Discussion of Robin Garr's Brasserie Provence review

[Robin Garr]

Brasserie Provence shows grace and good eats in dinner rush
LEO's Eats with Robin Garr



"Je vais avoir le canard," said my friend Anne, summoning a French teacher and one-time expat's easy fluency. Our server looked puzzled, though. "Maybe you could point it out on the menu," he said, blushing a little. "I'm still learning the dishes."

I'm not picking on the guy, though. He showed Hemingway-esque grace under fire as our party of four spent the evening on a lavish meal at Brasserie Provence. We enjoyed his service, a fine Loire Cabernet Franc and an excellent, mostly authentic Provencal meal while allowing plenty of slack for a kitchen slammed by capacity crowds on its first full weekend.

Reports from <a href="http://forums.louisvillehotbytes.com/viewforum.php?f=1" title="LouisvilleHotBytes.com" target="_blank">LouisvilleHotBytes.com</a> foodies had indicated that this new spot was hitting on all cylinders after its "soft opening" early this month and was running smoothly during its first week. An over-full house was putting them to a stress test, though, when Mary and I showed up with our pals Anne and Don on a Friday night.

To their great credit, proprietor Guy Genoud and Chef Edoardo Bacci made the right moves when orders started backing up at the kitchen window: They moved methodically, and if the pace slowed dramatically, so be it. It's better for patrons to get a good, well prepared meal later than a magnificent mess on time.

Frankly, by the time this review appears, Brasserie Provence will have a couple more weeks of experience, and I all should be well. If you're wary, though, you might hit the Brasserie on a week night.

Anyway, they've done an admirable job of converting bland shopping center space (the former Tony Roma's) into a stylish venue that really does look and feel like a brasserie in Southern France or even Paris.

So, you ask, what is a brasserie? Expect a casual yet stylish neighborhood eatery with traditional dishes and fine libations. It might be simplest to explain by two simple examples at Brasserie Provence: They have fancy white tablecloths, and they lay down white butcher paper; and there's a good wine list … and a good beer list, too.


Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/brass ... inner-rush
and in LEO Weekly:
http://leoweekly.com/dining/brasserie-p ... inner-rush

Brasserie Provence
150 N. Hurstbourne Parkway
883-3153
http://brasserieprovence.com
Robin Garr’s rating: Too new to rate, but great potential

[Robin Garr]

Huh. Over 250 reads and nobody's got anything to say? What's up with that? Did I miss an email?

Adrian Baldwin hopes to get by there soon...can't wait to work through that entire menu.

Huh. Over 250 reads and nobody's got anything to say? What's up with that? Did I miss an email?

I think this is a horse that's already been beaten and eaten.

We crushed Brasserie Saturday night w/ another couple.

Cool place.....Escargot was money, as was the French Onion.

Overall, though...I was a little disappointed. I thought the fries were pretty substandard, at least as far as a 'French' place goes. Le Relais wins that battle going away.

Went to Brasserie Provence last evening. High expectations. Went early, as we heard that the place would be packed.

I would say good, but not great. Wait-staff was friendly but service was uneven. Do NOT order in French -we got blank stares. Avoid the lobster app - $18 and very much overcooked, dry and stringy.

Baguette and herbed olive oil good. Tomato-chevre tarte excellent. Sea bass was good, but overly salty, ratatouille OK. Nutmeg-laced gratin in mini-black-ironed skillet was very good. The grouper w Coquille St. Jacques was anointed with a beurre blanc that was extremely salty (as were the scallops.) Best dish of the night was the fennel bulb accompaniment.

Fortunately, we had a nice glass of wine and many glasses of water to help with the salt. The berry flan dessert was not very good. A dry broken custard with berries - the two of us were only able to finish about 1/3 or an $8 flan serving.

We need more brasseries and bistros. I hope that things pick up for this one.

I am going to start off by saying that I am a firm believer in the fact that everyone is entitled to their opinion....Lord knows that I spread mine around freely!

I wish I could figure out where people are coming from with "overly salted"! I have been to Brasserie Provence on multiple occasions and have not found it salty at all. Every time I've dined there, the food is perfectly seasoned and very good. I am not a huge salt fan, and don't use it after preparation as a rule. I find it very amusing that in a city that salts food BEFORE tasting it to begin with that the complaints about being over salted come up so freely.

As for the Berry Custard Flan that Mr. Pierce commented on, in traditional French style, that dish is barely held together with a moist binder and is meant to be a bit crumbly...I find it very good with a pot of their French press coffee, if I have room that late in the meal.

Regarding the Lobster app, I tend to shy away from ordering Seafood in a busy place on a Saturday evening. Timing is everything with Seafood. If the place is busy, you run the risk of have food sit in the window for a bit of time (unfortunate fact of the industry).

Additionally, I agree about the fries. Had them once, and won't again. They cheerfully sub out another side at request.

I think value or sensation statements ( too salty, too sweet, too hot, too fast, too bright, etc.) should automatically carry the caveat "for me" . Our sensory preceptors (eyes, ears , taste buds) are not factory issued pieces of equipment. None (oh, OK, few) these days are made to industrial specifications or can be considered uniform. What is fine for Bill is simply too salty for Will. That perception may change from person to person based on biological attributes of the diners taste buds, dietary history and habits even how the nose of each individual works. It's hardly an arguable point . Now if everybody says it's too salty or even the majority of diners think so, maybe that should be taken into consideration.

