we should have stuck to the appetizers.. we were introduced to this place personally by some folks we met here in louisville. having recently moved here, my husband and i had only heard about proof in the local culinary editorials, and had no first-hand accounts of it until our new friends said it was good and suggested that we should all go there. the atmosphere is lively and and hip, and it was very crowded. the bar has an abbreviated menu that we chose a few apps from while we waited for our table. the octopus was pretty good--although i don't feel i can rave about it. hubby complained that it was too chewy. i explained that octopus can be on the chewy side, but admittedly i grabbed the choice larger pieces right off the bat, so...you get the idea. the marrow bones and jam were, as expected, decadent and rich, but very hard to reach. in fact, one of them was completely inaccessible, especially since we were given no cocktail forks or other appropriate utensil. it really should have been more hollowed out by the person sending the food out in the kitchen- it was clearly not going to be able to be eaten, and trust me, we were very aggressive with the butter knife that we were given.
our reservations weren't until 9:00 and we didn't sit until about a quarter after. once at our table, the meal progressed slowly, which i personally don't mind at all; although, with over half an hour between our last two courses, some people at our table were really starting to wonder if our entrees would ever come. that being what it is, we all shared a charcuterie platter as an app for the table, which was fantastic. the meats were top notch. the second course's tuna and watermelon crudo was well received by my dinner companions, as was the butternut squash soup; however, our salads were fresh but overdressed. the dressing on the mixed greens is very strong with vinegar or citrus, and coming from me, that is saying that it was completely overpowering. i love strong flavors, especially vinegar. my husband's sunchoke salad was interesting, but again, there was an element that was too dominant and oily.
entrees were a mixed bag. they took forever, and half of it was cooked improperly. both of the bone in bison filets ordered were severely overcooked, and judging by the charred rosemary garnish on top of mine, it had been "resting" in the window for about 10 minutes. the bison burger at the table was undercooked, and again, "well rested". the $28 scallop "entree' was the size of an appetizer (three u-10 scallops on a dollop of so-so risotto). the side items to all dishes were underwhelming across the board. however, i disagreed with the opinion of the ordering party on the quality of the bison burger's french fries- i thought they were divine- he said he wasn't a "fry guy."
i was shocked at the treatment given to the quality cuts of meat that should have been shining stars on our plates. i found all meats under-salted, even when returned to the table, now cooked to the proper temp. and to add insult to the injury, my beautiful cut lay upon now wilted and cold butter sauteed leeks-- a mushy mess. seemingly, some of what we experienced had to be isolated events, and emanated like some strange domino effect from one small oversight in the kitchen. or could be that the place is just so damn hip that everyone overlooks the lack of professionalism from the kitchen? sigh. oh well, therestaurantwas beautiful, we had a great table, the server was nice, and the company was fantastic. all in all, 3 out of 5 stars, but at this price point, it was a wreck.