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Restaurants Reviews (553 Reviews)
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(City)Garden Spot: Downtown's new cultural gem gets a restaurant to match Back from a long weekend in Chicago, where the streets outside our River North hotel teemed with tourists and traffic, the hum of Michigan Avenue... More>>
Published: November 04, 2009
Chile Reception: Ian goes for the burn with Mayuri's Indian cuisine The Andhra chicken curry at Mayuri is named for Andhra Pradesh, the state on India's southeast coast that some claim offers the nation's hottest... More>>
Published: October 28, 2009
¡Uno, Dos, Tres! How many Mexican and Tex-Mex spots can Ian review in a single week? Taqueria la Monarca is the latest addition to the unlikely Murderers' Row of restaurants at the intersection of Olive Boulevard and Woodson Road.... More>>
Published: October 21, 2009
Accounting for Taste: Niche gets a new next-door neighbor — think of it as mini-Niche You likely need no introduction to Gerard Ford Craft. Since opening Niche in 2005, Craft has ascended to the summit of the St. Louis dining... More>>
Published: October 14, 2009
Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fond I don't eat scallops. Even though I've convinced myself that my allergy is psychosomatic, the collateral damage of a childhood afternoon spent at... More>>
Published: October 07, 2009
Gyro Scoop: Meaty Middle Eastern pleasures abound on South Grand The gyro at South Grand Gyro Express is served wrapped in paper so that you can eat it while you walk down the street or, God help us, drive back... More>>
Published: September 23, 2009
Simple Melody: It's not the same song and dance at Seasons St. Louis On my first visit to Seasons St. Louis, the pianist played "Memory," from the Broadway musical Cats, which easily ranks as one of the sappiest... More>>
Published: September 16, 2009
Cold Spell: Ice Kitchen deserves a chilly reception for its concept and its food "So you're familiar with tapas?"
I don't fault the server for asking the question. On two previous visits to Ice Kitchen, two different servers... More>>
Published: September 09, 2009
From Mexico to SoCo: How did fast-food chain El Pollo Loco fare on the long journey? Fast food isn't typical territory for this column, but El Pollo Loco isn't the typical fast-food chain. Though now based in Costa Mesa,... More>>
Published: September 02, 2009
Cucina Confidential: Racanelli's upscales the ante in the Loop When I reviewed the new Syrian restaurant Ranoush a few weeks ago, I suggested that its unique charms — typified by a belly dancer twirling... More>>
Published: August 26, 2009
So Nigiri, and Yet So Far: Café Mochi bets there's room for another sushi joint on South Grand A friend recently asked me a hypothetical question: If I could eat one meal anywhere in the world, and price were no object, what and where would... More>>
Published: August 19, 2009
A Chip Off the Old Chuy: This ain't your father's Chuy Arzola's. Or is it? When Chuy Arzola's announced last June that it would close after almost twenty years, fans flocked to the Dogtown Tex-Mex institution for one... More>>
Published: August 12, 2009
Belly Full: Ranoush brings Syrian cuisine (and belly dancers) to the Loop The Delmar Loop has no shortage of colorful characters busking, begging, dressing up as clowns to hand out balloons and the Word of Our Lord and... More>>
Published: August 05, 2009
Love That Bevo Pie: Never hear of Laganini, the south-side Bosnian pizzeria? You have now. As I'm reminded whenever I mention (however glancingly) my opinion of the native style, pizza is a contentious subject in St. Louis. Let me fan... More>>
Published: July 29, 2009
Sky's the Limit: When Joe Edwards opens a moon-themed hotel and restaurant in the Loop, hopes are high I should be living on the moon by now. I should have my own sleek condo atop a glass tower overlooking the Sea of Tranquility Golf Course, with a... More>>
Published: July 22, 2009
Creative Fusion: No joke, at Café Lazeez you can get chicken tandoori and chicken tikka as pizza toppings "Fusion" is a dirty word, evoking the nightmare of some recent culinary-school graduate with a copy of Larousse Gastronomique in one hand and a... More>>
Published: July 15, 2009
Around the Horn: Ian covers all the bases to find you the best All-Star Game chow An open letter to those visiting St. Louis for the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game:
Hello! Welcome to St. Louis. I know you have come... More>>
Published: July 08, 2009
Blessed Brisket: Smoking Joe's Bar-Be-Que is making downtown a little more savory The only good thing about being from a place without an ironclad barbecue tradition to call its own — two places, in my case: St. Louis is... More>>
Published: July 01, 2009
Feet First: Midland Wok brings the essence of pork to Overland At the Vietnamese restaurant Midland Wok, the #26 soup — banh canh gio heo — is described in English as "big clear noodles and pork."... More>>
Published: June 24, 2009
Sea Change: Miso on Meramec's new sushi chef is the best thing since sliced fish Our order of salmon sashimi at Miso on Meramec came with the usual lump of wasabi paste stuck to one corner of its platter. You know it:... More>>
Published: June 17, 2009
Patties Take the Cake: Five Guys brings burger glory to Town & Country Friday evening I cooked steak. That should have sated my carnivorous desires for at least 24 hours, but I woke Saturday morning craving a burger.... More>>
Published: June 10, 2009
Sole Proprietors: At long last, St. Louis gets a McCormick & Schmick's. Was it worth the wait? McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant announced its arrival in St. Louis in February by installing a giant inflatable crab atop the parking... More>>
Published: June 03, 2009
Life Is a Carnaval: Côco Louco Brasil brings churrasco and cachaça to the Central West End If you dine at Côco Louco Brasil, beware the teapot.
Your server may bring this to your table at the end of your meal, along
with dainty... More>>
Published: May 27, 2009
Winslow's Home Run: U. City gets a postmodern grocery store with a kickass kitchen, food writer rejoices I wanted the beef brisket, but the kitchen was out of brisket. How
about the chicken- bacon club? Nope — the chicken-bacon club had
sold... More>>
Published: May 20, 2009
Cabo Wobble: Strapping on the feedbag Red Rocker-style at Harrah's There are restaurants I review because everyone is talking about them, and there are restaurants I review because almost no one has heard of... More>>
Published: May 13, 2009
Caribbean Sí: A Puerto Rican restaurant sprouts on South Grand Any restaurant critic worth his weight in rendered duck fat keeps two lists in his head. One identifies people with reason to wish him harm. I... More>>
Published: May 06, 2009
Still Dressel's After All These Beers: For three decades and counting, this Central West End stalwart is good for what ales you How did I end up at Dressel's, chowing down on housemade potato chips and rarebit for the who-knows-how-manyth time? Blame the headless babe.
A... More>>
Published: April 29, 2009
Power Steering: Long a fixture across the river, Andria's Steakhouse opts for westward expansion For the obsessive collector of restaurant menus, these are boom times. In larger cities — New York, Chicago, LA — independent... More>>
Published: April 22, 2009
Quack Quack: The Shaved Duck reinvented — and hotter than before Jalapeños are for amateurs. Habaneros are so five years ago. The current It girl among the chile cognoscenti is the bhut jolokia (also... More>>
Published: April 15, 2009
Dining Under the Influence: Downtown sure could use a standout Mexican restaurant. Is El Borracho it? A colleague asked me to describe El Borracho, the four-month-old, self-styled "taqueria y cantina" at the intersection of Locust and North 20th... More>>
Published: April 08, 2009
Plant Power: Local Harvest Café embodies a welcome new concept in sustainable chowing-down The national conversation on food has reached a fascinating — and maybe crucial — point. As a recent New York Times article noted,... More>>
Published: April 01, 2009
Rolls by Any Other Name: In Chesterfield, Momoyama's picks up where Yoshi's Sushi left off I write this week's column having just traded in — for about enough cash to buy one of those "melty" quesadilla-type things Taco Bell... More>>
Published: March 25, 2009
East Meets West: With Thai Sawadee, Chesterfield has a winner A man sitting on the other side of the dining room stood and, without hesitation, approached our table. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just have to see... More>>
Published: March 18, 2009
Tap City: How to approach Mattingly Brewing Company? Go for the beer. Stay for the beer. When I was a grad student in Iowa City, my classmates and I often hung out after our weekly writing workshop at this bar called Martinis. Six... More>>
Published: March 11, 2009
Blood, Sweet (Potatoes) and Beers: The Bleeding Deacon elevates "bar food" to new heights and gives south city a pub transfusion Damn. My cell phone was at home, charging. I didn't need to make a call, didn't need to take a photo. I needed light, and barring an unexpected... More>>
Published: March 04, 2009
Taco the Town: Taqueria el Jalapeño scores another point for north county in the geographical battle for local Mexican restaurant supremacy It won't surprise regular readers of this column to learn that if I were stranded on a desert island, I'd want the only restaurant there to be a... More>>
Published: February 25, 2009
Crust Achin': Ian ventures forth in search of the good pizza and finds the Good Pie One day, when I'm an old, retired restaurant critic, as fat as a zeppelin and hobbled by gout, I'll throw the grandkids into the hovercar and... More>>
Published: February 18, 2009
The Year of the Herb: Balaban's re-rebirth as Herbie's Vintage 72 makes the Central West End whole again No doubt there are cursed restaurant spaces, locations that — no matter how ingenious the concept, no matter how talented the chef —... More>>
Published: February 11, 2009
Go Hungry: The newest venture from the Del Pietro family, Sugo's Spaghetteria piles it on You know who's enjoying this recession? Besides repo guys and Paul Krugman's booking agent? McDonald's. Profits are up as cash-strapped folks opt... More>>
Published: February 04, 2009
Delta Force: The Wedge is a tavern, through and through — but the pizzas take bar food to another level A list of all the awful foods I've eaten while smashed could fill twice the space I'm allotted here. Sometimes the damage is self-inflicted.... More>>
Published: January 28, 2009
Josh Almighty: New chef Josh Galliano takes Monarch to regal heights Monarch on a weekday evening. Miles Davis on the stereo. A low boil of crosstalk from the few occupied tables. My wife lovely as ever in a black... More>>
Published: January 21, 2009
A Bunny Thing Happened on the Way to the Fox: It's game on at Wm. Shakespeare's Gastropub in Grand Center The week after next, China will welcome the year of the ox. In St. Louis, I'm ready to declare 2009 the year of the rabbit. This January alone... More>>
Published: January 14, 2009
Triumph Grill asks the culinary question: How about a hamburger with your Harley? The motorcycle is an American icon, loud and brash, its rider the archetypal loner gleefully embracing danger. James Dean with his leather jacket... More>>
Published: January 07, 2009
Udon Know Bobo On the front door of Bobo Noodle House are the restaurant's logo, a pair of chopsticks laid across a bowl and its motto, "Yum now." This is a... More>>
Published: December 31, 2008
Stocking Stuffing: Ian jots down his 2008 Christmas wish list for the local food scene As an adult I've come to prefer Christmas Eve to the holiday itself. Christmas Day peaks too soon, the presents opened and clucked over before... More>>
Published: December 24, 2008
Two Thousand and Ate: Ian chowed his way across St. Louis in 2008. Here's the best of what he found. As I prepare to count down my ten favorite dishes of the past year, unemployment is skyrocketing, the Big Three automakers are begging Congress... More>>
Published: December 17, 2008
Someone's in the Kitchen with Cardwell: Bill Cardwell takes his classic American bistro act on the road — to Lake St. Louis BC's Kitchen is a rarity among the area's better restaurants: You can see it from the highway, as squat and obvious as a Flying J or Cracker... More>>
Published: December 10, 2008
Tapas by Any Other Name: Mia Rosa does the Spanish specialty Italian-style When it comes to food, I'm no hidebound traditionalist. I pair red wine with fish, I eat sushi rolls never seen nor imagined in Japan, and I... More>>
Published: December 03, 2008
Red-Hot and Brown: Hip comfort food at Deluxe's Fine Food & Spirits in Maplewood Can you imagine, without reference to scatology or infectious disease, a less appealing name for a sandwich than the Hot Brown? If you don't know... More>>
Published: November 26, 2008
Always on Sundae: The Fountain on Locust is everything that's good about soda shops with none of the faux finish There are many drawbacks to having been a child of the 1980s. The attention span of a puppy. An abiding fondness for high-fructose corn... More>>
Published: November 19, 2008
Clayton Rustic: Mazara succeeds by getting the little things right Parking in Clayton is a chore for the modern-day Sisyphus. How often have I pulled into an open metered space only to spot a "Reserved for Valet"... More>>
Published: November 12, 2008
Reborn On Date: St. Louis' largest locally owned brewery gives its flagship a makeover Without doubt, the biggest beer news in St. Louis this year — maybe the biggest news in St. Louis, period — was InBev's buyout of... More>>
Published: November 05, 2008
Café Osage is only open for breakfast and lunch. Who needs dinner? As the seemingly endless and often surreal presidential campaign finally staggers to an end, allow me a few words in defense of one the many... More>>
Published: October 29, 2008
Roll 'Er Derby, Part 2: Ian's sushi quest continues in Clayton and the Central West End There's at least one upside to reviewing four sushi restaurants in three weeks (besides, that is, the nagging fear that my body contains more... More>>
Published: October 22, 2008
Primary Colorful: Ian blisses out on beignets and other well-executed simple fare at Cafe Ventana God knows Mondays don't need any help in order to be a pain in the rear end, but on this particular Monday afternoon, my 401(k) is following the... More>>
Published: October 15, 2008
Roll 'Er Derby: Ian's quest for sushi domination continues with Mizu and Ki Sushi, once exotic, is now as conventional as a burger and fries. Even in St. Louis, where saltwater is merely a rumor, you can have luscious,... More>>
Published: October 08, 2008
Déjà Vu All Over Again: There's something a little too familiar about Mike Johnson's latest creation, Bici Now that the Large Hadron Collider is out of commission for a few months, the world's leading scientists can stop fretting about the origins of... More>>
Published: October 01, 2008
The Buzz: Follow the glow of Firefly Grill all the way to Effingham "Where the hell is Effingham?"
