Ian Froeb's STL 100

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HOMEY NO. 1 SPOT IS A HOT TICKET

BONUS ISSUE • MARCH 4, 2018 •

2 NEW FACES DEBUT IN THE TOP 10 THERE’S A NEW CHAMP FOR STL’S BEST BBQ

2018

IN RESTAURANTS ST. LOUIS

➨ PLUS, GET A TASTE OF NEARLY 50 OF THESE RESTAURANTS FOR 40 BUCKS!

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IAN FROEB’S STL 100

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03.04.18 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • GO! MAGAZINE

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

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Visitingall100?

FARMHAUS

PRIVADO

VERITAS

STONE SOUP COTTAGE

Use this list to keep track of where you’ve eaten. Restaurants marked with a star are part of the Top 25.

Here’s your chance to taste for yourself

NIXTA

ELAIA

CATE ZONE CHINESE CAFE

Join us March 14 at the St. Louis Science Center for the Great Taste, our annual event featuring bites from nearly 50 restaurants listed in this guide. stltoday.com/ourevents

100 ESSENTIAL RESTAURANTS POINT TO A DELICIOUS FUTURE Over the 12 years I’ve been covering the St. Louis dining scene, I can’t remember a stronger year for new restaurants than 2017.

I had to expand my year-end ranking of the best new restaurants from the usual 10 to 12 to cover them all. ¶ I didn’t expand the STL 100, but I did make some diicult decisions to make room for the newcomers. ¶ This year’s newcomers include two restaurants debuting in the top 10, and if you stretch the timeline just a little, four of the top 10 restaurants have opened since November 2016. ¶ The 2018 STL 100 also names a new home of the area’s best barbecue, and an unassuming fast-casual restaurant serving wraps continues its remarkable climb up the Top 25. ¶ As always, in researching and writing the STL 100, I seek not simply a list of 100 great restaurants but 100 great restaurants that also reflect the current character of St. Louis’ dining scene: what is essential now, what points us toward the future and what examples from the past we should take with us. ¶ The STL 100 is also, as always, one person’s opinion, imperfect, but undertaken with relish. And hot sauce.

For starters ... ➨ The STL 100 is divided into the Top 25 and the Rest of the Best.

There is no great gap between No. 25 and whatever No. 26 would be. At a certain point, splitting the diference is too arbitrary to be useful. ➨ Restaurants must have opened by Oct. 31, 2017, to be eligible for this edition of the STL 100, though I wasn’t able to reach every restaurant that opened last fall in time. Each restaurant has been visited at least once since Jan. 1, 2017. ➨ As with my weekly restaurant reviews, I attempted to dine anonymously.

After 12 years, however, many chefs and restaurateurs recognize me. ➨ Pricing info is estimated per person. The availability and cost of recommended dishes are subject to change.

@ianfroeb

OUR TEAM Gabe Hartwig editor, ghartwig@post-dispatch.com • Amy Bertrand Post-Dispatch features editor, abertrand@post-dispatch. com • Ian Froeb restaurant critic, ifroeb@post-dispatch.com • Norma Klingsick designer, nklingsick@post-dispatch.com • Frank Reust copy editor, freust@post-dispatch.com • Hillary Levin photo editor, hlevin@post-dispatch.com • Josh Renaud web developer, jrenaud@ post-dispatch.com • Andrew Nguyen web developer, anguyen@post-dispatch.com • Donna Bischof • Post-Dispatch vice president of sales and marketing, dbischof@post-dispatch.com • Kyle Ingram director of sales, metro division, kingram@post-dispatch.com • Emily Tintera event and sponsorship manager, etintera@post-dispatch.com • CONTACT US Advertise 314-340-8500, stltoday.com/advertise • Subscribe 314-340-8888, stltoday.com/subscribe • Write to us Go! Magazine, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 900 N. Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63101 • COPYRIGHT 2018 Go! Magazine is published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Lee Enterprises • ON THE COVER Stone Soup Cottage in Cottleville; photo by Robert Cohen of the Post-Dispatch

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IAN FROEB’S STL 100

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■ Acero ■ Annie Gunn’s ★ ■ Baileys’ Range ■ Balkan Treat Box ■ Banh Mi So #1 — Saigon Gourmet ■ Bar Les Frères ■ Beast Craft BBQ Co. ★ ■ Big Baby Q and Smokehouse ■ Bing Bing ■ Blues City Deli ■ Bogart’s Smokehouse ■ Brasserie by Niche ■ Byrd & Barrel ■ Cafe Natasha’s ■ Cardwell’s at the Plaza ■ Cate Zone Chinese Cafe ■ Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmet Restaurant ■ Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery ■ Cleveland-Heath ★ ■ Comet Cofee & Microbakery ■ The Crossing ★ ■ Edibles & Essentials ■ El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery ■ Elaia ★ ■ Farmhaus ★ ■ Five Bistro ★ ■ Five Star Burgers ■ Fork & Stix ■ Frankly Sausages ■ Gioia’s Deli ■ Grace Meat + Three ■ Guerrilla Street Food ★ ■ Half & Half ■ Hiro Asian Kitchen ■ I Fratellini ■ Juniper ★ ■ Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria ■ Kounter Kulture ■ La Patisserie Chouquette ■ La Tejana Taqueria ■ Lemmons by Grbic ■ Local Chef Kitchen ■ Lona’s Lil Eats ★ ■ Mac’s Local Eats ■ Mai Lee ■ Mariscos el Gato ■ Medina Mediterranean Grill

■ Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant ■ Mission Taco Joint ■ Nathaniel Reid Bakery ■ Nixta ★ ■ Nudo House ■ Olio ■ Olive + Oak ★ ■ The Palm Trees ■ Pangea ■ Pappy’s Smokehouse ★ ■ Parigi ■ Pastaria ★ ■ Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. ■ Pho Long ■ Pi Pizzeria ■ Pint Size Bakery ■ Pizza Head ■ Pizzeoli ■ Polite Society ■ Porano Pasta ■ Privado ★ ■ Private Kitchen and Soup Dumplings STL ■ Público ★ ■ Quincy Street Bistro ■ Reeds American Table ★ ■ Retreat Gastropub ■ Rice Thai Bistro ■ Salt + Smoke ■ Salume Beddu at Parker’s Table ■ Sardella ★ ■ Seoul Taco ■ Sheesh Restaurant ■ Sidney Street Café ★ ■ Signature India ■ Sister Cities Cajun ■ Smoki O’s ■ Southern ■ Southwest Diner ■ Spare No Rib ■ Stone Soup Cottage ★ ■ Sugarfire Smoke House ■ The Taco & Ice Cream Joint ■ Tai Ke ■ Taqueria Durango ■ Taste ■ Tony’s ★ ■ Union Loafers ★ ■ Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall and the U.R.B. ■ Veritas ★ ■ Vicia ★ ■ Vista Ramen ★ ■ The Wood Shack ■ Yolklore

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P H O T O S : R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S T O N E S O U P, F I V E B I S T R O , FA R M H A U S , E L A I A ) ; C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( V E R I TA S ) ; R I C H A R D PA C K ( P R I VA D O ) ; M I C H A E L T H O M A S ( N I X TA )

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

American Plates with Balkan Spins

Pizzeoli

“Be sur sure to order the ustipci, airy fried-dough balls with feta butter, mushroom duxelles and the tangy rrelish called ajvar for dipping” – Ian Froe

Welcome to our cozy little Neapolitan-inspired pizzeria located in the historic neighborhood of Soulard.

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Southern Louisiana Style Breaded Boneless Catish Nuggets

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TheTOP

25 Stone Soup Cottage CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, FRENCH

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It’s an altogether transcendent experience.

I’d planned to dine again at Stone Soup before writing this, but when I returned from an earlierand longer-than-planned leave, the restaurant was sold out beyond our deadline. As my visit occurred after Jan. 1, 2017, within this project’s scope, I’m confident including it here.

My dealing with sold-out reservations highlights a key point about Stone Soup: You must plan at least a month — or, to be safe, more like two months — ahead.

Most of you will drive farther than normal to get here. All of you will pay $100 per person for the six-course meal.

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IAN FROEB’S STL 100

Chef Carl McConnell understands a meal at his restaurant is a special occasion for most diners. As he sees it, this is an advantage for him.

“That’s something I learned in the travel industry,” says McConnell, who has cooked on cruise ships, a luxury Boeing 757 and an Arctic Ocean icebreaker. “It was easier to deal with the public in general because they were having fun.”

Stone Soup hosts only one seating a night, so there’s no pressure to turn your table. The evening belongs to you.

“We all believe in people,” McConnell says. “We believe in sharing our experience with the people that walk through the door every evening. It’s such a huge and great responsibility for us. We never take it lightly. We try to better what we did the day before.”

McConnell himself brings each course to the table and explains the dish.

“Every time I go out of the kitchen to serve something, that in and of itself is a very honest moment right there,” he says. “I’m the

Winter Garbure with Parisian gnocchi at Stone Soup Cottage

one who has to stand there and tell you what you’re having, whether I made a mistake or not. But there’s a euphoria in that.”

Extremely limted seating, an of-thebeaten-path location, no walk-in dining: Stone Soup is one of the unlikeliest restaurants, let alone success stories, in the St. Louis area.

For McConnell, it was born of necessity.

When McConnell and his wife, Nancy, first opened Stone Soup in an even smaller space in 2009, he says, “I had two young children, I was laid of from my job, and we had to do something. We had to do it for our family.”

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 1 • OPENED 2009 • MUST ORDER Menu changes monthly • PRICING $45 and up ! WHERE 5809 State

Highway N, Cottleville • MORE INFO 636-244-2233, stonesoupcottage.com • HOURS Dinner Thursday-Saturday

Elaia CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Ben Grupe, executive chef of Ben Poremba’s flagship Elaia, was the runner-up to represent the United States (yes, the entire country) in the 2019 edition of the prestigious international culinary competition the Bocuse d’Or. In other words, Grupe is a supremely talented chef, his star on the national culinary scene has only begun its ascent and you should dine at Elaia sooner rather than later. My most recent dinner here showcased Grupe’s technical skill, painter’s eye and knack for nuanced contrasts of flavor and texture: a foiegras terrene with spiced bread pudding, a pear coulis and poached pears; smoky salmon

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Parfait of foie gras with poached apple, Asian pear, radicchio and celery gastrique at Elaia

gravlax wrapped in a gossamer slice of crisp, sweet apple; an umami feast of miso-marinated tuna and hen-of-thewoods mushrooms over a porcini puree. My favorite dish, though, was strikingly simple: a bowl of polenta, creamy

with ParmigianoReggiano and the yolk of a poached egg, paired with a veal ragu. Grupe couldn’t resist grating heady black trule over the bowl, but even with this luxury, the polenta was soulful and comforting. Having made

Elaia his own, Grupe is also ushering in the next generation of St. Louis chefs. His assistant at the Bocuse d’Or competition was Elaia cook Jared Dix, at the time all of 19 years old.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 2 • OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $45 and up ! WHERE 1634 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-932-1088, elaiastl.com • HOURS Dinner Wednesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Tuesday)

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H

Stone Soup Cottage ascended to No. 1 in the 2017 STL 100. It remains there in 2018. In the year and change since I last ate at Stone Soup, no meal — even at the restaurants immediately below it on this list — has come close to its full package of masterly Frenchinfluenced, farm-to-table fare and exemplary hospitality.

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Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO ! WHERE 4260 Forest Park Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-553-9239, viciarestaurant. com • HOURS Dinner TuesdaySaturday, lunch Monday-Friday

Sidney Street Café CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

When Kevin Nashan took the stage at the Lyric Opera in Chicago in May 2017 to accept the James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Midwest,” he looked (to this observer, at least) completely flummoxed. He thanked “all teams, past and present, at Sidney Street” and then hustled of the stage. “I never thought it would happen,” he told the Post-Dispatch later that night. “I’m so grateful.”

The humble response didn’t shock anyone who has eaten at Sidney Street since Nashan took over the Benton Park restaurant in 2003. Here the food comes first, the flash later, if at all.

Nashan and his team, led by pastry chef turned executive chef Robert Zugmaier, have found the sweet spot between modern dishes gorgeous (a recent pasta special with duck confit and apple butter) and stylishly rustic (braised beef cheek with charred cabbage and a wintervegetable gratin) and classics of the old (the filet béarnaise) and newer (veal dumplings) school. I left my most recent meal surprised only that Nashan hadn’t won his “Best Chef: Midwest” award years ago.

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Pork with cherry sauce along with (from left) beef fat beet, new potatoes and Missouri rice at Vicia

Vicia CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

You can’t go home again?

Tell that to Brentwood native Michael Gallina. As a young chef, he learned his craft at acclaimed restaurants in San Francisco and New York City. At the world-renowned Blue Hill at Stone Barns about an hour outside New York, he was chef de cuisine. He also met his wife, Tara, and they decided to relocate to St. Louis and open a restaurant. The result is the magnificent Vicia, easily the best new restaurant of 2017 and on a short list of the best restaurants to open in St. Louis this century.

Gallina calls his cooking “vegetable-forward,” which is a food-mediafriendly way of saying he’s a vegetable wizard, harnessing kitchen smarts, an elemental wood-fired hearth and a judicious use of meat and other proteins to coax incredible depths

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of flavor from whatever produce is in peak season. For a complete Vicia experience, I recommend the tasting menu, but the a-la-carte dinner menu and the casual, prix-fixe lunch service are also best in class. However you experience Vicia, from the hospitality overseen

by Tara Gallina and assistant general manager Jen Epley through pastry chef Summer Wright’s desserts, the Vicia experience is magical.

White bolognese at Privado

Sweet bread banh mi at Sidney Street Cafe

Privado CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Mike Randolph closed his acclaimed (No. 8 on last year’s STL 100) Randolfi’s Italian Kitchen in September 2017 and over the next month transformed its Delmar Loop storefront into Privado. The new concept is the most ambitious efort yet from the chef behind Público and Half & Half: a single seating on Friday and Saturday evening for a tasting menu of progressive cuisine. I debated including Privado in this year’s STL 100. It opened just before the Oct. 31 cutof, and I’ve dined there only once as of this writing.

(Look for my full review in the spring.) But that meal — a dozen courses over four hours, at a cost of more than $200 for one (including the service charge and the optional beverage pairing) — showed Randolph at his most polished and thoughful, knowing when to contrast flavors and textures to electrifying efect (trout roe over Jonathan apple wrapped in pate brisee) and when to intensify a single ingredient (roasted squab in a sauce of its own liver). Randolph is one of St. Louis’ best chefs, and over a decade of eating at his restaurants, I’ve never seen him operating at such a high level.

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OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $45 and up ! WHERE 6665 Delmar Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-899-9221, privadostl.com • HOURS Dinner Friday-Saturday

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 3 • OPENED 1987 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $45 and up ! WHERE 2000 Sidney Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-771-5777, sidneystreetcafe.com • HOURS Dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

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New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( V I C I A ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( S I D N E Y S T R E E T ) ; R I C H A R D PA C K ( P R I VA D O )

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $30 and up

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P H O T O S : L A U R I E S K R I VA N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( FA R M H A U S ) ; M I C H A E L T H O M A S ( N I X TA ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( P Ú B L I C O ) ; D AV I D C A R S O N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S A R D E L L A )

Roasted Ozark Forest Mushroom Salad at Farmhaus

Orange-braised carrots at Sardella

(relative) steal.

