Guy Fieri said it best – slow down and look around.
I drive up and down Main Street in the Southside district nearly every day. Recently I decided to park on Main Street and found myself in front of 400 East Main Street, the Clearstory Building. The building takes up the whole block on Main Street and between Adams and Washington Street.
One of the anchors of the building is Adelle’s Creperie, a Parisian Style Creperie & Restaurant. I knew about Adelle’s but just recently Pennington’s Book, Coffee and Art took over the corner spot by Washington Street and Understory Tea House took over the back of the building also facing Washington Street.
There is an event space called Granfalloon, a Chiropractor Office, Design Offices, Realtor Office on the second floor but I decided to check out the two new additions as well as Brent Sanders Studio and Gallery
First, I rang the bell at Brent Sanders’ Studio as directed by the sign at the door. Michael Brent Sanders, the artist, and his happy Boder Collie Mix answered immediately. He said he keeps the door locked while he is busy painting. It’s also his public gallery showcasing his folk artist style paintings featuring many Chattanooga locations in brilliant colors of blue, yellow, red, pink and orange. The fifth generation Chattanooga native has a degree in Graphic Design, but he taught himself how to paint creating paintings that jump off the canvas and are brightly colored like the Las Vegas strip.
He said he travels a lot and takes photos and uses those to recreate the scene from his own perspective and colors. Sometimes he uses Google Earth to view different angles of a specific location to get a fell and idea of what he wants the final piece to look like. He said his color style was influenced by New Orleans where he lived for a while.
His gallery has his original works of art as well as reproductions for sale. I was immediately drawn to a few of his paintings depicting shrimp boats on the water. They reminded me of when I lived in coastal Georgia. His Hudson Seafood Market painting is a painting showing the market which is in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Everything was stunning.
After leaving the studio I walked over to the entrance of Pennington’s Book, Coffee and Art. It opened about two months ago and has new books, used books, art done by local artists, coffee, and teas. They buy books and offer memberships, providing discounts and exclusive incentives. Don’t see the book you’re looking for? Let them know and Spencer will do his best to stock it. They welcome local artists and musicians to apply online to perform at their store or sell their artwork.
The store’s mascot is an opossum, and it’s featured on their T-shirts, bags and plush dolls. When asked why the opossum, Spencer said, just because. It’s cute for sure.
After walking around the store, I crossed Washinton Street to grab lunch at Outpost Bar & Restaurant. This restaurant will soon turn three years old and features a lot of local beers on tap. They have Cuban sandwich on the menu, so you know I had to order that. It’s served with a side of fries that were crisp and well-seasoned. The pork, ham, sliced cucumbers and cheese between pressed Ciabatta bread was fantastic. A tasty replica of a Miami, Fla., original. It was delicious and big. Half of the sandwich came home with me for mom’s dinner. After lunch I walked back over to Pennington’s and ordered a Mocha which Spencer made to perfection. I sat in the tranquil interior of the bookstore and watched as other patrons perused the books.
Afterwards I walked toward the back of the building to check out Understory Tea House. The door has a sign that reads – Inhale. Exhale. Enter. The interior of this tea house and herbal apothecary has Japanese style seating, low benches with square cushions. It opened in January offering, “Quiet moments, meaningful conversation, and everyday wellbeing. Traditional tea, herbal drinks, small bites (provided by Southern Squeeze), and a space to be present.”
Understory Tea House hosts a variety of workshops which are listed on their website. It was quiet and tranquil inside. I just had coffee so I plan to return here to try some tea or take one of their workshops.
I highly recommend you visit the Clearstory Building. It has a lot of neat stores to check out.