Decca?

Heard it is open. I am making a trip back to the ville. Anyone been? I would love to see photos because I heard they have a rooftop and basement lounge? Their website is somewhat lacking IMO...
Also, has Nulu gotten to the point to where there is quite a bit of cars and pedestrians on a normal Saturday night, say, like on Frankfort avenue? I am wondering if it would be ok to have a meal at Decca and then stroll a few blocks down to Garage with the (beautiful) lady.

[Robin Garr]

There hasn't been much said about Decca yet, but a friend who lives in Nulu went to the soft opening and said she was blown away by it. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

I don't think there's much to worry about strolling around East Market during hours when the eateries and clubs are open. It's a happening scene, with plenty of people around.

No clubs in that immediate area as far as I know. Be a good spot for one though.

It is much safer to walk around East Market at midnight than to cross a street in the the suburbs in broad daylight. Much safer.

http://deccarestaurant.com/site

The menu looks absolutely brilliant.

Went Saturday night. Open Table was not accepting reservations, but we gave them a call and got in.

Started with a bottle of Chappellet Mountain Cuvee 2009 IIRC since the wine list is not on their website. A nice red that was a good pairing for the meal to come.

Appetizer was Duck Liver Terrine, Cherry Mostarda, Grilled Bread. Also had two of the tartest pickled cherries I've ever tasted, pickled celery root I believe, and a mild pepper on the plate.Terrine was among the best I've ever had with lots of interesting flavors on the plate. Very good start.

Wife had the House Made Cavatelli, Shitake Mushrooms, Sage, Bread Crumbs. She was very happy with it as evidenced by a clean bowl. I had the Slow Braised Beef Cheek, Horseradish Crème Fraiche, Watercress entree and it reminded me of a Beef Wellington of sorts. Extremely tender and flavorful beef with a hint of mustard in the breading or sauce.

Got a couple of sides to try them. Big fan of beets and the Charred Beets, Grapefruit were delicious. Grapefruit was more of a drizzled sauce on the plate as far as I could tell. Giant Peruvian Lima Beans, Marjoram were good, but actually asked for a little bit of salt which livened them up perfectly.

Lots of left overs to take home as we wanted to try a lot of different dishes.

A split Olive Oil Cake Citrus Supremes, Almonds, Creme Fraiche Ice Cream along with a tawny port closed the evening out nicely.

Facilities are beautiful. We wanted to get a drink before dinner and asked about the roof top area. We were told that the roof top lounge and patio are not open yet, but we could take a cocktail out to the patio. Storms moving in made the decision for us, but I did step out onto the patio after dinner and it is among the nicest in the city. We'll be making regular stops for outdoor dining when it's open. They offered to give us a tour of the rest of the restaurant, but we needed to get home to cheer on the Cards.

One observation, seating on the wall opposite the main bar is tight. You'll get to know your dining companions at the next table. Not necessarily a bad thing, but removing one two top out of that row would have made it a more comfortable dining experience.

We've been dining in NuLu before I think it was called NuLu and I think you'd feel comfortable walking around as long as you use the same precautions that you'd use in any other setting, urban or otherwise. We'll definitely be back.

Nice review, Doug.

Heard it is open. I am making a trip back to the ville. Anyone been? I would love to see photos because I heard they have a rooftop and basement lounge? Their website is somewhat lacking IMO...
Also, has Nulu gotten to the point to where there is quite a bit of cars and pedestrians on a normal Saturday night, say, like on Frankfort avenue? I am wondering if it would be ok to have a meal at Decca and then stroll a few blocks down to Garage with the (beautiful) lady.

Michael,

If you haven't been to NuLu in a while, the concern I would have is not safety- it's that these places tend to be PACKED. You may have a significant wait to get into Garage Bar after leaving Decca.

DEb

I'll apologize ahead of time, as I do not normally write full reviews of all the food I've had, especially not in any great detail about each individual item (nor will I here, on that), but we ate there last night, and I must say it's incredibly good. It easily moves into my top 5 of restaurants in Louisville. Reminiscent of Harvest, but far better, and, IMO, a much better value for the money. As long as you don't order half the food on the menu as we did last night.

The mussels were wonderful, though they needed to be soaked longer, as they still had a tiny bit of sand in them. The pork entree was very good. The sole pasta was incredible.

Deserts were oddly hit and miss -- and by that I mean we both loved our individual deserts, but weren't big fans of the other's! I had the Panna Cotta, which I thought was great. She had the chocolate something or another, which she also thought was great.

Only two points I'd mention to its detriment:

1) This will sound silly, but not having the ability to purchase a regular soft drink will hurt them in the long run. I appreciate the intent behind it, but "organic" soft drinks taste, well.... "organic" -- in that really, "This isn't the real thing" kind of why. I know people who are willing to drop 60-80 on a dinner for one who won't go to a restaurant that makes that decision, however sensible that is.

2) On the Whisky and Scotches, try to do a bit of research on them if you don't know what they are. Some of them are incredibly reasonably priced and excellent. Others are horribly, horribly overpriced (bottle price / 2 is not acceptable for a drink, IMO). Oddly, the best tasting ones, IMO, are the ones that are most reasonable, so I have a hard time even calling this a negative.

The wait staff is still trying to get all the kinks out, but in general I thought did a great job, and an excellent one for how long they've been open. We were divided on our waitress. I thought she was excellent, everything was timed perfectly, and I never felt I was waiting for anything or being over-served. My fiancee was not a fan, though I think that's because the waitress smiled or had brown hair or something -- never did get an answer on that.

They said the patio should open soon, which looked nice from the upstairs/inside.

So, in short, awesome, awesome experience -- completely not what I was expecting in the slightest when we drove down there.

I'd make reservations before word gets out. I dined with my husband, and everything twas perfect. The dayboat sole was perfectly cooked, not drowned out by overly bold flavors. It was delicate yet still incredibly flavorful. Also loved the asparagus. My grilled asparagus at home gets just a bit of olive oil and lemon. They not only managed to grill it perfectly - charred while retaining fresh flavor and some snap - but they paired it with a just tart enough sabayon. I'd never have thought of sabayon for asparagus, or anything savory, but it melted and coated each piece with a rich sauce.
The space is gorgeous, airy and elegant. The service really well informed and on top of everything, even they though they just opened.
And did I mention the handlebar mustache on the bartender?

Just left Decca - in short everything was great. I had the pork with greens and potatoes and it was superb. The duck terrine and vegetable salad were very well done. Good drinks, great service, cool vibe - what's not to like?