Henry's Place has a strong opening.

We arrived last night at Henry's Place on Brownsboro at the Watterson in the old Mike Best's Meats. First off the renovation is fabulous - the inside is cozy with lots of booth seating (which I personally prefer). The decor is contemporary with a simple but elegant, "clean" look. It's a major renovation with no clue this was previously a meat market - the kitchen is open to the dining room with a cozy bar extends to the left of the front door.

We started with beef carpaccio and baked oyster appetizers - the carpaccio was thinly sliced and topped with an excellent quality olive - there was dressed arugula and large capers as well. This was essentially a classic presentation and one that I love so I was pleased. The oysters were tasty as well - six fresh oysters baked in a creamy smooth mozzarella with lemon - they were steaming hot when they arrived. Another excellent start to our meal.

We also ordered 2 salads for the 3 of us - a house salad and a spinach salad. The spinach salad had an impressive presentation with well chilled spinach rolled up and skewered with thinly sliced cucumber. The dressing was a wonderful pancetta vinaigrette. The spinach salad is plenty big enough to share.

Main courses included cioppino and seared scallops. Both were delicious. The cioppino was spicy and loaded with shrimp, mussels, crab, lobster, etc. It's a big tasty bowl of the sea with a well spiced tomato based broth - excellent. The scallops included 4 large seared sea scallops over a truffled risotto with peas along with asparagus. The scallops had a nice sear and the risotto was not over-cooked as is so often the case.

My son ordered the chocolate cream French pot with cheesecake. Essentially a pot de creme served over cheesecake. He pronounced it delicious.

So - while there appeared to be some opening week jitters - we had a splendid meal. Alexander was our server and he took care of us and seemed quite adept at answering any questions we had. The pacing was on the slow side but I assume the kitchen is still working out the kinks.

The atmosphere was relaxed with a full dining room and while energetic - we were able to have normal level conversation throughout our meal. This is a big plus and I think the use of booths really breaks up the room to keep the noise down. I didn't sense any "stiff attitude" about dress, etc - quite the opposite we felt quite relaxed and most folks were "nice" casual. Menu prices were largely in the 15-20 range for entrees and we thought it was a good value. Given that we are "on the wagon" I didn't peruse the wine list in any great detail.

A great addition to the local scene with a nice east end location for those of us in the "burbs".

for those of us in the "burbs".

Nice review Mark, thanks....and long live "the burbs"

[Robin Garr]

Outstanding report, Mark, thanks.

It should probably be noted that Henry's remains, by the skin of its teeth, "inside the Watterson."

It's a big tasty bowel of the sea with a well spiced tomato based broth - excellent

One extraneous vowel and an otherwise mouth-watering description goes far, far South.

That said, enjoyed the review, looking forward to trying Henry's Place.

It's a big tasty bowel of the sea with a well spiced tomato based broth - excellent

One extraneous vowel and an otherwise mouth-watering description goes far, far South.

That said, enjoyed the review, looking forward to trying Henry's Place.

It's due to my line of work. Is that a Freudian slip?

The destiny of Henry’s Place is a celebration of a grand concept, the Brigade de Cuisine, an army of professionally minded hearts working diligently to provide to their patrons their very best. The staging is impeccable; the staff is assembling and learning to work together as a seamless whole; and Command has the humility to realize that it is the team that succeeds, not the personality of an individual, (the point so hopelessly lost in today’s pop culture celebration of celebrity chefdom). Escoffier should be smiling from the heavens knowing that the classical nature of tradition is never lost completely, but only awaits its rediscovery.

Kevin Maloney
Production Chef
Volare Restaurant

Mark and I got a chance to go out last night and we decided to try Henry's place. I cannot believe the transformation from a meat market to this restaurant. It is just beautiful. Once you walk inside you are in another world. I had a bit of trouble convincing Mark to go as it was 95 degrees and he was in golf shorts. I must admit I was a little concern about "business casual" as it can mean so many things. When we arrived I looked around the room and I was happy to see the place packed with customers dressed like you would find in any other restaurant of that standard. They still have a few opening glitches to work out but the staff is great and very committed to doing their best. The food and presentation is fantastic. The prices on the menu made my husband smile. You get a fabulous restaurant experience for the money.

My only concern is that they relax a little with the attire especially when the weather is this hot. As we were leaving the restaurant a couple was walking in. The man had shorts on and I could just see the hostesses look at each other knowing they had to go through this dress code thing over and over again.

Madeline I am confused. Mark changed before going? What do you think they were going to say to the man in shorts? Refuse him or put him by the bar?

Mark and I got a chance to go out last night and we decided to try Henry's place. I cannot believe the transformation from a meat market to this restaurant. It is just beautiful. Once you walk inside you are in another world. I had a bit of trouble convincing Mark to go as it was 95 degrees and he was in golf shorts. I must admit I was a little concern about "business casual" as it can mean so many things. When we arrived I looked around the room and I was happy to see the place packed with customers dressed like you would find in any other restaurant of that standard. They still have a few opening glitches to work out but the staff is great and very committed to doing their best. The food and presentation is fantastic. The prices on the menu made my husband smile. You get a fabulous restaurant experience for the money.

