Wonderful meal at Le Relais

Although I may find fault with the Louisville infrastructure and random development, your restaurants are fantastic! Donna and I had a wonderful experience at Le Relais tonight. After Richard's grandfather picked up his tickets to tomorrow's Seton Hall game, Anthony, the consumate European host, sat us down to experience a great French bistro meal. We speak from experience as we have traveled through France on several occasions, the meal was simply excellent. The ambiance, in this old building that served as the airport's waiting area, was charming and well designed for a French bistro. Our server, Kerry, was fun, well informed, and provided us with great suggestions. The wine list has several hidden gems that blew me away. A Pertimali Brunello - you have to be kidding me!
Donna's beef bourguignon was savory and delicious and my veal blanquette was subtle and authentic. My smoked salmon appetizer was great with just the right touch of capers and sour cream and Donna's moules mariniere yearned for a harbor and some yachts to look at. They were great! Every time we go out, we find another great restaurant. This may be Louisville's claim to fame. I'm getting too fat, but the food is too good!

My first indulgence in the Louisville restaurant world was Le Relais. I had only been in Louisville a couple months, and I had recently found LouisvilleHotBytes with its incredibly useful "sort by rating" feature. Since I'd never really had anything resembling French food before, I figured it would be a wonderful spot for a personal celebration down the road.

It's far outside of a normal college student's budget, but I was determined to make it there, so I made my sacrifices where I had to, and I went.

I ordered the lobster tail appetizer (a special that night), and I guarantee that I will never forget that first bite I took. The wonderful flavor and texture hit me like a brick, and I simply couldn't stop smiling the entire meal. After having grown up in rural Western Kentucky in a family supported only by my father's self-employed income, I had obviously never had the privelege in the past to eat at a restaurant like that.

I owe a large part of my restaurant appreciation in general to that night's visit. I was on such a high from that great meal that everything I ate over the course of the following week tasted better, because it just brought memories back of the earlier evening's experience.

I'm not sure if many people have such specific dining experience that marked an epiphany in the way they see food, but I'm glad it happened that way for me.

Dear Joseph,

What you described, so perfectly, is why a great meal can lift you to sybaritic heights never before experienced. I hate spending money, any amount, on a lousy meal. However, when a restaurant causes a culinary epiphany, it is priceless. When I was rather flush, (before I went into the restaurant business and lost my shirt!) Donna and I had a similar experience at the Michelin starred Parisian restaurant Arpege. It was an out of body experience! Phil G.