While in Louisville, I ate at so many different places it is difficult to take the time to write about each one, even if it is only somewhat in-depth.
However, I visited so many special and memorable places that I feel it is almost my duty to talk about them: places like 732 Social.
The local restaurant serves organic food and wine, and locally grown/raised food whenever possible. The food is prepared in a rustic, French style and the menu changes with the season.
What really drew me into 732 Social, however, was not the food.
While dining at another restaurant, I asked the waiter where I NEEDED to visit while in town. He told me that the drinks at 732 Social were amazing and made like cocktails used to be. In other words, the drinks were old-school, and I was interested.
He was definitely right. Drinks like the "Long Stem Rose", a mixture of brut champagne, Peychaud, orange, grapefruit and peach bitters, rose water, sugar cubes, St. Germain elderflower liqueur and lemon zest, really are reminiscent of an earlier time.
While the drinks brought me to the restaurant, the food made me want to come back.
The menu I sampled was made up of fall flavors and hearty textures.
I had Tasmanian Ocean Trout that was baked in parchment paper with preserved lemon, heirloom carrots, fingerling potatoes and salsify.
Salsify is the root of a purple-flowering plant sometimes called "oyster plant" and has a very unique flavor. While some people say that it tastes like oysters, hence the nickname, I have to disagree. The vegetable has a sweet component to it; I think it almost tastes like a more savory and less intense fennel flavor.
Basically, the flavor is hard to describe, but it worked perfectly with the dish.
The trout was some of the best fish I have ever eaten. I want to say it is in the top five fish I have ever eaten. Baking fish in parchment, and even foil, leaves it so moist and tender that you barely have to chew it.
It was delicious.
I also tried the the "Mac-n-Cheese". Although I usually don't like when people re-invent macaroni and cheese (I am a stickler for the classic Old South recipe) this was an exception. Made with cavatapi macaroni, which has a unique spiral shape, bechamel sauce and rock shrimp, this rendition of the classic did not offend me.
The pasta was a huge portion, especially by French restaurant standards; it was served browned and buttery, overflowing from a large souffle dish. The flavors blended perfectly and actually created an umami flavor. Thinking about the small amount I tasted is making me crave the dish right now; it was that good.
The only let-down of the whole meal was, unfortunately, the dessert. My sweet tooth was definitely not satisfied by the red velvet and carrot layered cake that was available that night.
Visually, the cake was delicious. I was staring at the damn thing the whole night. Precise layers of red and cinnamon-laced brown layered perfectly between ribbons of cream cheese icing called to me from across the restaurant.
But my taste buds did not agree with my eyes. The cake ended up having a weird coating of crushed peanut butter cups, which I did not feel married well with the rich flavors of the cake. Also, the red velvet cake suffocated my mouth with its dry and crumbly texture. While the layers of carrot cake were tasty, the other components drowned the one good tasting element out.
I can forgive one night of bad dessert, however, with food and drinks as good as I tried that evening at 732 Social. Along with a unique atmosphere, open kitchen and friendly service, the night was fantastic.
I can definitely say that if I am ever in Louisville again, I will be back.
No comments:
Post a Comment