St. Louis Eats and Drinks With Joe and Ann Pollack

San Francisco (and a little Napa)

A recent fast run to northern California left us with more than a touch of tan and pleasant memories of sun and sand, food and wine. As always, there were discoveries to share with friends. Some of our old long-time favorites have thrived, one seems to be sagging, and there are, of course, always new tastes, new sensations, new subjects to write about. We also discovered that May is a particularly fine time to visit, especially since so many flowers are blooming, with roses making a particular statement with a riot of color. Vineyards looked healthy and happy. We’re not sure if it was the general economy, or the particular time of year, but San Francisco was quieter than we’ve seen in it in summer and autumn.

One fast reminder: Smoking is not allowed in any of the city’s restaurants.

On the food front, we had a fine dinner at a hot new spot, Bar Tartine in the Mission District south of Market Street. An offshoot of the Tartine Bakery that’s a couple of blocks away, this is far more than one would expect a bakery-based eatery to be. It’s a serious restaurant, serious without being grim, with first-rate service, even on a weekend evening when things were busy, carrying on without grimacing or eye-rolling when a couple at the table next to us sat for more than an hour waiting for friends to arrive. (Not an excuse, but parking is awful in San Francisco, even for those on whom the parking gods usually smile.) Be aware that the restaurant has no sign - look for a dark green front - and that the neighborhood is a duke’s mixture of haute and humble.

Good wine list at moderate prices, from a collection of small producers, most of whom don’t send product east of the state line, and a sort of aperitif du jour, which on our visit was prosecco with rhubarb syrup, quite pleasant, and obviously popular with the mostly young clientele. We decided on an all-appetizer meal, not only because they looked the most intriguing but also to leave more room for dessert. All these dishes are way out of the main stream, and probably that’s why they appealed. We don’t go to restaurants to eat what we can easily make at home.

And that’s why an onlooker would have seen us enjoying tender slices of braised beef tongue, rich and slightly gelatinous in a wondrous brown gravy that hinted at more than the chef’s "carrot/celery/onion/red wine" combination, the whole atop some mashed salsify and garnished with batons of Asian pear. The house’s peasant bread, toasted, was the base for a dish of sea urchin poached in butter and served with gently scrambled egg, asparagus tips, and circles of roasted red jalapeno, the flavors dancing around the mouth. These were two terrific appetizers, excellent with a local rose wine.

The next round was equally decadent. Pork belly, browned and braised with much of the fat cooked away, was tender and succulent, with a superior contrast from a few leaves of salad with a tart dressing. And marrow bones from an organic farm in Marin County, just across the Golden Gate Bridge, had been roasted, to be served with a gremolata of parsley and lemon rind sprinkled over them, and a handful of baby arugula, along with more of the toast, here for spreading with the rich, buttery marrow. A serving was three two-inch bones, generous and really enough for an entree.

The end of the meal came with a coffee pot de creme, deep in flavor and exquisitely smooth, and a Meyer lemon pudding cake. Meyer lemons are sweeter than other varieties, and some claim that the flavor is more well-rounded. We’re not sure about that, but the pudding cake turned out to be more like a layer of cheesecake under a layer of sponge cake, the lemon note in this relatively pale dessert so pronounced we just gasped with delight.

If most of this seems too exotic, do check out the online menu; we acknowledge that we chose from its extremes. But it was a remarkable meal, and easily the best of the trip.

Bar Tartine

561 Valencia St., San Francisco

415-487-1600

www.tartinebakery.com/bartartine

Dinner Tues.-Sun, Brunch Sat.-Sun.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Fair

Smoking: No

Entrees: $18-$30

Much less fancy and much less fashionable (we seemed the only non-locals there) was PPQ Dungeness in the Outer Richmond neighborhood, a Vietnamese spot that specializes in its namesake. The vast majority of diners were eating the crab, sometimes supplemented by other dishes, and we can see why. For $49, we had the dinner for two, which featured just what we were in search of, steamed crab and garlic noodles. The meal began with chicken salad, a cool and crunchy Asian slaw that includes a little chicken, and what the menu calls imperial rolls, lightly deep-fried rolls filled with a little meat and lots of rice noodles seasoned with black pepper, the whole a tad greasy but tasty with the traditional dipping sauce.

