socially acceptable

It had been a while since we had broken bread with our dear friends and i could tell by talking to sarah that this was the restaurant to break that trend. the spark in her voice as she first described social 732 to myself a few weeks ago showed that she thought this restaurant could be DIFFERENT. this did turn out to be the case. social kind of attacks your senses as you walk in through the crowd that spills out onto the covered outdoor area. the ceilings are very tall and the depth of the inside dining area seems to be deceiving as we kept looking around the bends for more tables, they weren't there, though. there are about 8 - 10 tables inside, albeit some would seat 8. the tables were made of distressed wood, probably reclaimed like the walls in this "Green Building". the tables were also very close to one another, and the bar had a vibe of friendly communal dining - social dining. one does not go to social only to eat, it is also food for the social soul. the waiters were all of a "type". very hip, very smooth, very professional. a few of them used to work at proof, and that hip attitude is carried over. our drinks arrived scattered about in a 5 minute interlude. they were bought by 3 different servers and we chatted with all of them. the servers were very high on the throwback cocktails and the original ones as well. the champagne cocktail brought about images of Casablanca, and they looked delicious in their wide rimmed and up curved high stem glasses. the craft beer selection is one of the best in town, probably one of the successful attributes brought down from the Chicago dining scene.? the bleach colored hues of the walls are absent from distraction of your food and your socializing. one giant painting is of multi-colored vertical lines and faces east market with its "come-in and sit a spell" beckoning. the stools at the bar are very sturdy and comfortable, as are the dining chairs.

we were seated for about 8 minutes before being tended to, but we were happy to get a table so quickly and were enjoying catching up on old times. servers are more like part of the crowd, as opposed to being there to only work. they are more like hosts as they stroll by the tables, kind of chatting amongst the tables, maybe asking if you needed anything or maybe asking if you had been to any good art galleries lately. their style seems to compliment the motif of the eatery. when we were ready to get to the food, we ordered the cheese plate (2 cheeses for $10). i ordered a blue cheese and a semi-soft goat cheese. both paired excellently with the candied walnuts, honey, and finely diced apples. the bread could have been a bit more plentiful, but in retrospect i was glad i did not fill up on the great white loaf. the goat was as mild of a goat cheese as i had tasted, one of the diners even remarked that it could not be goat cheese. the other starter was the potatoes au gratin. served very hot in a ceramic dish, this dish set my taste buds to a frenzy. the texture of the grated dry cheese and the incredible moisture of the sliced potatoes were in wedded bliss. the flavors of the two also melded to a harmony that was played by a chef with some experience.

bypassing a wonderful array of interesting salads we were up for our entrees. the short ribs went across from me, served on a raised wooden platform. the sauce was nice and the meat was fall-off-the-bone, but the flavor did not get me talking. two diners ordered the mussels, and although they were very good, i would not give them an excellent rating. i believe they could have been a little fresher. not that they were not fresh, but the difference between 1 and 2 days can be noticed. one of the entrees was an order of the moroccan vegetables that was served atop a bed of couscous. i had the medallions of cow ($26, pictured at top). there were two plump filets mixed with asparaugus, tomatoes, onions, capers, and heavy grain black pepper. the entrees might need a little more seasoning to fine tune the flavors, but this restaurant seemed to have a staying quality in the proven hard to survive area east of town.

the biggest issue we had on our first balmy night of the year was the temperture inside the building. the door was open for a while, but it got closed about half way through. wasn't quite sure why this happened, and the heat of the very open kitchen seemed to win out. it had been a while since i sweated through dinner, but i would hope this would be efficiently remedied. great crowd, great atmosphere, great starters, if the entrees follow suit this place will hit the top, but for now ***1/2 welcome to Louisville social, lets get to know eachother.

AE