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Nicki Pendleton
The Eat Beat
Nashville Banner
1100 Broadway
Nashville, TN 37203
| "Class comes with a price"
By Nicki Pendleton,
Banner Food Writer(pub. March 14, 1997, Nashville Banner)
Going to someone else's neighborhood restaurant is an interesting way to view the human condition in its natural habitat. Places like Green Hills' Box Seat, Sylvan Park's McCabe Pub, Mama Mia in Elysian Fields, and Lorenzo's in Woodbine, offer pretty good food and a relaxed atmosphere, as far as whatever ``relaxed'' means in those neighborhoods.
Belle Meade Brasserie is theoretically that sort of place, though because of its neighborhood, it's held to a higher standard. ``Brasserie'' means ``brewery,'' connoting a menu of food with a popular appeal at popular prices: roast chicken, bean soups, chops, burgers, pastas.
But since the Brasserie's neighborhood is hardly the type to hang at a brewery, the menu is higher end, with lots of fish and seafood, gourmet sauces, fillets, cassoulets, cream soups and extravagant desserts.
It's a shorter and different menu than last year. Where it was formerly loaded with offerings, now it concentrates on a couple dozen dishes, some of which are new, like the duck cassoulet, two chicken dishes, and a filet.
There's a new section of regional offerings that was alleged to change monthly but didn't: in February and early March, Cajun dishes like boudin, crawfish etouffee and Cajun ribeye were offered in honor of Mardi Gras.
The Brasserie's food is at its best in offerings like the chicken Allison ($13.50) and duck cassoulet ($14.50). They're friendly and familiar, properly prepared and superb. A breaded chicken breast was sauteed in wine and topped with reduced tomatoes and capers. It comes to the table juicy and tender, rich meat contrasting with tangy sauce. Cassoulet is ``sagey and wintery,'' said one guest. The dish features duck legs so tender the meat fell off them in shreds. Oooooh and aaaaaahs are appropriate here.
February's crawfish etouffe ($17.50) was a big serving, crammed with crawfish, and full of spices, over a long grain herbed rice. Like the duck cassoulet, it's the kind of thing you'd fix yourself if you were a good cook.
Two things about the fish of the day were memorable. First, there was the texture.
``This is the softest, fluffiest fish I've ever eaten'' exclaimed one guest. It was truly so moist it evaporated, slipping right down the throat, which is a bizarre feeling, I assure you. It was as if it had been steamed. One guest disliked the tomato cream sauce with artichoke hearts, but I loved it. The other memorable thing about the fish was the price: $24.95 is entering Trilogy territory (and look what happened to them.)
I asked for the Cajun ribeye ($16.95) medium rare, then added ``unless the chef has a different recommendation.'' Rare is apparently the preferred treatment for ribeye, and rare it was, which shows a respect for the food - always a good sign in a restaurant kitchen.
Other foods don't rate such respect: why offer an appetizer of four pricey green-lipped mussels for $7, when there are other, less expensive, equally tasty varieties (Caffe Milano offers a dozen-ish in broth for $7.25)? Worse, the rice under the mussels was undercooked yet somehow gummy, and the same bad rice appeared with our chicken. A bread basket of rolls emerged hard and dry from its turn under the heat lamps.
Mushroom bisque ($5) a pint of solid cream flavored with minced 'shrooms, is heavenly for the first few bites, grows heavier, and then you push it away. Our dear server sensed we didn't love it and whisked it off the table and off the bill.
Do I flip my wig about these shortcomings? Not really; they're very common and normally acceptable in most neighborhood restaurants. But this is a neighborhood place that has $16 entrees, so the bar is raised. Our dear server was Gordon, a longtime Brasserie employee, the very picture of Old World manners and fine service. The French accent doesn't hurt a bit, either.
The desserts are well crafted and thoughtful. The chocolate mousse tort is as pale and light as it is tall, backed with layers of sponge cake alternating with raspberry puree, so it looks like it's wrapped in awning stripes.
Its heart is pure cream and light chocolate, a nice change from the ubiquitous, devilishly rich fudgey desserts I've been offered lately, all sporting names like Chocolate Threat or Magnum Chocolate. Our mango sorbet had bits of real mango, though it could have used a little lime juice. If dessert isn't your thing, get caffe Belle Meade (the menu says $5.50, our bill said $6.50). There's always the bill I like the Brasserie's decor, and its use of mirrors so you can surreptitiously view an attractive someone at another table (or, more likely here, watch for your ex to enter with a new beau). Thick carpet muffles sound, so you never overhear the conversation at the next table.
And the bathroom? Well, it hasn't changed much since good old Doug's Pub occupied the place.
We liked our food, and our evenings, very much, but there's always the bill. One guest on our first visit quoted a Brasserie regular.
``He says when he comes here, he's always surprised at how much he pays for what he gets.'' I had to agree, though I'm aware that fine food is costly to make. For one salad, two glasses of wine, one beer, three entrees, and three desserts, we paid $94. On another visit, three entrees, two appetizers, and a bottle of wine was $99.
That's out of my neighborhood, but if it's in yours, lucky you.
location:
Belle Meade Brasserie
101 Page Road. 356-5450.
Nicki Pendleton's "Eat Beat" is a regular feature of the Nashville Banner's Friday Backbeat section. All reviews are based on two or more visits. The Banner pays for all meals. We welcome your comments.
Copyright 1997, Nashville Banner |