The crab can be steamed or roasted with additional spicing; we took the simple road to a meaty crab, cut up but not cracked, its shell studded with minced garlic, the dish all fragrant and alluring. Heavy nutcrackers were an invaluable tool. More garlic, of course, on the noodles, but they were superfluous after making the most of the good-sized crab. And yes, there was dessert, too, deep-fried banana with a scoop of coconut ice cream. Great value for the money and worth the trip out to a neighborhood not usually visited by outsiders. And there’s a parking lot one block east, making PPQ even more irresistible. This is a huge bargain, as far as we’re concerned.

PPQ Dungeness Island Vietnamese Cuisine

2332 Clement St., San Francisco

415-386-8266

www.ppqdungeness.com

Lunch & Dinner Wed.-Mon.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Fair

Smoking: No

Entrees: $10-$15 (seasonal prices on crab higher)

We also had a fast casual supper in the Inner Sunset neighborhood, right on the N Judah Muni line at PJ’s Oyster Bed. The theme is New Orleans, although the oysters are, happily, from the Pacific Coast. A dish of rock shrimp in garlic butter, a superior batch of crawfish, fresh from the steamer, a mixed shellfish pan roast, and an oyster poor-boy with a slice of good tomato and some spicy mayonnaise kept us happy. Another very local spot, but apparently quite popular, especially with large family groups.

PJ’s Oyster Bed

737 Irving St., San Francisco

www.pjsoysterbed.com

415-566-7775

Dinner Tues.-Sun., Lunch Sat.-Sun

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Fair

Smoking: No

Entrees: $12-$23

The Zuni Café, owned by former St. Louisan Judy Rodgers, always has been one of our favorite places. Service is of a very high order, the space itself, with lots of nooks and crannies, quite intriguing, and the constantly changing menu always leaves us with painful decisions since we can’t order everything we’d like. One offering always on the menu is the roast chicken with bread salad, a real signature dish. It’s served for two, and we’ve never been able to give up the chance of tasting two dishes to share just one, so good is their food. This visit, however, we brought a friend who was interested in tasting it, and we finally were able to indulge.

This is a remarkable dish. The whole chicken is roasted to order (there’s an hour wait) in a wood-fired oven, cut into pieces and placed in a serving bowl with sturdy greens (ours were red mustard greens) tossed with a vinaigrette, and torn chunks of bread toasted in the oven and dressed with juice from the roast chicken and a little more vinaigrette, along with pine nuts and currants. The chicken itself was worth the price of admission, succulent and juicy and full of flavor, with superbly crisp skin, the sort of chicken people eat in France and then search for in the U.S. ever after. The warmth of the chicken and the bread softened the greens just a little, and the interplay between savory, salty and tart was a delight. The rest of our meal (portabello soup, marinated anchovies with celery and Parmigiano, halibut cheeks cooked with shellfish, and a bread pudding with rhubarb) was good, but it was the chicken that made us gasp.

The sparkling wine aperitif that night was done with an elderflower cordial, with a marvelous aroma and noticeable sweetness that went down nicely.

Zuni Café

1658 Market St., San Francisco

415-552-2522

www.zunicafe.com

Lunch and Dinner Tues.-Sun

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Fair

Smoking: No

Entrees: $16-$27

Loking for breakfast in the Union Square area? Investigate Luques, a real sleeper, tucked into the ground floor of the Chancellor Hotel. Right next door is Sears, a breakfast spot that often has a line going out the door to wait for its no-longer-great food. Forget that, and come to Luques, where an eager staff and a menu with hints of New Orleans will let you relax. We knocked back scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, organic cream cheese and chives, and a killer eggs Benedict, with a hollandaise sauce that was good enough to eat with a spoon. Nobody seems knows about this place yet; but that condition won’t last long.

