After a rocky start, Boulevard Blue comes through with flying colors
The Free Times, Published June 16, 2004
Doug Trattner

IT'S ONE THING to suffer through the inevitable construction delays that are part and parcel of opening a new restaurant, but it's another thing entirely to watch as that restaurant, just weeks shy of opening, collapses to the ground in a flash of bricks and dust. It's enough to send even the most buoyant of entrepreneurs fleeing for the relative comfort of a desk job.

But for Andy Himmel, the sharp young visionary behind Boulevard Blue, the June 2003 disaster was looked upon as an opportunity. No longer hampered by the restrictive limitations of an old building, Himmel and company set about building from the ground up the contemporary jazz club of their dreams. And in nine months' time, Boulevard Blue was born again, and fast became Larchmere Boulevard's hottest new attraction.

Boulevard Blue is a jazz club — but in music and spirit alone. While most jazz clubs are dark, smoky and cramped, Boulevard Blue is just cramped — but that is due in large part to East Siders' almost evangelical impulse to stuff themselves into the latest restaurant like hippies into a VW microbus. That said, the layout could use some adjustment, though I'm not certain what can be done about it other than to eliminate a table or two in the middle to free up some elbow room.

One of the reasons the original building collapsed was because Himmel wanted light and lots of it. The old brick façade had been gashed and pierced to make room for windows in an effort to flood the room with natural light. Now, one full half of the front façade is glass, and that glass continues up and over our heads, creating an atrium for one-third of the dining room.

Let's be completely honest with each other for a moment: Boulevard Blue is not so much a jazz club with food as it is a restaurant with live jazz. The music, which begins seamlessly and with little ceremony around 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, is a wonderful accompaniment to the food — not the other way around. Executive chef Scott Wuennemann presents a contemporary American menu, which is to say he plays around with largely American ingredients. The results are always flavorful, and almost always impressive.

Wuennemann has a sweet tooth — that is evident from the get-go. In the crispy calamari ($7.50), the chef tosses battered rings and tentacles in a sweet and faintly spicy sauce. In fact, it is the same sweet sauce served on the side for dipping. Only later is it made clear that the calamari can be ordered “not tossed,” which would have reduced the sweetness significantly, improving the dish.

It is impossible though, to improve upon the mussels ($7.75), which come bathed in a soup-worthy sauce of saffron and cream. While the flatbread garnish arrives stale, there is a basket of great rolls on hand to paint the bowl clean. The sauce on the lobster ravioli ($9.25) is equally rich and savory, and the small soft dumplings themselves are infused with luscious lobster flavor. The only element this dish is missing is a little textural contrast.

Entrées, too, are kissed with sweetness. The crispy salmon ($16.75) is lacquered with a candy-like coating, making it crunchy and moist and magnificent. And the sweet-potato-stuffed wontons make for an interesting and out-of-the-ordinary starch side. Of course, the scallops ($18.50) are sweet as can be, having been nicely caramelized in the pan before plating. They are fantastic, and the tower of mushroom bread pudding in the center of the plate is, mercifully, not sweet but savory. But again, the sauce is a sweet one, thanks to the Madeira wine. The tangle of sautéed spinach does help cut some of the sweetness.

Mashed-potato fans — and who isn't? — will appreciate the gobbets of goat cheese folded throughout, adding tart richness to the opulent side dish. They accompany a tasty NY strip steak ($24), flecked with black pepper and dotted with knobs of garlic butter.

High praise is due to our server, who not only made light work of snaking his way through the thickets of humanity, but also graciously accommodated a late-joining guest. More importantly, he suggested the dessert sampler ($15). The four of us took turns assailing three mini creme brulees , a trio of sorbets, a rich and gooey bread pudding, chocolate French toast and a root beer float made with Guinness ice cream and Bass granita.

Though Himmel works the room like a pro, he also has some seasoned help. His father typically can be spotted ensuring that things at this popular new jazz club run smoothly. After all, Himmel senior should know how it's done — he opened and ran the long-celebrated University Circle jazz club the Boarding House for many good years.