Robin Garr's LOUISVILLE Restaurant Reviews

NOTE: Originally opened as Wellinghurst's, this upscale dining room at Louisville Slugger Field went through significant changes over an extended period during 2004 when Anoosh Shariat arrived as Executive Chef of this high-end restaurant and the adjacent Browning's, and changed the name of the restaurant to Park Place on Main. Later, Jerry Slater arrived from the Oakroom to join Shariat's staff. I haven't re-reviewed the new establishment because I was recognized on a critical visit and was given what I believed to be exceptional service that did not seem to be appropriate for a consumer review. However, there is no question that Shariat and Browning have successfully repositioned Park Place as one of the city's top tables.

88	Park Place on Main Slugger Field 401 E. Main St. (502) 515-0173

In contrast with Browning's, its sibling under the same management in Louisville Slugger Field, Wellinghurst's Steak House turns its back on its historically evocative setting.

Sealed off from the ball park by solid walls that create a dark, featureless corridor for baseball fans strolling through what used to be the soaring lobby of the old Brinly-Hardy "train shed," Wellinghurst's carves out a space that's open only to East Main Street, with ambience that's pleasant enough but that could really be any steak house, anywhere.

We'll take off no points for that - as a steak house, it stands well above the local median - but it's kind of a shame to see the management that so gracefully laced together Louisville history and baseball in Browning's miss the mark with its more upscale sister establishment.

Beige and dark gray walls and dark wood set the decor tone for Wellinghurst's with wide wooden blinds over the big windows and glass doors that look out on Main Street. One intriguing bow to olden days is a remarkable, Industrial Age motor system that powers the double row of twirling overhead fans, all linked to each other and to sturdy electrical engines via an interlocking series of leather belts that swoosh gently as they spin their long orbits across the ceiling.

Decor is minimalist, an impressionistic horse painting or two, but the theme is mostly wine: Rare and large-format bottles standing around, with several large wine racks and wine-cabinet drawers to add interest to the wall space; the entire eastern end of the long room is given over to an imposing wine cellar, with an oversize window offering a view of wooden racks with space for more than 700 bottles.

The tables (and a few booths) are sturdy and well spaced, double-draped in white damask and set with black poly napkins, attractive pewter-and-frosted-glass votive candle lamps and very fine glassware and flatware including excellent, large and delicately thin wine glasses.

The menu offers standard steak house fare at prices that reach the "special occasion" level but come in well under the nosebleed charges at franchised competitors Morton's of Chicago and Ruth's Chris. Nine appetizers are $3.95 (for a house salad) to $9.95 (for a shrimp cocktail) and generally stick with traditional starters like smoked salmon ($8.95), fried calamari ($7.95) and baked Brie ($8.50) rather than more trendy stuff. Eleven main courses range from $14.95 (for several choices including linguine carbonara with country ham, roast pork tenderloin and grilled salmon) to $26.95 (for a 12-ounce filet mignon). As you would expect with a steak house, the entree list starts off with a choice of three steaks plus prime rib.

In traditional steak house style, entrees come with house salad as the only accompaniment; side dishes are extra, and range in price from $2.95 for a baked potato to $6.95 for sauteed wild mushrooms.

The wine list is a winner, as you would expect from the management, which also runs Judge Roy Bean's, one of the city's top spots for wine. It is broad and well-chosen, featuring a diverse list of interesting wines, generally affordable and not marked up as rapaciously as some of its competitors, particularly in the steak house niche. The back of the dinner menu offers about two dozen popular choices by the glass (from $5.75 to $9.75) or bottle (from $23 to $39), and includes such intriguing oddities as Leasingham Clare Valley Riesling from Australia ($5.75 a glass, $23 a bottle) and d'Arenberg "The Footbolt" Shiraz ($8.25/$33).

The full wine list, presented in book form, features almost 200 wines at a wide range of prices, with a couple of suck-in-your-breath items (like Beaulieu Vineyards 1995 "Clone 4" Rutherford Cabernet Sauvignon and 1997 Opus One for $220 each); but an admirable share of the choices fall into the affordable range, with most selections under $40 and many in the $20s, an entirely reasonable range at a rational markup.