Farmhaus CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Few restaurants deserve the “menu changes frequently” tag more than Kevin Willmann’s Farmhaus. There are constants — the nachos, the roasted Ozark Forest mushroom salad, the charcuterie board — and the main courses will feature dry-aged Illinois beef and some of Willmann’s beloved Gulf seafood. But in its particulars, your meal at Farmhaus tomorrow will be so diferent from what I ate in November 2017 (a grown-up take on broccoli-cheddar soup, jewel-like butternutsquash agnolotti, the aforementioned beef with a pufball mushroom) that it could be a diferent restaurant.

Thanks to Willmann and his team, of course, the experience will be delicious across its many diferent iterations. The a-la-carte items, shared among a table, are how most diners approach Farmhaus, but at $70 or so per person, the tasting menu is a

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LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 4 • OPENED 2010 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $30 and up

from Mexico’s Yucatán.

Visiting early this year, I found Nixta still walking its exquisite line between rustic and upscale, lamb barbacoa tacos comfortably sharing space on the menu with sea scallops dusted with caviar in a white-chocolate mole, a dish that wouldn’t be out of place at Poremba’s flagship Elaia.

Baby octopus at Público

LAST YEAR’S RANKING Unranked • OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Tlayuda ($14) • PRICING $30-$45

! WHERE 3257 Ivanhoe

! WHERE 1621 Tower

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-647-3800, farmhausrestaurant. com • HOURS Dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

Grove Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-899-9000, nixtastl.com • HOURS Dinner Tuesday-Saturday, brunch Sunday (closed Monday)

Nixta

Público

MEXICAN

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, MEXICAN, LATIN AMERICAN

Acclaim both local and national highlighted Nixta’s wild first year. I included the Mexican restaurant from chefrestaurateur Ben Poremba and inaugural executive chef Tello Carreon in last year’s STL 100 even before finishing the visits for my 3½-star review and ranked it No. 2 on my list of 2017’s best new restaurants. Bon Appétit named Nixta one of the 10 best new restaurants in the country.

In October, however, Carreon, whose upbringing in Guanajuato, Mexico, informed much of Nixta’s menu, left the restaurant. The new chef is Alex Henry, who hails

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Find an interactive guide to the #stl100 at stltoday.com/stl100

With the opening of the progressive tasting-menu Privado, Público is no longer Mike Randolph’s showcase restaurant. Which suits Pùblico just fine. As exciting as it was when it opened, and as excellent as it remains now, Público has always been a fun restaurant at heart. Sure, you can study how Randolph and his team, led by chef de cuisine Bryan Russo, continue to play with the intersection of Latin American, Western and other culinary traditions, as in the recent dish noquis, masa gnocchi served with beef braised

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Tlayuda at Nixta

in red chile. (Or in classic Público dishes such as the everything-bagelesque smoked whitefish tacos.) Or you can gather a group and share the signature small plates (the arepa hidago, the sweetbreads with habanero and pineapple) and the large-format wood-fired steaks and whole fish.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 5 • OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Higado arepa ($10) • PRICING $30-$45 ! WHERE 6679 Delmar Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-833-5780, publicostl.com • HOURS Dinner Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday)

Sardella ITALIAN, CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Gerard Craft’s bold rewrite of his flagship restaurant Niche into the more laid-back, Italianand Californianinfluenced Sardella

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opened late enough in 2016 that it topped yearend best-new-restaurant lists in both of the past two years. While Sardella’s extended bestnew days have finally ended, the restaurant continues to transform.

In April 2017, Craft named Ashley Shelton, the executive chef of his restaurant Pastaria, the executive chef of Sardella as well. Shelton, the brightest of St. Louis’ rising-star chefs, is excelling at the dual assignment. Sardella balances the unexpected but just-right (charred octopus with a potato pancake, pickled celery and tonnato sauce) with the unshowy and soulful (perfect roast chicken in a garlic pan sauce with hunks of sourdough bread).

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 6 • OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $15 and up ! WHERE 7734 Forsyth

Boulevard, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-773-7755, sardellastl.com • HOURS Brunch and dinner daily

HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO TASTE FOR YOURSELF Join us March 14 at the St. Louis Science Center for our annual Great Taste, featuring bites from nearly 50 of the restaurants from this guide. Tickets are going fast!

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ITALIAN, PIZZA

Gerard Craft inally opened the Nashville, Tenn., outpost of Pastaria in September 2017, the acclaimed chef’s irst restaurant outside St. Louis and the concept most suited for expansion. This is good news for Nashville, not least because Music City scored the great Niche Food Group pastry chef Mathew Rice as part of the deal. The good news for St. Louis: Ashley Shelton remains executive chef in Clayton, with Evy Swoboda as her chef de cuisine. (Shelton is also now executive chef of Sardella, giving her two restaurants in the STL 100’s top 10.) Shelton, Swoboda and crew continue to turn out lovely pastas (especially Shelton’s beloved bucatini all’Amatriciana) and Neapolitan pizzas, all the more impressive given how busy Pastaria constantly is.

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CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Monday evening in January, the wait for a walk-in table was 45 minutes. (I’d planned to sit at the bar. It was full, of course. I sat at the front-window counter.) I doubt the crowds will thin soon. Chef Jesse Mendica cooks superlative versions of the foods you want to eat, from classic starters (blue-crab dip, cheese curds, wings) to largeformat indulgences (Dover sole, the signature prime steak for two).

Returning to the Crossing for dinner is like slipping your favorite album onto the turntable, except each time you’re unwrapping a new 180-gram audophile vinyl pressing of said album. The faces of the front-of-house staf are often familiar — a rarity these days — and owner Jim Fiala and recently promoted executive chef Thu Rein Oo maintain high standards in the kitchen.

But as familiar as the Crossing can be, it never feels old or, worse, tired.

Classic dishes (housemade tagliatelle with Bolognese) are vibrant, and trendy dishes (the ubiquitious sauteed octopus, here served with sauce verte, capers and salmon tonnato) seem timeless.

Another thing that hasn’t changed: The tasting menus ($35, $50 or $85) are an incredible value.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 11 • OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Blue-crab gratin ($14) • PRICING $30 and up

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 12 • OPENED 1998 • MUST ORDER Tasting menu (four courses, $35 Classic or $50 Premium)

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Nduja Risotto Balls at Pastaria

Olive + Oak CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Neither time nor the opening next door of the more casual spinof restaurant, the Clover and the Bee, have made it any easier to dine at Olive + Oak. Prime reservations at 2016’s blockbuster debut require as much advance planning to acquire as “Hamilton” tickets, and when I visited on a frigid

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! WHERE 7734 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-862-6603, eatpastaria.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Saturday-Sunday

Trio of veals at Tony’s

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

! WHERE 7823 Forsyth Boulevard, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-721-7375, thecrossing-stl.com • HOURS Dinner Monday-Saturday, lunch Monday-Friday

The Crossing

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 9 • OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Bucatini all’Amatriciana ($16.25) • PRICING $15-$30

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• PRICING $45 and up

New Zealand lamb chops at the Crossing

GO! MAGAZINE • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 03.04.18

Tony’s CLASSIC FINE DINING, ITALIAN

Late last year, I researched the history of Tony’s in the Post-Dispatch archives. Those mentions date back to the fabled restaurant’s origins as Tony’s Spaghetti House, including a Sept. 17, 1949, article in the St. Louis Star and Times detailing how the police raided an after-hours birthday party for Vincent Bommarito Sr. — or just Vincent Bommarito then, as this was his 19th birthday — and arrested his mother even though “there was a newly cut cake at the head of the table.”

Tony’s has spiied itself up since then, and I can hardly imagine the police raiding the place now, but I’d like to think Tony’s unapologetic luxury and continued relevance in our much more casual dining scene dates back to that birthday. What do you mean it’s not allowed?

We’re going to throw a party.

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LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 10 • OPENED 1946 • MUST ORDER Linguine with fresh clams and pancetta ($22) • PRICING $45 and up ! WHERE 410 Market Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-231-7007, tonysstlouis.com • HOURS Dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : L A U R I E S K R I VA N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( O L I V E + O A K , PA S TA R I A ) ; C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( T H E C R O S S I N G , T O N Y ’ S )

Pastaria

Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves • MORE INFO 314736-1370, oliveandoakstl. com • HOURS Dinner daily

Tri-tip dinner at Olive + Oak

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Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 14 • OPENED 2006 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $30 and up

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

ClevelandHeath underwent a seismic change in 2017 as eponymous founders Jenny Cleveland and Eric “Ed” Heath sold the restaurant and moved to Salt Lake City, where the couple first met. New owners Kari and Keith McGinness have kept the core Cleveland-Heath team intact, including executive chef Rick Kazmer and general manager and bar manager Elijah Barnes.

A casual ClevelandHeath fan might not notice that anything has changed. The kitchen turns out upscale but unpretentious comfort fare with the occasional global touch (a more than credible version of pho) and a special facility for lamb and pork dishes. In today’s burger-crazed restaurant industry, Cleveland-Heath is one of the few places that successfully combines classic fast-food accents (iceberg lettuce, onion, American cheese) with an honest-to-goodness fat, properly seasoned patty.

! WHERE 5100 Daggett Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-773-5553, fivebistro.com • HOURS Dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

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Reeds American Table CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

One downside to the continued evolution of Matthew Daughaday’s Reeds American Table, which catapulted itself into the STL 100’s Top 25 last year and has risen even higher this year?

More than two years after my initial review, I haven’t been able to return to the slam-dunk classics that remain on the menu today: the burger, the cornbread fried in bacon fat, the focaccia topped with braised beef cheek, oven-dried tomato and foie-gras cream. On a recent visit, I opted instead for pickled cauliflower garnished with golden raisins, curried cashews and harissa and a pankocrusted pork shoulder, crisp crust yielding to tender meat, over blackeyed peas and collard greens in a hot-sauce

aioli. Founding beverage director Andrey Ivanov, who gave Reeds one of St. Louis’ most intriguing, exciting wine lists, left the restaurant (and St. Louis) in 2017, but he’d already found a more-than-worthy successor, certified sommelier Alisha Blackwell-Calvert.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 19 • OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Braised beef cheek ($13) • PRICING $30-$45 ! WHERE 7322 Manchester Road, Maplewood • MORE INFO 314-899-9821, reedsamericantable.com • HOURS Dinner daily, brunch Saturday-Sunday (closed Tuesday)

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Smashed Berkshire hog belly at Annie Gunn’s

Main Street, Edwardsville • MORE INFO 618-307-4830, clevelandheath.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner MondaySaturday, brunch Saturday

Five Bistro CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

By now, I know what to expect from Anthony Devoti’s Five Bistro: a tight menu of smart but not overwrought dishes highlighting excellent, mostly local ingredients.

Combine that with the prix-fixe option — four generously portioned

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LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 7 • OPENED 2011 • MUST ORDER Pork porterhouse ($24) • PRICING $30-$45 ! WHERE 106 North

Fincher Farm beef roast at Five Bistro

Yellowtail at Reeds American Table

courses for $50 — and Five Bistro is not merely one of St. Louis’ best restaurants but one of its best deals. But even within these expectations, Five can stun me. My most recent dinner coincided with a seafood bounty from the Northwest, including plump, sweet prawns simply seared and served with an aioli and housemade kimchi. The main course that evening was the best (nonbarbecue) beef dish I ate this STL 100 cycle, a steak cooked sous-vide, pan-roasted to order and sliced nearly as thinly as carpaccio. The beef’s essential flavor and velvet texture practically melted into the

Annie Gunn’s CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, STEAKHOUSE

If a comet vaporized Chesterfield tomorrow, Annie Gunn’s place in the pantheon of St. Louis restaurants would be assured. Owner Thom Sehnert, chef Lou Rook III, wine director Glenn Bardgett and the rest of the team have nothing more to prove. They persist on this list — and, more importantly, in public afection, as anyone knows who has wandered in at lunch or dinner naively expecting a table to be available — because they continue to prove it. Annie Gunn’s displays as remarkable a range as any restaurant on this list, turning out casual lunch fare (the roast beef on the French dip is as tender as softened butter), luxury dishes (foie gras, rib-eye steaks), modern cuisine and down-home cooking, with equal aplomb.

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LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 21 • OPENED 1994 (post-flood version) • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $30 and up ! WHERE 16806 Chesterfield Airport Road, Chesterfield • MORE INFO 636-532-7684, anniegunns.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)

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IAN FROEB’S STL 100

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New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : T I M V I Z E R ( C L E V E L A N D - H E AT H ) ; R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( F I V E B I S T R O ) ; M I C H A E L T H O M A S ( A N N I E G U N N ’ S ) ; C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( R E E D S )

ClevelandHeath

accompanying polenta thick with Baetje Farms goat cheese.

Pozole at Cleveland-Heath

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO Full rack of ribs at Beast Craft BBQ Co.

Veritas

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 16 • OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Pork ribs with crab caramel ($11) • PRICING $15-$30

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Plunk Veritas down in the Central West End or downtown Clayton, and chef Mathis Stitt might be as prominent as Gerard Craft or Kevin Nashan.

His cooking is technically expert, often playful and always delicious. My most recent visit included an appetizer of pork rinds paired with a blend of black lentils, roastedcabbage cream, reshampatti (an Indian chile) and a slow-cooked egg. “Grown-up chips and dip,” my server said, and I would have laughed at the absurdity of the dish if I hadn’t been scarfing it down. Next came spaghetti with lamb sausage, mushroom, tomato and basil mounded over fresh burrata, as simple and heartening as the dip had been improbable. All of this I ate inside a wine shop in an Ellisville shopping plaza, sitting at a bar around the open kitchen where Stitt himself worked alongside his team.

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P H O T O S : C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( V E R I TA S ) J E R R Y N A U N H E I M J R . ( B E A S T ) ; R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( L O N A’ S ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( V I S TA )

empanadas with misoapple butter and a fiery pesto of bird’s eye chiles and pepitas.

! WHERE 2609 Cherokee

Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-797-8250, vistaramen. com • HOURS Dinner MondaySaturday, brunch Sunday

Beast Craft BBQ Co. BARBECUE

“Beast Craft BBQ Co. keeps rising in my estimation,” I wrote in last year’s STL 100. “Any higher and it might push its way into the ... Top 25.” Little did I know what owner and pitmaster David Sandusky was planning.

He’s switched to Duroc pork and both prime and American-raised wagyu beef. The upgraded meats make a hell of a diference. The Texasstyle Duroc pork belly is incredible, sticky and glistening with rendered fat. The prime brisket adds an even brawnier beef essence to the smoky, perfectly tender meat. He introduced the wagyu beef after my most recent visit. I can only imagine how it

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Giant rice paper steak wrap at Lona’s Lil Eats

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 13 • OPENED 2004 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $15-$45 ! WHERE 15860 Fountain

Plaza, Ellisville • MORE INFO 636-227-6800, veritasgateway.

