The Food Company, Batch open Entrepreneur Center shop

The Food Company and Batch Nashville have partnered to open a grab-and-go cafe and pop-up retail shop at the Entrepreneur Center.

The cafe opened Tuesday morning inside the Entrepreneur Center at Rolling Mill Hill on Peabody Street. Food is delivered each morning from The Food Company's restaurant on Bandywood Drive, and the menu at the Entrepreneur Center cafe will rotate, said Strategic Hospitality's Max Goldberg.

Strategic Hospitality is the consulting operator of The Food Company, and also the company behind acclaimed Nashville businesses such as The Catbird Seat, Patterson House and Pinewood Social, which is on the same campus as the Entrepreneur Center.

Menu items at the Entrepreneur Center cafe Tuesday included a turkey cheddar sandwich, a roast beef sandwich, curried chickpeas and roasted cauliflower salad in a whole wheat wrap, a southwest spinach salad, pesto penne pasta salad and soup options, among other items.

"It is a lot of the fan favorites," Goldberg said, referring to the menu.

The Food Company has been a popular dining destination in Green Hills for nearly two decades. Opening a cafe at the Entrepreneur Center was the right expansion opportunity for the business, Goldberg said.

"We opened up Pinewood Social really loving who else was in this community campus, and while we were operating Pinewood Social we got to know the folks here over at the Entrepreneur Center," he said.

The Turnip Truck previously operated in the cafe space.

Also in the space is a retail area stocked with Nashville-made products curated by Batch, a subscription box service that opened a brick-and-mortar retail shop at the Nashville Farmers' Market in late 2014.

Launched in September 2013, Batch delivers Nashville products directly to consumers' doors each month. The shop at the Farmers' Market allows customers to purchase single items, customize a gift box, buy pre-packaged boxes and subscribe to a monthly subscription service.

Batch co-founder Sam Davidson said the Batch shop at the Entrepreneur Center is a one month pop-up to test how retail sales fare in that location.

Items available include Two Thompsons Gourmet Prohibition Popcorn, Olive & Sinclair chocolate, Bang Candy Co. treats, Willa's Shortbread, Sweet Meat organic beef jerky and other snacks. There are also candles, puzzles, soap and Bloody Mary mix.

"This is giving a chance for people who may not be able to make it to the (Farmers' Market) another place they can get Batch items," Davidson said.

If things go well, Batch could open a shop in another part of the city, Davidson said. Batch is also preparing to launch in Atlanta later this year, which will be the company's fifth market.

The cafe's hours at the Entrepreneur Center are 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.