We are the tompkins family. Just a small family traveling to experience life well.
The last decade has been a whirlwind with creating music ,
my name is mike tompkins i make acapella videos on youtube and traveling the globe
recently we found another way to travel and share experiences
in a whole new way we have this amazing sprinter van.
Our tiny home on wheels is outfitted with a kitchen,
beds and of course our table so we're gonna travel the highlights of our travels
usually surround the food look at this crunchy rice that is the best part i crave this food.
We love finding places that are more than just the food they serve.
Every pastry takes three days to make which we take pride in not every bakery does that.
we're gonna be trying different food and the hope is to really just connect with people.
You know it's really about compassion connection and community.
It's not always going to be easy.
we're having some issues with our tire here
and traveling with two small children has its challenges
oh it's a big spill there's always a spill
Join our family as we adventure seeking out everything a table represents.
This is the traveling table.
Today we are in the state capital of tennessee, Nashville!
It is rich in history, there is a history lesson almost on every corner.
It is known for the battles that happen all around the city during the civil war
and is the capital of country music home of the country music hall of fame
one of our favorites is.. don't worry the children are fine
they're hanging out in there they're happy
When people think of nashville they think of like hot chicken,
southern fried food
but Nashville is so much more than just that
We're gonna highlight a few of our favorites from nashville this is one of them this is OSA coffee.
I just love their entire experience I love the walk-up window, you're kind of still outside.
They've all they've had that prior to pandemic, when walk-up windows became a very popular thing.
They have their entire roasting process that goes on in there.
And there's something about the vibe that just reminds me of our trips to Australia
and just having great coffee outside enjoying the beautiful weather.
so their aesthetic is great they're longtime
friends that started this small batch coffee roaster
I really enjoy supporting them and the coffee is really great!
Who wants a cookie?
Me!
Look at this look at this piece of wood it's just a piece of wood right?
No this is our table a table to us represents experiences connection
It hosts people and food and stories and spills.
I think that a table is such a great representation
of experiences connection and sharing compassion as well.
Do you remember our first table that we bought when we were young?
Our first adult purchase as a young married couple we bought a dining room table.
I almost cried in the store I could envision the experiences that we were gonna share
over that table, the connections we were gonna make through food and conversation.
Can i put this down now?
I love how food can remind you of a memory a flavor,
a smell something can bring you back to that emotion you felt.
Like the smells from a grill can take you to a backyard
family reunion or a biscuit it reminds you of sitting with your grandmother in her kitchen.
We are on our way to Brightside Bakeshop.
The future is bright! You have to get there quick because they sell out.
Every pastry takes three days to make
so on the first day we make the doughs the second days we roll out and then on
the third day everything's baked fresh the day of.
So everything that a customer is getting was baked fresh that morning,
which we take pride in not every bakery does that.
A lot of customers are like how why do you sell out every day? It's
because we don't want a lot of waste because we can't reuse it the next day.
so this morning i got up at 1:30, I was here at 145.
You were here at 1:45? yeah.
You have a brand new baby!
Yes my husband takes care of the baby for like two feedings and then i can go back home.
Oh my goodness I can't believe you have a brand new baby and you're still going.
We're making it work.
We're gonna make these in the almonds, the twice baked.
We just started really small at richland park farmer's market.
I brought like four dozen pastries
the next weekend brought more pastries the next weekend brought more
and just like it really grew like customer by customer and that's how i always wanted to grow it
like if people love it we'll keep going.
The thing about brightside is it's like they have the amazing story they've got the amazing
branding they bring so much joy but also their pastries are just some of the best i've had
here we go delicious
Soft, a little hint of citrus, everything good in my mouth.
I actually started in corporate world so I worked five years in marketing
and then i was like this isn't what i want to do for the rest of my life
i knew i wanted to own a bakery like from when i was very little
every item too we kind of just started adding on item by item
we had the cina-roll and then we added the savory brioche
and then we added just plain croissants and then we added churro croissants
i'm gonna try the churro croissant now
it's so light
look how good that is
When the pandemic hit we would go to Brightside Bakery every saturday
it was our way to get out get get out of our home and still adventure
we would drive through the hills of tennessee we would imagine we were in the hills of france
as we're eating our pastries we would make playlists we would make french playlists
yeah i just have really actually fond memories every saturday that we would
stop in that bright side
dad so it's so good
is it?
chocolate chip cookie i love cooking
oh it's a big spill
see the table is for eating talking crying laughing playing games and spelling.
we as parents to these two amazing boys we want to foster a love for adventure
a desire to seek out experiences over things and to love people well
food has always been a connector to all of those things
so we're about to head out to a restaurant here in nashville it's called soy bistro
we just love the fact that every time we come in you just feel known
they just have put everything into what they're doing
You're part of their community. The food the flavors are so rich.
what i love is when you walk in here and the lineup is out the door
you only have a few tables inside
that's it
but you rotate them super quick
everybody is happy, because you manage it so well
with coming around and making sure people feel seen.