Pork-shank-stufed rice cake at Veritas

com • HOURS Dinner ThursdaySaturday, lunch WednesdaySaturday, brunch Sunday

Vista Ramen CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, JAPANESE, PAN-ASIAN

Chris Bork had already proven himself an elite chef at Blood & Sand, among other venues, when he finally opened his own restaurant, Vista Ramen, in 2016. In its first year of STL 100 eligibility, Vista debuted with an

19

Pork ribs with crab caramel at Vista Ramen

exclamation point in the Top 25 thanks to Bork’s rifs on ramen — the apple- and gingerbrightened signature ramen; the ancho-chilespiked Posole ramen — but also to creative, border-blurring small plates such as the crabcaramel pork ribs. If Vista had merely maintained the status quo, it would have remained in the Top 25, but Bork and his team keep adding new variations on ramen (I enjoyed last fall’s seafood ramen, with an umami-jacked smokedshrimp XO sauce) and such terrific new small plates as delicata-squash

compares to the prime brisket. With its full slate of meats and excellent sides (the fresh-cut fries and Brussels sprouts with pork belly, especially), Beast has done more than muscle into the Top 25. It’s now the best barbecue restaurant in the St. Louis area.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING Unranked • OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER Prime brisket (4 ounces $6, 8 ounces $11) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 20 South Belt West, Belleville • MORE INFO 618-257-9000, beastcraftbbq. com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily

Lona’s Lil Eats CHINESE

With each visit to Lona’s Lil Eats, I grow more amazed at what Lona Luo has accomplished here. Under the cover of a fast-casual, order-bynumber restaurant in residential Fox Park, she has hooked St. Louis diners on her delicious and deeply personal cooking, food that draws on the traditions of her native village in China’s Yunnan province. And her technique is impeccable: smoked beef brisket and turkey to rival any barbecue joint’s; an array of vibrant sauces; her ability to balance intense chile heat with natural flavors in sides such as the village bamboo stew and spicy eggplant. Luo lacks a sleek kitchen, a modern dining room and a glossy press kit. She steps past those trivialities to claim her place as one of St. Louis’ best chefs.

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LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 23 • OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER Smoked brisket wrap ($11.75) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 2199 California Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-925-8938, lonaslileats. com • HOURS Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

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Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO Chicken and wales at Juniper

Burnt ends at Pappy’s Smokehouse

The Iron Manok at Guerrilla Street Food

Juniper CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, SOUTHERN, FRIED CHICKEN

With this citation, the STL 100 says farewell to Juniper as we’ve known it. John Perkins’ Southern restaurant is slated to relocate later this year to a larger space about a half-mile south of its original Central West End home.

This will actually be Juniper’s third life; the restaurant started in 2013 as the pop-up concept a Good Man Is Hard to Find. Its growth since then has been remarkable. Perkins and executive chef Jef Friesen continue to build around the dishes that have been Juniper’s hallmark (fried chicken, shrimp and grits, the bread basket) with exciting new fare. My visit this fall found a “taco” with a crisp, luscious fritter of smoked hog’s-head meat and blackened catfish distinguished by crawfish and aged maple syrup. I can’t wait to see what’s next — and, I

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Louis • MORE INFO 314-6699033, guerrillastreetfood. com • HOURS 4-10 p.m.

Tuesday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday; 1-6 p.m.

Sunday (closed Monday)

Pappy’s Smokehouse BARBECUE

Pappy’s Smokehouse celebrated its 10th anniversary this February, a milestone for the restaurant, of course, and also for St. Louis’ relentlessly booming barbecue scene. When Mike Emerson, John Matthews and Skip Steele opened Pappy’s in 2008, they anticipated the local (and national) mania for barbecue and greeted it with exceptional Memphis-style pork ribs — still the area’s best — and pulled pork, beef brisket and more smoked meats worth the long wait in lines out the door. You can draw a tree of other barbecue restaurants that have branched

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expect, even better.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 15 • OPENED 2013 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $30-$45 ! WHERE 360 North

Boyle Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-329-7696, junipereats.com • HOURS Dinner Monday-Saturday

Guerrilla Street Food FILIPINO, FOOD TRUCK

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IAN FROEB’S STL 100

Having already grown from a

food truck to a brickand-mortar restaurant, in 2017 Guerrilla Street Food opened a food stand inside 2nd Shift Brewing’s tasting room on the Hill. Now, in 2018, Guerrilla Street Food will open a standalone restaurant on the eastern half of the Delmar Loop and a stand inside the new Tropical Liqueurs in the Grove.

The expansion is testament to the brilliance of Joel Crespo and Brian Hardesty’s concept, which rifs every which way on Filipino cuisine, from signature dish the Flying Pig to more recent creations such as the

sisig taco. The expansion also shows Crespo and Hardesty’s desire to keep pushing. They ofer dishes unique to each location, and they are also showcasing rising talent, such as Heidi Hamamura, slated to be the Delmar Loop restaurant’s executive chef.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 18 • OPENED 2011 (food truck), 2015 (restaurant) • MUST ORDER Flying Pig ($8) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 3559 Arsenal Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314529-1328, guerrillastreetfood. com • HOURS Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday ! WHERE 2nd Shift Brewing, 1601 Sublette Avenue, St.

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directly out of Pappy’s — and if you include the restaurateurs without a direct connection but inspired by Pappy’s blockbuster success, that tree would cast a shadow over the entire metro area. For all the growth in our barbecue scene, though, no new restaurant has yet to exceed Pappy’s hospitality.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 22 • OPENED 2008 • MUST ORDER Ribs (half-slab $16.50, full slab $24.99) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 3106 Olive Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314535-4340, pappysmokehouse. com • HOURS 11 a.m.-8 p.m. (or until sold out) MondaySaturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (or until sold out) Sunday

Union Loafers CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, BAKERY & DESSERT, SANDWICHES, PIZZA

Ted Wilson and Sean Netzer have fit three distinct identities into Union Loafers’ modest space. First and foremost, this is a bread bakery, and if it were only a bread bakery, it would be on this list for Wilson’s loaves, as crusty, perfectly chewy and full of tangy, naturally leavened flavor as any in town. At lunch, Union Loafers is a cafe, and if it were only a cafe, it would be on this list for its sandwiches —

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roast beef, roasted pork and especially the smoked beet — served on Wilson’s breads. At dinner, Union Loafers is a pizzeria, and (say it with me), if it were only a pizzeria, it would be on this list for its best-intown New York pizza. I can’t put it on the list three times, but I can promote it to the Top 25.

LAST YEAR’S RANKING Unranked • OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Pepperoni pizza ($23) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 1629 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-833-6111, unionloafers.com • HOURS Lunch Wednesday-Sunday, dinner Wednesday-Saturday (closed Monday-Tuesday)

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : S I D H A S T I N G S ( J U N I P E R ) ; C H R I S T I A N K . L E E ( G U E R R I L L A ) ; C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( PA P P Y ’ S ) ; J . B . F O R B E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( U N I O N L O A F E R S )

Kale and garbanzo soup at Union Loafers

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The

REST BEST

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Pide ($10) • PRICING Under $15

Pide at Balkan Treat Box

! WHERE Food truck •

MORE INFO 314-667-9926, balkantreatbox.com

of the

Banh Mi So #1 — Saigon Gourmet

[AN ALPHABETICAL LISTING]

VIETNAMESE

Acero ITALIAN

Now into its second decade, Jim Fiala’s Acero isn’t resting on its reputation. Sure, the menu from Fiala, general manager Adam Karl Gnau and chef de cuisine Andy Hirstein delivers the famous egg raviolo, the should-be-as-famous gnocco fritto (essentially, prosciutto-topped doughnuts), gorgeous crudo and classic pastas.

But at a winter dinner here, what I expected to be a straightforward dish of lamb chops over sweet-potato spaetzle popped with brilliant, springlike flavor thanks to a pomegranate sugo.

The meal began with an equally impressive bruschetta with mortadella mousse, lemon zest, white balsamic and pistachio.

As always, Acero’s $40 four-course tasting menu is the best approach.

OPENED 2007 • MUST ORDER Gnocco fritto ($9) • PRICING $30 and up ! WHERE 7266 Manchester

Road, Maplewood • MORE INFO 314-644-1790, acerostl.com • HOURS Dinner Monday-Saturday

Baileys’ Range BURGERS

Dave Bailey’s restaurant empire continues to expand. Just since September 2017, he’s

16

Banh Mi So #1 has printed new editions of its menu! That’s what passes for a dramatic change at this Dutchtown mainstay, and fans of Thomas and Lynne Truong’s restaurant wouldn’t have it any other way.

For nearly a quarter of a century, the Truongs have served delicious Vietnamese fare bursting with the flavors of lemon

opened Hugo’s Pizzeria and the New Orleansinspired L’Acadiane.

Of all his restaurants, I continue to be most consistently impressed with the burger-focused Baileys’ Range. Focused is the key word. There are numerous variations — not simply among the toppings but the patties themselves, with bison, lamb and chicken also available — but the kitchen never loses sight of the patty’s proper seasoning, texture and, crucially, temperature.

Add great fries, a fine selection of local craft beer, and ice cream and milkshakes, and Bailey’s most straightforward recipe is also his best.

The American burger at Baileys’ Range

Spaghetti Alla Chitarra at Acero

OPENED 2011 • MUST ORDER Basic burger with cheese ($9) and small fries ($3) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 920 Olive Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314241-8121, baileysrange.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Balkan Treat Box BOSNIAN, TURKISH

If I ranked the STL 100 by the amount of time I’ve spent thinking about each restaurant, Balkan Treat Box would be No. 1 or 2. (I’ve also thought an awful lot about Vicia.)

Loryn Feliciano-Nalic’s food truck entered regular service only last year and already has become an essential part of our restaurant scene thanks to its incredible versions of Bosnian

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

cevapi and Turkish pide, a flatbread topped with ground beef, a blend of piknik and mozzarella cheeses, the red-pepper relish ajvar and creamy kajmak. Feliciano-Nalic bakes the pide and the ethereal somun bread that cradles the cevapi in the truck’s wood-fired oven, and not a little of the time I spend thinking about Balkan Treat Box is wondering how many more wonders she could produce from a bigger oven inside a traditional restaurant.

Endive salad at Bar Les Frères

GO! MAGAZINE • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 03.04.18

Bahn Mi Dac Biet at Banh Mi So #1

grass and fresh herbs.

The menu’s refreshed design did prompt me to veer from one of my go-to orders — pho, banh xeo (a pan-fried crepe) or com thit heo nuong (charboiled pork over rice) — in favor of the spicy beef soup (bun bo hue or something much like it), one of the dishes accurately labeled as “Amazing Specialties.”

OPENED 1994 • MUST ORDER Pho bo ($8.95) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 4071 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-353-0545, banhmiso1.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)

Bar Les Frères FRENCH

Bar Les Frères is a perfect restaurant.

I don’t mean it’s the best restaurant in St. Louis, though if you’d caught me during my most recent dinner there, my obligatory appetizer of the lobster bisque followed by the otherworldly cassoulet, I would’ve at least entertained the argument. With Bar Les Frères, restaurateur Zoe Robinson and her go-to executive chef Ny Vongsaly knew exactly what they wanted and have been executing that vision without a hiccup for five years now: classic French cuisine, executed with grace but no ego, in a romantic but whimsical setting. It’s ideal for date nights but lovely by yourself, too. Perfect.

OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Lobster bisque ($11) • PRICING $30 and up ! WHERE 7637 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-725-8880, barlesfreres.net • HOURS Dinner Monday-Saturday

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : D AV I D C A R S O N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( A C E R O ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( B A I L E Y S ’ R A N G E ) ; I A N F R O E B / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( B A L K A N ) ; C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( B A N H M I S O ) ; P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( B A R L E S F R È R E S )

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

P H O T O S : P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( B I G B A B Y Q ) ; R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( B I N G B I N G ) ; C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( B L U E S C I T Y ) ; J . B . F O R B E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( B O G A R T ’ S ) ; R I C H A R D PA C K ( B R A S S E R I E ) ; M I C H A E L T H O M A S ( B Y R D & B A R R E L )

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO new. The former is easy to explain. From day one Brasserie has focused on familiar French favorites: steak frites, cassoulet, French onion soup. That the restaurant feels timeless rather than cliched is a credit to current executive chef Brian Moxey, who has kept operations razorsharp. The steak still blushes red through the center, the skinny frites still crunch and the French onion soup still burbles richly beneath its Comté cap.

Shandong-style jianbing with barbecue pork at Bing Bing

Ribs and prime rib sandwich at Bogart’s Smokehouse

Mother Clucker sandwich at Byrd & Barrel

OPENED 2009 • MUST ORDER Bistro steak with frites ($27.95) • PRICING $30 and up ! WHERE 4580 Laclede Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-454-0600, brasseriebyniche.com • HOURS Dinner daily, brunch Saturday-Sunday

Big Baby Q and Bing Bing Smokehouse

or Ted Drewes. It’s a testament to the quality of the food, Valenza’s hospitality and such memorable quirks as live music and Melo’s, the infrequently open but quite good pizzeria in the backyard.

Mike’s Spicy Beef N’ Cheddar at Blues City Deli

CHINESE

BARBECUE

You know Ben Welch is confident in his brisket by the way he cuts it: thick slices that only flatter meat so tender you can pull it apart with your fingers. Smoky, peppery, brisket is the brightest star at Welch’s Maryland Heights barbecue restaurant. But if that brisket vanished tomorrow, Big Baby Q would still be worth the trip for its pork ribs, pulled pork and turkey.

And since my review in 2016, when the pastrami was the one meat I didn’t love, Welch has dialed in his process, producing the right blend of salt, spice and smoke. He cuts the pastrami thick, too.

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Brisket platter (with two sides, $14) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 11658 Dorsett

Road, Maryland Heights • MORE INFO 314-801-8888, bigbabyq.com • HOURS 11 a.m-6 p.m. (or until sold out) Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. (or until sold out) Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

The bing of Bing Bing is jianbing, a crisp, eggstreaked crepe folded burritolike around your choice of a protein (e.g., lemon-grass beef, Taiwanese sausage, barbecue pork) with lettuce, pickles and fried wontons. Owners Yijun Chen and Yong Liu ofer two versions of this traditional street food from China’s northeast: a Shandong-style crepe batter (yellow corn, soybean and wheat flour) and a Tianjin-style batter (mung bean, wheat- and rice-flour).

Bing Bing’s menu also includes soups, Japanese kushiage and Volcano Chicken (fried chicken sandwiching gooey American cheese), but the jianbing is what earns Bing Bing a place of distinction in St. Louis’ growing roster of regional Chinese restaurants.

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Shandong-style jianbing ($6.50) with barbecue pork ($1.99) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 567 Melville Avenue,

University City • MORE INFO

OPENED 2004 • MUST ORDER Seriously, you can’t go wrong here. • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 2438 McNair

Roasted chicken plat at Brasserie by Niche

314-669-9229, bingbingstl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-773-8225, bluescitydeli. com • HOURS 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Monday-Saturday (open until 7:45 p.m. Thursday)

joust with the ribs at Pappy’s for best-in-town status. Pappy’s and Bogart’s spun of Dalie’s Smokehouse in Valley Park, and Mike Emerson of Pappy’s, et al. fame is the father-in-law of Mike Ireland, co-owner of Adam’s Smokehouse in Lindenwood Park, where the smoked salami is one of St. Louis’ musttry barbecue dishes.

OPENED 2011 • MUST ORDER Pastrami (sandwich $11.99, plate $15.99) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 1627 South

Blues City Deli DELI, SANDWICHES

St. Louis-style ribs at Big Baby Q and Smokehouse

Find an interactive guide to the #stl100 at stltoday.com/stl100

I could tell you which sandwich made me fall in love with Blues City Deli anew this year.

But what struck me on my most recent visit, as I stood in a line that snaked out the door and around the corner, is the scope of Vince Valenza’s accomplishment. In just 14 years, he has turned a humble corner sandwich shop into a St. Louis institution — a place a future generation will mention the way we discuss Crown Candy Kitchen, Gioia’s Deli

Bogart’s Smokehouse

Ninth Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-621-3107, bogartssmokehouse.com • HOURS 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Monday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday-Saturday

BARBECUE

You can measure the influence of Pappy’s Smokehouse, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, any number of ways, but counting its direct descendants is the most impressive. It begins with Bogart’s Smokehouse, home to extraordinary pastrami, tri-tip and, above all else, the apricot-glazed (and torched to a brulee-like finish) pork ribs, which perpetually

Brasserie

by Niche FRENCH

Gerard Craft’s Brasserie

by Niche turns 10 years old in 2019, but you could probably convince a first-time diner the restaurant was twice or even three times as old.

