- Wine Spectator magazine's annual awards for restaurant wine lists should be out very soon -- the issue is dated August 31 -- but one area restaurant is already trumpeting its improved status. Balaban's Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar (1772 Clarkson Road, Chesterfield; 636-449-6700) announced this morning that the magazine has elevated its wine list from the first-tier (of three) "Award of Excellence" to the second-tier "Best of Award of Excellence."
Last year's awards, for which restaurants pay a $250 entry fee, honored some 3,700 restaurants worldwide, including more than three dozen of them in Missouri.
- Livery Company, a cocktail lounge, opened this past weekend at 3211 Cherokee Street. The bar is open every night but Sunday. We'll have more on Livery Company in the coming weeks.
- Sauce reports that Ritz-Carlton (100 Carondelet Plaza, Clayton; 314-863-6300) executive pastry chef Simone Faure plans to open a patisserie called Chouquette at 1626 Tower Grove Avenue in the city's Botanical Heights neighborhood. This will be directly across the street from Olio and Elaia, the restaurant and wine bar being opened by Ben Poremba of Salume Beddu (3467 Hampton Avenue; 314-353-3100).