It was the beginning of the year. I was at my desk, thumbing through the latest issue of Bon Appétit. The... More>>
Published: September 17, 2008
Foam, Sweet Foam: With a beer list as broad as a Clydesdale's backside, the Stable is true to its Lemp Brewery roots The Stable is sure to be the destination for beer connoisseurs in St. Louis — if it isn't already. Here you'll find two dozen beers on tap,... More>>
Published: September 10, 2008
Tortilla Road: Tower Tacos stakes its claim a little farther up Cherokee Street It's far too easy to exaggerate the risks that new restaurants face. I'm as guilty as anyone. A few years ago in this column, in a bit of an... More>>
Published: September 03, 2008
Seriously Old School: Bartolino's hauls its venerable vibe to a new location The caesar salad at Bartolino's Osteria is an impressive sight: a wedge of romaine lettuce standing upright atop a large, discus-shaped crouton,... More>>
Published: August 27, 2008
Señor Circuit: Ian discovers Señor Pique's in a league of its own I liked Señor Pique even before I'd set foot in the place. This was a few years ago, when the Mexican restaurant shared an old house with... More>>
Published: August 20, 2008
Cold, Cold, Cold: Snow cone or snowball? Ian traverses the metro area to solve the mystery. "Welcome back, Ian."
Thanks, Doc. And thanks for fitting me in. I know it's been a while since our last session.
"Almost a year."
Right. Sorry... More>>
Published: August 13, 2008
Grill Marks: Ian turns to the West End Grill to pull us all out of the restaurant-scene doldrums This week marks the beginning of my third year reviewing restaurants for Riverfront Times, and as I look back over the past twelve months, I... More>>
Published: August 06, 2008
Hold the Moustache: Fumanchu, the prodigious Mike Johnson's latest offering, is all over the Asian map Is Mike Johnson the hardest-working man in the St. Louis restaurant business? Well, consider this: Fumanchu, the chef-restaurateur's new spot in... More>>
Published: July 30, 2008
Tacos de Kirkwood: Amigos Cantina brings the suburbs a little taste of Cherokee Street An array of multicolored shingles frames the entrance to Amigos Cantina, which opened this past spring in downtown Kirkwood. It's an attractive,... More>>
Published: July 23, 2008
Quack Addict: Let nothing come between Ian and his duck-fat frites The Shaved Duck fries its potatoes in duck fat. "As the good lord intended," the menu states — and I agree. Fat is the secret to flavor,... More>>
Published: July 16, 2008
Booyah!: Unassuming Onesto offers savory pizzas and entrées galore Onesto Pizza and Trattoria is a neighborhood restaurant, the only commercial structure at the intersection of Macklind Avenue and tree-shaded... More>>
Published: July 09, 2008
No Matter How U Slice It: The U provides much-needed sandwich sustenance to midtown — even in the wee hours God knows how I survived my first two years of college. And I don't mean surviving the usual existential doubts that befall English majors. You... More>>
Published: July 02, 2008
Take It From the Tip Top: Grooving to Night Ranger at a Serbian bar and grill in Soulard — priceless Djordje "George" Korac, owner of Tip Top Food & Spirits in Soulard, sits at a table on the restaurant's covered patio and lights a cigarette.... More>>
Published: June 25, 2008
Entrée View: Eleven Eleven Mississippi hasn't lost its looks, but has it lost its way? Once again we were scrambling to find a place to eat. Our intended destination was like something out of an Edward Hopper painting: The chef, in... More>>
Published: June 18, 2008
Tortilla Fats: Ian falls hard for a taqueria — again We were headed to dinner at a new Indian restaurant on Page Avenue. When we arrived, the restaurant was closed. Not closed for the evening... More>>
Published: June 11, 2008
Bet the Ranch: What were the odds? Lumière Place has a steak house! I wish more steak houses still let you choose your dinner from a big platter of raw meat. Not because this guarantees a better meal. Maybe, if... More>>
Published: June 04, 2008
Magnum Pi: Can Ian make peace with Provel? Solve for Π. A revelation: Provel isn't the reason I loathe St. Louis-style pizza. Or, I should say, Provel alone isn't the reason I loathe St. Louis-style... More>>
Published: May 28, 2008
Cheesesteak Quest: Can Ian find a decent Philly cheesesteak in St. Louis? Yes, he can! Could I find a reasonably authentic Philly cheesesteak in St. Louis? The task, inspired last summer by a reader, didn't seem impossible. For all... More>>
Published: May 21, 2008
Let's Get High: Gambling once again on Lumière Place, Ian looks up Cielo Cielo is several steps above the usual St. Louis restaurant. Literally: The restaurant is on the eighth floor of the new Four Seasons hotel... More>>
Published: May 14, 2008
The Pla Song Kruang Remains the Same: Basil Spice puts the newest Thai twist on South Grand As I ate lunch at Basil Spice, a slow, bittersweet melody played over the restaurant's speakers. I hummed along with the climactic passage: hum... More>>
Published: May 07, 2008
Do you miss good ol’ home cookin’? Revival wants to raise your spirits. Revival is an audacious name for any new restaurant, let alone one that's replacing an institution as beloved and influential as King Louie's.... More>>
Published: April 30, 2008
Lust for Crust: Katie's ain't your typical St. Louis pizza joint A neon sign hanging in the window of Katie's Pizzeria Café advertises Budweiser "N" pizza. This is, technically, true. You can order both... More>>
Published: April 23, 2008
Heat Rises: Pappy's Smokehouse elevates humble barbecue to ethereal heights Not even a minute after I first walked into Pappy's Smokehouse, the fantastic new midtown barbecue joint, I thought I was busted. I might as well... More>>
Published: April 16, 2008
Peak Performance Opening a good restaurant is miracle enough. I don't mean a four-star temple of haute cuisine or a bauble of glass and light the trend-humpers... More>>
Published: April 09, 2008
Want Boba with That?: Fast and good Vietnamese food at BBC Banh Mi, Boba Tea & Crêperie They are laughing at me. I'm sure of it. Two young women. College students, I think, home for spring break. They are looking at me — not... More>>
Published: April 02, 2008
Asia, Lumiere Place's Chinese/Thai/Vietnamese/Japanese chow parlor/sushi bar, is all over the map Asia, the continent, encompasses more than 50 countries and some 4 billion people. It stretches from Istanbul to Vladivostok, from the Arctic... More>>
Published: March 26, 2008
Building a Better Bistro: Chef Andy White proves there's life after Balaban's at Off the Vine How all of this compares to Balaban's in 1972, 1992 or even last year, I can't say. But I do know that when I return to the restaurant, it won't... More>>
Published: March 19, 2008
Grand Old Patty: Ian goes on a beefy binge at Burger Bar and Sub Zero New American Burger Restaurant If you order the "Rossini" burger at Burger Bar in Lumière Place, expect a little extra attention. The runner who brought the burger to my... More>>
Published: March 12, 2008
Can Taqueria los Tarascos' tacos make you feel homesick for a place you've never lived? Si! The lamb barbacoa at Taqueria los Tarascos is served in a small chafing dish. The little blue flame heating the bowl of meat gutters as your... More>>
Published: March 05, 2008
Feel a Draught?: Tigín opens an outpost in a Hampton Inn downtown? O'Really! I've visited restaurants in some strange locations. I've logged probably thousands of miles driving through St. Louis' suburban sprawl, searching... More>>
Published: February 27, 2008
Curious Gorge: Ian tests the animal magnetism of Three Monkeys It's a bitterly cold afternoon. The low, gray sky can't decide between a half-hearted snow and a miserable drizzle — call it a snizzle, and... More>>
Published: February 20, 2008
Will Ian flip for the Original Pancake House? I don't doubt there is a circle of Hell reserved for restaurant critics, and I'm reasonably certain it looks like the long stretch of... More>>
Published: February 13, 2008
Eat Food, Not "Food"
Michael Pollan's new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, answers the question posed by his revelatory 2006 tome, The Omnivore's... More>>
Published: February 13, 2008
Ian's got the skinny on the new Flaco's I'm supposed to mention that Flaco's Cocina, which opened late last year in the Soviet Bloc-style strip mall and office complex at the... More>>
Published: February 06, 2008
Mystery Meat
Gut Check, the Riverfront Times food blog, offers food and restaurant news, reviews of restaurants and food-related books — and lots and... More>>
Published: February 06, 2008
Agave gives Mexican cuisine the white-tablecloth treatment.
For the second week in a row, this column finds me in Forest Park Southeast's Grove neighborhood, a once rundown area trying to rebuild itself... More>>
Published: January 30, 2008
Grub Street On the first day of the art history class I took in high school, the teacher asked us to define "art." I assumed this was a rhetorical question... More>>
Published: January 23, 2008
India à la Mode As its name might suggest, the "Bollywood Popper" at the four-month-old Indian restaurant Rasoi looks something like a jalapeño popper.... More>>
Published: January 16, 2008
Just Ducky In 2006 the Chicago City Council attracted much attention — and not a little scorn — when it banned foie gras from restaurants. Foie... More>>
Published: January 09, 2008
Eh ~scape A restaurant critic's resolutions for 2008:
1) I won't always clean my plate, even when I dislike something, just because that's the way I was... More>>
Published: January 02, 2008
Dinner Is Served In the past twelve months, I've reviewed 62 restaurants (and one minor-league baseball stadium). I've traveled to Columbia and the Metro East.... More>>
Published: December 26, 2007
Fat City, Baby! A chilly September night. My girlfriend and I are standing outside Niche, waiting for a cab that won't arrive. We're tipsy from the wine... More>>
Published: December 19, 2007
Center Cut "Joe Buck just walked by."
