June 5, 2021 is the 20th anniversary of the restaurant. Twenty years is a long time especially for the ever changing landscape of the this industry.  Things certainly have shifted more in the last year than in all the years preceding. Usually I chart each year with the growing company, but this year it is what we don’t have that stares us in the face. 
We started 2020 off with momentum- a full staff, solid customer base, robust fiscal outlook.  Then the tornado devastated our neighborhood. Our damage was minor compared to our friend’s homes and businesses, but the images and loss took a toll on us. Then the pandemic cast a pall over the entire world that we are just beginning to come out of. It’s been the longest year of our lives with so much loss. The greatest loss for us being Marche. 

  For 13 years, Marche was the premier brunch spot in Nashville. Bustling weekends, people willing to wait two hours for croissant French toast, lines out the door,  and seeing the same staff every time you visited was the norm. The floor to ceiling windows, bright yellow walls and the wide-open concept was enough to make anyone feel at home and happy almost instantly. The smell of Bongo espresso and bacon greeted you at the door and Tom’s desserts were always on display at the counter. If you popped in for a to-go latte it was almost impossible not to grab a fresh baked treat or a Dozen croissant to accompany your morning caffeine. 

  When the tornado hit in in March 2020, Marche suffered heavy damage. All of the windows and one of the doors had been shattered, we lost a few marble tables and the restaurant sustained flooding. Most of both restaurant’s staff arrived in the middle of the night to start cleaning and picking up the pieces. The response from the neighborhood was incredible. Everyone wanted to help, everyone wanted to stop in and offer a hand. We made the decision to reopen and provide a sense of normalcy to our community and boarded up the windows until repairs could be made. Nashville came out in droves to support. Two weeks later, Covid began closing in on America and forcing shutdowns. Marche had a short run with carry-out and before it became apparent that we could no longer make enough money to cover the financial burden amidst a pandemic.
We had to make the decision that it was time to let go, but couldn’t bear to displace the employees in such uncertain times, especially when a few had been there for 5, 10 and 15+ years. We slowly formulated a plan that would allow our family to stay together,  this time under one roof. 
 The sun shines brightest after the storm. As cliché as this may sound, it is literally the truth when we consider how far we’ve come and how we have come together. In the beginning, there was a lot of sadness surrounding the closure, but now with the beautiful flower filled patio and new bright yellow rebuild of the side porch, we feel like we’ve brought a big piece of the past with us.