Short review: Brasserie Jo

 First of all, this is an extremely authentic brasserie -- something
 Boston doesn't otherwise have.  The atmosphere and mood (and menu) are
 exactly right.

 The food is very obviously still sorting itself out.  Highlights from a
 limited menu at the press dinner last night:  the smoked salmon
 appetizer, the onion tart appetizer, the steak frites, and the veal
 kidneys.  The salad was drowned in vinaigrette.  But the full menu looks
 quite interesting, though it's important to realize that this is _not_
 restaurant-style dining -- if you want that, go to Sandrine's Bistro.
 This is brasserie cooking, much simpler and less refined than what we're
 really used to from our restaurants.  I did not, however, have the one
 big test dish -- the choucroute garnie.  Perhaps another time.

 The wine list is extremely cheap, except for the reserves ("Jo's
 Cellar"), which are ridiculously overpriced.  That shouldn't matter,
 though, because this isn't the sort of food you order special wines
 with.  In keeping with true brasserie style, they serve it in tiny
 glasses.  I personally find that annoying, but at least it's authentic.
 Also, they have some temperature issues to work out -- the whites were
 uniformly too cold, the reds too warm.

 Service was a mess.  I hope that was part inexperience and part tension
 over the presence of press _and_ Jean Joho, the owner/chef (of Chicago's
 Everest) who started this mini-chain.  Time will tell.

 Desserts were good, coffee was quite good (well, I had espresso, so I
 don't know how the less-intense coffee is).

 Prices are almost unbelievably reasonable.

 It's somewhat of a triple gamble to open this restaurant here, now.
 First, it's in a hotel -- which probably isn't the best place for a
 non-formal restaurant -- in a place that is probably better served by
 "destination" restaurants.  Second, it's right next to Ambrosia.  Third,
 it's attempting to do something simple and less-adventurous at a time
 when Boston is moving into another (this time, post-Todd) restaurant
 explosion.  I'm not sure Boston diners will embrace the concept.

 But if it works out the kinks (service especially), it could also be an
 outstanding place to have the kind of simpler food and wine experience
 that the French are used to.  So in that sense, I wish it well.

 Thor