Artisan Restaurant

Theoretically promising and in many ways quite good. Interesting menu (for the area), albeit still a tiny bit caught by the pervasive and irritating local fixation with dumbing down every form of cuisine to fit a "southern bistro" sensibility-- whatever that is. Still, they do so with more panache and character than most places.

Servers were reasonably attentive, certainly friendly and professional. They knew how to open a bottle of wine properly, which is more than can be said for some of the local competition.

Had the gazpacho (very tasty, but a touch too salty for my taste) and the chicken/Gruyere sandwich with frittes (sic). It was pretty nice, and well priced: a good bun, lightly grilled/toasted. Frites were very crispy. Bring on the truffle oil. Chicken was a bit dry. Still, I'm glad they cooked it well: my wife had the scallops which tasted a bit off to her. I regret to report that she did indeed get sick from them.  I would have given two stars on this basis, but that's how desperate we are for new restaurants here, isn't it?

Love the high ceilings and open kitchen with bar. The chairs were uncomfortable to back and eye alike. An attractive French print ad (not Le Chat Noir, thank goodness) added some visual interest to the mantle in the back room. The overall color palate, however, was very dated: a washed-out spring palate of chartreuse and yellow, ca. mid-late 90s.

After reading other reviews, I was really expecting a lot more from this place.  With so many great options in downtown Winston-Salem, my advice would be to go somewhere else.  

I arrived for dinner at 5:15 on a Thursday and the place was empty. I was not impressed with the service or my entree.

My server was generally inattentive.  Not at all prompt about taking my order or bringing the check. I heard he and other servers arguing about the schedule in a hallway off the dining room.  To me, this is usually a big warning sign that the staff is not focused on their jobs.

I had the soup of the day - clam chowder - and that's the only reason this wasn't a one-star review, because it was pretty good. But I had the chicken sandwich for my entree and it was a huge disappointment - which started when the sandwich came almost 25 minutes after I placed my order. The chicken was a thin, cafeteria-quality cut of meat with almost no seasoning. The garlic aioli tasted like plain mayonnaise. The bun looked and tasted like it came off of a grocery store shelf; it was stale on top and soggy on the bottom. The smashed potatoes on the side were cool on the outside and lukewarm on the inside.

A big letdown in a city with some other great choices to eat. I'll be going to those other places instead of Artisan in the future.

Wednesday is half price bottle of wine day.  The wine list is very nice.  They had 2 beef specials, priced 1/3 more than most of the regular menu and the soup is "chef's whim.". It was a delicious, creamy eggplant thing with vegetable stock base.  Appetizer oysters were barely breaded with a caper dipping sauce.  Salad was barely dressed so that you could actually taste the ingredients.  Background music was very nice; Pleasant to listen to but not so loud that you don't have a choice.  

I look far ward to going back.