Many miles later, and
after a pleasant sojourn to visit FOJTY and new digs in Jackson, I can steal a few moments for an
update (on the foodie side)
(and as a postscript, I have WILSL Two, but "one" got too long)
After a fairly short drive from Lexington on Thursday, we
arrived STL in more or less good time and spirits, and were able to hook up
with FOJTE and his wife for dinner that evening. He chose the venue, which was (French Themed)
Brasserie by Niche, part of the empire of Gerard Craft, one of the hottest
chefs in St. Louis and known more and more on a national basis. He was named one of Food and Wine’s “best new
chefs” in 2008 (which you can take for what it’s worth), but has seemed to live
up to the hype. His places include
Niche, Taste by Niche, the Brasserie, and the somewhat recently opened Pastaria
in Clayton (alongside the relocated Niche).
We had dinner one time at the original Niche and quite enjoyed
it so were glad to be able to accept the date with the “kids”. We rested a bit, got on what DFD duds we
had available without unpacking the MOMSTER II, and were picked up by the FOJTE's. A comparatively short
drive to the Central West End took us to the Brasserie. Valet parking is a nice thing. The restaurant is quite attractive from the
outside, and once inside you have no doubt you are in a Brasserie. High ceilings, big “French themed” posters on
stark walls, and yes, brown paper squares on the table tops. The Feeder has to humbly accept, despite his
initial (uninformed) skepticism, that this is a traditional setup for a
Brasserie,. We were shown to a table in
the center of the space a good vantage point to watch things going on.
Before continuing, and at the risk of letting you bail out
early (a mistake), let me say right here that we had one of the best meals I
have had in a LONG time, since the
Inn at Little Washington and The Bartlett Pear Inn. The food was astounding. FOJTE confirmed that this second visit for
dinner didn’t suffer from “second time syndrome”; as the food was as good as it
was the first time.
That being said, we were seated at our brown paper square
covered table (no crayons) among silver and crystal. The menu is a one sheet folded affair, maybe a little over a 3x5 card size:
Which unfolds like a road map
to reveal the whole spectrum of available items both food
and beverages. Everything is very French
(Amuse Bouche; Salades; Hors D’Oeuveres; Plats) except somehow “Sides” remains
as such. There is a “Menu Du Jour” as
well, very Francophile with a choice of items within three courses. The Plats (main courses) are definitely French
inspired with Boeuf Bourguignon, Cassoulet, Cotriade (your homework assignment)
as well as Moules, and Steak and (sic) Fries (Not Frites – weird). Prices are in low twenties and below. Wines are heavily French, with a nice
array of price points available.
They do allow you to bring your own, which FOTJE did, with a twenty
dollar corkage fee. However, if you also
order a bottle from their list, the fee is waved..
At this point (since we’re sort of deviating from my normal
template), I must talk a bit about our server.
He approached with no fan fare, and asked if we would like (FOTJE’s) wine
opened. No, we would prefer a cocktail. Fine..
what would you like? (no pad
visible at this point). MFO did the
standard Gimlet, FOJTE’s wife ordered a “Parisian” form the cocktail menu
(Aperol, Lillet Blanc, and Champagne), FOJTE ordered his kind of standard Tanqueray
and Tonic; and I went all in for the DMOTRWAT.
What kind of bourbon would you like?
Jim Beam is fine. We don’t have
that. Okay, Woodford? Yes. Away
he went. Within a couple of minutes he came back and repeated the drink orders
for the table, and said to me: “Dry Manhattan?”
yes, that’s with dry vermouth. With
a twist. Okay. A few minutes went by and he came with the
drinks pausing at the station and I could see the dreaded Maraschino cherry
from my table. Drinks were
presented.. I would like a twist! Of course.
Off he went, came back to the station with a twist in his hand which he
twisted, and then brought on a napkin.
Besides that, drinks were fine. When
he delivered the drinks he asked if “we found anything we would like (on the
unopened menu)?”. Um, no we would like a few
minutes. Okay, he told us about the specials,
one of which was a “coq au vin blanc” with white sauce rather than the
traditional red. Fine..
Okay, hurrying along we finally did order, and again he took
the orders with no pad. A couple of Frisée
Salads, a Bibb and fines herb salad, and I went with the Chicken Liver
Terrine, with red onion Confiture; Main
Plats included Boeuf Bourguignon (MFO); The Bistro Steak (FOJTEW); Roasted
Chicken (FOJTE); and I took the special Coq au Vin. He never wrote anything down. But, I swear to (whatever) at least two times
he reappeared at the table, and repeated the order back to us. Yes, that’s it. I am not sure what was going on, I’ve never
had that happen before. He was attentive,
maybe just forgetful (and hopefully not on any chemicals). Not necessarily bad service, just weird.
Back to the food. Starters
arrived. You know how you’re at your
table engaged in conversation and idly put a forkful of something in your
mouth? Well, I was chatting away and
lathered a piece of bread with the Terrine, put it in my mouth and had to stop
talking.
WOW! It was luscious
and just took over everything. I had to
stop to enjoy it. Rich spices, creamy texture, (sorry, bursting with flavor!).
Just great. The salads were also
perfect, their famous “Frisée” lived up to it’s reputation. All the greens were fresh, dressed just so,
and not an overwhelming amount. And, at
this point, I see that I have blabbered on for over a page so I’ll try to be
brief although I could use a page a dish for each of our main plat/es. You know how you hear Roast Chicken is a
benchmark for restaurants? Flying
colors. Best chicken I’ve (forked from
FOJTE) had in a long time. Same for MFO’s
BB, the steak tasted like steak (a rare comment these days) and my Coq Au Vin
What can I say.. great.
Chicken legs tasted good, sauce was perfect carrots were carrots and
even the mashed potatoes were silky and flavorful. No drizzles of sauce on anybody's plate. FOJTE’s wine of an ’03 Clos St. Jean Chateauneuf du
Pape blended well across the board. Of
course to save twenty bucks we were forced to order another bottle of
wine (pinot as I blearily recall). Throughout the meal our server
arrived with some times unexpected comments… weird.
And, somehow it just all fell together.
The strange but attentive service, the
ambiance, the food that just made you stop talking, and especially being with our
family made it an evening to remember. I
would not hesitate to go back. Sometimes
you want to let things remain untouched in the memory banks, but I have
confidence that we would get the same experience again. You should go, but you can’t go with FOJTE's
(well, maybe if you ask!). and as it
turned out, even with “road clothes” available we were acceptably
DFD
Happy Christmas Eve, everybody!!
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