Murdered kitchen manager remembered for dedication, kindness
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NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) — A downtown kitchen manager tragically killed in a shooting over the weekend is being remembered by his peers as a passionate cook with a heart for people.
Even on a Monday afternoon, you can hear music from the street coming from Nudie’s Honky Tonk. Inside the kitchen, though, Monday’s are quiet. This Monday was quieter than usual; a beloved staff member is missing.
“It just ain’t the same man,” Nudie’s cook Maurice Allen said. “Losing my brother – like that was like my brother.”
On Friday, Metro Police say 30-year-old Tim Fields was shot and killed outside Bar Louie in the Gulch. His killer is still on the loose, and the people who love him are left stunned.
“I heard the screams and I knew it. I knew that he passed away,” Allen said, recalling the Friday night phone call bearing the news. “I heard the screams and I knew that it was over with. I just wish I would have known that that was going to be the last time that I talked to a brother.”
“It’s gut-wrenching,” Nudie’s owner, Bill Miller, said. “I’m still trying to process it. He was family.”
Fields ran the kitchen at Nudie’s on Broadway. The father of three worked his way up from line cook. Miller was just one of the many admirers of his resolve.
“A man who represented that you can come up and achieve anything you want with no limits and no ceiling.”
“He left a mark on here. He set the bar too high for anybody to reach,” Nudie’s general manager Anthony Marsella said.
“Chef Ramsey,” Allen laughed. “And that’s what I called him, because that’s how he ran the kitchen. He had respect for you, he had respect for everybody, but he ran this kitchen tight.”
Fields was known not only for his passion in the kitchen, but the kindness in his heart.
“He’d always be there with a hug and usually some kind of treat he made up in the kitchen,” Miller said, smiling. “He was just one of those people, who when you saw them you just couldn’t help but smile. He had this face that just exuded happiness and kindness.”
Fields’ absence is deafening, but the impact he leaves is lasting.
“I’m going to miss him I’m not going to lie,” Allen said. “He kept us grounded. It was a lot of times I felt like I wanted to give up and he wouldn’t let me. So I’m going to keep his legacy alive.”
“We have to look at Tim as an inspiration that you can do anything you set your mind to and never forget him,” Miller said.
Nudie’s Honky Tonk is known for displaying Nudie Cohn’s rhinestone suits worn by world-famous country singers. Miller told News4 he plans to hang Fields’s chef’s coat alongside them “to ensure he’s honored as king as Nudie is here.”
Metro Police identified Berwin Freeman Jr. as a suspect wanted in connection with Fields’ murder early Tuesday morning. A warrant charging Freeman with criminal homicide has been issued.
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