My wife turned, but she was too late. The fair-haired broadcaster and scion of St. Louis royalty was gone. Had I... More>>
Published: December 12, 2007
Study in Scarlet A thumbnail sketch of Red sounds like a Saturday Night Live skit circa 1992. The three-month-old loft district restaurant-slash-lounge is a... More>>
Published: December 05, 2007
Goblet Up! The servers at the new Webster Groves wine bar and café Robust wear T-shirts the color of milk chocolate, some of which are printed with... More>>
Published: November 28, 2007
Don't Go Takin' My Bacon When I die, an autopsy will find two pounds of bacon where my heart should be, so I was taken aback by a recent report from the American... More>>
Published: November 21, 2007
The Secret Is Out Starrs might have had the least flashy opening of any area restaurant this year. Regular patrons of Bud Starr's spacious Richmond Heights wine... More>>
Published: November 14, 2007
Raita On Listen: Yours truly had come unstuck in time.
One minute my wife and I were lingering over cappuccinos after a five-course dinner at our... More>>
Published: November 07, 2007
Battle Cupcake! By happy coincidence, this week's review is published on Halloween, a holiday that I've grown to despise (since when, exactly, has this stopped... More>>
Published: October 31, 2007
Spice Is Nice A running joke among aficionados of Thai cuisine is that no matter how hard you beg, plead, wheedle, boast or threaten, the kitchen won't serve... More>>
Published: October 24, 2007
Been There, Ate That Sometimes, calling a new restaurant "a new restaurant" feels wrong. Not wrong in the sense of incorrect. Wrong like waking up hung-over in a... More>>
Published: October 17, 2007
Stick a Fork in It
Not much is simple about a meal at Simply Fondue, which opened in June in the loft district as the first St. Louis outpost of a small,... More>>
Published: October 10, 2007
Three for the Price of One Where do you want to go for dinner tonight?" I don't get to ask or answer this question very often. I have a schedule, which I protect as... More>>
Published: October 03, 2007
Hot or Not? A young woman a few bar seats away from me had a question for the bartender. "What does El Scorcho mean?" His response was immediate and deadpan.... More>>
Published: September 19, 2007
Hyderabad to the Bone Our plan was simple. Dinner at the new Indian restaurant Ruchi and then the late showing of Superbad at a nearby cinema. We were certain the plan... More>>
Published: September 12, 2007
Fare St. Louis Bistro Alexander opened in May at the Clayton address last occupied by Limoncello and, before that, Tavern 43. The menu presents bistro fare in... More>>
Published: September 05, 2007
The Chocolate Cure "So, Ian, tell me what's bothering you this week."
It's the heat, Doc. It's killing me. "It is hot."
I'm hot. Like, all the time.
"You... More>>
Published: August 29, 2007
Crowded Waters A Tuesday evening in August, the thermometer barely budged from a hundred degrees: This is when a restaurant should resemble a bus station at 3... More>>
Published: August 22, 2007
O Broth, Where Art Thou? In one sense, the story of the Original SoupMan is a story about America. This couldn't have happened anywhere but here. It's also a story about... More>>
Published: August 15, 2007
Meatier Shower Meat. Meat meat meat meat meat meat meat. Meat meat — meat meat meat meat — meat meat meat meat meat. Meat meat, meat meat meat meat... More>>
Published: August 08, 2007
Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Plantain Orlando Hidalgo knows plantains. Before he and co-owner Jos Gomez opened Fritanga, the new Nicaraguan restaurant just south of Interstate 44 on... More>>
Published: August 01, 2007
Little Italy The calamari "la gra" at La Gra Italian Tapas were tasty: the squid tender, the breading light, crisp and not at all greasy. Marinara sauce was... More>>
Published: July 25, 2007
Southtown Bound By necessity, this column tends to return to the same few areas of St. Louis. Downtown, of course. Clayton and the Central West End. The ethnic... More>>
Published: July 18, 2007
Cherokee Pastoral The pigeon waddling around the patio outside La Vallesana was the fattest one I'd ever seen. Marlon Brando at the end of his life fat. Homer... More>>
Published: July 11, 2007
Ladue Me Here's why I love sports bars: A weekday afternoon in June. I'm sitting at the bar at Lester's Sports Bar & Grill in Ladue, nursing an iced tea... More>>
Published: July 04, 2007
Infield Hit "One Baseball's Best Slider, please."
The guy working the concession stand gave me a look. It was either pitying or scornful. I couldn't tell... More>>
Published: June 27, 2007
The Road to Ravioli You wake up in your antiseptic, beige hotel room, make coffee in the little pot on the bathroom counter and skim the complimentary copy of USA... More>>
Published: June 20, 2007
Little Wonder Executive chef Kevin Willmann emerged from the Erato kitchen, a slightly dazed expression on his young, bearded face. It was after nine on... More>>
Published: June 13, 2007
'Cue Ball When you eat at restaurants for a living, it's hard to complain that you haven't had a vacation in a long while. People tend to look at you kind... More>>
Published: June 06, 2007
Paradise Lust Look at this guy," our waiter said. "He's in Heaven." It's not Heaven. It's Maplewood. Specifically, it's Acero, a terrific new Italian... More>>
Published: May 30, 2007
Naan Better What is Indian food?
That's a trick question, of course.
No such animal exists, except as the most general of categories. There are Indian... More>>
Published: May 23, 2007
Hearth of Gold You probably don't need an introduction to Harvest. Since it opened nearly eleven years ago, chef Stephen Gontram's restaurant has been one of ... More>>
Published: May 16, 2007
Grand Adventures Even after a friend and I had scooped up several handfuls of kitfo — raw beef chopped very, very fine and seasoned with niter kibbeh... More>>
Published: May 09, 2007
Balaban's Is Back Any talk of iconic St. Louis restaurants must include — and might even begin with — Balaban's, which for 35 years has anchored the... More>>
Published: May 02, 2007
Superb Tuscan My fiancée asked our waiter if he recommended the risotto. He didn't say no. He didn't say yes. He gave her a look. Pursed his lips,... More>>
Published: April 25, 2007
Always Open You've been lying awake since three in the morning; the cat's goosing your headache with plaintive, pet-me meows; there's nothing in the... More>>
Published: April 18, 2007
A new day has dawned at Lucas Park Grille -- and it starts with a $40 wagyu steak. Is Lucas Park Grille still hip, a hot spot, the place to see and be seen downtown? Was it ever? I don't know. Frankly, I don't care. But I can... More>>
Published: April 11, 2007
Stellina Pasta Café is perfectly delicious from start to finish. The "South Side Smoke" at Stellina Pasta Café is both a sandwich and a marvel of architecture, a great mass of pulled pork, caramelized... More>>
Published: April 04, 2007
Park West Grille puts Benton Park West on the culinary map. Park West Grille, the new restaurant on the otherwise distinctly not-happening stretch of Jefferson Avenue between Gravois and Arsenal, is tough... More>>
Published: March 28, 2007
Vietnam Star Turn Our waitress smiled when I ordered cua rang me (tamarind crab) at Kim Son Vietnamese Bistro. This was one of her favorite dishes, she told us. In... More>>
Published: March 21, 2007
Roll On, Columbia An ATM that dispenses five-dollar bills: I must be in a college town. Specifically, I'm standing in the vestibule of a bank in Columbia,... More>>
Published: March 14, 2007
Dolce' aims high -- but does it hit Ian's sweet spot? Dolce' looks like a million bucks — several million, if we adjust the cliché for inflation — a glittering chrome-and-glass... More>>
Published: March 07, 2007
KoKo's pan-Latin menu is at its best when it's all over the map. A sopao is a thick Puerto Rican stew. I wish I could be more precise, but it's one of those dishes that seems to vary with every recipe: One... More>>
Published: February 28, 2007
Ba Le and Cheeburger Cheeburger break the chain mentality. Though I tend to give chain restaurants a hard time, they make for fascinating study. They are treasuries of fashion, fads and folklore, business... More>>
Published: February 21, 2007
The Quintessential Crêpe "Did you know that in France roosters don't say cock-a-doodle-doo?" We'd just gotten back from Rooster when my friend posed the question. I... More>>
Published: February 14, 2007
French Kissed With apologies to Ford Madox Ford, this is the saddest story I have ever heard: "We are sold out of one starter tonight, the sweetbreads." You... More>>
Published: February 07, 2007
Wat's New Tareke Beraki, the owner of Queen of Sheba, needed to know that all of us understood the purpose of injera, the flat, spongy bread that's the... More>>
Published: January 31, 2007
Pacific Rimshot Last week I found myself enraptured by the quiet, methodical tableside cooking at KoBa, a Korean barbecue restaurant.
This, I pointedly noted,... More>>
Published: January 24, 2007
Chesterfield's Got Seoul I could tell you that I didn't know much about Korean cuisine until I visited KoBa, but even that would be an exaggeration. I had visited a... More>>
Published: January 17, 2007
Hello Delhi! The next time Crayola adds a new color to its crayon spectrum, I suggest it consider "Vindaloo." Of course, I have no idea what the "true" color... More>>
Published: January 10, 2007
Off the Rack A committed foodie doesn't care about a restaurant's location. We will travel to any gaudy suburban mall or down any ill-lit side street to try... More>>
Published: January 03, 2007
Irish Lite I ordered my first pint of Guinness in an Irish-themed pub in Windsor, Ontario. I must have said something about it being my first Guinness ever,... More>>
Published: December 27, 2006
Cruise Control Although I was born and raised below the Mason-Dixon line, I'm about as Southern as John Kerry. For a shamefully long time, I assumed everything... More>>
Published: December 20, 2006
All's Fare in Love and Noir It was a rotten evening — cold, ice on the ground—and I was in a rotten mood — cold, ice in my heart, certain that no one but me... More>>
Published: December 13, 2006
Medium Well When I visited Stoney River Legendary Steaks on a recent Saturday evening, not one, not two, but four black-clad young women greeted me inside... More>>
Published: December 06, 2006
Pho Real As I write this, the film version of Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation is playing in theaters across the country. Schlosser's book is a damning... More>>
Published: November 29, 2006
Latin Sizzle The huapango is a traditional song and dance native to Mexico's southeastern coast. In the July 1942 issue of California Folklore Quarterly, Jean... More>>
Published: November 22, 2006
Hungry Hombre On a page halfway through the menu at Pujols 5 Westport Grill — after the appetizers, salads large and small, soups, pizzas, burgers,... More>>
Published: November 15, 2006
Two Kind On a chilly Tuesday a few weeks ago, most of you settled into your armchair or a stool at your favorite bar or maybe even a seat at Busch Stadium... More>>
Published: November 08, 2006
Moveable Feast From the moment the hostess first led me into the dining room of the Emperor's Palace, an all-you-can-eat-and-then-some buffet that opened in... More>>
Published: November 01, 2006
Tower Groove South At Stella Blues Restaurant & Bar you can order "Ball Park Nachos." These aren't a clever joke, one of those deconstructed dishes that show up on... More>>
Published: October 25, 2006
Noodlevana It takes a lot to startle me out of the stupor induced by a few beers and a playoff baseball game not involving my team, but during a recent... More>>
Published: October 18, 2006
Weakened at Bernie's It's a Thursday evening at five-month-old Bernie Federko's Steak & Sports Grille, and I'm not sure who to feel sorry for — the sports-radio... More>>
Published: October 11, 2006
Calle Cherokee On this sleepy Saturday afternoon, the gray sky spitting drizzle, the Mexican enclave along Cherokee Street a few blocks west of Jefferson Avenue... More>>
Published: October 04, 2006
One-Night Stand Every new restaurant is a flirt. It has to be. We're talking about an industry with a failure rate that would make an astronaut or deep-sea... More>>
Published: September 20, 2006
One Burger, One Guac and One Beer If I lived in Kirkwood, the William D. Alandale Brewing Co. would be my neighborhood bar, the first place I'd head after another long day in the... More>>
Published: September 13, 2006
Ready, Set? Since Vin de Set opened in late June, a spot on its rooftop deck has become the most coveted in town. Come on a Friday or Saturday night, and... More>>
Published: September 06, 2006
St. Louis by the Slice When I moved to St. Louis three years ago, the first place I stopped was Chesterfield Commons. This wasn't by design. I was on Highway 40, needed... More>>
Published: August 30, 2006
Red and White Blues I had to read the menu twice to be sure. It was in small print, at the end of the list of ingredients. A mistake, I hoped. A misprint. A trick of... More>>
Published: August 23, 2006
Pass the Salsa, Start the Revolution I felt a little strange ordering the "Day of the Dead" platter at Jasoom Mexican Revolutionary Restaurant & Cantina. A twinge of discomfort.... More>>
Published: August 16, 2006
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life! I don't want to write this.
