Fans of big-city dining will rejoice: Winston-Salem finally has its own restaurant hot spot, courtesy of newly-opened Bleu Restaurant & Bar, located behind the Village Tavern near Hanes Mall.

Bleu, the second venture of Bernadin’s Fine Dining owners Freddy and Terry Lee, puts American cuisine in a contemporary atmosphere that’s fun without being formal and high-quality without haute cuisine prices.

A Friday-night arrival to the restaurant, which opened in mid-February, netted almost an hour wait, despite the half hour call ahead for my tiny party of two. First lesson of note: they are not yet accepting reservations, but should strongly consider doing so.

The small restaurant (which seats 125 indoors, with an additional 25 spots on the patio) has a well-appointed bar area and good mix of tables and booth seating. We elected to nab a spot at the bar and sample the extensive list of specialty cocktails while waiting. Although we declined to try any with our meal, the restaurant also offers an extensive wine and beer list by both the bottle and glass.

As now expected in any sort of city-fied dining establishment, the cocktail list includes a significant number of specialty martinis ($8), 11 to be exact. In addition to the standard Classic, Cosmo, Apple and Lemon martini varieties, the list also included several unique additions, including a Central Perk-a-tini, a blend of Stoli Razz vodka, Apple Pucker, Triple Sec and Red Bull. I opted for the Bellini Martini, a delightful blend of vodka peach nectar, peach schnapps and a twist of lemon in an oversized martini glass that is generously filled nearly to the brim.

My companion ordered coffee, but there was a minor snafu. The bartender, who was working double-time to maintain a crowded bar, passed over a (complimentary) Coke. “We don’t have coffee up here yet; I hope this is okay,” he said. A passing waiter overheard the exchange and quickly sidestepped into the kitchen – whisking out a fresh cup of piping-hot coffee, complete with miniature cream decanter. Problem solved. Time: 45 seconds.

Despite not being able to obtain seating at or near the bar, we were easily entertained by watching three flat screen televisions playing a variety of sporting events and checking out the well-dressed, mostly 30-something and up patrons out on “date night.” After all, it’s not often that Winston-Salem opens up a new restaurant! Our seats also gave us a chance to examine the dishes that were flying out of the kitchen – all looked good, and it soon became obvious that the worst part of the evening would be deciding what to order.

An extensive menu offers something for even the most finicky palate – think hors d’ourves, small plates, salads and main course entrees in vegetarian, seafood and meat-loving varieties. The cuisine is American with a twist: try crisp calamari lightly dusted with black-eyed pea flour and drizzled with Creole mustard ($10) or think simpler and order a grilled, bone-in New York Strip with an au poive sauce and Yukon mashed potatoes or pommes frittes ($26).

For those unsure of what to order, Bleu allows a combination of any salad with toppings of grilled chicken, steak, tuna, shrimp salmon or scallops to form a salad entree ($10 and up). Offerings range from sliced beefsteak tomatoes to an arugula and endive blend topped with crispy goat cheese and sun dried tomatoes and a calamata black olive vinagrette, so those that are indecisive might find this option more of a hassle than helpful.

My companion ordered the arugula salad topped with grilled chicken, while I chose to start with the beefsteak tomato and try a separate dish, the roasted chicken, as my entree.

Snafu number two: our waitress brought my companion’s salad – and mine – at the same time, only mine was topped with a steaming chicken breast. After politely explaining the mix up, she apologized profusely and quickly returned with the correct salad.

The chicken arrived around 15 minutes later, tender and roasted to perfection – even de-boned – topped with a delicate sweet honey-mustard glaze and sautéed blend of porcini mushrooms and baby corn. A side of braised potatoes perfectly complimented the homey dish ($15).

By the time we finished, it was nearly 9 pm and the restaurant was clearing out – a group of young twenty-somethings had taken the table to our right, and were busy ordering hors d’ourves and drinking beer from bottles.

But who can leave without dessert? Despite being nearly stuffed to the brim, we couldn’t resist testing the homemade desserts ($3.5-5) which had been passing by our table all evening. We both ordered the peanut butter mousse pie ($5), highly recommended by the waitress, and we’re glad we did. Elegantly presented on a square white plate with chocolate drizzle, this is one selection that we were glad not to pass up.

As we finally rolled ourselves out of the restaurant, it was pushing 10 pm, and the influx of customers had finally died down.

Preliminary assessment? Bleu is an up-and-coming hotspot with its fair share of new-opening kinks, but it promises to provide a much-needed influx of city-chic cuisine and atmosphere. Reservations are a must, and a website is underway, but Bleu is more than just a place to visit next time the Village Tavern is full. It’s a worthy destination unto itself.