston-based organization was founded by Chef Chris Shepherd in 2015 and has distributed more than $16 million in direct emergency relief cash grants to industry workers nationwide, according to INDY Week. The foundation's grants cover emergency medical bills, natural disasters, lost wages, and mental health care.
To qualify for a grant of up to $2,500, hospitality applicants must verify they worked at least 30 hours per week in the food and beverage industry for at least six consecutive months before a qualifying crisis hit, per Grantaura. Qualifying crises include sudden medical diagnoses, accidental injuries, natural disasters, and domestic abuse. It's the kind of safety net that rarely exists for restaurant and bar workers, making the fundraising angle behind Saturday's rooftop party more than just a marketing hook.
Southern Smoke's reach extends well beyond Nashville. Hoodline has previously reported on Houston's bracket brawl for best new restaurant, where CultureMap's Tastemaker Awards proceeds also benefit the foundation, and on a Heights pizza shop directing a specialty menu item's proceeds to the same cause.
Inside a Rooftop Built for Dolly
White Limozeen occupies the 12th floor of Graduate Nashville at 101 20th Ave N in Midtown, part of a boutique hotel brand designed to reflect local history and culture near academic institutions like Vanderbilt University, according to Hilton. The bar was conceived by hospitality developers Marc Rose and Med Abrous and named after Dolly Parton's 29th studio album, released in 1989, per Imbibe Magazine. Parton holds no direct financial stake in the business despite the heavy design homage throughout the space.
The rooftop's outdoor pool deck features the party's most photographed backdrop: a 9-foot-tall, 942-pound pink chicken-wire bust of Dolly Parton created by artist Ricky Pittman. The decor overall leans into 1980s luxury, with hot-pink crushed velvet and mirrored chandeliers setting the tone for a grazing party that mixed rhinestone glamour with a genuinely practical cause.