You could probably also convince a first-time diner Brasserie is brand-

Byrd & Barrel FRIED CHICKEN

The best fried chicken in St. Louis? I’ll pose the question and then back out of the room before the fisticufs begin. The best friedchicken nuggets in St. Louis? That’s easy. Byrd & Barrel’s Nugz have redefined the category.

Each plump, juicy nugget is buttermilk-brined and dredged in spicy flour before frying. While not scorching, the heat is definite and lingering.

The dipping sauces range from expected (ranch, barbecue) to distinct (the Provel Cheez Whiz, Provel for those who think they hate Provel). The Nugz are so good I no longer bother to ask if Byrd & Barrel has sold out of traditional fried chicken.

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Fried-chicken Nugz ($5 and up) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 3422 South Jeferson Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-875-9998, byrdandbarrel.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

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17

5025 Old Hwy 100 Washington, MO 63090 1 mile East of 5th Street www.FarmToYouMarket.com

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ELLBEE’S GARLIC SEASONINGS.

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Upcoming Characters:

Nearly three and a half decades of combined real estate experience have allowed Susie Johnson and Lindsey Jacobs to master the art of team management and client saisfacion. From the very beginning, Johnson has had a business plan and laid the groundwork to build a team of agents to help her succeed. Her daughter, Lindsey Jacobs, joined her part ime in 1999 and as a full ime agent in 2006 bringing a background in markeing and adverising. Johnson has coninued to grow her team and their business and now has experienced licensed agents working along with her to ensure smooth transacions.

Working like a well-oiled machine, the team consists of two full ime oice staf and seven buyer agents, all of which are fully licensed agents. As you move through your home buying and selling process you will see the systems at work and how the team is able to implement them.

Ofering a full service experience, The Susie O. Johnson Team has built relaionships with stagers, general contractors, inspectors and a plethora a vendors to aide in all of their clients’ needs.

Due to their diverse backgrounds and age ranges, the team prospers with their ability to bring diferent strengths to the team and relate to each client. The team is able to stay current with the latest technology and real estate developments while building relaionships and keeping stellar customer service at the heart of the business. They owe their success to the wonderful relaionships that have been built over the years with past clients, which is why it's not uncommon for them to receive muliple referrals from those clients year ater year.

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www.stefspizza.com 18

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

GO! MAGAZINE • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 03.04.18

stltoday.com/stl100

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO Cafe Natasha’s

Beef brisket tendon noodle soup at Cate Zone Chinese Cafe

Cate Zone Chinese Cafe

P H O T O S : L A U R I E S K R I VA N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( N ATA S H A’ S , C AT E Z O N E , C H E F M A’ S ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( C A R D W E L L’ S ) ; C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( C L E M E N T I N E ’ S )

MIDDLE EASTERN, PERSIAN

It’s easy to take rice for granted at Cafe Natasha’s. It’s piled to one side of your plate, behind your combo platter of the signature charbroiled beef kebab (sirloin nearly as tender as filet mignon and 10 times beefier in flavor) and the chicken tandoori kebab (warmly spiced with cumin and curry). Focus, though, and you’ll notice the buttered-popcorn flavor of the perfectly al dente basmati grains. You’ll see not merely the shade of safron but a thread or two of the treasured spice itself.

Cafe Natasha’s has won praise for its kebabs, its hearty lamb dishes, its elegant fessenjoon (chicken stew) and beef tongue, but the little details are what push it even higher.

CHINESE

If you want to understand the recent growth of regionalChinese restaurants in St. Louis in a single dish, order Cate Zone Chinese Cafe’s traditional sweetand-sour pork. Instead of the treacly sauce you might associate with “sweet and sour,” this dish dresses crisp fried pork cutlets in a light sauce snapping with ginger. This is one of many dishes highlighting Dongbei cuisine from China’s northeast at Daniel Ma and Quincy Lin’s restaurant. The menu isn’t restricted to Dongbei fare, but more familiar Szechuan dishes

The beef shish kebab at Cafe Natasha’s

Gooey Butter Cake (top) and Salted Crack Caramel at Clementine’s

OPENED 1983 (as the Little Kitchen) • MUST ORDER Beef shish kebab (lunch $11, dinner $15.99) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 3200 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-771-3411, cafenatasha. com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily (closed Wednesday)

Cardwell’s at the Plaza

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Traditional sweet-and-sour pork ($12.99) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 8146 Olive

Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-7389923 • HOURS Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday)

Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmet Restaurant CHINESE

I know the menu at Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmet Restaurant isn’t boundless — a copy of it is right here in front of me as I write this — but it certainly seems so. Every visit, I find a new favorite. On my most recent meal it was chef Ying Jing Ma’s Twice Cooked Pork Spicy Flavor. The pork hits the right textural notes — crisp surface, tender meat with just the right amount of rendered fat — and its natural flavor is cut with the bite of chile and scallion. It joins such other favorites as fried squid with garlic, beef short ribs and Hainan chicken rice.

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Twice-cooked pork ($12.95) • PRICING Under $30

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

While we gaze, tongues lolling, upon the glut of great burgers skinny and fat across St. Louis, let us acknowledge one of the forerunners of the trend, the Burger Meister Burger at Cardwell’s at the Plaza. Or rather it’s a forerunner and still an active contender, its patty (always cooked to my preferred mediumrare temperature) topped with cheddar and Amish blue cheese, applewood-smoked bacon and tomato jam.

Bill Cardwell anticipated much of what we now take for granted, from

aren’t as memorable as a hearty soup of beef and enoki mushrooms or a sour, funky broth with glass noodles, cabbage and pork.

great burgers to woodfired pizzas to seasonally appropriate fare, and diners continue to show their appreciation.

Just try showing up without a reservation.

! WHERE 2336 Woodson

Road, Overland • MORE INFO 314-395-8797 • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery BAKERY & DESSERT

Between ice cream and gelato, this decade has been a boom time for frozen-dessert fans in St. Louis. Most impressive of all has been the rise of Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery, which now boasts two scoop shops — the original in Lafayette Square and an outpost by DeMun Park in Clayton — with a third slated for the Southampton neighborhood. The secret to Clementine’s success is owner Tamara Keefe’s dedication to indulgence: The ice cream features 16 percent to 18 percent butterfat, yielding a luxuriously rich texture, and the booze-spiked flavors pack enough punch to be adults-only.

Yet even the traditional flavors will leave you swooning, certain you’ve gotten away with something sinful.

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Flavors change frequently • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 1637 South

18th Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-858-6100, clementinescreamery.com • HOURS 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday ! WHERE 730 DeMun

Avenue, Clayton • MORE INFO clementinescreamery. com • HOURS 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday

OPENED 1994 • MUST ORDER Bill’s Burger Meister Burger ($16.75) • PRICING $30 and up ! WHERE 94 Plaza Frontenac,

Frontenac • MORE INFO 314997-8885, billcardwell.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Short-rib black-pepper beef steak at Chef Ma’s

Find an interactive guide to the #stl100 at stltoday.com/stl100

Bill’s Burger Meister Burger at Cardwell’s at the Plaza

03.04.18 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • GO! MAGAZINE IAN FROEB’S STL 100

19

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO Comet Coffee & Microbakery

familiar terrain, Fork & Stix does well by classic red and green curries and pad thai. Whatever you try, once hooked, you too won’t be able to wait much longer for whatever Fork & Stix has planned next.

Hung lay curry at Fork & Stix

Dad’s Green Chile Cheeseburger at Five Star Burgers

BAKERY & DESSERT

Comet Cofee & Microbakery hasn’t reached “nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded” status yet — and I’ll happily wait in the often long queue here for a cup of cofee and a baked good — but I never count on finding a seat here.

The baked goods from co-owner Stephanie Fischer and her team don’t need plates or photo-perfect lighting to impress. Whether you eat a slice of quiche or the pinwheel-shaped croissant with spinach and pine nuts from a cardboard box, or (if you’re me) you scarf a muin, scone or croissant from a paper bag while you drive to work, it tastes no less delicious.

! WHERE 549 Rosedale Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-863-5572, forknstix. com • HOURS Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday)

Mary’s Little Lamb at Frankly Sausages

Frankly Sausages FOOD TRUCK, SAUSAGES, BURGERS

Bahn Mi Tacos at Edibles & Essentials

OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Croissant ($3) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 5708 Oakland

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-932-7770, cometcofeestl. com • HOURS 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Saturday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday

Edibles & Essentials CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, SANDWICHES

Over its not-quite three years, Matthew Borchardt’s modest St. Louis Hills cafe has reached the point where he can call half of the menu “staples” and not be overstating. His fried ribs, which are smoked over cherry wood before being breaded and deep-fried, are one of the area’s best barbecue dishes not from a barbecue restaurant,

20

11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. MondaySaturday, 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Sunday (closed Tuesday)

and the french fries with garlic and grana padano have deservedly spun of their own food truck, Essentially Fries.

Monthly specials make up the rest of the menu.

A visit last summer featured an ideal BLT with thick slices of a juicy tomato that truly tasted like a tomato.

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Fried ribs ($9) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 5815 Hampton Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-328-2300, ediblesandessentials. com • HOURS Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

Lemon and poppy seed scones at Comet Cofee

Chicken enchiladas, at El Toluca Taqueria & Grocery

Have you eaten a torta?

You probably think you’ve eaten a torta. I thought I’d eaten many tortas until I visited El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery. The tortas here overwhelm your conception of a torta.

They are served already sliced in half, and each half is still too much: Your choice of meat with two cheeses and two meat garnishes (ham and carne de puerco) with carrot, jalapeño, onion, avocado, tomato and refried beans.

Fausto Pizzaro, drawing on the traditions of his native Toluca, Mexico, also serves excellent barbacoa and al pastor tacos, and don’t overlook the chicken enchiladas in a bittersweet mole.

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Torta with carnitas ($11.99) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 14234 Manchester

Road, Manchester • MORE INFO 636-686-5444, facebook. com/eltolucotaqueria • HOURS

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OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Dad’s Green Chile Cheeseburger ($9.95) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 8125 Maryland

MEXICAN

! WHERE 640 West Woodbine

Avenue, Kirkwood • MORE INFO 314-932-7770, cometcofeestl. com • HOURS Location open seasonally; check website

El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery

Five Star Burgers BURGERS

Five Star Burgers closed its Kirkwood location in September 2017, a rare occasion for me to write something other than gushing praise for Steve Gontram’s burger restaurant. (The Kirkwood outpost was making enough money to keep the doors open, Gontram told the PostDispatch, but he received an ofer on the building he couldn’t turn down.)

Thankfully, the original Clayton Five Star and its Creve Coeur satellite remain open, serving up my favorite burger in town, Dad’s Green Chile Cheeseburger, and generally excellent burgers — beef, of course, but also turkey, pork, bison and lamb — as well as top-notch fries and cheese curds as sides.

Avenue, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-720-4350, 5starburgersstl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 11621 Olive

Boulevard, Creve Coeur • MORE INFO 314-942-6450, 5starburgersstl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Fork & Stix THAI

While devoted Fork & Stix fans await the Thai restaurant’s downtown spinof — first announced early last year but since delayed — we can take comfort knowing the original hasn’t lost a step. Fork & Stix built its reputation on dishes from the north of Thailand: herbacious sai oua (pork sausage), the savory-sweet hung lay curry and, above all else, the curry noodle soup khao soi. Firsttime diners should begin there, though if you must venture into

Bill and Jamie Cawthon have expanded the Frankly Sausages operation to include a sit-down restaurant as well as the original food truck. Frankly on Cherokee, which opened in late 2017, of course features the sausages that earned the truck a spot on last year’s STL 100, both classic varieties (beef frank, beef brat, Italian) and chef Bill Cawthon’s specialties (chile verde, wild boar).

The truck’s best-in-class hand-cut fries — brined overnight, fried once at low temperature, again at high temperature — also appear. To this mix the brick-and-mortar menu has added, among other dishes, a double smashed burger with cheese and bacon jam and a friedchicken sandwich.

OPENED 2015 (truck), 2017 (restaurant) • MUST ORDER Beer brat ($8) and fries ($4) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 2744 Cherokee Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-325-3013, franklysausages.com • HOURS 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( C O M E T ) ; J E R R Y N A U N H E I M J R . ( E D I B L E S ) ; P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( E L T O L U C A , F I V E S TA R ) ; R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( F O R K & S T I X ) ; C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( F R A N K LY )

OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Khao soi (with chicken, $10.95) • PRICING Under $15

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO grown-and-sexy vibe, the same efortlessly sophisticated cooking.

Fried artichokes at Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria

Gioia’s Deli

OPENED 2001 • MUST ORDER Grilled prosciutto-wrapped Belgian endive (two for $8, four for $15) • PRICING $30 and up

P H O T O S : R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( G I O I A’ S ) ; J E R R Y N A U N H E I M J R . ( G R A C E ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( H A L F & H A L F ) ; C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( H I R O , K AT I E ’ S ) ; C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( I F R AT E L L I N I )

DELI, FOOD TRUCK, ITALIAN, SANDWICHES

Hill institution Gioia’s Deli enters its centenary year with its recently bestowed “America’s Classic” award from the James Beard Foundation in hand and plans to open a third location this spring in Creve Coeur.

The reason for Gioia’s acclaim and, in recent years, expansion, is the inimitable hot salami.

“It’s our No. 1 product,” owner Alex Donley told the Post-Dispatch in a 2017 interview.

“It’s like Hodak’s fried chicken. You can go in and get a salad, but why the hell would you do it?” Really, the only dilemma is whether to get the hot salami by itself or paired with roast beef or mortadella or coppa and bacon or ...

OPENED 1918 • MUST ORDER Hot salami sandwich ($9) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 1934 Macklind Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-776-9410, gioiasdeli. com • HOURS 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday; ! WHERE 903 Pine Street,

St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-776-9410, gioiasdeli. com • HOURS 10:30 a.m.2:30 p.m. Monday-Friday

Grace Meat + Three

! WHERE 7624 Wydown

Boulevard, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-727-7901, ifratellini. com • HOURS Dinner MondaySaturday, lunch Monday-Friday

ITALIAN, PIZZA

Deviled eggs at Grace Meat + Three

so, Grace is a revelation.

Lewis has further honed his already-formidable skills. He has developed a greater appreciation for time (roast beef brined with herbs and garlic for 24 hours and slow-roasted at 135 degrees) and nuance (a subtle, herb-forward dry rub for meaty pork ribs). He’s given us the restaurant we knew he had in him.

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Herb-roasted beef ($14) • PRICING Under $30

Brisket banh mi at Hiro Asian Kitchen

Hiro Asian Kitchen PAN-ASIAN

Half & Half

locations excel at casual fare savory and sweet: breakfast sandwiches, omelettes and French toast. Recently, I noticed a note on the menu advising you to ask for your blueberry pancakes — already as big as a dinner plate and bursting with fruit — to be cooked in bacon fat. I did ask, and I didn’t regret it.