I'd prefer to write a review about anything besides the dinners I had at La Dolce Via. The sandwich I made for... More>>
Published: August 09, 2006
My Ohm My My girlfriend returned from the restroom at Bar Louie shaking her head. "What?" I asked, expecting — anticipating — a tale of Lindsay... More>>
Published: August 02, 2006
Number Crunch You and I need a place like Five, probably even more than we realize. We need that chicly simple restaurant whose opening causes a bit of buzz... More>>
Published: July 26, 2006
Ballpark Frank Game day: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 Key matchup 1: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cleveland Indians. The Cards have been hemorrhaging losses for seven days... More>>
Published: July 19, 2006
CWE à la Mode I've been to Maryland House at Brennan's before. I know how to find it; I know which unmarked door along Maryland Avenue — one of the main... More>>
Published: July 12, 2006
Season's Eatings Barney's Bar-B-Q opens only for the summer. It has to. Even amid a St. Louis barbecuing landscape that prides itself on wedging year-round... More>>
Published: July 05, 2006
Twice Is Nice Playful as Mike Johnson's restaurant concepts are, I find myself contemplating his latest one — actually two: Mira and Roxane, side-by-side... More>>
Published: June 28, 2006
Mex, Hold the Tex I'm turning onto Morganford, and I'm getting nervous. This happens every time I head south toward Primo Taquería — or at least every... More>>
Published: June 21, 2006
Crème de la Club I don't put much stock in dreams. In high school, my psychology teacher offered up two separate theories on dream interpretation. The first was... More>>
Published: June 14, 2006
Heavenly Discovery Chris and Dana Sherman discovered gelato where it was invented. While studying abroad in London a couple of years ago, the pair took a ten-day... More>>
Published: June 07, 2006
BBQ PDQ My friend David is a career coach. When working with new clients, he uses a nifty little diagram to help them start figuring out where their true... More>>
Published: May 31, 2006
How Sweet It Is Midwestern moms fascinate me. They possess unparalleled apron collections and the best cookware this side of the Betty Crocker test kitchen:... More>>
Published: May 24, 2006
Do the Empanada Hector and Stella Aberastury don't dance the tango, but they love the music. They've adorned the walls of their restaurant with countless album... More>>
Published: May 17, 2006
Meat the Family We were seated upon Mick Jagger's lips. From this enviable perch, which we requested after first being offered a plebian four-top, we gazed... More>>
Published: May 10, 2006
Knorr Lipton Fiesta Sides Nacho Pasta: Rotini Pasta Smothered in a Nacho Cheddar Cheese Sauce What do you get when you cross an English household goods manufacturer, a British tea producer and a German house specializing in dried soup... More>>
Published: May 10, 2006
Cheers to Chava's The last time I sat at a wrought-iron table outside the bar on the corner of Geyer and Tenth Street, I was there against my will. It was a Monday... More>>
Published: May 03, 2006
Roll Out the Barrel Envious as she was of friends who have been quoted by name in this column for their bons mots about this restaurant or that, my buddy Julie very... More>>
Published: April 26, 2006
From Russia with Latkes Our first trip around the dinner buffet at Astoria, my girlfriend hesitated over the latkes. I knew what she was thinking. We'd tried Astoria's... More>>
Published: April 19, 2006
Git Up, Baby! I'm not from St. Louis. My girlfriend and I moved here three years ago, more or less on a whim. Whenever I tell native St. Louisans this, they... More>>
Published: April 12, 2006
The Loving Tongue Suddenly, on my third visit to Café Natasha's Kabob International, I was nervous. First date nervous. Job interview nervous. I drained my... More>>
Published: April 05, 2006
Come On In My Kitchen Blues City Deli owner Vince Valenza can't recall when he consumed his first sandwich, or what kind of sandwich it was — "Probably a loaf of... More>>
Published: March 29, 2006
Home Away from Home In a month's time, Rossino's will be no more. The Central West End institution has occupied the basement space of the Melrose Apartments on Sarah... More>>
Published: March 22, 2006
Y'all Come Back You know it as soon as you enter Pestalozzi Place, the moment you thrust open the double doors and pass into the den-size slice of bar that... More>>
Published: March 15, 2006
That's Amore There is a very long wait for a pizza at Pizzeria della Piazza. A thin-crust pie takes about a half-hour, a pan pizza's more like 45 minutes, and... More>>
Published: March 08, 2006
Vintage Balaban's The lifespan of a restaurant — any restaurant other than fast-food joints and coffeeshops, any establishment that shoots out of the gate... More>>
Published: March 01, 2006
That '70s Showoff Gallagher's has the look of an affair of the heart. Opened last year by husband-and-wife owners John and Susie Gallagher after an extensive... More>>
Published: February 22, 2006
Under the Hampton Sun To walk into the Pitted Olive is to be transported from Hampton Avenue in St. Louis Hills to the fabulous kitchen of a fabulous friend, someone... More>>
Published: February 15, 2006
Sí Me Just in time for Valentine's Day, a little story of true love (and shrimp). A few years back Alicia Aguirre was living in southern Virginia,... More>>
Published: February 08, 2006
Gorge Busch How I wish I could dine at Busch's Grove tonight. I know just how the evening would unfold. I'd pull into the parking lot, eye an empty space,... More>>
Published: February 01, 2006
Meaty in St. Louis The first time I visited Mihalis Chophouse and Onyx Bar, I almost tripped on an extension cord. We'd parked on the street, and approaching the... More>>
Published: January 25, 2006
Bean There "You want gyro? I get you gyro deluxe." "You want free soda? I get you free soda."
"You want to pay now or pay later? Pay later, maybe after... More>>
Published: January 18, 2006
86 the Banana Split There are diners, and then there are "diners." A diner is a greasy spoon, a coffee shop, a neighborhood cheap-eats establishment whose sole... More>>
Published: January 11, 2006
Of Wee I Sing There can be no more aptly named restaurant in St. Louis than nine-week-old Niche. It is the cutest little bistro to debut in 2005: a mere... More>>
Published: January 04, 2006
Earth and Fire There is no good way for me to tell you that the breaded, fried, rind-on lemon slices that partly comprise Terrene's "mixed fry" appetizer taste... More>>
Published: December 28, 2005
Copia Runneth Over Red Moon: Highfalutin French-Asian fusion. Flannery's Pub: Bling-bling sports bar. Mosaic: Postmodern tapas. Kitchen K: Postmodern bistro/New... More>>
Published: December 21, 2005
Mississippi Yearning Eating soul food is, to me, like listening to big-band music, gazing at the works of the post-Impressionists, or watching any of Woody Allen's... More>>
Published: December 14, 2005
13 Things About Atomic Cowboy Atomic: Of, relating to, or concerned with atoms; nuclear; minute; existing in the state of separate atoms. Cowboy: One who tends cattle or... More>>
Published: December 07, 2005
Supersize Me One of the questions I get asked most often as a restaurant reviewer is, "How come you're not totally overweight?" Over the years, necessity has... More>>
Published: November 30, 2005
Grouse of the Seven Gables I suspect that the owners of the Seven Gables Inn secretly wish their Tudor-style boutique hotel didn't come saddled with so much restaurant... More>>
Published: November 23, 2005
Lemon Soul Lifestyles Café doesn't have much of a wine list — and what it does have includes Fre and Ariel, two brands that have the alcohol... More>>
Published: November 16, 2005
Mob Scene A spiel begins every meal at Maggiano's Little Italy. The spiel is not delivered by rote, but varies from server to server. The first time I went... More>>
Published: November 09, 2005
Hot Plates We were looking to get some at Boogaloo. Some drinks, that is, maybe just a round of mojitos. After all, this was a Sunday night in early fall --... More>>
Published: November 02, 2005
Tarter Sauce Benedetto's was never broke. But the Buzzetta family fixed it anyway. After operating the always-popular Italian bistro Benedetto's for twelve... More>>
Published: October 26, 2005
Afghan Revel It took Qayum Mohammad fourteen years to open Sameem, his new Afghan restaurant. That's if you're counting back to when he first arrived on U.S.... More>>
Published: October 19, 2005
Primo Pitch "What we do for the veal al limone is, we take a nice scallop cut of milk-fed veal, and we'll pound that nice and thin, marinate it in a little... More>>
Published: October 12, 2005
Hamburger Help Her You won't have much trouble finding the Chuck-A-Burger. It's beyond McDonald's. What you do is, you exit Highway 370 a few miles west of the... More>>
Published: October 05, 2005
Shark Attack Restaurants can jump the shark too, you know. Just like great TV shows that sputter out artistically long before they're actually put out to... More>>
Published: September 21, 2005
Brunchadelic Americana comes in many forms. Sometimes it's the painting American Gothic, or Edward Hopper's 1942 scene-from-a-diner masterpiece, Nighthawks.... More>>
Published: September 14, 2005
Homeward Bound The cordless phone is glued to Marion's ear, while her eyes are on the big-screen TV. She's sitting at a table near the kitchen of the restaurant... More>>
Published: September 07, 2005
Parlor Game The two wisest things I've ever heard concerned work and pizza. The first I attribute to an old boss of mine, the best boss I ever had, who once... More>>
Published: August 31, 2005
Simply Dvin I wonder what the two women who work there -- the sole employees of this Armenian-Greek-Russian restaurant located in the Old Orchard section of... More>>
Published: August 24, 2005
Déjà Q's When I walked into Spyglass on the Park for the first time, I felt a creeping suspicion that I'd been there before. This was partially because,... More>>
Published: August 17, 2005
Scotch Frisky I've always heard that Scotland is a pretty magical place, and after my first, Thursday-night visit to the Scottish Arms -- a new restaurant in... More>>
Published: August 10, 2005
Slice of Life I was born and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, about fifteen miles outside of New York City. Until I was in middle school, I never really liked... More>>
Published: August 03, 2005
A Dream to Dine For A crystal-embellished bottle of liqueur, kept in a locked case behind a half-moon, mirror-backed bar, is gonna get noticed. When we saw it during... More>>
Published: July 27, 2005
Stir It Up Practically everybody I know, myself included, wanted to go to that Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson concert in Sauget the other weekend. Dylan I wasn't... More>>
Published: July 20, 2005
There Goes the Eruv "A rabbi, a vegetarian and an Irishman walk into a bar" might sound like the start of a joke. But to restaurateur Gershon Schwadron, it sounds... More>>
Published: July 13, 2005
Bewitched, Bewildered Nothing heralds the arrival of an up-and-coming neighborhood like the sight of well-to-do types whiling away the afternoon over late lunches. The... More>>
Published: July 06, 2005
Room and Bored There are three olives on the menu at 400 Olive. Two are kalamata, tossed into a grilled chicken pasta entrée and, oddly, a Caesar salad.... More>>
Published: June 29, 2005
Grecian Formula Lately it seems that everything about Greek food has caught on -- except Greek food itself. Feta cheese and kalamata olives have become part of... More>>
Published: June 22, 2005
A Farewell to Fabarre's? Everybody remembers Papa Fabarre's. For me Papa Fabarre's is the Wedgewood Cafeteria, a bygone restaurant in downtown Montclair, New Jersey,... More>>
Published: June 15, 2005