Luques

Chancellor Hotel

433 Powell St., San Francisco

415-248-2475

www.luquesrestaurant.com

Breakfast, Lunch and tapas-style Dinner daily

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Entrees: $7-$10 (breakfast)

We discovered that it’s against the law to visit San Francisco without a detour to the California wine country, so we did our duty as part of a one-day wine orgy (more on that in a subsequent posting) in St. Helena. On the way back, on a crisp, beautiful morning in Napa County, we stopped in the county seat of Napa and found another bakery that offers superior food and an absolutely delightful breakfast. It’s called the Alexis Baking Company, or ABC and besides, any place that serves Maida Heatter’s Best Damn Lemon Cake gets our attention straightaway. We went for non-pastry items like excellent chilaquiles, scrambled eggs with tangy salsa and fresh tortilla chips, first-rate thick-cut bacon and gorgeous golden cornmeal pancakes with blueberry compote and real maple syrup kept us smiling. Coffee cups were refilled frequently by friendly, efficient servers.

The ABC erased the disappointment we’d had at one of our favorite San Francisco breakfast spots, Home Plate on Lombard Street. The house-made breads were listless and the French toast tasted as if it had been friend in sausage grease.

Alexis Baking Company

1517 Third St., Napa, CA

707-258-1827

www.alexisbakingcompany.com

Breakfast and Lunch daily

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Entrees: $6-$13 (breakfast)

A Few Random Sightseeing Notes:

We can never speak of San Francisco to food lovers without heavily emphasizing the necessity of visiting what we think is the finest farmers’ market we’ve ever seen in this country, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market at the Embarcadero Ferry Building. California being what it is, the variety is wide and astonishing, the quality is good to great - and the prices are high, of course. Both in front and behind the building (inside are high-quality food-related stores and restaurants, plus great ice cream), it’ll make you wish you had a kitchen. Good noshing, too, from Aidell’s sausage, the Hog Island Oyster Company and the Hayes Street Grill, who all have stands, plus lots of samples from vendors. It’s operated by CUESA, or the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture. Great people- and pet- watching, too. Open Tuesday and Saturdays.

The new DeYoung Museum is not going to be the favorite building of a lot of folks. "A beached aircraft carrier" was one description. But the copper exterior will eventually oxidize to verdigris, and in the meantime, the interior is wonderful, spacious and bright, with some interesting exhibitions and a good permanent collection. The museum’s tower, which apparently doesn’t require an admission ticket, gives a marvelous view of the city that’s different from any other.

And speaking of new spots, the old Cliff House on  the beach has been torn down and replaced with the new Cliff House. There are two restaurants, The Bistro, on the upper level, and Sutro’s on the lower, named for Adolph Sutro, the visionary who first put an indoor swimming pool on the spot. We were between meals, but Sutro’s Bar was a perfect stop for a drink and a break from San Francisco traffic. The view from the 30-foot windows is blissful, particularly on the sunny, windy day we visited, with surf crashing on the rocks below and para-sailers soaring on the currents above. Not cheap, of course, but deeply relaxing, and the website, recognizing the classic name, offers the sound of the surf, plus menus.

Swiss Meats

  We’ve talked before about how much we like the products from Swiss Meat and Sausage Co. Located on Highway 19 in Swiss, MO, about 12 miles south of Hermann, the family operation has begun attracting well-deserved attention, thanks to things like the Deen Brothers featuring them on television and in their book.

