La Gourmandise Bistro on Main

A friend tipped me off that this new downtown Urbana restaurant had opened, so naturally I buzzed right over the next day to check it out. The bistro, which serves breakfast and lunch, is located in the old Main Street Eatery space just west of Crane Alley.

When I heard the restaurant's name (which translates as something like "The Glutton's Cafe"), I imagined tables covered with white cloths, perhaps a fresh flower in a tiny vase on each; possibly table service; hearty, homestyle French entrées; wine . . . but alas, it was not to be (they do offer a "Croque Monsieur Montréal," so there is actually one French item. Their version of this sandwich involves béchamel, which I'm not sure I want on my croque-monsieur, but until I've tried it I can't judge). When I saw the interior, my first thought was, did they hire the same decorator who did the Atlanta Bread Company? The color scheme and decor generally were similar: rust and gold-colored walls, armchairs scattered along one wall, a go-up-to-the-counter ordering system. Even the menu is sort of similar: hot and cold sandwiches, soups, breakfast eggs and pastries, and coffees.I decided on half a "Pickled Pastrami Panini on Rye," with a small Caprese salad, while my lunch companion tried the roasted chicken on multigrain bread with half a scallop salad (they have a "pick 2" combo where you can choose among three options: soup, half salad, half sandwich, $6.25). Wanting to sample a variety of things, I also ordered a small portion of cream of asparagus soup, and pommes frites (another French item!).

It says on the menu that the soups are homemade; they offer four daily (cream of asparagus, spicy peanut and chicken, lentil with potatoes, and white chili with chicken). I found the cream of asparagus soup rather tasteless and uninteresting, and it didn't help that it was barely warm. Not a great way to start things off. Still, I hoped the sandwich and salad would make up for it.

Now, you may or may not know this, but I am a devotee of pastrami. I was introduced to the stuff as a child in a famous Jewish deli in Los Angeles, and I've loved it ever since. There's at least one key thing about pastrami: You have to slice it against the grain or it's almost inedible. The pastrami on the bistro's sandwich was sliced with the grain, making it difficult to eat. The meat was tasty enough, and I would have been happy with it if a) it had been sliced correctly and b) there had been more of it on the sandwich. There was a lot of thickly sliced rye, which was delicious (it was good bread from Mirabelle bakery across the street) and very little pastrami. The Caprese salad is described on the printed menu thusly: "roasted tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, chopped red onions, fresh basil, and balsamic vinaigrette." A couple of things here: A Caprese salad is made up of extremely fresh, perfectly ripe, uncooked tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella and basil and a drizzle of olive oil. The tomatoes in this salad, on the other hand, were obviously not local (and they weren't roasted, which was a plus, since roasted tomatoes shouldn't come anywhere near a Caprese salad), and the mozzarella was aged, not fresh. The difference between aged and fresh mozzarella is large, and the former should never be used in a Caprese salad. With amazing locally grown tomatoes in abundance, and fresh mozzarella available at every grocery store, I can't imagine why they would include such substandard ingredients in this salad. A dill pickle spear and tricolored tortilla chips (the chips were totally out of place) rounded out my dish.My companion's scallop salad included one scallop. True, it was a delicious, ham-wrapped, grilled scallop—but, come on—one?? That got us wondering how many scallops would come with the full salad (which goes for $7.95). The salad mix seemed fresh enough, and the dressing tasty; there were also strips of fried things we couldn't identify scattered on top, which provided a nice crunch factor. Her sandwich consisted of, again, good Mirabelle multigrain bread, a big chunk of chicken breast, a relish that she described as tasting like "jam," and a very dead piece of lettuce. Rounding out her plate was a not very fresh-looking slice of watermelon.

I find that I don't have much interest in going back to La Gourmandise, but I will, because they've only just opened and things may improve. Their breakfasts may be good (among the offerings are an omelette, two eggs any style with baguette, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on baguette, eggs Benedict, and oatmeal with roasted cinnamon apples—$2.25 to $6.50). And a couple of the sandwiches (prosciutto ham on ciabatta, salami and Fontina on "hearty Italian bread") sounded promising.

If you go, and you find something you like, let me know.

La Gourmandise Bistro on Main
119 W. Main Street
Urbana, IL
217-328-4405
Open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.