BREAKFAST, CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, SANDWICHES

OPENED 2011 • MUST ORDER Sausage biscuit ($10) • PRICING Under $15

! WHERE 4270 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-533-2700, stlgrace. com • HOURS 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday (closed Monday-Tuesday)

S’mores French toast at Half & Half

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, FRIED CHICKEN, SOUTHERN

If you’ve followed chef Rick Lewis’ career, the out-of-the-gate success of his first solo restaurant isn’t a surprise. Grace Meat + Three showcases the creative, skillful comfort fare that made Lewis a rising star at Quincy Street Bistro, and its menu includes the spicy fried chicken that has made Southern, his partnership with the Pappy’s Smokehouse team, a smash hit. Even

Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria

Spaghetti with lobster tail at I Fratellini

Mike Randolph has expanded his popular breakfast and lunch cafe Half & Half from its original Clayton location to the Old Webster section of Webster Groves. The new Half & Half feels, if not identical to the original, then pretty close, with a plain, rustic charm. Both

The hot salami sandwich at Gioia’s Deli

Find an interactive guide to the #stl100 at stltoday.com/stl100

! WHERE 8135 Maryland

Avenue, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-725-0719, halfandhalfstl. com • HOURS Breakfast and lunch Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday) ! WHERE 220 West Lockwood

Avenue, Webster Groves • MORE INFO 314-942-1617, halfandhalfstl.com • HOURS Breakfast and lunch TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)

Hiro Asian Kitchen anticipated the ramen boomlet by a few years. Its signature pork ramen can hold its own against most of the ramen that has arrived in its wake, and its spicy seafood ramen remains one of a kind, a bracingly briny, chilespiked dish that warms your soul as it dampens your brow. Since moving his restaurant five years ago from the Delmar Loop to Washington Avenue, Bernie Lee has forged a path between the dining public’s growing interest in various cuisines — Japanese, Korean, Thai and his native Malaysian among them — and his own style.

OPENED 2013 • MUST ORDER Spicy seafood ramen (lunch $13, dinner $16) • PRICING $15-$30 ! WHERE 1405 Washington

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-241-4476, hiroasiankitchen.com • HOURS Dinner Wednesday-Sunday,

lunch Wednesday-Friday, brunch Saturday-Sunday (closed Monday-Tuesday)

I Fratellini ITALIAN

As you might imagine, publishing this list provokes emails and online comments from readers who wonder why X restaurant didn’t make the cut. The polite answer, which often has the benefit of being true, is that there are far more than 100 restaurants worthy of the list, and I must make some diicult choices. Sometimes, though, I just need to be badgered relentlessly until I think, “Oh, yeah, duh, I Fratellini belongs. Time for the prosciutto-wrapped, mozzarella stufed endive and the bucatini all’Amatriciana.”

Blame my love for Zoe Robinson and Ny Vongsaly’s Bar Les Frères for blinding me to their more established Italian restaurant across the street. I Fratellini ofers the same

Having conquered Rock Hill with the original Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria, Katie Collier and husband Ted Collier have now opened a second location in a Town and Country shopping plaza.

If a visit this fall was any indication, business at the new Katie’s is as gangbusters as at the original. More importantly, as far as this list is concerned, the food at Katie’s hasn’t sufered for the expansion. The opposite, in fact. Katie’s continues to refine itself into one of St. Louis’ most interesting and just plain best Italian restaurants, with excellent Neapolitan-style pizza and pastas (pappardelle with wild boar ragu and lemon gremolata, capellini with pancetta, caramelized fennel, fennel pollen, hazelnut and mascarpone) that find an appealing middle ground between rustic and elegant.

OPENED 2013 • MUST ORDER Salume Beddu pepperoni pizza ($19) • PRICING $15-$30 ! WHERE 9568

Manchester Road, Rock Hill • MORE INFO 314-9426555, katiespizzaandpasta. com • HOURS Dinner daily, lunch Monday-Friday, brunch Saturday-Sunday ! WHERE 14171 Clayton

Road, Town and Country • MORE INFO 636-220-3238, katiespizzaandpasta.com • HOURS Dinner daily, lunch Monday-Friday, brunch Saturday-Sunday

03.04.18 • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • GO! MAGAZINE IAN FROEB’S STL 100

21

Omu ramen from Kounter Kulture

changes weekly, but the format usually ofers a choice of a beef, chicken, pork, seafood or vegetarian main dish.

On my most recent visit, in summer 2017, my juicy breaded, bone-in pork cutlet with simple sides of fried potatoes and perfectly al dente heirloom green beans would have passed muster — or exceeded it — at an upscale comfort-food restaurant.

The Captain burger at Mac’s Local Eats

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING Under $15

Chicken with chanterelle mushrooms and sausage at Local Chef Kitchen

($6) • PRICING Under $30

Kounter Kulture

! WHERE 3825 Watson Road, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314781-4344, kounterkulturestl. com • HOURS 4:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday

PAN-ASIAN, CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Kounter Kulture is a carryout-only restaurant.

Its squat Lindenwood Park hut barely contains enough room for more than a few customers to wait for their food.

Yet the kitchen, led by co-owners Christine Meyer and Michael Miller, ofers those customers an amuse bouche while they wait.

Nothing extravagant but a composed dish with a definite idea behind it. It’s these little details that distinguish Kounter Kulture — that distinguish Meyer and Miller’s entire enterprise, which also includes the original mobile Kitchen Kulture. The takeout dishes, from the fun spiced catfish steamed bun to an elegant take on Northern Thai khao soi, would be at home in the sort of restaurant where you would expect an amuse bouche.

OPENED 2012 (as Kitchen Kulture) • MUST ORDER Catfish po’boy steamed bun

22

La Patisserie Chouquette BAKERY & DESSERT

If you have somehow yet to visit Simone Faure’s La Patisserie Chouquette (what’s wrong with you?), you probably can guess the pastries at this Botanical Heights shop lean heavily toward the French: macarons, galletes, mille crepe cakes. And Faure’s own creations generally wouldn’t look out of place on a pedestal behind glass in a Champs-Élysées storefront. But La Patisserie Chouquette isn’t limited in its range.

Faure’s bourbon-pecan bun is the sophisticated cinnamon roll you didn’t know you needed in your life, and for those who just can’t do quiche, her savory fare might include a baconcheddar-corn muin.

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

OPENED 2013 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 1626 Tower Grove

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-932-7935, simonefaure.com • HOURS 9 a.m.-2 p.m. TuesdayFriday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

La Tejana Taqueria MEXICAN

When I first ate at La Tejana Taqueria about seven years ago, the restaurant shared its Bridgeton strip-mall storefront with a small grocery and liquor store.

La Tejana Taqueria technically still shares the space, but over the years it has expanded to the point that a first-time visitor might not notice the retail component.

Owners Antonio and Brenda Garcia and their staf have made sure the quality of the restaurant’s food hasn’t wavered as it has grown: The tacos are excellent (I’m especially partial to the cabeza), and both the goat soup and the weekend-only carnitas

A Mocha Mousse Bombe at La Patisserie Chouquette

are dishes worthy of destination dining.

OPENED 2008 • MUST ORDER Goat soup (small $5.99, large $8.99) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 3149 North Lindbergh Boulevard, Bridgeton • MORE INFO 314-291-8500, latejanataqueria.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Crab burger at Lemmons

by Grbic

Lemmons

by Grbic BOSNIAN, CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

Tacos al pastor at La Tejana Taqueria

GO! MAGAZINE • ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH • 03.04.18

Ermina and Sulejman Grbic have introduced a generation of St. Louisans to Bosnian cuisine at Grbic Restaurant. Now, at Lemmons by Grbic, their adult children Ermin, Erna and Senada Grbic have shown one possible evolution of Bosnian-American cuisine: an organic fusion of traditional Bosnian ingredients and the Grbics’ American upbringing.

Executive chef Seanda Grbic supercharges applewood-smoked chicken wings with the lush sweetness of the plum brandy rakija and

a generous spike of chile heat. Cevapi pair so well with melted mozzarella that you might never order a “regular” sausage pizza again.

Lemmons by Grbic is already a fun restaurant serving delicious food.

Its future potential seems limitless.

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Smoked chicken wings ($10) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 5800 Gravois Avenue • MORE INFO 314-8999898, lemmonsrestaurant. com • HOURS Dinner TuesdaySunday, lunch SaturdaySunday (closed Monday)

Local Chef Kitchen CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

That Local Chef Kitchen exists is a small miracle.

Not simply a local, independent fastcasual restaurant that serves some produce grown by chef-owner Rob Uyemura, but one that occupies a drab, blink-and-you-missit storefront along restaurant-choked Manchester Road in Ballwin. The menu

! WHERE 15270 Manchester Road #130, Ballwin • MORE INFO 636-220-3212, facebook. com/localchefstl • HOURS 11 a.m.-7 p.m. TuesdayThursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Friday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday

Mac’s Local Eats BAR & GRILL, BURGERS

The church of the skinny burger has found its high priest in Chris McKenzie, the eponymous Mac of Mac’s Local Eats inside Dogtown’s Tamm Avenue Bar. McKenzie smashes ground dryaged, whole-cow beef into perfectly lacy-edged patties that still taste of meat as much as grill char. Stack the patties with American cheese and classic condiments, or look for specials like two patties with pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes and hot-sauce aioli. You can even skip beef entirely for a burger with pork patties or the Naked Pig pork-loin sandwich.

McKenzie’s fries, dusted with Red Hot Riplets seasoning, deserve their own church.

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Classic burger ($6$10) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 1225 Tamm Avenue • MORE INFO 314-479-8155, facebook.com/macslocaleats • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily (closed Tuesday)

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : A U S T I N S T E E L E / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( K O U N T E R K U LT U R E ) ; C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( L A PAT I S S E R I E ) ; L A U R I E S K R I VA N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( L A T E J A N A , L O C A L C H E F ) ; P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( M A C ’ S )

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

Fun Food, Happy People, Great Drinks!

Stop in and try our new Winter Menu!

At Cleveland Health weprepare comfort foods with an upscale attention to detail for lovers of great food!

106 N. Main St. • Edwardsville 618.307.4830 • clevelandheath.com Mon-Fri 11:00-close, Sat 10:00-close Offering Saturday brunch • First Come - First Serve (No reservations) Do Not Take Reservations10am-1pm Join us for We Brunch!

Saturdays

agazine M e n i W Food & put us on their over! c y r a u r b Fe eature f o s l a y e Th cipes! e r r u o f o se veral

NOODLE HOUSE SPECIALIZING IN RAMEN AND PHO 11493 Olive Blvd nudostl.com @nudohousestl stltoday.com/stl100

Photo by: Lb PhotograPhy

6AM-2PM MON-FRI + 7AM-2PM SAT-

E.COM SUN • 314.270.8538 | YOLKLOR

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23

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

PolynesiaBanana-Passion Fruit Cream, Vanilla Bean Mousse at Nathaniel Reid Bakery Charola de langostinos at Mariscos El Gato

OPENED 2007 • MUST ORDER Tibs wat ($12) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 3210 South

Mai Lee

overloaded with crab, lobster, shrimp, octopus, mussels and more. The whole red snapper and seafood soups are terriic options for solo diners.

VIETNAMESE, CHINESE

Between its Vietnamese and Chinese menus, Mai Lee ofers nearly 300 dishes, from spring rolls and pho to frog legs and goat soup to General Tso’s chicken and St. Louis’ own St. Paul sandwich. This is a handy fact to have ready when someone says you can’t possibly eat at Mai Lee every day. The level of quality is consistent from top to bottom, across soups, stir-fries, hot pots and more, even when the restaurant is packed, which is often.

And if you can’t quite make it a full 365-day year without repeating a dish, if you add in the menu from Mai Lee scion Qui Tran’s new ramen and pho restaurant Nudo House, you can get awfully close.

OPENED 1984 • MUST ORDER Muc chien gion (salt-andpepper calamari, $19.95) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 8396 Musick Memorial Drive, Brentwood • MORE INFO 314-645-2835, maileestl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)

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IAN FROEB’S STL 100

Grand Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-772-4442, meskeremstl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Crab taquitos at Mission Taco Joint

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Huachinango al Gato (red snapper, $21.99) • PRICING Under $45 ! WHERE 4561 Gravois

Crispy salt-andpepper calamari at Mai Lee

Mariscos el Gato MEXICAN

Doro wat at Meskerem Ethiopian Cuisine

One of 2016’s standout debuts, Mariscos el Gato, split in two last year, with chef Pedro “El Gato” Diaz taking his talents and the Mariscos el Gato name from the restaurant’s original Cherokee Street location to new digs in Bevo Mill. (The original location now operates as Mariscos Seafood; I haven’t dined there yet.) Diaz’s seafood cooking, inspired by the Paciic Mexican state of Nayarit, remains uniquely appealing.

The best play is to visit with a group to feast on platters and molcajetes

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Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-282-0772, facebook. com/mariscoselgato01 • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily (closed Wednesday)

Medina Mediterranean Grill

but that it’s happening at all is testament to what Ead has built inside an unassuming Washington Avenue storefront. Medina takes an excellent rendition of a classic Middle Eastern dish (beef and chicken shawarma) and seamlessly combines it with both the American fare Ead grew up with and the contemporary demand for fast-casual dining.

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Original Palestine beef shawarma sandwich ($6.95) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 1327 Washington

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-241-1356, medinagrill.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily (closes at 5 p.m. Sunday)

MIDDLE EASTERN, SANDWICHES

As I write this, Medina Mediterranean Grill owner Ibrahim Ead has just opened a second location at 5 Maryland Plaza in the Central West End and plans a third in Grand Center.

The restaurant business is too capricious for me to guarantee the expansion’s success,

Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant ETHIOPIAN

Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant isn’t the oldest restaurant along South Grand’s

Mission Taco Joint MEXICAN

Brothers Adam and Jason Tilford have closed their original Mexican restaurant Tortillaria, and as this goes to press, its more ambitious successor, Milagro Modern Mexican, will soon close its Webster Groves location without a new home lined up.

Mission Taco Joint is thriving, though, with new locations in St. Charles and Kansas City, Mo. Here the Tilfords have infused the respectful approach to traditional Mexican cuisine that deined Milagro (the torta ahogada, the Yucatáninluenced habanero chicken) with a laid-back California vibe (the IPA-battered shrimp taco, the amusingly named Brah’rito).

Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-932-5430, missiontacojoint.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 908 Lafayette Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-858-8226, missiontacojoint.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 398 North Euclid Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-930-2955, missiontacojoint.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 1650 Beale Street #130, St. Charles • MORE INFO 636-442-1620, missiontacojoint.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Nathaniel Reid Bakery BAKERY & DESSERT

I worried I wouldn’t be able to return to Nathaniel Reid Bakery without instinctively ordering my favorite dessert from my initial review visits, the sophisticated caramel-on-caramel jewel called Amber. But so gorgeous are the many pastries in the eponymous Nathaniel Reid’s display cases that I’d already picked out two new-to-me baubles before I noticed the Amber. Those two were a classic wheel-shaped Paris-Brest with the sophisticated sweetness of hazelnut and the Yvonne, strawberries and a hazelnut cake enrobed in caramelized white chocolate. For a more straightforward pleasure, consider the kougin-amman, crackling thin layer after crackling thin layer of buttery sweetness.

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER The Amber ($5.95) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 11243 Manchester Road, Kirkwood • MORE INFO 314-858-1019, nrbakery.com • HOURS 7 a.m.-6 p.m. MondayFriday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

OPENED 2013 • MUST ORDER Queso con chorizo ($7) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 6235 Delmar

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( M A I L E E ) ; D AV I D C A R S O N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( M A R I S C O S E L G AT O , M E D I N A ) ; L A U R I E S K R I VA N ( M E S K E R E M ) ; P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( M I S S I O N TA C O ) ; J . B . F O R B E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( N AT H A N I E L R E I D )

commercial heart, nor is it the one that (I suspect) most diners would immediately associate with the boulevard’s vibrant dining district.

