Friday Night Experience

We had the most interesting event this evening, Friday January 13, 2012.

We had gone to an auction in New Albany and is our usual way after we leave the auction we went to downtown NA to find some food. We like to go to some place new to us, if we can. The Louis Le Français is that kind of place so we parked and walk back to it. The door had a hand printed sign that said, "CASH ONLY". We entered and walked up to the hostess' stand and were greeted by a mature woman. She asked if we had reservations and I said no we didn't. She said just a moment let me see what we have.

I glanced around and there was 5-6 tables open at the very least. She came back and said, we really prefer you have reservations and WE LIKE TO HAVE ALL OUR ORDERS IN BY 8. I looked at my watch and said, I am sorry. It was 8:45. I said we understood and would come back another time. She assured us it was ok and they had a table for us. She took us over to the table and said, there is a coat rack in the back of the room for you to use. Then she turned and walked away.

Suzi had noticed a hand written white board sign that said dinner was fixed price but did not catch all the details. We sat at the table. We sat at the table. We sat longer at the table and finally a 'server' came up and asked what we would like to drink. I thought, well that is strange. I asked, can we get menus or do you just have the fixed price meal for $25? He said they really didn't have menus YET. CHIME CHIME CHIME.

He explained they had a fixed price meal and then a few ala carte items. Then he said, I am not a server I am the drink maker or drink person. He said he would get a server to come talk to us and then he left. He told us they were officially open yet. They were opening on Tuesday.

We sat there. We sat there. We sat there. You all know Suzi has the patience of Job. The third time a server went to the table nearest to us and didn't bother to glance our way she was, Let's Go. I gave them another minute or two. Finally it was really apparent they were not going to help us, at least in any timely manner. We got our coats and I stopped at the hostess stand and told the lady we really didn't want a full meal, that we were just looking for a small bite to eat and we would come back another time.

We went across the street to La Bocca and had an excellent time. Great Service, Wonderful food. Those fried rice balls were really good. The meat balls were light.

Not open until "Tuesday"... ...That's weird because there are reviews on Urbanspoon going back to the middle of November (a couple of which I wouldn't rule out having been written by someone from the restaurant).

Very odd- we ate there on December 23rd....maybe there was a misunderstanding on the Tuesday thing. No excuse for the service, though.

Yeah, we were totally confused too.

The waitress over at La Bocca said they appeared to be open for about a month but had closed for a week around Christmas time.

Richard

...That's weird because there are reviews on Urbanspoon going back to the middle of November (a couple of which I wouldn't rule out having been written by someone from the restaurant).

That is why I give very LITTLE weight to Urbanspoon or Yelp reviews. There is no way to know who is really writing them. Both heavenly praise or negative ratings.

I tend to go back on LHB and look up old reviews and check the forums for comments. Urban and Yelp give me ideas to check if I can't think of a place in the area we will be.

Steve, can you smoke one of those heritage breed, soy milk and hazelnut fed, free woodland range raised chickens up?

Richard

That is why I give very LITTLE weight to Urbanspoon or Yelp reviews. There is no way to know who is really writing them. Both heavenly praise or negative ratings.

I tend to go back on LHB and look up old reviews and check the forums for comments. Urban and Yelp give me ideas to check if I can't think of a place in the area we will be.

Richard,

Concerning Urbanspoon and Yelp...I find many of the reviews valuable but one -does- have to learn to read between the lines.

I agree with Steve- while traveling I've found a lot of great places using Urbanspoon and Yelp. The reviews in Urbanspoon tend to be better, but the Yelp gps function is fantastic for finding good places nearby - whether it's traveling down the highway or in San Francisco on business. Very rarely do I end up eating at a visible, easy to find chain; even when I'm in a very unfamilar place I can fibd a great local. You just have to take the advice with a jaded eye. My other fav for traveling is TripAdvisor.
Deb

This was so bizarre. The hostess was very "stern" and told us more than once that in the future we need to make a reservation and come earlier. The servers and what appeared to be a foodrunner seemed to know all the other patrons. When we were finally approached by the "cocktail manager", he seemed rather put out that we did not want any alcohol right then and stated he really didn't know much about the food. . The other tables appeared to have bottles of wine and multiple glasses. I just began to have the feeling we were putting them out coming in so late. I have every intention of going again, earlier and with a reservation, but they will have to go a long way to impress me. And, yes, the cocktail manager said they are having their official opening January 17. Apparently they do not have their POS system up and that is why it is cash only. There was a small white board on the wine bar that had the entrees and ala carte items list, but you had to be right in front of it to read it. As we were leaving, I saw an even smaller white board in a steamed over window that said that is it was Prix Fix. It was listed for $25.00, sounds reasonable, just never found out what was there to have. The server at La Bocca said they have already lost one chef, maybe just gossip though. I saw several other groups leave Louis and cross the street to La Bocca and Habana Blues after we were seated at La Bocca, maybe they quit seating.

We do use Yelp and Urban Spoon, I also try to research places before we go, especially out of town.

Next time in your in New Albany stop by the New Albany Exchange pub + kitchen. Dinner served til 10 PM on Friday and Saturday nights, with light acoustic music in the bar area.

There has been at least one other thread here about the Frenchman, who has been open to greater or lesser extent for a month and a half, maybe two, and to generally favorable reviews locally. I was told in the beginning to regard it as an extended soft opening, to which the hand-lettered signs, prix fixe offerings and cash only would seem to attest. It was explained to me that he had a solid operation up near Chicago for years, but did not personally involve himself with the front of the house.

My pal Tim at Starlight Distributing (think: Shelton beer imports) is working on a beer dinner with Starlight, NABC and the Frenchman, perhaps in February. I'm looking forward to it, and will be back with information when more is known.

Ian - NAX is in our rotation, especially when we go to the auction off Grantline. We love it there!!

We had a nearly identical experience at Louis Le Francis several weeks ago, except we had made a reservation, and stayed through dinner despite a good 15 minute wait before anyone came to our table. The experince was so bizarre that the wife and I decided to turn it into a drinking game: every time something weird happened with the service or the food, we took a drink. Luckily, after we both finished our second beer (sometime before the entrees hit the table) the server never offered to bring us another, or we would have been plastered.

[Robin Garr]

And this is the same guy who previously announced plans for a "French bistro" in at least two Louisville locations, maybe three, but then those plans fell through because something made him unhappy?

I probably shouldn't assume things without actual knowledge, but it's hard not to start discerning a pattern here.

Our experience on December 23rd with a reservation was not that. Service was a bit rough ( but I expect that for a new place). Place was hopping and our server was slammed- he appeared to be the only server for our half of the small restaurant. Other than that it was fairly uneventful, except that by 8:30 they were out of 2 orf the 3 dessert options for the prix fixe menu so we were stuck with no choices. I just assumed they had a huge unexpected increase in patrons due to the holiday ...

Deb

I've previously posted about a generally very good experience here. The chef's wife is likely the person you dealt with, but we found her delightful. Sorry about the weird experience - I wouldn't write them off after the one odd evening.