Things are going so well, in fact, that they’ve greatly enlarged the retail facility. The formal opening will be in the fall, but things are already rocking. In addition to extra room to display hams, sausages, cured and smoked meats of many types, they’ve added more Missouri-made products to the lineup. There’s a display of elderly-to-antique butcher shop items, many used by the Sloan family in years past and, to top it off, there’s now more space for a wider variety of sandwiches and sides and a counter, a few booths and some outdoor seating at which to enjoy them. All the meat, of course, is their own. (The perfect routine at Swiss, as far as we are concerned, is to taste a couple of samples of bratwurst, decide on one to eat right there and then pick up a package or two to take home. You know, All Sausage, All the Time.)

We tried pulled pork and beef brisket barbecue, both outstanding in their molasses-touched sauce, and a smoked bratwurst that we topped with a little sauerkraut and mustard. The brat combo was particularly tasty, even to the non-kraut-fancying Ann, whose look of astonishment at her first bite was probably pretty funny. The sides are made by a sister of proprietor Mike Sloan, shown in the first photo conferring with Joe, and we can vouch for the German potato salad as being properly traditional and absolutely delicious.

But the focus still remains, as it should, on the fine wursts and other sausages, including various  bacons, salamis, summer sausage, braunschweiger and other meats sold at retail. Sloan is a big believer in free samples. He says he slices and displays about 15 pounds a day, everything from braunschweiger and Lebanon bologna to some of the 48 styles of bratwurst and link sausage he offers. There’s always an employee standing at a grill with a sharp knife and at least five different sausages hot and ready to be tasted. In addition, in the case for cured meats are bowls of meat samples and lots of toothpicks.

"Once people try it, they really like it," says Sloan, and we agree. It’s hard for us to pick a favorite, but we admit that the apple sausage finds its way into our cooler every visit. And so does the bacon, usually the thick-sliced.

If you’re planning on a visit, Swiss closes on Sundays, except during the Christmas season, and at 3 p.m. on Saturdays.

Swiss Meat & Sausage Co.

2506 S. Hwy 19, Hermann, MO

573-486-2086/800-793-SWIS (7947)

www.swissmeats.com

Open Mon.-Sat.

Credit cards: All major

SqWires Brunch

This isn’t really a complete review of the brunch at SqWires, but we recently had a chance to try a few things at a breakfast meeting. Happily, we could order from the usual menu, which isn’t always the case at some restaurants which restrict the options for larger groups.

Frequent restaurant-goers know good coffee isn’t always a given, but SqWires is serving tasty stuff, showing evidence of good-quality material and a staff that’s willing to do the dogs-body work of cleaning out coffee pots the way they should be cleaned. It gives breakfasters a certain degree of optimism about what’s to come, too.

Instead of corned beef hash, the menu offers hash made with beef brisket. This could be tricky, given the ability of brisket, without the brine that turns it into corned beef, to be tough. But the diced, braised brisket was moist and tender, settling in nicely with the requisite potatoes and onions. We found it on the bland side, but a little salt and pepper solved that problem. The pair of fried eggs that rode atop the hash were perfectly cooked, the warm yolk moistening the hash even more. And, yes, it came with a biscuit, described as house-made, that was so light it barely touched the plate.

Bananas Foster French toast flaunts two pieces of first-rate toast, thick slices of bread properly soaked in batter and lightly grilled. French toast should be soft, not chewy, and this is a really proper example of the style. The syrup, which was brown-sugar-tasting, was warm and thickened as it cooled, but the bread was happily swimming in it. The dish was topped off with a freshly-sliced banana. Adequate enough for winter, but by next month, the delicacy of this rendition of French toast will demand fresh strawberries and powdered sugar or something equally light.

 

The service in the annex was remarkably good, with frequent coffee refills and lots of help delivering entrees.

And since SqWires closed its market, the bar area has been enlarged into a tidy, modern-looking area that’s very inviting.

