187 Rue
Principale (which in French means 187 Main Street, their location) opened in
late 2014 and is located in Emmaus in a portion of the former Main Street (furniture)
Gallery space. The sign above the front door does not really indicate that it
offers dining, other than the tables set on the front flagstone patio. The
space looks small from the outside, but it offers dining in two areas inside. The
main dining room features a small bar (with a granite surface fronted by red leather
bar stools), wrought-iron railings, a window that offers a glimpse into the
kitchen, and myriad tables, many of which share a red leather banquette against
one wall. Walk up a few steps to the second dining area, which features another
long banquette against one wall. High ceilings, exposed ductwork, hardwood
floors, leather chairs, and white tablecloths complete the look, along with
some folksy flourishes featuring roosters.
The
restaurant serves French cuisine with a molecular gastronomy flair. Each dish
is complex, and the chef uses local ingredients whenever possible. The chef,
Dustin Selvaggio, has worked at the Glasbern, Edge, and the (now closed)
Farmhouse. We started with the chef’s amuse bouche, which was a sphere of
hibiscus and lavender that popped/exploded in your mouth when you chewed it. As
an appetizer, we shared the pork belly, followed by the restaurant’s version of
a salad Lyonnaise (greens with a 65-degree egg, cauliflower, duck crackling
crumbles. The restaurant served a delicious and clearly house-made sourdough
bread between our salad course and our main course; while this is the French
tradition for placement in the meal, we would have enjoyed the bread more thoroughly
if they had served it earlier during our meal (because it was really unique and
delicious!). Appetizers were pricey – most in the $20 range, but some could
cost as much as $37 for the Hudson Valley foie gras! (We occasionally see
Hudson Valley foie on local restaurant menus, but we never ever see it offered at
that price!) We anticipated ordering the rabbit tasting and the beef cheeks,
but disappointingly, although the restaurant listed those dishes on their
online menu, they were not offered on the night that we dined. Instead, for
entrees, we ordered the coq au vin (two pieces of Frenched breast and drumette,
served with two preparations of leeks as well as carrots and mushrooms with a
wine sauce on the side; this dish was delicious but did not remind us of a
traditional coq au vin at all) and the duck breast (which was served medium,
without the server inquiring about our desired doneness even though we would
have deferred to the chef, along with a tiny rhubarb/cherry tart, spaghetti
squash, and mashed yams). The dessert menu offers very few (non-crepe) desserts,
along with several varieties of sweet crepes. We chose the chocolate cake, mainly
because our waiter informed us that there was only one serving left, so we
thought that it must be good! (We were the first table to be seated for dinner
service, so the fact that they were nearly out of the chocolate cake was
surprising; was this not a restaurant where they could just bake some more
chocolate cake?) Note that the menu posted online offered more entrée
selections than what were actually offered on the night that we dined (perhaps
10 online versus only 6 or so at the restaurant), so be flexible and do not
arrive with the idea that you must try a particular dish.
We tried to
dine at this restaurant when it first opened in November of 2014, but we encountered
some issues and left before dining. We had not realized that the restaurant was
BYOB when it first opened while it was awaiting its liquor license, and we had
hoped to enjoy a cocktail with our lunch. Our second issue on our initial visit
was that although we were the only patrons in the restaurant, the host seated
us in the upper-level dining area, without a view of the beautiful bar and
kitchen. Lastly, we had expected to order from the more elaborate dinner menu,
but only the brunch menu was available. (The brunch menu features both sweet
and savory crepes and tartines [which are similar to an open-faced sandwich],
which was not what we had wanted to eat that day.) Our second attempt to dine
at 187 Rue Principale was much more successful!
Our server
Denis explained the intricacies and the components of each dish. He affected an
appropriately French condescending attitude, particularly at the end of our
meal when he insulted us by acting as if we were complete morons because we
inquired as to how to leave a gratuity. (We reviewed the bill on the provided
iPad and used our finger to sign before we realized that there was no
opportunity to tip.) There are many ways that he could have nicely informed us
that service was included. (Moreover, we are not IN France, and the other
French restaurants in the Lehigh Valley [Maxim’s 22, Sarandas, The Café, the
Bay Leaf] do not include the gratuity in the check. In addition, what if the
service is truly tremendous, and you want to add a little something extra? That
is not possible unless you do so with cash.) In reading about this restaurant
online after our visit, we thought the owner said it best when she said, “If
you want to leave a tip, come back or tell a friend.” That would have been a
lovely response for our server Denis to provide; as it was, his pretentious attitude
ruined what was an otherwise lovely meal.