But if South Grand’s restaurants vanished tomorrow, I’d miss Meskerem the most. For more than a decade now, Meskerem has served delicious Ethiopian food with an unassumingly generous hospitality. It’s a restaurant on which diners with diverse tastes can agree, thanks to the menu’s appealing array of both meat (beef and chicken especially, though don’t miss the few lamb dishes) and vegetarian options, all of it served on spongy, tangy injera bread.

A falafel sandwich at Medina Mediterranean Grill

Vietnamese & Chinese Restaurant

A “FEAST” Favorite!

"FEAST" Favorite!

Thank all Local Area Chefs Ian You Froeb’s STL 100!

Making #130 Years Serving for St. Louis for Us Over Located in in thetheMeridian Shopping Center Located Meridian Shopping Center at Hanley & Eager behind at Hanley & EagerRoads Roads behind thethe BestBest Buy. Buy.

FREE PARKING IN THE METRO LINK GARAGE Tu-Th: 11am-9pm • Fr-Su 11am-10pm 8396 Musick Memorial Dr. • 314.645.2835 www.MaiLeeSTL.com

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St. Louis Delmar Loop • Historic Soulard Central West End

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25

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO Nudo House

Parigi

JAPANESE, VIETNAMESE

ITALIAN

Nudo House, the long-awaited ramen restaurant from Qui Tran of Mai Lee and MarieAnne Velasco, finally opened in 2017 — a year after St. Louis’ ramen boomlet. That gap lets us put the restaurant in proper perspective: It isn’t a late leap onto a bandwagon, but the result of patient, painstaking work. Tran and Velasco studied with Japanese ramen master Shigetoshi Nakamura.

Their kitchen employs a refractometer to keep the broth’s viscosity consistent from bowl to bowl. And those broths — the fat-sticky classic tonkotsu, the schmaltz-kissed chicken tonkotsu, the suprisingly rich vegetarian option — elevate Nudo House from a strip-mall fast-casual joint to a St. Louis essential.

Is it odd to call 2-yearold Parigi a hidden gem?

After all, it made my list of 2016’s 10 best new restaurants and last year’s STL 100. Maybe it’s the location, inside an upscale apartment tower on the western edge of downtown Clayton. Maybe it’s the shadow cast by Nixta, the other restaurant Ben Poremba opened, to even greater acclaim, in 2016. Whatever the reason, not enough people are talking about executive chef Ramon Cuie, who has logged more than 30 years in St. Louis kitchens and continues to refine his cooking. My most recent visit featured more of his

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Classic Nudo pork tonkotsu ramen ($12) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 11423 Olive

Boulevard, Creve Coeur • MORE INFO 314-274-8046, nudohousestl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner MondaySaturday (closed Sunday)

Olio CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, MEDITERRANEAN

Olio has always been the more casual sidekick to Ben Poremba’s upscale flagship, Elaia. Now, though, without having changed, it’s become something more. As Poremba has expanded his restaurant group, he himself has stepped back from the kitchen, yielding the spotlight to such talented chefs as Elaia’s Ben Grupe and Parigi’s Ramon Cuie.

But at Olio you can still enjoy the “Middleterranean” style on which Poremba built his reputation, dishes that range from a North

26

African tagine to his locally unparalleled “King of King” hummus to a newer favorite of mine, a rif on the stufed pita dish arais with tender, harissaspiced pulled lamb.

Bone marrow tart at Pangea

Clam chowder at Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co.

OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER King of Kings hummus ($8) • PRICING $15-$30 ! WHERE 1634 Tower Grove Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-932-1088, oliostl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Pangea

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $30 and up ! WHERE 8025 Bonhomme Avenue, Clayton • MORE INFO 314-899-9767, parigistl.com • HOURS Dinner TuesdaySaturday, lunch Tuesday-Friday (closed Sunday-Monday)

Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. SEAFOOD

Kevin Nashan’s Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. has joined Gerard Craft’s Pastaria as the most accessible way to eat food from a James Beard Awardwinning chef in St. Louis.

Nashan nabbed “Best Chef: Midwest” honors in May 2017, and while his flagship Sidney Street Café remains a spot for special occasions and date nights, at Peacemaker you can get the gang together for a lobster or Maryland blue crab boil. Or you can do what I did on my most recent visit: Duck in for a casual lunch of the spicy, smoky gumbo and, my favorite dish here, the fried-clam roll with chive aioli.

OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER Fried-clam roll ($9) • PRICING $15-$45

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, MEDITERRANEAN

Have you ever asked yourself what would bring you to the beachvolleyball court in St. Charles’ New Town community? (Go ahead.

Ask yourself now. I’ll wait.) The answer is one of the area’s rising-star chefs, Jessie Gilroy, a veteran of Charlie Gitto’s on the Hill, the Tavern Kitchen & Bar and Sidney Street Cafe, who has opened her first restaurant on this faux beachfront.

Gilroy’s cooking shows skill, smarts and an appealing why-not? brio.

understated but soulful Italian fare: tortellini in a Parmigiano cream more silken than silk and the best veal chop I’ve eaten in ages.

For maximum flavor, she sous-vides chicken with jerk seasoning before dredging it in jerk-seasoned flour and frying it. The Duck Grilled Cheese pairs duck confit with a blend of American, Gruyere and raclette cheese.

Pollo arrosto at Parigi

Beet salad at Olio

! WHERE 1831 Sidney Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314772-8858, peacemakerstl. com • HOURS Dinner daily, lunch Monday-Friday (opens at 1:30 p.m. Sunday)

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Jerk fried chicken ($18) • PRICING $15-$45 ! WHERE 3245 Rue Royale, St. Charles • MORE INFO 636757-3579, pangeaworldfusion. com • HOURS Dinner Monday-Saturday, brunch Sunday (closed Tuesday)

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New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : J . B . F O R B E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( N U D O , O L I O ) ; D AV I D C A R S O N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( PA N G E A ) ; M I C H A E L T H O M A S ( PA R I G I ) ; C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( P E A C E M A K E R )

Shroomed Out ramen at Nudo House

16806 Chesterield Airport Rd. Chesterield, Mo. 63005

636-532-7684

OISHI

www.anniegunns.com

SUSHI AND STEAKHOUSE

721 N NEW BALLAS RD. • CREVE COEUR, MO • 314-567-4478 SUSHI ONLY

100 PUBLIC WORKS DR. • CHESTERFIELD, MO • 636-530-1198 OISHISTL . COM

/ OISHISUSHISTEAKHOUSE

@ OISHISTL

3422 S Jefferson Ave, St Louis, MO 63118 (314) 875-9998

Nugshack Now Open at Parlor 4170 Manchester AVE, St. Louis 63110 stltoday.com/stl100

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Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO A sausage and green pepper pizza at Pizza Head

Pho Long

change found essentially the same menu (meat toppings have since become available).

And the fabled crust was very good, if not as ethereal as it had been. I look forward to Pizzeoli redefining itself over 2018.

Shrimp and grits at Polite Society

VIETNAMESE

Over its 12-year run, Pho Long has grown from a tiny University City storefront serving pho and little else to a somewhat less tiny storefront in University City serving pho and a few other dishes.

Who needs to change when you serve the best pho in town? Pho Long’s dedication to the traditional Vietnamese beef-noodle soup and its fragrant, meaty broth have marked it as special since 2006.

Now, in its own way, it’s continuing to grow. After my most recent visit, the restaurant introduced two new pho variations: one served with beef belly, the other with a 16-ounce beef rib.

! WHERE 8627 Olive Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-997-1218, facebook.com/pholongstl • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily (closed Tuesday)

Pi Pizzeria PIZZA

Pi Pizzeria co-founder Chris Sommers and corporate executive chef Cary McDowell unveiled a new fast-casual concept in 2017: ’ZZA Pizza + Salad. I’ve generally been underwhelmed by fast-casual pizza — you can’t really improve on the original fast-casual pizza, Neapolitan — but Sommers and McDowell impressed me with ’ZZA’s crust and sensible topping combinations.

While Pi isn’t a fastcasual restaurant, one reason for its decade of success has been turning out a consistently excellent product — or products, really, since the thin- and signature deep-dish crusts are quite diferent — in a relatively short time

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Pi pizzas including the Delmar and the Smashed Scallion

! WHERE 1928 South 12th Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-449-1111, pizzeoli.com • HOURS Dinner TuesdaySunday, lunch TuesdaySaturday (closed Monday)

Polite Society CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

across mutiple locations.

OPENED 2008 • MUST ORDER South Side Classico (small $18.95, large $22.95) • PRICING $15-$30

Margherita pizza at Pizzeoli

! WHERE 400 North Euclid Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-367-4300, pi-pizza.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 14870 Clayton Road, Chesterfield • MORE INFO 636-527-5070, pi-pizza.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 6144 Delmar

Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-727-6633, pi-pizza.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Pho Tai at Pho Long

! WHERE 610 Washington

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-588-7600, pi-pizza.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 10935 Manchester Road, Kirkwood (relocating soon) • MORE INFO 314-9668080, pi-pizza.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Pint Size Bakery

OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Oatmeal cream pie ($2.50) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 3133 Watson Road,

St. Louis • MORE INFO 314645-7142, pintsizebakery.com •

Oatmeal stout tea cakes at Pint Size Bakery

BAKERY & DESSERT

Pint Size Bakery founder Christy Augustin once told me her baking aesthetic, as described by her husband, is “punk-rock grandma.”

I’m equally unqualified

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

to say what is punk rock and what is grandma, but I kind of see her husband’s point. Both at its original broom closet of a location and now at its bigger, brighter home, Pint Size Bakey has felt both warmly welcoming in its embrace of such old-school treats as cookies, muins, and sweet and savory scones and also transgressive in its embrace of these classic items over more modern, Instagramfriendly baubles. Pint Size is a bakery you want to return to as often as a favorite song, punk or otherwise.

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HOURS 7 a.m.-4 p.m. TuesdayFriday, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

Pizza Head PIZZA

Scott Sandler first showcased his pizza prowess at Pizzeoli in Soulard, where his magnificent Neapolitan pies won him acclaim and, last year, a spot in the STL 100’s Top 25. He sold Pizzeoli in September to focus instead on Pizza Head.

Here he’s mastering New York-style crust gargantuan slice by gargantuan slice. That crust is thin but not flimsy — a key distinction given the kitchen’s generous hand with the shredded mozzarella — and conveys a gently tangy flavor.

Sandler’s dedication to vegetarianism continues at Pizza Head, with faux pepperoni and sausage and, for vegan diners, cashew-based “cheese.” Punk rock influenced Pizza Head’s design, and the music is appropriately loud.

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Two pepperoni slices (with soda $6.95, with beer $7.95) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 3196 South Grand Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-266-5400, pizzaheadstl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)

Pizzeoli PIZZA, VEGETARIAN

Last year, I promoted Pizzeoli to the STL 100’s Top 25 in recognition not only of the transcendently great pizzas at this Soulard restaurant but also of owner Scott Sandler’s ferocious devotion to perfecting a Neapolitan-style crust.

In September 2017, Sandler sold Pizzeoli to Kyle Weber, a first-time restaurateur. (Sandler wanted to focus on Pizza Head, the New Yorkstyle pizzeria he opened in May 2017.) Pizzeoli’s return from the Top 25 to the Rest of the Best isn’t a demotion so much as acknowledging the transition. My visit a few months after the

This year’s STL 100 bids farewell to two higher-end but unstufy neighborhood bistros: Three Flags Tavern, which closed in March 2017, and Grapeseed, which closed a month later. Fortunately, the 2018 list welcomes Polite Society, a warm, upscale but neither pretentious nor budget-busting bistro in the heart of Lafayette Square. Chef Thomas Futrell is equally at home with chicken wings (you don’t need to know he confits the wings before frying them to order to enjoy them), a steak with an oldschool foyot sauce and a massive pork “osso buco.” Polite Society also ofers interesting vegetarian options.

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Shrimp & grits ($14) • PRICING $30-$45 ! WHERE 1923 Park Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314325-2553, politesocietystl. com • HOURS Dinner daily, lunch Monday-Friday, brunch Saturday-Sunday

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : J . B . F O R B E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( P H O L O N G , P I ) ; L A U R I E S K R I VA N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( P I Z Z A H E A D , P O L I T E S O C I E T Y ) ; M I C A H U S H E R ( P I N T S I Z E B A K E R Y ) ; A U S T I N S T E E L E / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( P I Z Z E O L I ) ;

OPENED 2006 • MUST ORDER Pho ($8.50-$13.95) • PRICING Under $15

LAST YEAR’S RANKING No. 24 • OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER The Bianca pizza ($13) • PRICING Under $30

TICKETS ON SALE NOW PRESENTING BY

COMING SOON

NEW VENUE WITH MORE SPACE! ~ Live Music by: DJ Nune Whiskey Raccoons

MARCH 14, 2018 @ ST. LOUIS SCIENCE CENTER

Tasting from 50 of the best restaurants in town featured in Ian Froeb’s 2018 STL100 List!

Byrd & Barrel Beast Craft BBQ Co. Bogart's Smokehouse Brasserie by Niche Clementine's Naughty and Nice Creamery Cleveland-Heath Comet Coffee & Microbakery Edibles & Essentials Farmhaus Gioia's Deli Grace Meat & Three

Guerrilla Street Food Hiro Asian Kitchen Kitchen Kulture Mission Taco Joint Olive + Oak Pappy's Smokehouse Pastaria Pho Long Pi Pizzeria Pint Size Bakery Porano Pasta Privado Público

Quincy Street Bistro Retreat Gastropub Salt + Smoke Sardella Sister Cities Smoki O's Southern Sugarre Smoke House Taste Veritas Vicia Vista Ramen Yolklore

and Many More

Visit STLtoday.com/ourevents for tickets & more info!

EVENT SPONSORS

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners • EFFEN® Vodka, 100% neutral spirits distilled from wheat grain, 40% alc./vol. and Flavored Vodkas, Distilled from Grain, 37.5% alc./vol. © 2017 EFFEN Import Company, Chicago, IL • Jim Beam® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 40% Alc./Vol. ©2017 James B. Beam Distilling Co., Clermont, KY • Maker's Mark® and Maker's 46® Bourbon Whisky, 45 and 47% Alc./Vol. ©2017 Maker's Mark Distillery, Inc., Loretto, KY.

stltoday.com/stl100

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29

Porano Pasta ITALIAN, PIZZA, SANDWICHES

Gerard Craft has streamlined the ordering process at his fast-casual restaurant downtown.

No longer must customers choose each element of their pasta (base, sauce, protein and toppings). Now you pick a base (pasta, rice, farro or gluten-free pasta) and one of the menu’s pre-determined combinations, like the Neapolitan (with the standout Smoky Sunday Sugo, roasted pork, giardiniera and breadcrumbs) or the Classic (with red sauce, meatballs and pecorino cheese). Or you can skip the pasta entirely in favor of the thick-crust Detroit-style pizza or the chicken Parmesan sandwich, which stands up to your favorite version on the Hill.

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Neapolitan bowl (regular $9.95, large $13.95) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 634 Washington

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-833-6414, poranopasta.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

CHINESE

There are three rules to dining at Private Kitchen, where Lawrence Chen cooks dishes from Shanghai and its environs. The first two rules are oicial: Make a reservation, and place your order with your reservation. The third rule is common sense: Order the soup dumplings. Now, for those who have avoided the (modest) extra efort required to dine at Private Kitchen, and those who love the place but just want some soup dumplings, there’s

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size hasn’t afected the unshowy elegance of the Prapaisilpas’ cooking.

