LEO/LHB: Treat your sweetie on the cheap: Share!

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes
Treat your sweetie on the cheap: Share!

Here's a cheeky way to treat your sweetie to a Valentine's Day dinner (or other romantic occasion) at a fancy restaurant, enjoying an expansive meal while keeping the price under control: Share dinner.

I'm talking serious sharing here, the kind you would only want to undertake in the company of someone close enough that you don't object to taking food from the same plate.

This approach need not be cheap or sleazy, and any good restaurateur will gladly accommodate you in your plan. We tried it the other night at <b>Primo</b>, one of my favorite restaurants.

Primo, run by Louisville restaurant pioneer "Bim" Deitrich, offers an easy mix of modern, flashy yet sophisticated style set into a 19th-century building. Chef Michael Hargrove is doing a very serious job with Italian regional cuisine in a menu that changes every week.

Primo flexibly permits comfortable low-budget dining with a wood-oven pizza and a glass of wine; or you can take the high road with authentic Italian regional main courses in the upscale range.

Primo
445 E. Market St.
583-1808
http://www.primorestaurant.net
Robin Garr's rating: 95 points

Full reports in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.

Gary and I do that now and again at a number of restaurants, especially when we know the portions are particularly generous and we might want to have dessert and a nice wine and maybe an after-dinner liqueur.

I love Primo's, but I'll just voice my only complaint about the place. And it's not about food or service or the like, but the colors of the actual decor. It seems like such a nit-picky thing I'm almost embarrassed to even bring it up, but it leaves me so cold I almost invariably choose to go somewhere else whenever the choice for a nice dinner out comes up. The overwhelming gray is frankly depressing to me, and leaves me with the sensation of needing a sweater, even when it's warm. The red lamp shades, rather than lending a sense of warmth, which you'd think they might, just contribute the overwhelming feeling of basement colors.

I really wish they'd consider warming the place up somehow with a different color scheme. I'd for sure go back a heck of a lot more often.

Damn.

The print version and LeoWeekly.com of this article both credit Chef Michael Crouch (Bourbon's Bistro) as the chef at the stove in Primo's kitchen.


Big ouch for Chef Michael Hargrove.

My sincerest sympathy goes out to Chef Hargrove for this journalistic faux pas.

[Robin Garr]

Damn.

The print version and LeoWeekly.com of this article both credit Chef Michael Crouch (Bourbon's Bistro) as the chef at the stove in Primo's kitchen.


Big ouch for Chef Michael Hargrove.

My sincerest sympathy goes out to Chef Hargrove for this journalistic faux pas.

This episode of brain flatulence will be corrected in next week's paper. Any other questions?

Damn.

The print version and LeoWeekly.com of this article both credit Chef Michael Crouch (Bourbon's Bistro) as the chef at the stove in Primo's kitchen.


Big ouch for Chef Michael Hargrove.

My sincerest sympathy goes out to Chef Hargrove for this journalistic faux pas.

This episode of brain flatulence will be corrected in next week's paper. Any other questions?

Yes, when do you think you might get around to convincing them to repaint the place?

[Robin Garr]

Yes, when do you think you might get around to convincing them to repaint the place?

I have to confess that the colors have never bothered me, mainly because it's a romantically dim setting anyway.

But I'm sure Mr. Deitrich would give you a polite answer if you asked him about this.