467774 Sun Dec 09 06:13:41 -0800 2007 11 8 Midwest 0 3192182 Rue Domaine, owned and operated by Anne Kearny and her husband Tom Sand, opened at the end of November in Centerville OH, one of the south suburbs of Dayton. Anne and Tom previously ran the renouned restaurant Peristyle in New Orleans, so the opening of Rue Domaine (named for the street of their NOLA place) was much anticipated by local foodies! We ate there Friday night, about 10 days after opening. Overall, it was very good although not fabulous. It wasn't at the level of Peristyle, but then again, neither were the prices. This was a birthday dinner for my best friend, and four of us had a 7:30 reservation. The room is large and probably seats about 100 total. The walls are dark red, with large windows, and the high ceiling has wooden beams. We didn't really have an opportunity to check out the bar, which I understand is handmade with a zinc top, as we were seated promptly even though we were about five minutes early for our reservation. Most of the tables are in the center of the room, but we were happily seated in a booth against the 5 foot high wooden divider that separates the bar from the rest of the restuarant. This gave us a cozy space to sit and chat, and since it was a long, slow dinner, we enjoyed sitting there more than we would have one of the more central tables. The menu focuses on incorporating as many fresh local ingredients as possible, Of course, fresh produce in Dayton OH in Dec is not abundant ;-) Tom has a farm where they grow many of the herbs and vegetables; one assumes they have a greenhouse for year round growing. The menus are printed on nice 11X17 inch paper, so I was able to take one home. Our waiter said they were printed daily and perhaps they are, although we were there on Dec 7th and the menu says "week of Dec 4th". The menu is organized into small plates (La Petite Cuisine) and large plates (Les Grands Plats), as well as Specialite du jour (daily specialties) and Garnitures (sides). Since the birthday girl has a sweet tooth, we asked to see the dessert menu (printed separately, as is the wine list) prior to ordering. We are all close friends who expect to share food when we dine together, so we each ordered something different. One misstep was immediately apparent; our waiter informed us they were out of the grilled lamb loin with Provencal vegetables. This disappointed the birthday girl, who adores lamb. The waiter explained that they'd had 25 portions and sold out within an hour and a half of opening. Again, this is a new place, open only 10 days, and perhaps Anne and Tom mis-guessed the appeal of lamb to Dayton diners. Since the place was packed the whole time we were there, my guess is they could have easily sold twice as many lamb entrees. We started with 4 small plates. The Oysters "Rockafella" were described as "plump oysters, baby spinach, tender leeks and onions gently poached in a rich Pernod infused veloute finished with applewood smoked bacon. In retrospect, the description matched the dish we were served, but I expected the more traditional presentation of oysters rockefeller on the half shelf, and was suprised to be served a bowl of what looked more like oyster stew. It was very tasty, however, although there was way more sauce/veloute than could be eaten, and enough care hadn't been taken when shucking the oysters, so there were a few tough and gritty bits. There were probably at least 10 oysters in the bowl, though, so it was a large portion. The Crispy Herb de Provence frog legs with sauce verte were excellent. Five frogs legs were served, and they were fried to perfection. The frogs legs and the Pissalediere, a puff pastry tartlet with roasted garlic, carmalized onions, olives, and goat cheese, were the two most successful small plates. The pan-seared sea scallops with roasted fingerling potatoes and wilted leeks were good, although there were only three small scallops, so I only had half of one. Prices for the appetizers ranged from $10 for the oysters to $7.50 for the onion tart, very reasonable for the quality of the food, in my opinion. Next, the four of us shared 3 large plates. We had the Mussels Bourride, PEI mussels steamed in a saffron-shellfish broth with tomatoes and herbs. These were very good, although more than 50% of the mussels had fallen out of the shells (not uncommon of course), but whomever dished it out didn't take care to ensure that we received a comparable amount of the free-swimming shellfish, so we ended up with about a third more shells than mussels. The Pommes frites that accompaned this were excellent, thin cut twice fried, the way fries should be made! The duck confit with stewed French lentils and wilted spinach was very good, The portion was a duck leg and thigh, with about a half cup of lentils and spinach. The Trout Amandine was a large portion of golden pan seared trout with almond brown butter, served with haricot vertes that were perfectly steamed, although they seemed rather large to actually be French green beans, in my experience. A word about the wine list, also printed on 11X17 paper, but not dated. I'm an amature wine geek, so I was familiar with the vast majority of the wines on the list, but it isn't organized for beginners. One assumes the sommelier would have been happy to explain and guide less experienced folks through it, but of course that wasn't necessary for us. It appeared that the wines were priced at approximately twice the retail cost of the wines, although here in Ohio wines are fairly expensive due to state minimum required pricing. There is a large, eclectic selection of wines available, with a good representation of by-the-glass options., We started with an 06 Domaine De Noire Chinon Rose, a rose made from the Cabernet Franc grape in the Loire valley area of France. It was served a bit