It encompasses the experience, the overall experience and the connection.
That is what our whole show is about,
we're gonna get rid of the fast and fresh and all that because it's it's cute
but really what we are it's really about compassion connection and community
so you just changed my theme so thank you
I'm not paying you for that no and i'm gonna use it because i have a good lawyer.
What do you have on your wrist there?
I have love people which is our motto
it's always been love people like you don't know what they've been
through but they're here in our restaurant for something cool
so let's provide two things for them let's provide outstanding
service and then like the food speak for itself.
My background's japanese the background of this place is korean
but if you look at the restaurant it says teriyaki that's
that's not a korean word that's japanese
can we get two Bibimbap skillets?
The Bibimbap is the foundation of this restaurant
Because if you know go to korea they're going to be talking about some soups,
they're going to talk about some really good
preparation of meats that you can get bulgogi and all this.
But the Bibimbap is a huge staple.
You've got a nice medley of vegetables protein and starch.
It's a dish that means mixed rice so you're gonna mix it together.
The items that are chosen should make you feel good and the sauce should tie it together.
Every korean restaurant is going to have a different Bibimbap,
now for me that's a cool thing i love that
Do you want to bowl or the skillet?
The Skillet.
We're in the south you're you're right here in Brentwood, TN.
In korea you get it in like i think i believe it's a clay stone pot
But you know we are here
skillets are huge here and the result is the same and
that's what i like about having this restaurant
I have so many good friends that are korean i respect and understand.
Look at this crunchy rice, that is the best part and you can break it
and you want to just mix it up a little bit everything.
I want some steak.
i crave it i crave this food!
The hard part is trying to get everything in on one bite
The steak the crunchy rice the egg the carrots the mushrooms
This was my passion, I would talk about food incessantly
like that was my myspace page that was my facebook page that is my instagram page
this is what i know best. This is a family that we've
never called each other employees i've never said customers i say guests
yeah i'm super proud of the quality of our food
and i'm super proud of the way my staff has embraced what we're doing here
so good
i'll wrap it up i'll wrap it up here With your cool shirt look at you
Golly! Costume change.
we should do it like basketball players let's change jerseys
every time i come in i feel known i feel seen and i just love what you've done here and
i love what you're continuing to do and your heart behind it
i'm nearing the sad part of the meal right now it's almost gone
starting to get a little sad
so this last year has been a lot covid hit the quarantine was announced
two weeks to the day of after i had wilder and it's been a hard year for everybody
everybody's experiencing different levels of challenge
and ours has been extremely challenging just being away from family
Not having access to our family in canada especially having a new baby like that's
been such a hard thing for you as a mom yeah so i'm very thankful that i've
taken a lot of action in my mental health and and seeking out help through counseling
i had a lot of tools and resources that i could tap into
but it still was like i have this new baby and i envisioned like him playing with
his grandma and and people
i've been really fighting the feeling of loneliness
but it's been a hard year figuring out how to be adventurous
and experience things outside of your four walls of your home
for the last decade we've been traveling the
world whether it's with music or whether it's just us as a family
For us it's like this new adventure is us powering on powering through
and it's all to be celebrated kind of what
you've got through of the past year and you as an amazing mom
and all the things that you've been you've just kind of overcome
i definitely feel like this is something
that will be so fun for our family to connect with people again
dash has been traveling around the world since
six weeks old he loves it he thrives so much off of adventure and travel
and the stage of life that wilder is in right now you know he's a baby still
yeah and he's not great at sleeping yeah and so that
makes sleeping in the van at night very difficult
we want to take you on this like awesome journey
but we also want to be very real want to be very honest
and it's going to be hard but the benefits and the experiences will be more positive i think
let's find out
we're having some issues with our tire here
something i'm learning with van living right now is there's a lot of chores
a lot of things to do a lot of things to think about
our tire keeps losing air so uh we gotta take that into the shop at some point
but these are the joys.
This is all all part of it part of
having your home on the road is this uh you know the things that we run into
there was always good if you look for it
and a lot of times it is found around a table
we hope you will gather around and join us at our traveling table
life can be hard and that is why god made chocolate chip cookies
oh and nachos um cheeseburgers
i love cookies, bye!
can you tell we love eating chocolate chip cookies
All right, where will the traveling table travel next?
Coming up on this season of the Traveling Table.