Curries, stir fries and other familiar dishes unfold in layers of hot, sour, sweet and funky that are all the more dazzling for being so precisely measured.

More tables at Rice Thai Bistro really mean fewer excuses not to try the restaurant.

OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER Green curry ($8.95 lunch, $10.95 dinner) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 14536 Manchester Road, Winchester • MORE INFO 636-220-1777, ricethaibistro.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)

Special beef at Private Kitchen

Salt + Smoke BARBECUE

good news. Chen has opened Soup Dumplings STL two doors down from his flagship, serving his signature pork dumplings as well as chicken, beef, shrimp, and crab and pork variations.

Green curry at Rice Thai Bistro ($15) • PRICING $15-$30 ! WHERE 6931 Gravois

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-353-1588, quincystreetbistro.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner Monday-Saturday

OPENED 2015 (Private Kitchen), 2017 (Soup Dumplings STL) • MUST ORDER Xiao long bao (Shanghai soup dumplings, $6.50) • PRICING $15-$45 ! WHERE Private Kitchen,

Private Kitchen AND Soup Dumplings STL

Brisket at Salt + Smoke

Farmhouse burger at Retreat Gastropub

8106 Olive Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-989-0283, facebook.com/ privatekitchenstl • HOURS Dinner daily (closed Tuesday)

Italian rice with red pepper sauce at Porano

! WHERE Soup Dumplings

STL, 8110 Olive Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-445-4605, facebook. com/soupdumplingsstl • HOURS Lunch and dinner Wednesday-Sunday (closed Monday-Tuesday)

Quincy Street Bistro CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, PUB FARE, SOUTHERN

Matthew “Chef Birk” Birkenmeier has settled in as executive chef of Mike and Sue Enright’s Quincy Street Bistro, which over the course of

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

Pit beef sandwich at Quincy Street Bistro

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this decade has grown into the Platonic ideal of the neighborhood tavern. Birkenmeier continues the Quincy Street tradition of smartly executed comfort fare (meatloaf, roasted chicken), fat burgers (now including the Mountain, a monster with two 8-ounce patties) and terrific barbecue and barbecueesque sandwiches like the charcoal-roasted pit beef and the Steakn-Eggs, with smoked brisket, a sunny-side-up egg and fried onions.

The challenge of not stuing yourself with the standout appetizers — fried cheese curds, hog-head toasted ravioli and bufalo-chicken dip — remains daunting.

OPENED 2011 • MUST ORDER Steak-N-Eggs sandwich

Retreat Gastropub CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN

2018 will be a big year for Retreat Gastropub.

Founder Travis Howard and bar manager Tim Wiggins plan to open a new restaurant, Yellowbelly, which will focus on seafood and rum-based cocktails, nearby in the Central West End. Meanwhile, Retreat continues forward after the October 2017 departure of inaugural executive chef Michael Friedman.

Friedman set the standard for Retreat’s fare, including the standout potato-leek soup, mushroom-based poutine and smashed burger with bacon, egg and cheese sauce. My

most recent visit was a few weeks before Friedman’s departure, and a dish of gnocchi with chicken-leg confit in a watercress cream reiterated how simply essential Retreat is and should remain.

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Farmhouse burger ($14) • PRICING $15-$45 ! WHERE 6 North Sarah

Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-261-4497, retreatgastropub. com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily, brunch SaturdaySunday (closed Tuesday)

Rice Thai Bistro THAI

How did Bryan and Nina Prapaisilpa fit a few more tables into Rice Thai Bistro, which already occupied the sort of cramped stripmall storefront usually reserved for rarecoin dealers and the world’s last living VCR technician? They gave up precious kitchen space. I cringed, learning this, but needn’t have worried.

The reduced kitchen

When Salt + Smoke opened its new St. Louis Hills location in October, some 40 customers were already in line.

“I’ve never had that experience,” owner Tom Schmidt told the PostDispatch at the time. “It’s a little overwhelming.”

The neighborhood’s excitement might have surprised Schmidt, but it wasn’t unwarranted.

Schmidt and chef, pitmaster and now co-owner Haley Riley have built Salt + Smoke into one of the cornerstones of the St. Louis barbecue boom thanks to its incredible beef brisket, excellent other meats and sides (especially the beans and mac and cheese), and such fun creations as the jalapeño-cheddar bologna and the burntend toasted ravioli.

OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER Beef brisket plate (includes two sides, $15.95) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 6525 Delmar Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-727-0200, saltandsmokestl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily ! WHERE 5625 Hampton Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-727-0200, saltandsmokestl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( P O R A N O , R E T R E AT ) ; J . B . F O R B E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( P R I VAT E K I T C H E N ) ; L A U R I E S K R I VA N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( Q U I N C Y ) ; R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( R I C E T H A I ) ; C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S A LT + S M O K E )

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

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V E R I T A S

KELLY’S BUTCHER SHOP & DELI

preSeNT ThiS COUpON AT The MeAT COUNTer ANd reCeive:

experience an unparalleled commitment to casual dining wednesday—saturday: lunch 11.30a-3.00p/happy hour 3.00p-5.30p dinner from a weekly ine dining menu starting at 5.30p sunday brunch: 10.00a-2.00p

9

$ 99 per lb.

BRATS & SAUSAGES And A FULL LINE OF FRESH MEAT & DELI PRODUCTS

preSeNT ThiS COUpON AT The MeAT COUNTer AND RECEIVE:

5lb bag Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

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per lb.

KELLY’S Butcher Shop & Deli

KELLY’S Butcher Shop & Deli

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Expires 3-25-18

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4 Bacon Wrapped Filet Mignon

memade o H

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laza aza • ellisville, mo 63017 itasgateeway.com

MON-SAT 8AM-8pM • SUN 8AM-6pM ALL WURST MADE ON SITE BY

HALL OF FAME WURSTMEISTER & OWNER MIKE SLOAN. Winner of 10 international Wurst Awards from the German Butchers Association, Frankfurt, Germany

ratwurst Pla te an B rm e G

The Best of the

Wurst

Experience gourmet German dining at Hermann Wurst Haus in Hermann, Missouri. Our menu showcases award-winning bratwurst, hickorysmoked pulled pork, deli meat sandwiches, and housemade side dishes. Sip craft beer and soda while dining in our deli or on our patio. Enjoy free samples and daily specials—seven days a week!

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234 East First Street, Hermann www.hermannwursthaus.com 573-486-2266

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Photo courtesy Paulette Omura

32

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

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Carving a New Experience

®

OPENING IN MARCH 16 flame-grilled meats served tableside 50-item gourmet salad area Ultimate caipirinhas, award-winning wines, and much more

Saint Louis Galleria | 1137 Saint Louis Galleria | 314.352.8800 TexasdeBrazil.com

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Seafood gumbo at Sister Cities Cajun

Ribs at Smoki O’s

Spicy kimchi soup at Seoul Taco

was struck by cars twice in four months.

Pamela Melton and Travis Parfait have now set up shop in a much bigger (and, I hope, less attractive to errant vehicles) space in Marine Villa. Parfait continues to turn out deeply flavored, personal versions of gumbo, jambalaya and other classic dishes. Sister Cities’ famous smoked chicken wings have also returned, and you can now buy retail packages of the wings’ dry rub.

OPENED 2013 • MUST ORDER Cajun smoked wings ($9) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 3550 South Broadway, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-405-0447, sistercitiescajun.com • HOURS Dinner TuesdaySaturday, lunch TuesdayFriday, brunch Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

Salume Beddu at Parker’s Table ITALIAN, SANDWICHES

Marc Sanfilippo closed Salume Beddu’s retail and sandwich shop in Lindenwood Heights last year so that he could focus on his salumi company’s booming, Olivette-based wholesale business. Fortunately, the sandwich shop relocated to the Richmond Heights wine shop and specialty grocery Parker’s Table.

The counter at the back of the store features classic Salume Beddu sandwiches, including the mufaletta and the speck with Gruyere and preserved lemon, as well as its hot dog and the Beast (salsiccia with grain mustard and peperonata). There is some seating inside the store, though you can also grab a sandwich and a bottle or two of wine to go.

MORE INFO 314-645-2050, salumebeddu.com • HOURS 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Saturday (Parker’s Table open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday)

Chicken biryani at Signature India

Seoul Taco FOOD TRUCK, KOREAN, MEXICAN

Of all the food trucks that have rolled through St. Louis this decade, few, if any, have been as successful as Seoul Taco: two trucks, two local brick-and-mortar locations and satellites in Columbia, Mo., Chicago and Champaign, Ill. Have there been growing pains? Well, I included Seoul Taco in the inaugural STL 100 — the burrito alone, stufed with spicy pork and kimchi fried rice, is an

OPENED 2011 • MUST ORDER Burrito with spicy pork ($8) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 6665 Delmar

Speck sandwich at Salume Beddu

Beef doner plate at Sheesh Restaurant

OPENED 2011 (Salume Beddu) • MUST ORDER Speck sandwich ($11) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 7118 Oakland

Avenue, Richmond Heights •

34

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

essential St. Louis dish — but omitted it from the 2016 and 2017 editions after some inconsistent meals. My most recent visits, I’m happy to report, have found Seoul Taco’s Korean-Mexican fusion fare returned to top form and its place on this list.

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initial review visits — there is a seafood section now — but the heart of Sheesh remains its Turkish lamb kebabs: the classic sheesh kebab, the spicy adana kebab, the elegant pistachio kebab. When I returned recently, I didn’t receive the complimentary bowl of ezogelin soup ofered two years ago. You must order it now, apparently.

And you must order it.

Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-863-1148, seoultaco.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Adana kebab ($13.99) • PRICING Under $30

! WHERE 46 Four Seasons

Grand Boulevard, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-833-4321, sheeshrestaurant.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Shopping Center, Chesterfield • MORE INFO 314-548-6868, seoultaco.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Sheesh Restaurant TURKISH

Sheesh Restaurant opened at the very end of 2015, but it has already undergone a dramatic renovation, adding more dining tables and, for special events, twin thrones on a dais. (You kind of have to see it to believe it.) The menu has also expanded somewhat from my

! WHERE 3226 South

Signature India

dosas that extend far beyond the edges of the plate; biryani piled high and cascading flavor; the beguilingly complex Gongura curry, the blistering Andhra curry. The adjacent bakery does ofer a few frills; you can at least look at the treats on display while you decide what to order.

OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER Gongura goat curry ($16.49) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 14031 Manchester

Road, St. Louis County • MORE INFO 636-220-1700, signatureindiastl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily, breakfast Saturday-Sunday ! WHERE 1617 Bryan

Road, O’Fallon, Mo.• MORE INFO 636-385-6888, signatureindiastl.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily, breakfast Saturday-Sunday

INDIAN

The original location of Signature India hosts one of the most no-frills dining rooms in St. Louis, and it lacks the lunch bufet that many diners expect from an Indian restaurant in America.

In spite of this, I return to Signature India more often than any other Indian restaurant in town for its distinct dishes, many drawn from India’s south:

Sister Cities Cajun CAJUN/CREOLE

Sister Cities returns to the STL 100 after a year’s absence due to relocation. Though “relocation” hardly captures the Sister Cities saga: The original Dutchtown location

Smoki O’s BARBECUE

I talk a lot about the St. Louis barbecue boom, a real phenomenon that has transformed the area’s restaurant scene over the past decade. But St. Louis barbecue didn’t begin when Pappy’s Smokehouse opened in 2008. Smoki O’s opened only in 1997, but Otis and Earline Walker trace the barbecue served at their modest Near North Riverfront restaurant back to Otis’ mother, Minnie Muriel Hall Walker (who in turn learned to cook meat from her uncle).

The result is barbecue as delicious as it is overlooked, especially the snoots, the rib tips and the fiery (and fireengine red) hot link.

OPENED 1997 • MUST ORDER Beef hot link ($7) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 1545 North Broadway, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-6218180, smokiosbbq.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday (closed Sunday-Monday)

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : C H R I S T I A N G O O D E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S A L U M E B E D D U ) ; A U S T I N S T E E L E / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S E O U L ) ; D AV I D C A R S O N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S H E E S H ) ; S I D H A S T I N G S ( S I G N AT U R E I N D I A ) ; L A U R I E S K R I VA N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S I S T E R ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( S M O K I O ’ S )

Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

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Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO

Mexico-style enchiladas — there’s even the breakfast burrito, a dish I rarely love but here, plump with egg, potato, green chiles and sausage, I devour.

OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Carne adovada ($10) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 6803 Southwest

Southern

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-260-7244, southwestdinerstl.com • HOURS 7 a.m.-2 p.m.

Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday

Four-piece wings at Southern

FRIED CHICKEN, SANDWICHES, SOUTHERN

Founding chef Rick Lewis departed Southern last year to open Grace Meat + Three, but the fried chicken is still crisp, juicy and as Nashville-style hot as you can stand, from the mild (but not unspicy) original up through the don’t-makeplans-for-tomorrow Cluckin Hot. Lewis opened Southern with the Pappy’s Smokehouse team, who know how to turn out consistently excellent food at a high volume, and Southern remains under the Pappy’s aegis. The only downside to Lewis’ departure? He took his fried-bologna sandwich with him to Grace. But that’s one fewer thing to distract you from Southern’s chicken.

Spare No Rib BARBECUE, MEXICAN, BURGERS

Ribs at Spare No Rib

SOUTHWESTERN, DINER, BREAKFAST

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Hot chicken plate (with two sides, $10-$13.50) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 3108 Olive Street,

St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-531-4668, stlsouthern. com • HOURS 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday

36

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

Southwest Diner

Brisket sandwich at Sugarfire Smoke House

For the obsessive catalogers, Southwest Diner remains the only St. Louis restaurant dedicated to the cuisine of New Mexico. While it’s my job to be an obsessive cataloger of restaurants, I don’t think of Southwest in such terms any longer. Instead, it’s a succession of dishes I didn’t know I can’t live without. Chief among these is the signature carne adovada, pork shoulder braised in red chile. There’s the posole, the New

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Chori pollo at Taqueria Durango

Braised beef noodle soup at Tai Ke

The original Spare No Rib was such an unlikely success — both a Mexican restaurant and a barbecue joint, equally good — that its relocating worried me.

Surely that alchemy couldn’t be replicated a second time? More than a year has passed since owner Lassaad Jeliti moved Spare No Rib, and the restaurant hums along as if nothing has changed, with excellent tacos (the cachete and carnitas are standouts) and barbecue (pulled pork, pork ribs) alike. Spare No Rib might as well be three restaurants in one: It’s a burger joint, too, thanks to its Honest Burger (salt and pepper the only seasonings) and hand-cut fries.

OPENED 2014 • MUST ORDER Cachete and carnitas tacos ($3.50 each) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 3701 South

Jeferson Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-354-8444,

sparenorib.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner TuesdaySunday (closed Monday)

Sugarfire Smoke House BARBECUE

Which will stop expanding first: the universe or Sugarfire Smoke House? My money’s on the universe. Sugarfire opened a location in Farmington, Mo., in January, its seventh overall, and plans to expand to O’Fallon, Ill., Cape Girardeau, Mo., Denver and Indianapolis.

There’s also Sugarfire Pie and 2017 spinof Hi-Pointe Drive-In, and the Sugarfire team is installing a sort of best-of restaurant at the Boathouse in Forest Park. I can’t speak for every existing location, but after inconsistent experiences at other Sugar Fires, I recommend the Olivette original above the rest.

There the brisket is still tender and smoky enough to demand a place on this list.

