(City)Garden Spot: Downtown's new cultural gem gets a restaurant to match

Comments (0) By Ian Froeb Wednesday, Nov 4 2009

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For those who want a more traditional meal, a fourth section of the menu features beef and lamb steaks, as well as veal and pork chops. Admirably, these are grass-fed and organic — and, therefore, expensive. I opted for the New York strip, medium rare, from Rain Crow Ranch in Doniphan, Missouri (available at retail as American Grass-Fed Beef). The exterior needed a darker char, but the interior was perfect, with that exquisite mineral flavor unique to grass-fed meat.

Desserts are variations on the usual suspects: bread pudding, panna cotta, a chocolate torte. The torte is served with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of sea salt, accessorizing the luscious chocolate with an even more indulgent texture and the slightest spike of flavor. The wine list is predominantly Italian, with a few French bottles, ranging from the low $20s to more than $100. The by-the-glass selection is perfunctory, and my red wine was brought to the table at or maybe even slightly above room temperature.

Jennifer Silverberg

Terrace View sous chefs Nick Cox and Casey Kohler.

Location Info

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The Terrace View

808 Chestnut St.
St. Louis, MO 63101

Category: Restaurant > Mediterranean

Region: St. Louis - Downtown

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The Terrace View
"50-Mile Salad" (small)...$5
Oven-poached striped bass...$8
Rainbow trout (half)...$12
New York strip steak...$34

808 Chestnut Street; 314-436-8855.
Hours: Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon.-Sat. Dinner 5-10 p.m. Mon.-Thu., 5-11 p.m. Fri.-Sat.

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Servers knew the menu very well and were more than happy to make recommendations. One evening, when I ate dinner at the bar, the bartender kept up a friendly, but not overbearing, conversation. At one point she showed me the stack of comment cards patrons had left. Almost all of them were perplexed by the smaller portions. Frankly, I think the Terrace View should be commended for offering something more ambitious than usual in such a public spot.

Though when you're downtown at night, "public" is a relative term. When I left, taking a circuitous route back to my car to enjoy the fresh air, my only company in Citygarden consisted of the stick figures on an electronic sculpture. They were walking in place, forever going nowhere.