too cold for my preference, and we quickly removed it from the ice bucket and left it on the table to warm a bit. It had some of the cab franc herbal characteristics mixed with a bit of candied cherry overtones, and was certainly drinkable although nothing special. It was $30 for a bottle. Since the birthday girl prefers white and rose wine to red, and since we had several fish/seafood entrees, we ordered the 03 Conde de Albarei, a Spanish Albarino that was quite nice, and the same price as the Chinon Rose. This wine was refreshing with palate cleansing lemon acidity and it matched quite well with our variety of tastes. Our designated driver, a non-drinker, had an assortment of herbal teas delivered with hot water and was pleased with the selection. The desserts we chose were creme brulee, chocolate gelato with brandied nuts, apple walnut galette, and a lemon almond cake with cherry compote. The creme brulee had a good burnt-sugar crust, but the custard was very runny. Again, hopefully this is the type of misstep that will be corrected once the opening jitters smooth out. The galette suffered from soggy crust. The gelato and the lemon cake were both excellent, We asked if there were dessert wines on offer, as they weren't on the menu, and Scott (who I think may be the sommelier) came to discuss them with me and said he hadn't had time yet to print them. We chose a glass of Saturenes and a glass of late-harvest Addlesheim Oregon Pinot Noir, and both were good. No Port was available by the glass, although that's always popular in this area. Service was attentive, but the pacing of the meal was quite slow. We finshed around 10:15 pm which was fine for us, as the four of us enjoyed talking and spending time together, but might not be acceptable to everyone. Our waiter apologized once or twice for the slowness of the food arrival. He did deliver all of the small plates together, all of the large plates together, and all of the desserts together. Again, the missteps are all understandable in a brand new venture, and we thought the prices were reasonable. It was about $190 for the meal and wine without the tip, and we were all full but not overstuffed and consumed almost everything we were served. I look forward to returning, and to other reports on this very welcome addition to the Dayton dining scene. One postscript; next week we'll be dining at John Henry's in the old Blue Moon space in the Oregon district for another birthday dinner, and I'll report back on it as well. Sun Dec 09 06:13:41 -0800 2007 18072 Niki in Dayton 1 3192974 Thanks a lot Niki! We were going to drive up soon, but maybe we will give them a bit more chance to settle down. Sun Dec 09 13:15:45 -0800 2007 3192182 17643 gungadin 1 3193234 Thanks for the review. I was in Dayton briefly this weekend, but only had time for lunch, so unfortunately Rue Dumaine was not an option. We went an entirely different direction and had lunch at Palermo's on S. Dixie instead, which came highly recommended and has some pretty good pizzas. Sun Dec 09 15:22:48 -0800 2007 3192182 22643 kura kura 2 3193329 We haven't made it there, yet, although they advertise wine tastings with a pizza and pasta bar in a local wine newsletter. What's their pizza like? Thin crust, thick crust, exotic ingredients, etc? TIA! Sun Dec 09 15:54:41 -0800 2007 3193234 18072 Niki in Dayton 3 3193360 They do 2 crusts. We had the thin crust. We tried their gyro pizza as well as a pizza with more traditional toppings. Both were pretty good. I'd go back. I have heard good things about their sandwiches, too. Sun Dec 09 16:09:24 -0800 2007 3193329 22643 kura kura 4 3197552 Thanks; we'll have to check them out. Tue Dec 11 03:38:08 -0800 2007 3193360 18072 Niki in Dayton 1 3207345 niki nice report. if you dont mind, where is this in centerville? on far hills? around the downtown intersection? out by the mall? my in-laws live there -- maybe we'll go next visit. thanks. Fri Dec 14 06:50:14 -0800 2007 3192182 11372 mrnyc 2 3210708 It's on SR 725, east of I-75, in the strip mall in front of Sam's Club, right by Lyons Rd. They have valet parking, but there was ample parking in front the night we were there. If you do go, report back. We'll definitely go back and hopefully they'll have worked out the opening jitters by then! Sat Dec 15 12:03:08 -0800 2007 3207345 18072 Niki in Dayton 1 3261181 I just dined at Rue Domaine with my DH, and we loved it. Quite a unique atmosphere, and you must try the Vin d'Orange punch located in the large glass barrel on the back of the bar. VERY addictive! The bar is absolutely beautiful, and it was hard to leave it to go to our table. DH had Mussels of Love, which are served with Pommes Frites. The portion of mussels was ginormous, but he managed it. I had a nice house salad (loved the capers), and it was good I kept it light because the Duck Confit was so rich. Finished with Creme Brulee, but DH had the Gelato. Excellent dining experience. Staff thoroughly attentive, but not hanging on. Complimentary valet parking can really add a spark to a special evening. I'm getting my Valentine's Day reservations EARLY! Fri Jan 04 11:40:56 -0800 2008 3192182 154689 jamlady 2 3262051 Glad to hear they're working out the rough spots! Mark Fisher, the restaurant reviewer for the Dayton Daily News, reviewed it today in GO (the Friday entertainment supplement) and he seemed to love it, too. How was the texture of the creme brulee? Fri Jan 04 15:15:59 -0800 2008 3261181 18072 Niki in Dayton 1 3269431 According to the DDN, Rue Domaine is now open for lunch of Friday's. That is excellent news. Mon Jan 07 09:08:26 -0800 2008 3192182 92112 Fibber McGee 1 3425480 I love to see people mentioning Palermo's on here -- a fine restaurant. We're reviewing it this week in the Dayton City Paper. Fri Feb 22 15:13:50 -0800 2008 3192182 168563 TimCaseWalker