Primo wins CJ's four-star praise

[Robin Garr]

Marty gets it right this time, with a glowing, four-star and fully deserved rave for Primo, and again this week the Scene editors give him room to do it in full with space for a 733-word review. Best of all, there's no requirement for a "words don't match the stars" rant this week: The CJ bestows its top four-star rating despite the restaurant's lack of white tablecloths. Good work by Marty, and well-earned praise for Primo.

[url=http://cityguide.courier-journal.com/fe/RestaurantReviews/Profile.asp?businessid=47048]True ingredients
Primo makes dining an adventure[/url]

<B>Primo</B>
445 E. Market St.
Louisville, KY
(502) 583-1808

A great review by Marty and congrats Primo.

Congratulations to Michael Hargrove, his sous chef Nicholas Lynch, and all the kitchen staff. The praise is well-deserved. I'm so proud of them!

Also, catch them this month on Secrets of Louisville Chefs!

Thanks Amy and Brian! I am so proud of Chef Michael Hargrove and our staff. He works extremely hard to create our menus every week. That is very tough and time consuming but there is so much love and creativity in every dish. I am extremely excited for Bim as well!

Miss ya... my sidekick HOOVER!

Marty gets it right this time, with a glowing, four-star and fully deserved rave for Primo, and again this week the Scene editors give him room to do it in full with space for a 733-word review. Best of all, there's no requirement for a "words don't match the stars" rant this week: The CJ bestows its top four-star rating despite the restaurant's lack of white tablecloths. Good work by Marty, and well-earned praise for Primo.

[url=http://cityguide.courier-journal.com/fe/RestaurantReviews/Profile.asp?businessid=47048]True ingredients
Primo makes dining an adventure[/url]

<B>Primo</B>
445 E. Market St.
Louisville, KY
(502) 583-1808

Great review and hats off to Primo! My only nit pick would be that they should be making their own Gelato and Sorbet (as opposed to using purveyors) to earn those 4 stars......granted, they are buying the best! JMHO

I think they're focusing more on making their own pancetta and pastas and such. Plus, it would be hard to make a product anywhere near as good as Gilberto Gelato. The owners of Gilberto Gelato have lived and trained in Italy and go back often. It would be hard for a restaurant to fund such training! If they were purchasing sysco "gelato" I could understand the complaint!

It is easily my favorite restaurant in town. We go a couple of times a month and have never been disappointed.

I commend them for thinking outside the box and buying and offering great locally made gelato, I think it's a great idea. It's an option that many restaurants wouldn't even think about so they wouldn't have that dessert option at all.

I think they're focusing more on making their own pancetta and pastas and such. Plus, it would be hard to make a product anywhere near as good as Gilberto Gelato. The owners of Gilberto Gelato have lived and trained in Italy and go back often. It would be hard for a restaurant to fund such training! If they were purchasing sysco "gelato" I could understand the complaint!

Didn't mean to sound like a snot and it wasn't a complaint....merely an observation from reading the review. It was the ONLY thing that deserved some scrutiny and I thought it was worthy of noting.

I think you ought to get Gelato David

I think you ought to get Gelato David

OK

David wrote:

Great review and hats off to Primo! My only nit pick would be that they should be making their own Gelato and Sorbet (as opposed to using purveyors) to earn those 4 stars......granted, they are buying the best! JMHO

I can understand where you are coming from and have thought about it as well as our Chef. We make several of our own desserts but since our menu changes weekly with limited staff and the amount of patrons who walk through our doors it can be taxing. Justin has made such headway with Gilberto Gelatos we will do anything we can to bring attention to them as we would any local purveyor (local produce, liquor, etc...) We all support one another. Thank you for the kind words David.
We are all very happy.

Great review and hats off to Primo! My only nit pick would be that they should be making their own Gelato and Sorbet (as opposed to using purveyors) to earn those 4 stars......granted, they are buying the best! JMHO

I have no problem with an independent restaurant outsourcing desserts, as long as they give credit accordingly.

I think it would be prohibitive for a small place to employ their own pastry chef. They can either pass off the molten chocolate cakes from the Sysco supplier as their own or go with a quality local provider.

WOW! OUR OWN PASTRY CHEF... A DREAM COMES TRUE! Maybe someday... until then Louisville has so much to offer and compliment Original Restaurants, it would be hard pressed in any City in the U.S. to find a Dolce or a Gilberto's Gelato and even boasting one of the most incredible Culinary Schools in the World, Sullivan. I am so impressed and proud when someone asks me about this city and the restaurants because I can't wait to tell them about our "lil 'ole city". Not to forget to mention one of the best WINE forums in the country, with the most formable critics. Heheh. I think between this side of the Ohio River and the 'other side' this part of the US has more to offer than most realize.

Great review and hats off to Primo! My only nit pick would be that they should be making their own Gelato and Sorbet (as opposed to using purveyors) to earn those 4 stars......granted, they are buying the best! JMHO

I have no problem with an independent restaurant outsourcing desserts, as long as they give credit accordingly.

I think it would be prohibitive for a small place to employ their own pastry chef. They can either pass off the molten chocolate cakes from the Sysco supplier as their own or go with a quality local provider.

Okay........I am a "small" place and I have employed several pastry chefs......Perhaps this needs to be a seperate thread but.....Pastries made "in house" by local restaurants seems to be a quickly dying art. I am sure that Leah S. and number of other locals will chime in on this post and I hope that they do as I, for one, would rather leave the pastry end of my business in capable hands (not to say that the fine folks at Walmart and Kroger don't know their stuff....nudge, nudge, say no more.). I think that "going with a local provider" or "outsourcing" your desserts automatically reduces your credibility as a fine dining establishment and if you have to go with Sysco for your pastries....you have already lost! So.....I would say that I will respect a restaurant (and grant them 4 stars....ouch!) if they are willing to buck the current trend, stear clear of "outsourcing" their product, and define pastry arts as an integral part of their operation. It is , sadly, a very slippery slope. ALL of you know that once you decide to go down the Sysco et al. path, there is no going back................(Yes, it will put dollars to your bottom line sales, be consistent, and help with your labor cost......No, it will not help you reputation in the industry and you will have sacrificed much in the process...) I have paid for a pastry chef and will again as I know that there is a creative ellement there that I cannot duplicate myself (baking was never my forte and is an art unto itself) .A good pastry chef is worth his/her weight in gold and if I want to maintain my integrity and reputation and continue to consider myself an""independent" restaurant, I will pay that price...........................[/u]