Tavern at the Temple: First Impressions

I'll admit it, I liked Bugg's Temple: Tavern at the Temple more than I expected. The main menu theme? Meat and more meat. Aside from the food, which was surprisingly sorted out, and the dining room, which looks good, there were also a few opening issues which one hopes they're working on. (I mean, who takes three years to open a restaurant, keeps the chef on salary for a year, a chef who spent 9 years at Danny Meyer's Union Square Cafe, no less, and still has, well, bugs?) While the food is good, a restaurant is more than just a menu and the whole picture just doesn't feel completely put together quite yet, but I have a feeling Chef Brad Gates and his crew can pull it off. And don't let my notes here put you off of giving this place a try. I don't say this about every new place, but this one is definitely worth a trip to check it out for yourself.

After you stress over parking (which no matter what the owners may say is going to be a huge problem for them), you have to figure out how to enter the building (no signs.) It's clear the building was the driving factor in the delays -- it still "feels" unfinished. There are also no signs (other than laser-printed flyers) telling you how to navigate the stairs and find the coffee house and Grille. There was a pointer sign on an upper level landing impossible to see from the main door. The street entry feels unwelcoming -- like an office building or dormitory with a bit of a coin toss required if you don't know where you're going. First impressions count and a lousy entryway can set a tone. But those are all improvements they can -- and I hope they will -- make based on launch.

Compared to the rest of the building, Tavern on the Temple, the fine dining restaurant on the top floor, feels surprisingly finished. This renovated 1918 building is the star so don't expect an overly designed restaurant, but it is comfortable and warm with an open kitchen overlooking but not dominating the main dining space. The metal grates are striking with the high ceilings and grand windows. The formal white-tablecloth style lends an elegance to dining with nods to old Indianapolis like the green leather captain's chairs that will look familiar to former members of the Indianapolis Athletic Club. The booths are pews (hopefully more comfortable), the iron grates came from the original church, and many of the lights and fixtures are also from IAC or original to the building. Service is new and a little overzealous. When I arrived, I was bombarded with questions by the inexperienced bartender, and our server was a little over-enthusiastic and needed wine training. But those issues tend to sort themselves out with time and customers. (The bartender was flummoxed by my friends' gin-and-tonic order unfamiliar with the gins in stock and unaware there was a gin called "Hendricks" which they clearly didn't carry. And our attentive server, oddly, kept handing us our wine glasses after he'd poured.)

The menu? Meat, meat, and more meat. Seriously, you have no options here if you don't want meat or seafood including quail, lamb, suckling pig, beef, or duck. The menu is expanding little by little, I'm told. (There were about 10 entrees the night we were there -- all meat or fish -- up from the six or so on the opening menu). But with a "bar menu" featuring mussels and calamari, specials, and a few other random items, there were too many add-ons to keep track of. It took the waiter 10 full minutes to explain all the unlisted items as well as running through the menu.

As food arrived, we knew the evening would be fine. The meal was very good -- I wouldn't say "off the charts" great -- but with lots of potential to eventually be really terrific. I snuck a bite and really liked the trout cakes, a meaty alternative to the hackneyed restaurant crab cake. (Yes, if you eat with me, I *will* eat off your plate.) We enjoyed the poached pear salad with goat cheese, port reduction, and caramelized pecans over greens. Not too sweet for a starter and the only option (as I recall) if you wanted a salad. With this much meat on the menu, you'd think they'd expand the salad and vegetable options a bit. The suckling pig was delicious -- tender, fatty, rich, and a huge portion -- along with excellent roasted fingerling potatoes, a rich savory sauce, and some weirdly spicy -- but good -- mustard greens. The desserts were tasty managed by pastry chef Cindy Hawkins (who some regulars will remember from Oakleys Bistro years ago.) My favorite of the night? The hazelnut chocolate mousse torte cake. (Yum!) The people I was with had already tried the banana tart which may well be this restaurant's signature dessert. We also tried a tasty shortbread with raspberry filling and sabayon.

The wine list is small and surprisingly limited considering the quality of the menu. We were able to find a few reliable favorites (the Cherry Hill Pinot Noir and the Au Bon Climate Santa Barbara Pinot were our choices) as well as a few new names I was happy to see (like Vinum and Kokomo -- a Sonoma house with a local name.) They've opted for grouping wines into 7 or 8 categories like "smooth", "rich", and "fruity", which was all the rage in wine lists a few years ago but turns out is tougher to navigate, especially for people who know wine. They have one by-the-glass choice in each category priced reasonably.

All-in-all, I suspect Tavern at the Temple will do fine. I suspect Brad Gates will get past the rush of opening and make smart menu and service adjustments as he goes. At some point, I suspect they'll have to make some decisions like whether to stay with the heavy smoked meat menu or present a more well-rounded offering to appeal to broader clientele. And they're going to need to bring the wine list up to the level of the food -- and clientele. (They don't need many more expensive options, just broader options. And come on, who's honestly going to order the Easley red with their $30 entree?) They're in the right price range to be sustainable, and if they can polish up the service and get past the perception of a difficult to reach location, they appear to have every chance of becoming a long-running addition to fine dining downtown.

Other notes:

1) Please, Chef Gates, add a pasta, risotto or entree salad to the menu. After a weekend of rich food, I just wanted something that wasn't meat last night -- and I was getting no love from you guys. I know you do all your smoking on site, which is great, but I would have loved a fresh, seasonal pomodoro as an alternative to the richness and fat of the meat on the menu. (And I wasn't in mood for seafood.) You can put smoked chicken it it, I don't care.

2) I'm so *over* the smoky smell that permeates buildings that do their own smoking and grilling. It's not a requirement or necessary side-effect. I can still smell it in my clothes from last night -- and it hits you the moment you open the door. OK, you smoke your own meat, I get it.

3) I've seen some notes from various folks on how parking isn't supposed to be a problem, but guess what, it's already a problem! I considered myself lucky to get a street space and it was a slow night. Please, Bugg's, add signs up the street telling customers what lots are OK and what lots are not. The Clarian lot is not "right across the street". It's actually a good half a block up the street and if you don't park there and can't find a metered space, you're stuck. It's a six-block loop to go "around the block" if you don't accidently end up on the freeway. And while I saw a note from someone recently at Bugg's saying it was OK to park in the Clarian lot, the Clarian policeman parked there last night was making diners nervous that they'd be towed.

Updates: Popped in for a drink with friends last night. I'm pleased to report the heavy smoke smell is now largely limited to the stairwell when you enter the building. If you can hold your breath for two flights, the restaurant smells much better.

Also, I paid special attention to the Clarian lot up the block. A portion of it is marked for "Public Parking" but I didn't have the courage to try it out.

Tried the calamari (crunchy and good but a little fishy with the anchovy mayo), the shrimp (loved the horseradish creme fraiche), and the gingery glazed nut bar snacks (very good). Bartenders were spot on last night. I kept an eye on the lonely champagne flute. Alas, no one called for his services last night. (A late supply order is the culprit.)