About Red Perch

Red Perch is a local Nashville restaurant with global roots. 

Cameron and Nicole Payne met in Hawaii in 2014.

Nicole, born in Chicago and raised in San Francisco, moved to Honolulu in 2008 to be near her family, who’d emigrated there from The Philippines with her mom before she was born. 

Cameron was on holiday while working as a private chef on a yatcht after years cooking as an executive Chef in Istanbul, Turkey and in his native country Australia at Attica, a fine dining restaurant often ranked among The World's 50 Best Restaurants. While Cameron enjoyed the high-end cuisine, his dreams were always closer to home: owning his own fish and chips shop. 

Cameron and Nicole married in 2014, which, yes, is the same year they met because the Paynes don’t waste time. They popped up around Waikiki, but never settled into a permanent home for their business — until they visited Nashville. They moved here in 2018, opened Red Perch in The Arcade, and served lunch to businesspeople, bros and bachelorettes alike, before making their final move to Sylvan Supply in 2021. 

The brand-new shop is the Paynes kind of place: a neighborhood spot where friends and family can hang out, eat fresh food and grab a pint. It’s only a few miles away from their home, which keeps them close to their two daughters, Charlie (who will eat anything, just like her parents) and Chloe (who probably will too, though we’ll have to wait a few years to find out), as well as their firstborn, Rupert the Pomeranian (who will only eat wet food because he is still an only child in his mind). 

In short, the new shop is everything they have always wanted, and can’t wait to see you there.