Sqwires

1415 S. 18^th St.

314-865-3522

www.sqwires.com

Brunch Sat.-Sun.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: Yes

Brunch entrees: $8-$12

This Week's Wine May 8, 2008

The last Saturday of April is unlike any other day, and little preps us more for the arrival of spring than the drive along Highway 100 on a sunny afternoon, the dogwood and redbud flashing their red, white and pink rays through the foliage flanking the highway from the I-44 junction to Hermann, where the annual 10-year Norton tasting awaits at Stone Hill Winery.

The Held family, which operates Stone Hill, has been doing this for 20 years; I’ve been fortunate enough to attend the large majority, and it’s always a fascinating experience. Norton, Missouri’s best red-wine grape (we think it’s the best of all the native American red grapes), bears the Latin name of Vitis aestivalis, as contrasted with the classic European grapes like Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and others which fall into the Vitis vinifera category.

The recent tasting involved the vintages from 1998 through 2007, and the release of the 2005 from the storage room to the sales counter. The 2006 (more on that potentially superb wine later) still is in bottles and will remain there another year for aging. The 2007 rests in its barrels.

Besides the opportunity to taste 10 Nortons, the event is a great party and a sales opportunity. The crowd – a sellout almost every year – is in a party mood when it arrives, or swoops into one very soon thereafter, fueled by sparkling wine and hors d’oeuvres. The crisp, dry sparklers, both excellent, were a blanc de blancs (all white grapes) that was a blend of Vidal Blanc and Chardonel, and a rose from a blend of Vidal Blanc and Chambourcin.

Attendance includes wine experts, wine writers, wine sellers, wine collectors, wine drinkers and folks who belong to other groups. Long tables hold a vast array of sparkling glasses, 10 for each guest plus a water glass and one holding whatever a guest has brought in from outside.

Informality and expectancy are the moods of the day. Patty Held and her brothers, Jon and Thomas, along with Dave Johnson, the winemaker for the last two decades, salute founding owners Jim and Betty Held, then tell stories, welcome the crowd, discuss the state of the 2008 grapes and the result of the 2007 harvest, crippled during an Easter Weekend frost massacre, but showing some wine from second growth grapes. Johnson delivered a Power-Point presentation (boy, has the Missouri wine industry changed in the 35 years I’ve been covering it) about growth and process. We talked about the wines over dinner, and Johnson reported that except for some tweaking here and there because of weather conditions, earlier or later ripening and picking times and a few other considerations, the Norton is made mostly the same from year to year. The aging barrels contain more American oak today than they used to, partly because of prices, but Norton remains Norton, with the rich, deep, Rhone Valley type flavors I’ve always found in it.

And the Nortonians chatted and gossiped and discussed the 10 vintages they were drinking. Afterward, drinkers vote. The Held family takes count, rather casually. One raised hand signifies a vote, two raised hands signify two votes, and are counted as such. If it’s noticed by the judges, fervent nodding of the head may result in a third vote.

I vote, too, but my thoughts were in major disagreement with the other people, at least according to the Helds’ count.

My favorite was the 2004, the wine that was released at last year’s tasting. I thought it had the freshness and full flavor of a young wine, with blackberry notes and lots of fruit, reminiscent of a youthful Zinfandel; at the same time, it had dark notes behind it, and a firmness and strength of tannin that indicated it would continue to improve for 4-6 years before leveling off. I thought it was the best of the 21st century, and the best since the glorious 1994.

The popular vote ranked it seventh, while the winner was 2000, which I found very good, but not great, and perhaps even a couple of steps over the hill.

The order of finish from there, with the popular choice in parentheses following mine, was

2nd: 2006 (2005)

3rd: 2003 (2002)

4th: 2005 (1998)

5th: 2002 (1999)

6th: 2000 (2001)

7th: 2001 (2004)

8th: 1999 (2006)

9th: 2007 (2007)

10th: 1998 (2003).

And what does it all mean? That I know more about wine than the voters that day? That I know less about wine than the voters that day?