Live a Little Anna and I were having lunch a few Fridays ago at Sofia Bistro when she told me she'd heard on NPR that the average cost of a house in the United... More>>
Published: June 08, 2005
Pop the Top Mike Headrick was the first person I ever met in St. Louis. He was bartending at Llywelyn's in the Central West End on the night in November 2001... More>>
Published: June 01, 2005
Roam If You Want To Let's start with the given that every meal we eat, every dish we order, every heaping forkful we stuff down our piehole is, when you get right... More>>
Published: May 25, 2005
A Hard Act to Follow "I bet the bathrooms are really nice," Patrick murmured as we strode up the low-slung concrete steps that led from the sidewalk to the outdoor... More>>
Published: May 18, 2005
Fill Her Up It took until the tail end of my second visit, but I finally found what I was looking for at Jasoom when the banana milkshake martini arrived.... More>>
Published: May 11, 2005
This Little Piggy This is the story of Lampert's Plush Pig Barbeque, a tale of how one man went from selling auto parts to selling the best barbecue you never... More>>
Published: May 04, 2005
V-licious A straight-shooting goomba like Vito Racanelli has probably made a lot of friends -- and maybe a few enemies. You'd think his brother John, for... More>>
Published: April 27, 2005
Viva Honduras Sour cream has never perplexed me like it does at Los Catrachos. On my first visit to this Honduran restaurant -- a ramshackle, homey hovel that... More>>
Published: April 20, 2005
Duckgasm The roasted duck at Wei Hong Seafood Restaurant was trying to tell me something. No meat flaunts itself like this duck did, flattering the tongue... More>>
Published: April 13, 2005
Kids Today Conversations about the new (three months old) Asian restaurant in downtown Clayton go something like this:
"Have you been to Sekisui Pacific... More>>
Published: April 06, 2005
Combo Clatter It was while perusing the dinner menu at Mélange, a likable three-month-old restaurant on the northern fringe of the Central West End,... More>>
Published: March 30, 2005
Outta Sight When you go to Juniper Grill Bistro and Wine Bar -- and really, you should -- somebody at your table ought to order the roasted game hen. And... More>>
Published: March 23, 2005
The Back Burner Is the "August" in Restaurant August supposed to be pronounced like the month, like the adjective (as in "venerable") or with a Franche accent,... More>>
Published: March 16, 2005
Party On My dinner at Mosaic was yummy, but it felt a little like those first two hours of a party, before the clock strikes half-past fashionably late,... More>>
Published: March 09, 2005
All Sizzle So ear-to-ear and exuberant was our teenage server's smile as he advanced toward our table at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, it eclipsed... More>>
Published: March 02, 2005
Raw Power I was late for my dinner reservation at Modai Sushi Lounge last week because I couldn't pick out the right outfit. I'd been wearing frayed jeans,... More>>
Published: February 23, 2005
Meatball Hero Scenes from an Italian restaurant: Tuesday, 8:22 p.m. Todd Sanders, the apron-swaddled owner of 10th Street Italian -- an almost alarmingly... More>>
Published: February 16, 2005
Cherry on Top When I was getting ready to move here three years ago, I really pissed off a number of my fellow New Yorkers, who could not comprehend why I... More>>
Published: February 09, 2005
Going Deutsch The familial quintet that owns the St. Louis Gast Haus -- matriarch Maritza Stock, her husband Bill, daughter Carmen, grandson Ed and sister Ann... More>>
Published: February 02, 2005
Unchained Melody Even though everybody has been yelling at us to go into Chesterfield Valley or St. Charles next, our goal is to move back into the city from here... More>>
Published: January 26, 2005
Lofty Aspirations I found myself doing a lot of looking under things at Lucas Park Grille, the restaurant/bar/lounge/market that, within a mere three months and a... More>>
Published: January 19, 2005
Homegrown History Stephen Morgan, chef at Pat's Bar and Grill, will be presented with the AgriMissouri Excellence bronze level Chef medal for the 2004 AgriMissouri... More>>
Published: January 12, 2005
Double Exposure Two popular restaurants have finally listened to their customers and expanded their operations -- one by adding dinner; the other, by... More>>
Published: January 05, 2005
St. Louis Bounty When you order fish at An American Place, you learn what the fish was up to earlier that day. Your waiter may tell you that he was snagged at... More>>
Published: December 29, 2004
Grecian Yearn Everything appealing about Momos, the three-month-old "ouzaria taverna" on the western fringes of University City, can be found at the bottom of... More>>
Published: December 22, 2004
Low Tide As much as I dislike chain restaurants, I wish the new Watercolors Café, occupying the former KC Masterpiece spot on North Lindbergh... More>>
Published: December 15, 2004
Southern Exposure For a foreign cuisine I'd never actually sunk my teeth into, I sure was armed to the teeth with expectations when I went to sample the fare at... More>>
Published: December 08, 2004
Little Bosnia Sadik Kukic has a good thing going with his Gulf Coast Café, a spunky little seafood-oriented restaurant amid the ethnic eateries in the... More>>
Published: December 01, 2004
Hot Chocolate When you go out to a place like Bailey's Chocolate Bar -- a place that blares its cocoa-a-go-go flamboyance right there in its name, a place that... More>>
Published: November 24, 2004
Man Overboard I promised myself two things while visiting Wholly Mackerel, a superb little seafood restaurant tucked into the corner of a Ballwin strip mall:... More>>
Published: November 17, 2004
Out with the New "So, can I get you gentlemen something more to drink? Or maybe something to nibble on -- some pizza shooters, shrimp poppers or extreme fajitas?"... More>>
Published: November 10, 2004
Bone Appétit I fell in love with osso buco just a couple of weeks ago at Villa Farotto, the new Chesterfield Valley restaurant with ties to the familiar... More>>
Published: November 03, 2004
All Abroad! My friend Mark pegged the look of St. Louis Soy Products Café when he called it "dining vérité." The pan-Asian drag of Olive... More>>
Published: October 27, 2004
Raising the Bar What goes around, comes around. The more things change, the more they stay the same. History repeats itself. It's déjà vu all over... More>>
Published: October 20, 2004
The Secret of Massa's' Success I can think of at least two dozen restaurateurs who should never eat dinner at Massa's on a Friday night. The food biz is masochistic enough as... More>>
Published: October 13, 2004
Family Affair St. Louis is awash in Italian restaurants. Blame it on the Italian immigrants who settled on the Hill during the turn of the last century. Blame... More>>
Published: October 06, 2004
Lame Time Stephanie, her dad and I were huddled inside Boomer's on the Upper West Side on Super Bowl Sunday, circa 2000, when Kevin Dyson's outstretched... More>>
Published: September 22, 2004
Ragin' Cajun It's not like our fair city has many options when we hunger for Cajun and Creole food. What's available usually loses something in translation... More>>
Published: September 15, 2004
Always on Sunday What's not to like about brunch? Any meal designed solely for weekends is a meal that knows how to have a good time. Brunch means lots of... More>>
Published: September 08, 2004
A Real Dish Just as the musical Miss Saigon is a modernized version of Puccini's Madame Butterfly, the restaurant Miss Saigon is a reincarnation of Mai's... More>>
Published: September 01, 2004
A Major Beef There are no adjectives to describe the hamburger at Grandpa Mischeaux's Real Deal Barbecue & Grill. There are only facts: 1.2 pounds of ground... More>>
Published: August 25, 2004
Dinarosa Liaisons Philippe Habassi's name pops up every once in a while. "Wasn't he supposed to be the head chef at that new Voilà place in the West End?"... More>>
Published: August 18, 2004
Benedetto's Buzz Like every Italian mother who traces her sauce back to her nana, nearly every formal Italian restaurant around here can trace its lineage back to... More>>
Published: August 11, 2004
Culture Clash When money started moving into Wildwood, obese houses and suburban trappings followed. Five years ago Wildwood incorporated, gobbling up the... More>>
Published: August 04, 2004
Afternoon Delight Camp Eagle Island was the coolest thing that happened to me when I was a kid. It was a Girl Scout camp on Upper Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks,... More>>
Published: July 28, 2004
Cheesy It Ain't I'm a true Gemini and my world consists of shades of gray. I see both sides of an argument while tossing in a few lateral thoughts of my own. I... More>>
Published: July 21, 2004
Louie, Louie Uh-oh, I thought. Anna and I eyed each other skeptically over our shared gnocchi appetizer. A moment earlier, as soon as the food had hit the... More>>
Published: July 14, 2004
Cut to the Chase Eau Bistro's new chef de cuisine, David Gilbert, thinks the sensory element of St. Louis dining is missing in action. He wants to change that and... More>>
Published: July 07, 2004
Summit Kind of Wonderful Ev·er·est. Peak, 29,035 ft (8,856 m) high, on the border of Tibet and Nepal, in the central Himalayas. It is the highest elevation... More>>
Published: June 30, 2004
Parlor Trick I respect urban homesteaders, especially restaurateurs who believe in St. Louis neighborhoods passionately enough to take on the big gamble of... More>>
Published: June 23, 2004
What's Brew With You? Civilization began because of beer. Not until early man stumbled upon patches of slurpable grain made wet by rain and fermented by yeast --... More>>
Published: June 16, 2004
Far Out! I got wind of Taylor's from my barber. Besides being the only barber I've found who knows how to cut the remnants of the unruly curly hair that... More>>
Published: June 09, 2004
Wok and Woe You're not going to find the 60,000 BTU Vulcan convection oven in many restaurant kitchens. A baking and roasting marvel with a kick-ass cyclical... More>>
Published: June 02, 2004
Stoners Remember the Seinfeld episode where Kramer recruits investors for his chain of make-your-own-pizza parlors? "I'm tellin' ya, people, they really... More>>
Published: May 26, 2004
Exact Change It's no coincidence that the career paths of prostitution and restaurant kitchen work are both referred to as "The Life." Physically wounding,... More>>
Published: May 19, 2004
Welsh, Welsh, Welsh The urge to revisit Llywelyn's Pub hit while I was watching an episode of Good Eats, the quirky food/science/pop-culture show on the Food... More>>
Published: May 12, 2004
You Must Remember This I may have gotten bonked on the head by a coconut at Mirasol. I don't know how else to explain my gastronomic amnesia about the place. Both times... More>>
Published: May 05, 2004
Color My World Stepping into the Graffiti Global Grill and Bar is like opening a box of crayons, the little one with eight colors and no sharpener on the back.... More>>
Published: April 28, 2004
Don't Mess with Tejas A couple of weekends ago, after a wonderful, belly-busting nouveau-Tex-Mex meal at Tejas, I went home and turned on the TV. There was this show... More>>
Published: April 21, 2004
Lively Up Yourself I've never understood why Caribbean restaurants haven't caught on in St. Louis. We love barbecue, we love fried fish, and we certainly love a... More>>
Published: April 14, 2004
Just Getting Started On paper First Watch and Sweet Dough Hot Beans Café are nearly identical. Both are expansions on their individual breakfast-and-lunch-place... More>>
Published: April 07, 2004
Boy Meets Grill "Sure are a lot of bar-and-grills around here," my dad noted during a visit from Kansas City a few years back. Coming from a man who'd owned and... More>>
Published: March 31, 2004
It Must Be Love Dear Moxy, You don't know me, but I've been hoping to meet a restaurant like you my whole St. Louis life.
