New York City Pastry Chef Bethany Costello Looks to Bring Eat Like Kings Bakery to West Nashville

Middle Tennessee native Bethany Costello will soon be headed home, with plans to open up her own bakery. Currently the pastry chef for newly Michelin-starred M. Wells Steakhouse in Queens, New York and M. Wells Dinette, Costello, 28, earlier this week revealed her intentions, and the name of her future bakery, Eat Like Kings.

Costello, who attended the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute) in SoHo, New York City, has held her current position for a little over two years. Before that she also spent several years as pastry chef at New York City restaurant Blaue Gans. She'll continue working at M. Wells through the end of February, with plans to move to Nashville in April in hopes of opening up shop sometime in November. She'll also be joined by her M. Wells sous chef, Kaylee Klein.

She tells Eater that her intention was always to come back to Nashville and open something once she was ready, but knew that she had to be in New York City for a while first.

"I went home this past September for my ten year high school reunion, and saw that the food scene was just blowing up. I knew it was time to come home, it just happened a lot faster than I was anticipating."

Eat Like Kings, the name of which comes from a matching tattoo she and Klein both got during a particularly hard partying summer, won't be any particular style of bakery, with Costello telling Eater that it will be a collection of everything she's done.

"Austrian, French, Canadian, I've done a little bit of it all. I'm known for my chocolate chip cookies and croissants, as well as my cinnamon roll croissants and what I call 'cakey cookies.' What I like to do is take familiar things and turn them into something you wouldn't really expect. We'll probably do some different types of doughnuts, too."

She also sees the bakery as a "collective space" that local artists could use to promote and sell their particular works. Cooking classes and pop up dinners with out-of-town chefs, as well as a wholesale business, would also be part of the plan.

Costello says that they are still in the funding phase and are currently deciding on a location, concentrating on The Nations neighborhood in West Nashville. Plans would call for an approximately 1,200 square foot space, featuring an open kitchen and farm-style tables with seating for 40. Follow her Eat Like Kings Instagram account for frequent updates, and be sure to check back as more details become available.