610 Magnolia Restaurant Review

Yay!! Date night!!

We made a reservation at 610 Magnolia after learning more about it in this month's box from the Our Local Box subscription service. This Louisville restaurant only seats 50, is only open Thursday through Saturday for dinner and has only one seating a night. Our kids had a date to go to Circe du Soleil with their grandparents so were were able to book a couple of weeks in advance and get the night we wanted. Usually we try to get reservations at the last minute and that's often dramatic! LOL!

The restaurant is owned by Chef Edward Lee, who has gained prominence through various television appearances (Top Chef, Iron Chef). He is also a multiple time finalist for the James Beard Foundation Awards as best chef southeast. 

610 Magnolia is located in one of the old, historic parts of Louisville. There is an 1800s mansion for sale nearby that looks creepy as hell but the hubs thought it was awesome (aw hell naw) and this one I found when trying to find the mansion listing - it's legitimately creepy as hell!! LOL!! Needless to say, the neighborhood is awesome and full of character! The restaurant has no big sign or anything, just some little bitty painted writing by the door, and we would have driven right by it if we hadn't already seen pictures!

The vibe is very homey but still super chic. I don't think I've ever seen a table set with so many glasses. Seriously, like 8 per place setting, so a round table of 5 had 40 or so pieces of stemware. All sparkly and shiny, it was a gorgeous effect. I was told by a friend that I had to have the champagne cocktail, so all my stemware was whisked away except for water glass and towering champagne flute. When I had my SECOND cocktail, I noticed the stem was about half the length and hubs joked that #3 would be in a flat to the table tumbler, to save their stemware from the drunken accidents which got progressively more likely! LOL!

The menu is fixed price, there are 4 courses and you can have any three courses for $55/person or all 4 for $65/person. I'm a 20+ year vegetarian and hubs mentioned this when he made our reservation. Our server already knew this without me telling her! Nice touch! We went for the 4 course option to try as many things as we could while we were there.

After ordering, the meal was started with a three piece presentation of small bites. Hubs' involved mussel and escargot, mine a lot calmer with artichoke salad, a goat cheese pastry and homemade hummus. Ive been obsessed with hummus lately, so that was perfect! All very interesting!

Sorry... I already ate the middle bite! LOL!

Our favorite part of the meal was probably the Blue Dog Bakery bread with sea salt topped butter. Seriously. To. Die. For.

nom nom nom....

Next came appetizers. I misunderstood the ordering process and was served a crab leg horror show (horrifying to a veg! Haha) and hubs got a prawn dish. The staff completely freaked out over what they all assumed was their mistake and even after I insisted it was fine, returned with a salad to replace the crab, then suggested hubs change HIS salad course since the one they brought was what he had ordered. Just so, so, so over the top nice. The service has been the make or break point for us SO many times and I can't say enough about how wonderful they were!

Next came salads, which were wonderful! We both had a mixed greens salad with cherries and walnuts and a wonderful, rich balsamic vinagerette. So, so delicious!

For entrees, chef whipped me up an awesome ricotta gnocchi and vegetables dish and hubs had some kind of pork belly concoction.

Dessert was awesome. Cheese plate and accoutrements for hubs and an interesting and delicious strawberry ice cream with various sauces for me!

We picked up one of Chef's new Smoke & Pickles cookbooks while we were there and got the chance to have it personalized!

The main issue for most people, I'm sure, is the cost. Our meal was $65/person, cocktails were $12/each, mandatory 18% gratuity is added on (we always tip more like 25%, so that was no surprise, just made it hard to do some math at the END of the meal! LOL), coffee and taxes, made our dinner about $230. It definitely isn't something you'd do every day! But would we go back? In a heartbeat. It was a unique experience and a chance to enjoy a meal in what is arguably a Chef's dream circumstances. The place is world-class and is yet another gem in this fabulous, fabulous city!!

You can view the current menu for 610 Magnolia here if you'd like more accurate, foodie descriptions of what we ate! LOL!