Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/250528
Genoud carries wines from France and the Pacifc Northwest. Only French wines are served by the glass. "No offense to my chef — Italians have great wines — but we don't have Italian wines because we are French," Genoud says. He also offers Kentucky, Belgian and French beers, and plenty of bourbon. A crèche, or nativity scene, is displayed in the back of the restaurant. "The little fgurines are important to us in the south of France," Genoud says. Each character has a name and role, he says: "Their job in the village, you know — the gypsy, the olive picker, the bread maker, the mayor." THE SPREAD Brasserie Provence By Mary Chellis Austin Photos by Chris Witzke F or Guy Genoud, everything is simple. "It's not complicated," the Brasserie Provence owner says of his menu, which lists 13 French-titled categories: les hors d'oeuvres, les potages, les poisons, and so on. Te magert de canard, a duck breast with olives, thyme, lentils du Puy and artichoke barigoule? "Barigoule is a very simple process of cooking the artichokes," he tells me in a heavy French accent. "But there is only one way to do it," he adds, as not to confuse simplicity with correctness. Even getting his restaurant of the ground — in a foodie city bursting with new players — was logical and seamless for Genoud. "I always thought I would open a restaurant in France, and I'm glad I never did because the government would make it impossible," he says. So practical of Genoud, who has worked in the hospitality business in the United States for 25 years. "When I was in New York, I was looking to open a place there, but the real estate was so high," he says. "My wife and I were looking to move out from New York and go down a little bit south, where it's a bit warmer." He lets out a guttural laugh because we happened to meet on that sub-zero Monday in January. Genoud was assistant to the general manager at the Brown Hotel for four years. Tere, he met Brasserie Provence's chef de cuisine, Edoardo Bacci. "People say, 'An Italian chef in a French restaurant?' Yeah, I mean, especially the Provençal cuisine — the ingredients are very similar to Italy," the restaurateur says. "I'm closer to Roma than I am to Paris!" Te 50-year-old Cannes native lets out another of his laughs. He sources most of his favors from France — the herbs of Provence, the cured meats, the pâtés, the olives and olive oils, violet fower jam, the lavender. Dishes range from soupe au pistou, a vegetable and white bean soup ($7), to Châteaubriand, a large beef tenderloin ($75 for two). "Te idea of a brasserie is to say to the people, 'Everybody's welcome,'" Genoud says. "It's all kind of a mixture of people and diferent social levels." A few nights before I met with Genoud, I sat one booth over from "mayor for life" Jerry Abramson, who was one booth over from a family with two young children. (Te menu includes a menu enfant.) "It's very dee-verse," Genoud says. "Hold on a second." He rises to greet a woman who has just walked in the door. "Did you get my answer, my dear?" he asks her. As I wait, an accordion song plays and I feel closer to Nice than the East End. Genoud returns a bit rufed. "Always a difculty getting French cheese," he says. "It's always a pro-cess." No, nothing is complicated at Brasserie Provence — as long as there's French cheese. 150 N. Hurstbourne Pkwy. 883-3153 Open Monday through Saturday for lunch (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and dinner (5 p.m. to 10 p.m.) 2.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 65