I tend to ignore " too salty, too sweet, too spicy" statements in any review. They are seldom relevant to my dining perception. I DO tend to pay attention to statements concerning service and hospitality. But those too can be relevant I suppose. Enough happy diner reviews will make me think a restaurant is worth a try and I think Brasserie Provence has those. BP will no doubt find its footing as time goes on. Personally I think they are off to a good start.

[Robin Garr]

I tend to ignore " too salty, too sweet, too spicy" statements in any review. They are seldom relevant to my dining perception. I DO tend to pay attention to statements concerning service and hospitality. But those too can be relevant I suppose. Enough happy diner reviews will make me think a restaurant is worth a try and I think Brasserie Provence has those. BP will no doubt find its footing as time goes on. Personally I think they are off to a good start.

Okay, I have to say this: In general, Carla, you are correct, of course. But as a long-term critic who does his damndest to avoid the "personal preference bias," I have to tell you that on this particular night, the sauces on Anne's duck and Don's grouper were objectively over-salted. This was one of the few noteworthy fails in an overall outstanding dinner delivered under tough (slammed, in the weeds) circumstances, but it was not just a matter of taste.

I tend to ignore " too salty, too sweet, too spicy" statements in any review. They are seldom relevant to my dining perception. I DO tend to pay attention to statements concerning service and hospitality. But those too can be relevant I suppose. Enough happy diner reviews will make me think a restaurant is worth a try and I think Brasserie Provence has those. BP will no doubt find its footing as time goes on. Personally I think they are off to a good start.

Okay, I have to say this: In general, Carla, you are correct, of course. But as a long-term critic who does his damndest to avoid the "personal preference bias," I have to tell you that on this particular night, the sauces on Anne's duck and Don's grouper were objectively over-salted. This was one of the few noteworthy fails in an overall outstanding dinner delivered under tough (slammed, in the weeds) circumstances, but it was not just a matter of taste.

I am cool with that. When several people make the same observation on a given dish it gives it a great deal more weight. AND since you have made other observations at other restaurants on dishes where I've found myself saying "yeah, mine was too." Or "I've noticed that as well." then I think I would likely find it too salty as well. I wonder if it was one particular chef with the salt fetish or what. In general, about how many head chefs or lead cooks would a given restaurant have? Could "too salty" one night with one cook be "just right" with another likely?

[Robin Garr]

I am cool with that. When several people make the same observation on a given dish it gives it a great deal more weight. AND since you have made other observations at other restaurants on dishes where I've found myself saying "yeah, mine was too." Or "I've noticed that as well." then I think I would likely find it too salty as well. I wonder if it was one particular chef with the salt fetish or what. In general, about how many head chefs or lead cooks would a given restaurant have? Could "too salty" one night with one cook be "just right" with another likely?

Carla, again, I accept that tastes differ, although I think it's interesting that most "chef-driven" places don't put out salt and pepper shakers on the table unless people dare to ask for them, suggesting that you're expected to trust the kitchen to get it right.

In further discussion of this particular case, though, I can only repeat that I've done my best to train my taste buds over 30 (!) years in this business, with an eye (or a taste bud) toward judging flavors as fairly and as devoid of personal preference as I can. This is also why I tend to dine with Mary, whose tastes I'm familiar with, and often with other friends who I know to be competent food people. If there's a difference of opinion about a dish or flavor, I'll pay close attention to that and check in more closely to hear others' perceptions of what we're tasting.

When it comes to salt, for instance, I know Mary likes more of it than I do and will often salt food that I find just-right. In the context of these two dishes at Brasserie, though, they were both unusually salty, so much so as to prompt both Anne and Don to ask us to check in and see if they were just being crazy. They weren't.

Now, here's my best guess: Remember, the restaurant was beyond slammed. I noted this in my review, and I gave them considerable credit for handling it with remarkable grace and skill. Not much went wrong, and where minor flubs appeared to be crowd-related, I gave them a pass. But my bst guess is that a really good chef got in a big hurry and mis-measured, or shook too vigorously, or maybe even the cap flew off the shaker. Who knows?

I will take may stand, though, that this was an issue - probably a one-time issue - but not merely a matter of taste.

Has anyone tried the pork chop? I know, but not your ordinary pork chop. I enjoyed my meal and drinks, husband not so much (he had the shrimp). He thought mine was wonderful as I did so I think it's hit and miss on what you select. I, we, would go back. But at the price it will not be a go to often place like I had hoped since we're right around the corner.

heads up: there's a groupon for the brasserie today.

[Robin Garr]

heads up: there's a groupon for the brasserie today.

I've had plenty of good reports on it ... they recovered from the early service issues.

wow wow wow wow

finally made it here for the first time as our groupon was about to expire and had a great lunch.

friendly welcome, attentive server and terrific food.

they are participating in 502 Lunch week if you need any incentive to try it.

Plenty of vegetarian options on the standard menu and the menu indicates that they are able to accommodate vegan and gluten diets / other dietary restrictions.

Even without the lunch week promo you will not break the bank. We ordered up, wanting to try a few things and they were quite happy to box our leftovers to go.

They offer a "to go" menu. There's a private dining room available. There are seasonal changes to the menu... these folks are firing on all cylinders.

This was probably a "top 5 meal in KY" for us. seriously good.