I've had my eye on you since you... More>>
Published: March 24, 2004
Tuscany for You and Me What if there were an Italian chain of American restaurants in Tuscany? Perhaps they'd be based in Florence and specialize in hearty American... More>>
Published: March 17, 2004
Please Pass the Macaroni A few years ago, a nonprofit group called the American Italian Defense Association sued Time Warner Entertainment, parent company of HBO, in... More>>
Published: March 10, 2004
When Is a Tavern Not a Tavern? When you think of a tavern, what images appear? Do you envision the well-heeled urban professionals of Clayton drinking martinis and... More>>
Published: March 03, 2004
Fuse Company There we were, the five of us, each knowing somebody in the group but none knowing all, sipping drinks and getting acquainted at the U Lounge,... More>>
Published: February 25, 2004
Let Us Now Praise Pan-Fried Poultry You say you're too cool for a restaurant your grandmother would like, that you can't see beyond the neon lights and martini glasses of your hip... More>>
Published: February 18, 2004
Hunka-hunka Burning Tex-Mex Elvis, our waiter and entertainer, sauntered over to our table, seemingly excited to serve his only dinner customers. This Elvis looked nothing... More>>
Published: February 11, 2004
Thank You and Here's My Address During the 1980s a spate of restaurants, especially New York restaurants, named themselves after their actual address. It seems that trend has... More>>
Published: February 04, 2004
Imperfect Pitch I love Bobby Short, the jazz pianist/cabaret singer who has held court at the Café Carlyle on New York's upper east side for 35 years now.... More>>
Published: January 28, 2004
Way Out West It hasn't been an easy start for Ryan and Rich Radil, to hear the young owners of Gabrielle's in far west county tell their tale. Their original... More>>
Published: January 21, 2004
Gateway to the East In a year when St. Louis restaurants embraced fast-casual eateries, 2003 also saw a new bounty of Japanese restaurants. With the opening of... More>>
Published: January 14, 2004
Father Figures Last year Andy and Dave Dalton named their restaurant JackSons', in honor of their father, Jack Dalton. The most recent honor-thy-father theme... More>>
Published: January 07, 2004
Three for Tea My newest New Year's resolution is to figure out a way for all of my girlfriends and me to achieve independent wealth very quickly. And then,... More>>
Published: December 31, 2003
How Sweet It Is Back in the day, you didn't go to Cyrano's just for dessert. You went to Cyrano's to impress your date. Or, at the very least, to practice being... More>>
Published: December 24, 2003
Crossroads When I was growing up in New Jersey, "fancy" meant Saturday-night dinner at the Wedgewood Cafeteria. This was an old, high-ceilinged restaurant a... More>>
Published: December 17, 2003
Back on Tip Top First, a confession: I really miss the Shenandoah Bar and Grill, that veritable hole-in-the-wall tavern in Fox Park that served up homemade... More>>
Published: December 10, 2003
How Green Was My Refrigerator Nine of us had the time of our lives the other Saturday night at Felix's. We were camped out in the back of the dining room -- where calf-high... More>>
Published: December 03, 2003
Grand New When it comes to the opening of a new Vietnamese restaurant in St. Louis, there seems no end in sight, especially along the stretch of South... More>>
Published: November 26, 2003
Just Passing Through "What brings you to St. Louis?" a gracious hostess asked as she ushered us toward a formally appointed table for two at Capri. My friend Mike,... More>>
Published: November 19, 2003
Have Palate, Will Travel In contrast to the insidious spread of American eating habits throughout the world, a much quieter, more pleasing culinary invasion has been... More>>
Published: November 12, 2003
Rock the Boat The Loop owes its boho reincarnation of a couple decades ago to the burgers, beers and darts of Joe Edwards' Blueberry Hill, and Edwards will... More>>
Published: November 05, 2003
Think Global, Eat Local Stepping through the front door of the Maya Café in downtown Maplewood feels a bit like entering the whimsical world of the City Museum.... More>>
Published: October 29, 2003
Shackle Up On Sunday, a new restaurant group makes its formal debut here in St. Louis. By "restaurant group" I do not mean a conglomerate like Riese... More>>
Published: October 22, 2003
Fun With Figaro Mike Johnson's new venture, Restaurant Figaro in downtown Clayton, is all about fun. From the covered sidewalk dining area that flows into the... More>>
Published: October 15, 2003
K by Me What made me start to fall in love with Kitchen K was not the look of it (though, housed in the high-ceilinged, ground-floor space of the newly... More>>
Published: October 08, 2003
Once More, With Feeling At some point during the past year, during a quiet moment in his new restaurant, Roberto Zanti had to say to himself, "What goes around, comes... More>>
Published: October 01, 2003
Wholly Rollers Everything that is good and not-so-good about the Drunken Fish can be summed up by its name. A bit funny, a bit titillating, it catches people... More>>
Published: September 17, 2003
That's Amore In the century since Gennaro Lombardi opened his pizzeria in New York City, pizza -- or tomato pie, or whatever you want to call it -- has wedged... More>>
Published: September 10, 2003
The Beast With Two Buns The hamburger is the T-shirt and jeans of meals. It fits everybody, it's unisex, it works for all seasons, no matter what the weather. It's... More>>
Published: September 03, 2003
Paradise Found On many levels, nothing in St. Louis compares to Monarch, the new restaurant in downtown Maplewood. First there was all that crazy buzz before... More>>
Published: August 27, 2003
High Society Part of the reason I bailed on New York City and moved to St. Louis a year ago was to get away from places like Tangerine. Life provides plenty... More>>
Published: August 20, 2003
Tapas 'n' Things According to a friend of mine, you need to rebel against the notion of tapas when dining at Bastante, the fine new Mediterranean restaurant... More>>
Published: August 13, 2003
Bar None The only thing more dubious than a new restaurant is an old restaurant. Once a place gets past its infancy (no easy feat, as any industry insider... More>>
Published: August 06, 2003
The Conquest of Clayton Like Hannibal's march across the Alps, the Del Pietro clan continues its expansion into Clayton with the upscale yet surprisingly affordable... More>>
Published: July 30, 2003
Southbound Iron Barley looks and feels like an Allman Brothers song. There's a screened front door that emits that wonderful, summery slap! when it bangs... More>>
Published: July 23, 2003
Small Wonder "There's so much you can do with a one-bedroom apartment," warbles Barbara Harris' cheery social-worker character in the film A Thousand Clowns. ... More>>
Published: July 16, 2003
Out of the Loop If you don't know anything about Ethiopian food, here's something to know: It's like pizza. Which is to say, it's a communal eating experience.... More>>
Published: July 09, 2003
Chesterfield Trip I don't consider myself a city snob. You know, somebody who considers anything in "the county"-- whether west, north or south -- sterile, boring... More>>
Published: July 02, 2003
Now You See It ... I thought I had my review of Voilà French Café nailed not three and a half minutes after I walked through the door. Instantly upon... More>>
Published: June 25, 2003
The Second Time Around I rang up Pepe Kehm exactly one year to the day that a review of his then-new Spaghetteria Mama Mia ran in the RFT. It wasn't a glowing review.... More>>
Published: June 18, 2003
Dream a Little Dream If I'd had my druthers when I was looking to move to St. Louis, about a year ago, I would have taken up residence on North or South Rosebury,... More>>
Published: June 11, 2003
Just Getting Started He drinks neither booze nor coffee, but Troy Williams wants to sell both. In four short years since moving back to St. Louis from Atlanta, the... More>>
Published: June 04, 2003
Let's Hear It for Lunch Why don't we -- Americans, I'm talking about -- know how to do lunch? Part of the answer lies in the question: We have long regarded the midday... More>>
Published: May 28, 2003
Drink to This, Drink to That Wine bars are about as trendy as those four-button jackets that keep popping up on every guy who still has to wear a suit. Sometimes they're... More>>
Published: May 21, 2003
Tapas Without Passion Could there be a more inappropriate location in the St. Louis area for a tapas restaurant than downtown Clayton? Tapas is a boisterous, decadent... More>>
Published: May 14, 2003
Like Father, Like Sons There is no Jackson at JackSons'. Owners Andy and Dave Dalton say they named the restaurant in honor of their late father, Jack, for many years a... More>>
Published: May 07, 2003
A Fine How-Do-You-Do Ten deceptively simple-sounding steps to launching a successful St. Louis restaurant:1. Move to St. Louis.