OPENED 2012 • MUST ORDER Brisket plate (with two sides and drink, 6 ounces $13.49, 8 ounces $15.49) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 9200 Olive

Boulevard, Olivette • MORE INFO 314-997-2301, sugarfiresmokehouse.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily ! WHERE 3150 Elm Point

Industrial Drive, St. Charles • MORE INFO 636-724-7601, sugarfiresmokehouse.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily

! WHERE 9955 Winghaven

Boulevard, O’Fallon, Mo.• MORE INFO 636-265-1234, sugarfiresmokehouse.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily ! WHERE 932 Meramec

Station Road, Valley Park • MORE INFO 636-825-1400, sugarfiresmokehouse.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily ! WHERE 512 West Front

Street, Washington, Mo. • MORE INFO 636-432-5550, sugarfiresmokehouse.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily ! WHERE 605 Washington

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-394-1720, sugarfiresmokehouse.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily ! WHERE 670 Walton

Drive, Farmington, Mo. • MORE INFO 573-713-9099, sugarfiresmokehouse.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner (or until sold out) daily

Tai Ke CHINESE, TAIWANESE

On opening three years ago, Tai Ke garnered attention as the only Taiwanese restaurant in St. Louis and as a part (if one complicated by history and geography) of the boom in regionalChinese restaurants in the area. But Tai Ke was notable solely on merit, and on a recent visit I found it even better.

My favorite dish, the braised beef-noodle soup, revealed a more complex flavor, the meat’s essence unfolding in layers contrasted by spices and the tang of pickled mustard greens. Tai Ke ofers a wealth of dishes to hook

first-time visitors: the signature Three Cup Chicken, the hakka stirfry and the sticky-rice hot dog among them.

OPENED 2015 • MUST ORDER Braised beef noodle soup ($9.99) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 8604 Olive Boulevard, University City • MORE INFO 314-801-8894, facebook.com/taikestl • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Taqueria Durango MEXICAN

Writing the STL 100 in previous years, I’ve debated whether to focus my admiration for Taqueria Durango on its tacos or its torta ahogada. (The torta won last year.) Which is why, even as the amount of traditional Mexican food in St. Louis has increased, Taqueria Durango has remained on this list. It ofers both a signature dish (the torta ahogada, an oversize carnitas sandwich drowned in chile sauce) and as wide a variety of taco fillings (good across the board) as I’ve seen in St. Louis.

Whatever you order here, start with the thick, spicy chori-queso dip for your tortilla chips.

OPENED 2003 • MUST ORDER Torta ahogada ($8.99) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 10238 Page Avenue, Overland • MORE INFO 314-429-1113, facebook.com/ taqueriadurangosaintlouis • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S O U T H E R N , S PA R E N O R I B ) ; C R I S T I N A M . F L E T E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S O U T H W E S T D I N E R ) ; J . B . F O R B E S / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( S U G A R F I R E , TA Q U E R I A ) ; D AV I D C A R S O N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( TA I K E )

Cherry Bomb Pancakes at Southwest Diner

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OPENED 2014 (Bierhall), 2016 (The U.R.B.) • MUST ORDER Pommes frites (Bierhall, $6-$8) and pizza by the slice (the U.R.B., price varies) • PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE Urban Chestnut, 4465 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-2220143, urbanchestnut.com • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

Tacos at the Taco & Ice Cream Joint

Housemade Italian sausage at Urban Chestnut

the 1862 sandwich.

When pulled pork does appear it does so with bacon and cherry- and hickory-smoked ham (Three Little Pigs).

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Soulard Primer prime-rib sandwich ($13) • PRICING Under $15

Kabli hijazi at the Palm Trees

314-361-1200, tastebarstl. com • HOURS Dinner daily

• PRICING Under $30 ! WHERE 2837 Cherokee

Taste CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, SMALL PLATES

The smallest jewel in Gerard Craft’s empire, Taste is a top-notch cocktail bar, a crucible of talent (previous chefs have included Matthew Daughaday of Reeds American Table and Adam Altnether, who will return to restaurant cooking this year at Elmwood in Maplewood) and the place for small plates that punch well above their weight and price tag in creativity and flavor. Recent standouts from current chef Adam Guess include charred baby octopus atop a scallion pancake drizzled with gochujang mayo and Brussels sprouts with candied walnuts and a chile soubise (habanero when I ordered it; scorpion as I write this). For a changeof-pace snack or dessert, try the tempura-fried banana with bataviaarrack sauce.

OPENED 2009 • MUST ORDER Menu changes frequently • PRICING $15-$45 ! WHERE 4584 Laclede

Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO

38

Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-226-9243, thepalmtreesstl. com • HOURS Dinner TuesdaySunday, lunch WednesdaySunday (closed Monday)

The Palm Trees MIDDLE EASTERN, SAUDI ARABIAN

If the Palm Trees is the first Saudi Arabian restaurant you’ve visited, you’re probably not alone. “Our cuisine stayed around us,” owner and chef Fedda Alsadeq told the PostDispatch in a 2017 interview. “Now it’s getting outside.” The menu can be familiar — hummus, falafel, shawarma — but for the full experience try Saudi Arabian specialties like kabsa (lamb or chicken with rice cooked in lamb broth) or kabli hijazi (lamb or chicken with rice, potatoes and an orange-zest sauce).

Alsadeq opened the Palm Trees with the encouragement of friends who’d eaten her home-cooked Saudi Arabian fare. Eat here, and you’ll encourage friends to try it as well.

Tempurafried banana at Taste

The Taco & Ice Cream Joint

1862 sandwich at the Wood Shack

MEXICAN, BAKERY & DESSERT

Pancake rollup at Yolklore

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Lamb mandi ($17.99)

IAN FROEB’S STL 100

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With a sleek, modern entrance, the Taco & Ice Cream Joint announces itself as a bold addition to Cherokee Street’s taqueria row. The interior showcases housemade ice cream and paletas in myriad flavors (and toppings sweet, salty and spicy).

The frozen treats are tempting, but the heart of the Taco & Ice Cream Joint is its classic taqueria fare, especially pork (al pastor, carnitas, cochinita pibil) and beef (barbacoa, cabeza) tacos dressed as you like at the toppings-and-salsa bar.

The Rico family won fans for their taco stand at El Morelia Supermercado in Bridgeton; here they

show the full range of their talents.

! WHERE 1862 South 10th Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-833-4770, thewoodshacksoulard.com • HOURS 10 a.m.-6 p.m. TuesdayWednesday, 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

Thursday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday (closed Monday)

OPENED 2017 • MUST ORDER Cochinita pibil taco ($3.50) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 2738 Cherokee Street, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314-224-5799, facebook.com/ tacoandicecreamjoint • HOURS Lunch and dinner daily

The Wood Shack BARBECUE, SANDWICHES

Can you do anything truly new with a barbecue joint? Can you do anything truly new with a sandwich shop? The Wood Shack answers yes to both questions. Chef Chris Delgado is exploring smoke as a flavor in sandwiches — though not in the traditional sense of piling pulled pork on a bun. For the Soulard Primer, he smokes prime rib over mulberry and hickory and then garnishes the meat with bone-marrow aioli, blue-cheese cream, arugula and charred onions. Chuck roast smoked over hickory for 18 hours is the focal point of

Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall AND the U.R.B. CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, GERMAN, PIZZA, PUB FARE

Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall would have returned to the STL 100 this year regardless, thanks to its terrific, Germanaccented pub fare, including a strong contender for the best pommes frites in town.

This year’s entry carries an exclamation point, though. At the very end of 2016, the brewery opened the U.R.B. just across the street from its sprawling Grove facility. Here guests can sample and provide feedback on new beers.

They can also order New York-style pizza by the slice or whole pie.

With its tangy, airy and crisp-bottomed crust made from naturally

! WHERE The U.R.B., 4501 Manchester Avenue, St. Louis • MORE INFO 314474-0935, urbanchestnut. com • HOURS 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday, noon-7 p.m. Sunday

Yolklore BREAKFAST, CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN, SANDWICHES

Yolklore neatly captures two of the big trends of recent years — independent fastcasual restaurants and creative breakfast fare — while maintaining a unique identity. In other words, though part of the trend, Yolklore generally avoids avocado toast, grain bowls and other of-the-moment fare.

Here chef-owner Mary Bogacki, her husband, John, and their team can go elegant (the Nest Egg, with eggs, bacon and cheddar baked into a biscuit crust, or the Mary B.E.A.R., a sandwich with a boiled egg, arugula, brie and apple butter), or they can go fun (a breakfast burrito with a pancake as the wrap), but they always go their own way.

OPENED 2016 • MUST ORDER Nest Egg ($9) • PRICING Under $15 ! WHERE 8958 Watson Road, Crestwood • MORE INFO 314-270-8538, yolklore. com • HOURS 6 a.m.-2 p.m.

Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday

New to the STL 100

P H O T O S : R I C H A R D PA C K ( TA S T E ) ; R O B E R T C O H E N / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( PA L M T R E E S ) ; S I D H A S T I N G S ( TA C O & I C E C R E A M ) ; J E R R Y N A U N H E I M J R . ( W O O D S H A C K ) ; R O B E R T O R O D R I G U E Z ( U R B A N C H E S T N U T ) ; C H R I S L E E / P O S T- D I S PAT C H ( Y O L K L O R E )

fermented dough, the U.R.B.’s pizza is already surging up my list of St. Louis favorites.

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HOME OF THE ORIGINAL GIANT RICE PAPER WRAP

Thank you St Louis for feeding our families.

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Ian Froeb’s stl 1OO Restaurant index by cuisine Bakery & dessert Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Creamery 19 Comet Cofee & Microbakery 20 La Patisserie Chouquette 22 Nathaniel Reid Bakery 24 Pint Size Bakery 28 The Taco & Ice Cream Joint 38 Union Loafers 14 Bar & grill Mac’s Local Eats 22 Barbecue Beast Craft BBQ Co. 13 Big Baby Q and Smokehouse 17 Bogart’s Smokehouse 17 Pappy’s Smokehouse 14 Salt + Smoke 30 Smoki O’s 34 Spare No Rib 36 Sugarire Smoke House 36 The Wood Shack 38

WELCOME BACK!

PEN! STORES NOWnjoyO an E

Irish-Crete!

tard and Oreos Cool Mint Frozen Cus

Bosnian Balkan Treat Box 16 Lemmons by Grbic 22 Breakfast Half & Half 21 Southwest Diner 36 Yolklore 38 Burgers Baileys’ Range 16 Five Star Burgers 20 Frankly Sausages 20 Mac’s Local Eats 22 Spare No Rib 36 Cajun/Creole Sister Cities Cajun 34

Chinese Bing Bing 17 Cate Zone Chinese Cafe 19 Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmet Restaurant 19 Lona’s Lil Eats 13 Mai Lee 24 Private Kitchen and Soup Dumplings STL 30 Tai Ke 36 Classic ine dining Tony’s 10 Contemporary American Annie Gunn’s 12 Cardwell’s at the Plaza 19 Cleveland-Heath 12 The Crossing 10 Edibles & Essentials 20 Elaia 6 Farmhaus 9 Five Bistro 12 Grace Meat + Three 21 Half & Half 21 Juniper 14 Kounter Kulture 22 Lemmons by Grbic 22 Local Chef Kitchen 22 Olio 26 Olive + Oak 10 Pangea 26 Polite Society 28 Privado 8 Público 9 Quincy Street Bistro 30 Reeds American Table 12 Retreat Gastropub 30 Sardella 9 Sidney Street Cafe 8 Stone Soup Cottage 6 Taste 38 Union Loafers 14 Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall and the U.R.B. 38

Japanese Nudo House 26 Vista Ramen 13

Veritas 13 Vicia 8 Vista Ramen 13 Yolklore 38

Korean Seoul Taco 34

Deli Blues City Deli 17 Gioia’s Deli 21

Latin American Público 9

Diner Southwest Diner 36 Ethiopian Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant 24 Filipino Guerrilla Street Food 14 Food truck Frankly Sausages 20 Gioia’s Deli 21 Guerrilla Street Food 14 Seoul Taco 34 French Bar Les Frères 16 Brasserie by Niche 17 Stone Soup Cottage 6

German Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall and the U.R.B. 38

Italian Acero 16 Gioia’s Deli 21 I Fratellini 21 Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria 21 Parigi 26 Pastaria 10 Porano Pasta 30 Salume Beddu at Parker’s Table 34 Sardella 9 Tony’s 10

Mexican El Toluco Taqueria & Grocery 20 La Tejana Taqueria 22 Mariscos el Gato 24 Mission Taco Joint 24 Nixta 9 Público 9 Seoul Taco 34 Spare No Rib 36 The Taco & Ice Cream Joint 38 Taqueria Durango 36 Middle Eastern Cafe Natasha’s 19 Medina Mediterranean Grill 24 The Palm Trees 38

Fried chicken Byrd & Barrel 17 Grace Meat + Three 21 Juniper 14 Southern 36

Indian Signature India 34

Mediterranean Olio 26 Pangea 26

Pan-Asian Hiro Asian Kitchen 21 Kounter Kulture 22 Vista Ramen 13 Persian Cafe Natasha’s 19 Pizza Katie’s Pizza & Pasta Osteria 21 Pastaria 10 Pi Pizzeria 28 Pizza Head 28 Pizzeoli 28 Porano Pasta 30 Union Loafers 14 Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall and the U.R.B. 38 Pub fare Quincy Street Bistro 30 Urban Chestnut Brewery & Bierhall and the U.R.B. 38

Sandwiches Blues City Deli 17 Edibles & Essentials 20 Gioia’s Deli 21 Half & Half 21 Medina Mediterranean Grill 24 Porano Pasta 30 Salume Beddu at Parker’s Table 34 Southern 36 Union Loafers 14 The Wood Shack 38 Yolklore 38 Saudi Arabian The Palm Trees 38 Sausages Frankly Sausages 20 Seafood Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. 26 Small plates Taste 38 Southern Grace Meat + Three 21 Juniper 14 Quincy Street Bistro 30 Southern 36 Southwestern Southwest Diner 36

Steakhouse Annie Gunn’s 12 Taiwanese Tai Ke 36 Thai Fork & Stix 20 Rice Thai Bistro 30 Turkish Balkan Treat Box 16 Sheesh Restaurant 34 Vegetarian Pizzeoli 28 Vietnamese Banh Mi So #1 — Saigon Gourmet 16 Mai Lee 24 Nudo House 26 Pho Long 28

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dining din g& entertainme ent entertainm e me

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

IAN FROEB’S TOP 100 FOR THE PAST 4 YEARS

eNewsletters

314.329.7696

Dining & Entertainment What’s happening in St. Louis?

We tell you where to go, how to get there and what to eat.

• Feast • Let’s Eat

360 N BOYLE AVE.

“Northern Thai Cuisine”

• Contests & Promotions • Go! Sneak Peak

• Go! Movie Lounge • Holidays • Travel

549 Rosedale Ave., St. Louis, MO 63112

314-863-5572

HAPPY HOUR 4-6 MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

Hours: Mon. closed; Tu-Th 11am-3pm/5pm-9pm; Fri. 11am-3pm/5pm-10pm; Sat. 12pm-3pm/5pm-10pm; Sun. 12pm-3pm/5pm-9pm

forknstix.com

Missouri Historic Wine District’s Newest and Closest Winery serving West Coast and Missouri Wines.

2711 S. Highway 94, Deiance, MO 63341 • 636-798-2288 Hours: Friday: 11:00 - 9:00 pm • Saturday: 11:00 – 5:00pm • Sunday: 11:00 – 5:00pm

www.deianceridgevineyards.com stltoday.com/stl100

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