Few dealers are as much fun to work with as Embers. Embers Grill & Fireplace Store is a local and family-owned business that features quality products for outdoor kitchens, gas grills, fireplaces, outdoor furniture and more in the Nashville, Brentwood and Franklin, TN area. They gave us the run down on their take on designing outdoor kitchens, future trends, and fun recent projects.

Tell us how Embers has responded to the growing Outdoor Kitchen trend.

Outdoor living and specifically outdoor cooking and entertaining is an area where there has been tremendous growth not only in the Nashville area, but really all across the nation. At Embers, we offer several outdoor appliance options from simple built in grills and under counter outdoor refrigerators, to multiple appliances for fully functional outdoor kitchens and/or outdoor bar areas.

We feel it is important that we provide to our customers, designers, and hardscape/builder partners the best options in terms of medium to high-end outdoor appliance and equipment that are made to perform exceptionally well in the outdoors, last for a long time, and aesthetically blend well with the outdoor space.  This is to insure that the investment made in the outdoor area is fully maximized and long term. At the same time, we seek to enhance the customer’s overall buying experience, which includes on the front end providing consultation and custom designs/drawing, and on the back end with delivery, installation, in-home use and care demonstrations, as well as service to their appliances if ever needed after the sale by our own in house service team. 

Semi-covered patio with True 24″ Dual Tap Beverage Dispenser, (2) 24″ True Glass Door Refrigerators, and a 15″ Stainless Steel Refrigerator.

Nashville gets it’s share of hot and cold how do you extend the season for outdoor living? 

During the hot summer months, easily grabbing cold beverage from a nearby outdoor True Refrigerator that keeps drinks cooled down to 33 degrees not only provides relief from the heat, but can also provide food preservation that is being cooked on the outdoor grill.   Conversely, during the colder months, utilizing an outdoor appliance such as the Alfresco Versa Power Burner (can range from 400 BTU’s to 65K BTU’s) to cook a large pot of soup or chili will warm up your guests as well.  There are multiple outdoor appliances for all occasions and menu options.Nashville and the surrounding area is a great place to spend time outside almost year around. All of the appliances we offer are made to live and perform outdoors anytime of the year, during both hot and cold temperature months, allowing our customers to truly enjoy their outdoor kitchens and outdoor bar areas whenever they like.

Pergolas, fully and semi-covered patios/porches and screened-in porches, tall landscapes around pools and patios, provide shaded areas for the outdoor kitchen and outdoor bar area during the sunny and warm time of the year. Inserting a wood burning or gas burning fireplace, or perhaps a fire pit in your outdoor living area will allow you to sit outside on those fall evenings a littler longer while you finish your dinner, dessert, beverage and late conversations.

Embers creates custom drawings to provide customers with a vision of  the best design for their outdoor living space.

From what we’ve seen Embers goes above and beyond most dealers, can you tell us about your design work? 

One of our services is providing a custom outdoor kitchen and/or outdoor bar area design and CAD drawing to our customers when they buy their outdoor appliances from Embers at no additional charge/a complimentary service.  We work with the customer, along with their contractor/landscaper/hardscape builder and go out to their home, or take their area footprint, and lay out the appliances in a custom drawing that will provide the best concept for function and flow as it relates to their appliances. Truly, there are numerous options and we like to work with the customer to help provide a design for them and their builder that best fits their space along with the outdoor appliances they want. The little details such as which side the handle for their True Refrigerator should be on, or how it will swing open, are all taken into account when designing the outdoor kitchen space.

After everything is completed, and the customer is ready to use their new equipment, we come out to the customer’s home and either do a full Use and Care Demo and/or do a Demo & Dine where we cook for them and approximately 10-12 of their friends, neighbors and family. This is a great opportunity for us to show the customers all that they can do with their new equipment, and a great way to celebrate the completion of their new outdoor area.

What is next in outdoor living trends? Where do you want to see it go? 

We really believe that as outdoor kitchens and outdoor bar areas continue to grow in popularity, people will see more and more the value (as we are already seeing) of buying outdoor equipment that is made with quality, sustainable components, and is fully outdoor rated and UL listed for the outdoors.

Where would we like to see it go? We would like for people to view the outdoor kitchen/outdoor bar area as a necessary extension of their home. For example, just as homeowners often have a garage for their car(s), the outdoor cooking and entertaining area provides a great addition with added long-term benefit to their home not only in enjoyment, but also in financial gain as well if they decide to sell.

Swim-up bar designed by Embers with a True 15″ Beverage Dispenser and 24″ Refrigerator.

Can you tell us a bit about your favorite recent project?

True 15″ Beverage Dispenser and 24″ Refrigerator overlooking pool.

We have had numerous really fun projects recently. One favorite is an outdoor area that has a tremendous pool with a slide coming down from their backyard hillside, a swim up bar equipped with a 24” True Refrigerator with tri-lumina lighting, a 15″ True Beverage Dispenser, along with a fully functional cooking area and serving area.  This outdoor kitchen/ bar area and pool is the site where a well-known country music duo group is filming this month their new video for an upcoming single.

Also, there is an outdoor kitchen and bar area overlooking a pool that includes reclaimed wood and three large flat screen televisions mounted above the bar, which is great for football season…the perfect accessory to an outdoor area.  This bar area has two 24” True Refrigerators with glass front and tri-lumina lighting and a 24” Dual Beverage Dispenser, along with two Large Big Green Eggs, a 42” Alfresco Grill, and outdoor dishwasher, and more.