The popular Columbia Crest Washington State Merlot is a good choice with steak at $19.25; other noteworthy items in the budget range include Chapoutier Cotes-du-Rhone ($21.50) and the excellent Argentine red, Altos Las Hormigas Riserva Malbec ($29.95, and for which I recently paid $22 at retail). Interesting offbeat items among the whites include Wild Horse 1999 Malvasia Bianca from Monterey, Calif., ($24.25) and Chateau Tahbilk 1995 Library Release Marsanne from Australian ($26.75).

I fear I may have taken advantage of a mispriced item, however, as I spotted and grabbed the Qupé 1999 Santa Barbara County Bien Nacido Vineyard Reserve, a $25 retail value, listed at $29.25. This very attractive Rhone-style California wine showed loads of New World fruit, with additional flavor interest from a dash of the fragrant black pepper that's characteristic of Syrah.

Wellinghurst's wine glasses are decent if not eggshell-thin, big enough to swirl your wine and get your nose into.

We started our meal with a shared appetizer, oysters on the half shell with three sauces ($8.95). Six big oysters in their shells were presented on a large plate with three crocks of sauces: A soy-based dipping sauce added an Asian touch; spicy horseradish relish was appropriately sinus-clearing; and "classic cocktail sauce" ws the usual tangy red. The menu is not yupped up with geographical references or genus and species - these oysters were presented without being introduced - but they were fine, sea-sweet and impeccably fresh.

Dinner rolls were dense, even heavy, but appetizing all the same, unbleached, warm and yeasty with a chewy crust, served with whipped butter.

A shared salad of fresh mozzarella and sliced tomatoes ($6.50) - what the Italians call caprese - was very fine, too. Three thick slices of fresh tomato, admirably ripe and juicy for the off-season, were topped with rounds of creamy, fresh mozzarella and shreds of fresh basil, drizzled with fruity olive oil and mild balsamic vinegar.

Entrees are served on large, simple beige stoneware plates, decorated just like the dishes at Browning's (both restaurants share a kitchen) with minced parsley, chopped scallions and red bell-pepper dice.

My choice, grilled orange-ginger duck breast ($20.95), consisted of a large duck breast, cooked medium-rare as requested, cut crosswise into thin slices, topped with thick-slivered almonds and plated on a thick, dark-red Port sauce that was sweet-tart, citric and winey, a good foil for the duck. An orange-ginger glaze didn't speak loud enough to be heard, but that's no criticism; the meat was tender and flavorful, with only a hint of the thick fat layer that's often found on duck.

My wife's New York strip steak ($25.95) was good if not quite great, flavorful but not overly tender, and edged with a significant amount of gristle that wasted maybe 4 or 5 of its 14 ounces. (That being said, however, there was still more than enough to load a good-size doggie bag at the end of the evening.) Steaks are served with your choice of Béarnaise, Bordelaise or Louisville's own Henry Bain sauce. The Béarnaise was competent: rich, buttery and tangy with a good herbal note of tarragon. Of course, as my father used to say, a good steak requires no sauce ...

Side dishes fully passed muster. Twice baked potato ($3.95) was genuine if calorific comfort food, an oversize baked potato, shelled out and coarsely mashed, mixed with cream and cheese and onions and bits of bacon, stuffed back into the skin and baked until golden brown. Delicious. Steamed asparagus ($5.50) featured perfect early-spring asparagus, grilled until tender but not mushy and topped with a rather light hollandaise.

New York-style cheesecake ($4.95) varies in ingredients daily; the special this night was made with nut brown ale, a confection too interesting to pass up. The result didn't taste like beer, thankfully, but the malty brew added a delicious sweet rich creamy quality to the dessert. We finished with cups of decaf ($1.99) since they don't have an espresso machine.

Service was friendly and mostly on-the-spot, if a bit fretful with understandable opening-week jitters. A full and excellent dinner came to $115.52 with the wine, a fair price for a high-end steak house; we added a $24.48 tip. $$$$

(April 2002)