From all initial impressions, newish Fan restaurant Trouvaille is a blank canvas.
Tables line both sides of black walls in the alley-like front room, and the double garage-sized glass sliding door—courtesy of a 15-year-old reno—is still a stunner, as is the paneled wood ceiling.
The history of the building, though, is far from blank.
From 1974 to 2008, the space at 203 N. Lombardy St. served as music listeners’ beloved haven, Bogart’s. Within a year of closing, Bogart’s became Balliceaux, the new owners letting in light with a massive renovation [while booking a wide variety of bands, including acts like Lake Street Dive, which played its first Richmond show there to a crowd of about 50]. After six years in business, Balliceaux rebranded, then officially shuttered in 2017.
Then there was Flora (2017-2018), a Oaxacan concept by restaurateurs Jason Alley, Michele Jones and Jay Bayer, followed by New Orleans-inspired spot, Poor Boys (2019-2021).
The building’s only constant has been change.
Luckily, Trouvaille owners Joe Kmetz and Jennie Garriques know a lot about transition.
If their names are familiar, it could be you’ve ventured to The Shaved Duck in Midlothian or you’ve frequented a good portion of the bars in the Fan area (Garriques has tenure at several, including Metro Bar & Grill and Lady N’awlins).
The throughline of blank canvas continues when it comes to what Kmetz has created with his menu. He seems to be doing the very thing his building has been doing—identity-searching.
His big moves are his best ones, like Trouvaille’s beef tartare ($17), executed with imagination and care. Coarse-chopped and molded in a disc, raw filet is topped with cream—described as foam but with a more mousse-like texture—that is tinted with horseradish and sprinkled with cured egg yolk. The meat is accompanied by two mini-bricks of crisp, garlicky potato pavé, a layered—then weighted—potato dish.
Similarly, steak frites ($42), a plating that often feels played out with American renditions, is simple and solid. A filet seared medium rare is nestled next to brilliant, house-made french fries.
The bold, signature cocktails ($15) also sing. When we visited, a hip rendition of a Gibson, The Gibster, made fun of itself a bit with its use of olive oil-washed vodka, pickled onion and vermouth caviar served glass-side for snacking or floating.
The Kanpai Kanpai gets its big umami hoist and sweet underpinnings from miso butter- washed Toki whisky and a pop of nori. The Lombardy is super smooth with its bourbon, local Belle Isle Ginger Ginger, Averna and Trouvaille’s own house-made chartreuse.
It is in the timid that Trouvaille can’t find its mark.
A double cheeseburger ($22) swings gushy, yet somehow still overcooked. Two one-inch-thick patties are slathered in beef tallow and coated in American cheese, then stacked on house-made brioche that is unable to handle the heft or the moisture. On one visit the burger included shredded lettuce and a slice of tomato, which added texture and acid.
A clunky seafood bisque (since replaced with she-crab) is served as a hot, shrimpy tomato soup with chilly cream poured on top. A tablespoon-sized dollop of chunky white crabmeat is lost, swimming against the temperature mismatch.
The name Trouvaille translates loosely from the French as “a lucky find.”
Should Kmetz and company keep moving toward the undaunted and interesting flavors they are seriously capable of, Trouvaille just might live up to its name.
Trouvaille is open at 203 N. Lombardy St. for dinner Tuesday-Sunday, 5-9 p.m.