My only concern is that they relax a little with the attire especially when the weather is this hot. As we were leaving the restaurant a couple was walking in. The man had shorts on and I could just see the hostesses look at each other knowing they had to go through this dress code thing over and over again.

Went to Henry's Place last night and wanted to provide a brief review. I put reviews into categories to make simple:

1. Food - Outstanding. When seated, was brought a complimentary platter of warm bread with a melted gorgonzola cheese spread. Way to favorably impress!!! We then had a guacamole platter that was set out similar to Guacamole where the avacado, sweet onions, and salsa were separate, so you could mix as you liked. Again, it was fresh, tasty and original. For entrees, my wife had a vegetarian linquini in a mixed herb, cream sauce and I had a "fish pot" with flounder stuffed with ricotta and rock shrimp with squash. All was perfectly cooked and good presentation. We topped off the meal with fresh raspberrys in a custard for a lighter finish. Grade: A

2. Value: All the above (no alcoholic beverages last night) for $57, so already one of the best deals in the city. Entire menu has entree options right around $15-low 20's, except one fish pot and steak entree, which are more. Cannot believe people pay almost same for some pretty mediocre mid-level chains when deals like this are out there. Grade: A+

3. Service: We had an excellent server. Explained restaurant concept concisely and clearly, knew menu items, attentive, but not intrusive and genuinely enthused. Grade A+

4. Atmosphere: Very chic decor inside and like how they manage the ability to see work in the kitchen without hearing too much of it (Proof does this better than anyone). Know it sounds weird, but very chic, clean bathrooms, which is a sign to me that they care about details. We did not go to the bar, but looked lively. One minor issue, though, is windows only look out onto parking lot/42, but they lower shades to balance light vs. view. Grade: B+

5. Intangible: Ok, here is the hard, delicate part I want to be careful stating so it does not sound like I am being a jackass. In contrast to Frankfort Ave., Bardstown, Rd., Market St., Westport Village, etc., there is nothing to do once you finish without driving. My wife and I usually like to walk off a meal in the summer, but really cannot do it here as it is isolated by a parking lot and a fairly inactive shopping strip. Finally, we are in our late '40s, but we were youngest by a wide margin, so it feels more like a retiree hangout than cutting edge hipsters. Again, none of this detracts from the meal itself, but just a different, much more mellow vibe than places like Proof, Decca, etc.

Grade: C-

Overall: I am going A - (I hate the 4 star scales as letter grades tell story better to me). That being said, as far as execution goes, place is hitting on all cylinders and only weakness seems a function more of geography than anything management is or is not doing. We will be back often.

Ron

[Robin Garr]

Overall: I am going A - (I hate the 4 star scales as letter grades tell story better to me). That being said, as far as execution goes, place is hitting on all cylinders and only weakness seems a function more of geography than anything management is or is not doing. We will be back often.

Thanks, Ron. Excellent review! You ought to do this stuff for a living ...

Like Ron, four of us visited Henry's Place for dinner last night and I have to agree with him on most of his points. The food was excellent. Among the four of us, we had the guacamole ( great presentation), the fettuccini "Bronx GIrosol", the short ribs, the sand dab poele, and what I thought was the star of the evening, the mussels. The presentations were beautiful, but I could have used some of that delicious baquette to sop up some of the delicious broth.

Although there was a lot of staff present performing various tasks, our server disappeared on numerous occasions and was not as attentive as Ron's was, but I realize that they have just opened and I am sure that will improve.

Their wine list is short, but well defined and their beer list is larger than their wine list. The decor is very beautiful with browns and grays and the sound level is not intrusive at all.

With the earlier comments about the dress code, I was interested to see the reaction when an elderly gentlemen came in with shorts and tennis shoes. Would he be sent to the bar or sent packing? No surprisingly he was shown a table in the front of the dining room.

Overall it was a very nice dining experience. The value and food quality was excellent. No $30 or $40 entrees here. Our tab with aps, entrees, a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and a half dozen of take home raspberry cookies was only $120 with tip for 2. So I think the crowds will be coming.

As to the isolation of Henry's place. ... there is a nice sidewalk that traverses the whole of Rudy Lane and back around to Brownsboro road, a two mile loop, Within walking distance there are three or four civil war era houses ( do a little research) graveyards, and Old Stone Lane around the bend of Rudy that has probably the last of hand laid walls in Jefferson county...and of course the giant carved bear in the open park space across the street. You can always buy a bottle of good wine and sit on our "Shady Lane" veranda and count the Volvo's, Beemers and Corvettes that pass by. Have fun,explore. Happy Fathers day to all

Only want to second what others have said.

At the last minute, went to Open Table, found a 6:00 availability, and we went, spur of the moment. Everything about the evening was wonderful, from opening gorgonzola "dip" thru wine, guacamole, and two sand dabs, ending with white chocolate cake evening was both wonderful and affordable!

To add to matters, the chef came around, and was quite charming talking to the tables.

Between this and LaCoop the concept of the neighborhood bistro is being taken to a brand new level in Louisville, with neighborhood restaurants of 4 and 5 star quality where one can eat without mortgaging the first-born.