Husband and wife Michael G. Roberts... More>>
Published: April 30, 2003
More Than Mean Margaritas Veer left, then swerve right," said the guy standing outside Pueblo Solis, shouting directions on his cell phone to his friends en route. They'd... More>>
Published: April 23, 2003
Trying Times How much you'll like Oliver's -- which opened in December on St. Charles' Main Street -- depends first on how much you dislike Interstate 70,... More>>
Published: April 16, 2003
Go Hungry Driving down South Grand one day, en route to that other Ted Drewes, I noticed a new sign on the building at Grand and Gasconade that formerly... More>>
Published: April 09, 2003
Building a Better Bistro Dinner at JaBoni's Bistro begins in the parking lot. No drive-through, no outdoor seating, but it's in the parking lot where JaBoni's allure... More>>
Published: April 02, 2003
Built for Comfort There's no shortage of the quick-bite-to-eat type of restaurant in St. Louis. We are busy people, after all. National chains such as Applebee's... More>>
Published: March 26, 2003
Will Quirk for Food As a dining-out genre, "American eclectic" is rarely as thoroughly embodied as it is at Wild Flower, the storefront restaurant that has held... More>>
Published: March 19, 2003
Into Africa It's not every day that one gets to eat a giant snail.Ditto yam porridge or fried plantains or palm juice. Not around these parts, anyway. But... More>>
Published: March 12, 2003
Star Fish "How the hell do you review sushi?" a dozen people have asked me since last week. It's a valid question: When you're talking about a cuisine... More>>
Published: March 05, 2003
Viva Vito's You can count on one hand -- and perhaps three fingers of another -- the number of places in St. Louis to get a really good pizza. Nothing starts... More>>
Published: February 26, 2003
Old Standby On January 23, about an hour before the lunch shift was to begin, Ken Elder, a 40-year-old refrigeration contractor, was killed instantly in the... More>>
Published: February 19, 2003
Slice of Paris If you've never been to Paris but want to experience the essence of the small neighborhood bistros of that magical city, visit Le Petit Paris,... More>>
Published: February 12, 2003
Waiting for Good Cummel's Café has great food -- if only it were easier to get your hands on some. Re-situated about three months ago into warm and... More>>
Published: February 05, 2003
Big Apple Pomme, the new Clayton restaurant by chef and restaurateur Bryan Carr, is the kind of place you could hang out in for a few hours, as long as... More>>
Published: January 29, 2003
Heavenly Grease Full confession:I was sort of swindled into reviewing Molly O'Ryans, an unassuming make-your-own-fun drinking hole hidden away on a... More>>
Published: January 22, 2003
Fancy Illusion Things aren't always what they seem.Take, for instance, that free Caribbean cruise you won, only to find out that the definition of "free" had... More>>
Published: January 15, 2003
A Whole Lotta Soul When you go to the Goody Pancake House -- and if you live, work or play anywhere remotely near downtown, or if you just plain know what's good... More>>
Published: January 08, 2003
Sen Resurrection When Sen Thai, a popular lunch spot that provided a rare downtown option for ethnic food, reincarnated itself last November, it did more than... More>>
Published: January 01, 2003
Muted Joy On the one hand, there are hotel rooms: square spaces of blissful solitaire, something so comforting about all that beige wallpaper and chintzy... More>>
Published: December 25, 2002
Steamy Choices What happens when you take a venerated barbecue restaurant and slap a pagoda on the roof? You change the name to Lu Lu and dish up authentic... More>>
Published: December 18, 2002
Split Personality Liluma needs to see a shrink, because Liluma is a bit schizophrenic.A glance at the new Central West End eatery's exterior, and the place seems... More>>
Published: December 11, 2002
Turn, Turn and Eat There's a time and a season for everything, and a restaurant's turning to a new menu to match the calendar and climate is no exception.With those... More>>
Published: December 04, 2002
Something's Fishy There's this great throwaway line from one of the old "Wayne's World" sketches on Saturday Night Live in which Wayne ponders possible etymologies... More>>
Published: November 27, 2002
Three's a Charm A theory: It's possible to judge the quality of the food at a Mexican restaurant by the presence, or lack thereof, of handpainted murals. If... More>>
Published: November 20, 2002
The Little Things Count The Irish aren't exactly known for their subtlety. That pesky potato famine sure did a number on the homeland; the IRA has been known to send a... More>>
Published: November 13, 2002
Perfection Is Possible One of the many hilarious consequences of writing about eating out is that people tend to make screwy food-related assumptions about you.One such... More>>
Published: November 06, 2002
Ichibantastic My brother prefers to dodge moral quandaries when he eats out. To ensure that he's not helping wipe out any threatened species, he carries a list... More>>
Published: October 30, 2002
U.S. Prime As the new war season starts to heat up, the American experience can increasingly be defined in terms of the extent to which we (a) agree to be... More>>
Published: October 23, 2002
Italian for Beginners Cookbooks featuring recipes with only a few ingredients have become popular in recent years. At any online bookstore, for example, you can buy... More>>
Published: October 16, 2002
India Kitchen The folks at India Kitchen don't hold a grudge. They recognized me on my second visit to their restaurant and still greeted me with smiles and... More>>
Published: October 09, 2002
Coeur Project Jean-François Lyotard, late French dude-of-many-theories, argued that modern societies maintain the illusion of order through "grand... More>>
Published: October 02, 2002
By the Numbers A fad in New York City a few years ago was to name restaurants after their addresses. Eleven Madison Park, 55 Wall and Fifty Seven Fifty Seven... More>>
Published: September 18, 2002
Window Under Washington Washington Avenue Bistro is maddeningly erratic, swooping from sublime to substandard. It's a culinary version of Russian roulette: Win, and... More>>
Published: September 11, 2002
Hot and Bothered Our waiter, who was goofy, said he had hit upon a brilliant idea: He would bring out the appetizer before serving the rest of our dinner. He made... More>>
Published: September 04, 2002
Sherman's March There's no downtime at Billy Sherman's Deli. When owner Pat Hallahan pulls into the lot at 7 a.m., he often finds a queue of men standing outside... More>>
Published: August 28, 2002
Georgia Satellite Before I even sat down at Café Lavash, a Georgian restaurant located on Olive, a few concerns were spinning around in my head. The first... More>>
Published: August 21, 2002
Planet Asia These cooks, how they stamp, and strain, and grind, and turn substance into accident! -- Geoffrey Chaucer
The food here is very, very good,"... More>>
Published: August 14, 2002
Chez Clayton Eighteenth-century Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was ahead of his time in more ways than one. He was a vegetarian who advocated eating... More>>
Published: August 07, 2002
Central Station In heaven, the chosen few will have access to fresh peaches year-round, and handmaidens and manservants will replenish your bowl of fresh peach... More>>
Published: July 31, 2002
Pepper Rally Disasters are often accompanied by ominous noises to which human intuition has been profitably sensitive for eons. "Run like hell" suggests the... More>>
Published: July 24, 2002
Classic Collection "When your most prominent architectural feature is the exit sign, you know you have a problem," my dining companion observed dryly as we surveyed... More>>
Published: July 17, 2002
Larger Than Life I suffered a nasty jar when the Truffles menu intimated that Babs' twice-baked potato would contain, er, truffles. On the subject of potatoes I... More>>
Published: July 10, 2002
Flying Fish Corny puns and double-entendres have infiltrated pop culture more insidiously than the arrival of celebrity restaurateurs such as Britney Spears,... More>>
Published: July 03, 2002
A Grand Time There is no such thing, my father enjoys reminding me daily, as a free lunch. I'm no economist, but the doctrine would also seem to suggest, as a... More>>
Published: June 26, 2002
French Connection Leon Bierbaum is a bon vivant of the old school, the kind of oenophile who prefers a third-growth Bordeaux to the hottest Napa Valley cult... More>>
Published: June 19, 2002
Paradise Regained I'm not the woman I was, and I'll tell you why. In the gay days of my callow youth, I could expect to be up and about, dancing like fat in a... More>>
Published: June 12, 2002
Throw Mama Last week I was moping around in my pajamas, distraught about having been pilloried on the Hill, when I had a sudden and unlikely craving for... More>>
Published: June 05, 2002
Bohemian Rhapsody Mangia really used to suck.
Not that it didn't exude an agreeable, if gritty, flava. Before this year's takeover by new management, the revered... More>>
Published: May 29, 2002
Pearl in a Shell When I was a high-school student in Panama City, Florida, kegs at weekend parties were always accompanied by twenty-pound mesh bags of pristine... More>>
Published: May 22, 2002
Fond Affections Unquestionably the avocado is the most voluptuous of fruits. That it is no longer fashionable points to grave faults in the underpinnings of... More>>
Published: May 15, 2002
Picture of Lily's But for a stolen car in San Diego, St. Louis might never have tasted Salvador and Adela Esparza's Mexican home cooking.The Esparzas relocated to... More>>
Published: May 08, 2002
So Over the Hill Dining on the Hill can be summed up in one word: predictable. Like Gaslight Square in San Diego and the French Quarter in New Orleans, the Hill... More>>
Published: May 01, 2002
Grand Funk Now playing at The Bistro in Grand Center: A Tale of Two Cities.The latest brave soul trying to make a go in the charming, funky space... More>>
Published: April 24, 2002
Something About Harry Lively jazz is a regular background fixture at Harry's downtown, but the management might consider instituting a ritual of "Rhapsody in Blue"... More>>
Published: April 17, 2002
Grand Junction We depart from the usual format this week to bring you a two-for-one special. Recently, as we were driving down deep South Grand with an old... More>>
Published: April 10, 2002
That's a Winner Dining at a new David Slay restaurant is like seeing the latest Tom Hanks pic: Your high expectations are usually met. Smith & Slay's combines... More>>
Published: April 03, 2002
Wonderful Life Bosnian pop music provided the background as we scanned the menu at Grbic´, a new restaurant at the corner of Meramec and Keokuk in South... More>>
Published: March 27, 2002
Shallow Grove "I knew I should've given up food for Lent," wisecracked my guest as the waiter removed his nearly full plate. We were dining at Busch's Grove, a... More>>
Published: March 20, 2002
Hama Time If Naomi Hamamura, a.k.a. Hama-san, asks you to trust him, take him up on it.Hama-san has been spending most of his time lately at the second... More>>
Published: March 13, 2002
Alton Giant When we first heard that there was a new, rather upscale restaurant in "downtown" Alton called Aaron's, we pictured another alternative in the... More>>
Published: March 06, 2002
Carnaval Supply The caipirinha, a potent Brazilian cocktail whose name is Portuguese for "little hick," has come a long way since it left the sticks. Once... More>>
Published: February 27, 2002
Old Saying Here's a bit of perspective: If you were born in the same year as Tachibana, you can now legally purchase alcohol there.Back in February of 1980,... More>>
Published: February 20, 2002
Where Fashion Sits When the exalted French chef Alain Ducasse debuted his posh restaurant of the same name on Central Park South, amenities included a sommelier for... More>>
Published: February 13, 2002
Babylon Rising For years, South Grand Boulevard has been closely associated with the foods of the Far East. But for those whose tastes run more to the Near or... More>>
Published: February 06, 2002
Old Hat "Give the place a few more years, and it'll be retro," remarked my dining companion as we took stock of the French advertising posters, track... More>>
Published: January 30, 2002
Big Fish We were just wrapping up our desserts at the Pond Inn on a fairly slow postholiday weeknight when a woman sheepishly poked her head around the... More>>
Published: January 23, 2002
Brotherly Love They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but you just might be able to judge a restaurant by its menu. I Fratellini's is a black leather... More>>
Published: January 16, 2002
French Toast Maybe a brief parlay with a French teacher is in order.I found myself musing over this as I took another bite of one of the finest lamb chops... More>>
Published: January 09, 2002
Thai Score How many times have you wished you had the recipe for the braided Christmas bread your Ukrainian grandmother used to bake or wondered what the... More>>
Published: January 02, 2002
Maya Way Those who bemoan the evolution of the University City Loop into something "too trendy" -- and you know who you are -- would do well to wander... More>>
Published: December 26, 2001
Raw Fish Dining at Mandarin Bay is like watching a figure skater flub her program: Spectators can only look on with chagrin as she becomes what pro... More>>
Published: December 19, 2001
Kong King The e-mails started to come in soon after the opening, including a couple from Asian natives and transplants who had often sent correspondence... More>>
Published: December 12, 2001
Urban Chic Native St. Louisans and new transplants have spilled much ink lately fretting about how the world sees our city. In my day job, I've admittedly... More>>
Published: December 05, 2001
Hall of Flame The difficulty with "celebrity" restaurants is that those who put their names on the doors have often done so mainly for a royalty, with very... More>>
Published: November 28, 2001
Warm Comfort I've never been tempted to pocket hard rolls at the Old Country Buffet or filch Equal packets from Starbucks. But Richard Perry's... More>>
Published: November 21, 2001
Muddy Memories Maybe the Robert E. Lee is best viewed through the eyes of youth.At fortysomething, I'm probably romanticizing long-ago trips to "the boat" for... More>>
Published: November 14, 2001
Living End Ellie Forcella is like a craft project from the pages of Martha Stewart Living: The idea is appealing, but the finished product bears little... More>>
Published: November 07, 2001
