| rev:text
| - My parents and I were looking forward to visiting Le Lyonnais since the "re-branding" of Sonoma Grille, looking forward to a different cuisine as well as more reasonable prices. The write up in the newspaper indicated a desire to introduce Pittsburgh to French comfort food in a way that was less pretentious and more affordable than what many often think when they hear "French Restaurant."
The renovated space still reminds me of Sonoma, however the large open air space in the front of the restaurant was welcomed improvement as we snagged a high top table in the bar so we could still listen to the jazz music from the festival outside. There was a decent crowd at the bar, but we had no trouble getting a seat at 5:30 on a Saturday afternoon. We opted for the bar menu, and were immediately drawn to the table-side cheese plate, as well as a beautiful shrimp tartine that was full of flavor and perfectly presented. On the cheese plate we could select up to five cheeses ($18) from the selection of six presented two us, with additional accompaniments including pistachios, blueberries, and a fruit jam that was heavenly. The cheese options were mostly soft cheeses, with two different goat cheeses, brie, blue, and a mild cheddar-like option. I'm not sure if the cheeses change seasonally, but my preference would be to offer one goat cheese and then opt for something completely different...it seemed a little heavy on the soft cheese this particular day. Both my parents were pleased with the wine list, and I opted for a champagne and pomegranate cocktail that was the perfect blend of bubbles and sweetness. Overall we were very pleased with our food and drink selections and loved people watching in the cultural district on a fun summery night! So why you ask did I only give this establishment 3 stars?? Because despite our best effort to engage with and be patient with our server, he was quite possibly the least personable, most unhappy person I've seen in the service industry in Pittsburgh in a LONG time. When I tell you there was no smiling, minimal eye contact, abrupt "Do you know what you want?" and descriptions of the cheeses included, "This one just pretty much tastes like milk to me," I'm not exaggerating. We tried repeatedly to give him the benefit of the doubt that perhaps he had a tough table earlier, or was just having a bad day, but despite our every attempt to be friendly and patient, he wasn't having it. It was an unfortunate circumstance because with so many great chefs, bartenders and servers in the city these days, half the fun is getting to know them and then returning to see a familiar face. That wasn't our experience this time, but we won't rule out Le Lyonnais for a future visit...I just hope the next time we order that cheese tray the person who comes to our table is a little happier to be there :)
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)