Kicks and Grins The colors and crisp air of fall had finally arrived, so in the spirit of the best-laid schemes of mice and men, we piled two adults and five... More>>
Published: October 31, 2001
Mississippi Burning At Redneck Earl's Cowboy Takeout, in San Mateo, Calif., customers who pluck up the courage to try the hot sauce must first sign a liability... More>>
Published: October 24, 2001
Thai Score What is it about the initial aroma of a restaurant that can instantly put a smile on your face, even -- as was the case when we walked into the... More>>
Published: October 17, 2001
Miso Hungry It's always a little scary when a businessperson -- especially one with no restaurant experience -- magically comes up with a new concept that he... More>>
Published: October 10, 2001
Rustic Never Sleeps Members of the eaterati insist that there are appetizer restaurants and there are entrée restaurants. Trattoria Marcella is a specials... More>>
Published: October 03, 2001
Raw Power Just as we walked through the door of Fuji, a new Japanese restaurant on Clarkson Road in West County, another party was leaving, and they were... More>>
Published: September 19, 2001
Dead End Within five minutes of arriving at C. Whittaker's, we were scrambling to secure a last-minute reservation at another restaurant. Why the... More>>
Published: September 12, 2001
Hello, Delhi I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but sometime in the recent past, Indian food made the leap from rare to almost commonplace in the St.... More>>
Published: September 05, 2001
Beauty Triumphs Once the eager-beaver waitstaff learns to back off, that will be a nearly perfect dining venue," my friend concluded in an e-mail message after... More>>
Published: August 29, 2001
O Solomillo! As they say about dining out in Spain, better late than never.The tapas craze swept the rest of the country more than a decade ago, with places... More>>
Published: August 22, 2001
Sky's the Limit It's almost invariably fun to visit one of Tim Mallett's restaurants because, as much as any restaurateur in town, Tim Mallett "gets it." He gets... More>>
Published: August 15, 2001
Dog Days The food stall or diner-like Mexican restaurant called a taqueria is relatively rare in these parts. The main concentration recently has been... More>>
Published: August 08, 2001
Safe Landing It's a reviewer's job to help readers decide how to spend their leisure time and money. A classical-music critic might recommend attending a... More>>
Published: August 01, 2001
Crossing to Safety Ever since an astonishing initial visit some three years ago, one of my constant recommendations for people in search of new, fabulous restaurant... More>>
Published: July 25, 2001
Brimful of Rajas Indian food has the same deliciously corrupting qualities as sex: The more you get, the more you want. Anecdotal evidence suggests that... More>>
Published: July 18, 2001
Kibbi Kibbitzing At my first glimpse of the parking lot, I knew we might be in trouble.Here it was, just 11:20 a.m. We'd left our downtown office jobs early on... More>>
Published: July 11, 2001
American Beauty The entrées at Cardwell's in Clayton remind us of Thanksgiving plates laden with tidbits from eight different platters, crocks and... More>>
Published: July 04, 2001
OK by You My direct experience with New Orleans cooking comes in four major flavors. At the high end, it's places such as Bayona and The Grill at the... More>>
Published: June 27, 2001
Goody Works As my foodcentric comrade and I shambled out of the Goody Goody Diner after having packed away an embarrassingly large breakfast, I asked him... More>>
Published: June 20, 2001
Royal Treatment If you build it, they will come.Perhaps this little fantasy should be titled "Brownfield of Dreams." The names of the principal characters -- M.... More>>
Published: June 13, 2001
Euclidean Math The key to enjoying Little Saigon Café is walking in with the proper set of expectations.After years of conditioning that 8 bucks is a... More>>
Published: June 06, 2001
Hog Heaven Welcome Kirkwood HOG," announced a Budweiser banner flapping above the door of Connolly's Front Street Grille. An unbroken line of Harleys snaked... More>>
Published: May 30, 2001
Tei Time I used to think Ann Bognar simply had a knack for serving good food in very pleasant surroundings. With her newest restaurant, Nippon Tei, I'm... More>>
Published: May 23, 2001
Cupples Therapy This place has an identity crisis," my friend concluded as we finished our $28 entrées at the elegant Clark Street Grill. "With its name... More>>
Published: May 16, 2001
Sprouting Seed Harry "Doug" Douglas must have had, at very least, faith as small as a mustard seed when trying to move his mountain of a restaurant into the... More>>
Published: May 09, 2001
Family Tradition The standard by which an eatery should be appraised is how well it succeeds at whatever it aspires to be, be it a drugstore soda fountain or a... More>>
Published: May 02, 2001
Gone Fishin' Here's a real whopper for you: a brand-new, high-end seafood restaurant, seating upwards of 150 people, with something like 30 fish and shellfish... More>>
Published: April 25, 2001
Lotsa Matzo "You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy's," declared a 1965 Manhattan billboard advertising a popular brand of rye bread. A fatuous... More>>
Published: April 18, 2001
New Kids on the Block No prior experience necessary.It's not very often that a rookie breaks into the majors and is instantly competitive, but that seems to be the... More>>
Published: April 11, 2001
Play Ball! OK, so here it is baseball season again. Starting Monday and continuing for 80-some dates over the subsequent six months, thousands of you will... More>>
Published: April 04, 2001
Wait Training Just what does "good service" mean? Must a restaurant server have the deportment of an English footman, know more about food and wine than M.F.K.... More>>
Published: March 28, 2001
News of the Weir Somehow we figured that the Dogtown space made popular by R.L. Steamer's wasn't going to stay vacant for very long. In addition to the basic good... More>>
Published: March 21, 2001
Pie-Eyed What can I get for you, buddy?" croaked an earnest, fresh-faced server in a preppy gray ribbed turtleneck. But no sooner had he posed the... More>>
Published: March 14, 2001
River Run Our travels this week take us to Grafton, a picturesque river town about 20 minutes north of Alton, directly up the Great River Road. In stark... More>>
Published: March 07, 2001
Flat Feed Chef Sue Dill's dishes are Mary Janes in a season of stiletto food. While swank chefs construct tottering layers of edible scaffolding known as... More>>
Published: February 28, 2001
Zum Zum In In some restaurants, especially at ethnic places, it's considered a compliment to say, "It was just as if I'd been invited into their home." It's... More>>
Published: February 21, 2001
Horse Sense This one is just too hard to resist: It sure seems as if there's a flood of new restaurants in the Chesterfield Valley now, doesn't it?One of the... More>>
Published: February 14, 2001
Flower Power What's the matter -- do you feel like you're at Culpeppers?" quipped my dining companion as our waiter set a plate of stubby jalapeño... More>>
Published: February 07, 2001
Catching Some Z To all of you who may have been thus far avoiding Z, the new restaurant that has taken over the old Hot Locust space, because you're dubious... More>>
Published: January 31, 2001
Meating Place Puritan Dainty Meat à la Ginger Ale: Place Dainty Meat in a saucepan, and add two cups of ginger ale. Cover and cook slowly for 2 hours or... More>>
Published: January 24, 2001
Flows and Eddie's Whether or not Fast Eddie's Bon-Air is, as one of its brochures boasts, the "#1 volume bar in the world," the place is incredible. About to... More>>
Published: January 17, 2001
Southern Comfort I guess these things go in cycles. Maybe about 20 years ago, a jovial guy named Richard Perry revived an old building on Jefferson Avenue in... More>>
Published: January 10, 2001
Market Research We specially cater for your stomach for your food needs," reads a clumsily translated signboard propped up next to a café in Lagos,... More>>
Published: January 03, 2001
Side Dish
A wily enologist has been toiling in a Napa Valley lab, blending beakers of white zinfandel with flasks of merlot. The result is white merlot, a... More>>
Published: January 03, 2001
Let Them Eat Y2Cake Here's some of what I saw on the St. Louis food scene as the second millennium drew to a close:First, the highs. The resurrection of the Chase... More>>
Published: December 27, 2000
Seoul Searching Just last month, Saveur magazine, probably my favorite food periodical, proclaimed Korean food the "least-known great Asian cuisine in the... More>>
Published: December 20, 2000
Air Fare The term "suspension of disbelief" takes on a whole new meaning when you grab one of those white-handled paper sacks from the cart on the... More>>
Published: December 13, 2000
Side Dish
Is that pâté in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me? A plastic cylinder filled with green-peppercorn pâté is what... More>>
Published: December 13, 2000
Send in the Marinos Tony Marino. Tony Marino. Why do we know that name?Well, it could be the guy who fronted Mike Shannon's downtown for many years -- great... More>>
Published: December 06, 2000
Side Dish
Speaking of the inaugural Phillips-Selkirk wine auction, which was held Nov. 18, it's going to be interesting to see whether St. Louis can earn a... More>>
Published: December 06, 2000
Eat and Run The young people in Spain, they never get drunk. "Tortilla, tortilla, bring us more tortilla!' they cry, and they just keep drinking all night,"... More>>
Published: November 29, 2000
Side Dish
Pappardelle with osso buco sauce or Stone Cold's rattlesnake-rib rub? How to decide? The two best-selling cookbooks at Amazon.com the week of... More>>
Published: November 29, 2000
Dim Sum-mary Usually it's a transplant, someone new to the area, or maybe a traveler recently returned from one of the coasts. Steadily, though, come the... More>>
Published: November 22, 2000
Some Like It Hot A study conducted at Britain's Nottingham Trent University, reported last month in the Times of London, cautioned that diners with a weakness for... More>>
Published: November 15, 2000
Musing on Biggie's
Biggie’s is, in more ways than one, between Hatfield’s Tavern and Trattoria Marcella, but closer to Hatfield’s.
Probably not well known to... More>>
Published: November 08, 2000
Side Dish
While eating at Biggie's, I noticed several people wearing sweatshirts saluting the late Officer Robert Stanze of the St. Louis Police... More>>
Published: November 08, 2000
The Story of Eau Slowly, magically, the kingdom of Khorassan is being rebuilt for the modern era.We're not talking about the silly Veiled Prophet stuff, which,... More>>
Published: November 01, 2000
Side Dish
Fair warning: The annual five weeks of "game menu" at Fio's La Fourchette (7515 Forsyth Blvd., 314-863-6866) begins Wednesday, Nov. 8.Last year's... More>>
Published: November 01, 2000
Jim Dandy Casual observation suggests that a wide gender gap exists among bread-pudding enthusiasts. Women seem to be comforted by its timid taste and... More>>
Published: October 25, 2000
Side Dish
It's not easy being green, but the martini has made the transition handily. Apple martinis are the hot new drink on both coasts, having... More>>
Published: October 25, 2000
Medium Well Now, I would have thought that with a location in something called the American Zinc Building, a signature restaurant in the French-bistro style... More>>
Published: October 18, 2000
Walk in the Park The floodlit Victorian mansions that line Park Avenue look eerily handsome as you drive past them under a hazy autumn moon. These Gilded Age... More>>
Published: October 11, 2000
Take It with a Grain of Salt
Next to white king salmon, microgreens and garlic roots, the hottest ingredient in New York restaurants this fall is salt. Yes, salt. But given... More>>
Published: October 11, 2000
Pick Your Poisson Chalk up another benefit from the Bosnian boom in the city of St. Louis.
The space where Pho Grand built up its loyal following with food,... More>>
Published: October 04, 2000
Keep Yourself Alive
OK, let's dispense with the usual whimsy found in this space and talk about something deadly serious.
A couple of weeks ago, on an off-day for... More>>
Published: October 04, 2000
Russian Roulette "The chef has burned your chicken Kiev," our server explained candidly, "but he's making you another one. Would you like a few shots of vodka... More>>
Published: September 20, 2000
Killer B. The first clue to the personality of Brian Menzel, a longtime country-club chef who has just opened the first restaurant of his very own, B.... More>>
Published: September 13, 2000
Second Opinion
Next week we welcome a new invisible face to this page in the person of Melissa Martin, whose reviews will alternate with mine.
Web-savvy... More>>
Published: September 13, 2000
Smoking Gunn If chef Lou Rook III has had previous lives, one of them may have been as George Gershwin.
Rook truly is an artist at flavor composition, and... More>>
Published: September 06, 2000
Banking the Coals One of the more colorful theories on the origin of the word "barbecue" is that it stems from the French barbe à queue, meaning "beard to... More>>
Published: August 30, 2000
Alternate Route Hi. My name is Joe, and I'm an economist.
I'd been getting better for a very long time. In fact, I hadn't even looked at a Beige Book or even... More>>
Published: August 23, 2000
Fish Story Our little R.L. Steamers is suddenly all grown up.
And, as is often the case when a youngster matures, there's reason to be proud, but there can... More>>
Published: August 16, 2000
Cyberchow
We recently stumbled on another place to talk online about the local food scene, and that gave us an excuse to remind you that you can also talk... More>>
Published: August 16, 2000
Show of Farsi Because Persia is now commonly known as Iran and the general American view of Iran has been skewed by the contentious relations of the past... More>>
Published: August 09, 2000
Locust Plague
The warning signals started flashing last Tuesday, when luncheon diners mysteriously could not use credit cards at Hot Locust, which received... More>>
Published: August 09, 2000
Old-Fashioned Healthy You don't really need a family along with you to eat "family style," but it sure helps.
We stuffed all seven of us into the van a few weeks ago... More>>
Published: August 02, 2000
Brulee Brouhaha
A couple of recent letter-writers were quite incensed that I would object to a crème brûlée's being served cold, concluding... More>>
Published: August 02, 2000