Means nothing. Means different people have different taste buds, and experiences, and preferences. If I don’t like a wine that Robert Parker honors with 100, all it means is that he prefers that particular wine. My taste buds and my neural pathways are as good as his, and yours are as good as those of both of us. Don’t be intimidated because someone likes a wine better than you do, or vice versa. Two pieces of advice, given often: Keep track of the wines you like, and order them. Keep track of the wines you don’t like, and don’t order them.

And why did I rank the wines in the order I did? Here goes.

2006: I think this will be a great wine in a year or two, perhaps the best of this group. It has fruit, and balance, and backbone, and good tannin qualities to help it age. 2003: I think this will be a great wine in a year or two, perhaps the best of this group. It has fruit, and balance, and backbone, and good tannin qualities to help it age. 2005: The newest release, now available, has hints of blueberry and other soft fruit. Ready to drink now, but will be more fun next year. 2002: Very full-bodied, with blackberry in the aroma and plum jam in the smooth, elegant finish.2000: This rich, powerful, fruit-forward example of Norton is at its best right now. Some clove in the aroma. If there’s any in your cellar, drink it by Thanksgiving, when it will help the turkey.

2001: Dark cherries in the aroma, and a great deal of fruit remains, but the finish is shorter than it should be. Drink now. 1999: A surprising amount of tannin for a wine this old, but that’s what has helped it remain viable for almost a decade. A tobacco note in the finish. 2007: The survivor of last spring’s awful freeze is largely an unknown quantity, since it still is in barrel. There’s certainly a curiosity factor, and the Norton flavor shows through, but. . . . 1998: Brown edges on the wine in the glass and an almost rusty color are warnings that this is over the hill, but the port-like quality is interesting. As noted above, tastes are different.

–Joe

St. Louis Farmers Markets 2008

After the months of wretched weather the area has endured, what a pleasure it is to think about the coming of farmers’ markets. Here’s the 2008 warm weather schedule for St. Louis and St. Louis County.

WEDNESDAY

Maplewood Farmers Market, 7260 Southwest Ave., in the parking lot of Schlafly Bottleworks, Maplewood. 4-7 p.m., May 7-October 29.

SATURDAY

Clayton Farmers Market, 8282 Forsyth Blvd., west of Straub’s, Clayton.www.claytonfarmersmarket.com 8:30 a.m.-1230 p.m. May 24-October 25.

Ferguson Farmers Market, 20 S. Florissant Rd., Ferguson. www.fergusonfarmersmarket.com  8 a.m.-noon May-November.

North City Farmers Market, 14^th St. & St. Louis Ave. (Across from Crown Candy Kitchen!). 9 a.m.-1 p.m., June 7-Oct. 25.

Tower Grove Farmers Market, Tower Grove Park west of the wading pool. www.tgmarket.org 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., May 10-Oct 25.

Additionally,Soulard Farmers Market has some local product along with non-local, and particularly on Saturday, is worth a visit, if only for people-watching, although we never leave empty-handed. Kirkwood Farmers Market also has a mix of local and non-local, and now sports Babalu’s Snack Shack, the newest venture from the imaginative and skillful Dana Holland.

Pi

  The number of die-hard Pogo fans is shrinking, just like The Greatest Generation. Pogo was a comic strip from the gifted Walt Kelly, light-hearted and cynical, simple and sophisticated, and now nearly forgotten except by aging true believers. So we need to explain that our opening salvo on this review comes from the collected wisdom of Pogo, whose most famous statement was, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." He also corrected an earlier writer who offered the mathematical formula "pi r squared," to determine the circumference of a circle when the diameter is known. (Pi has an infinite number of numbers, beginning with 3.14159.)

"Pie," said Pogo, "are round. Cobbler are square."

Pi is another entry in the current explosion of non-chain pizza restaurants. Located in the east end of the Delmar Loop, besides a tendency towards punning on its name, a practice of which we approve, it distinguishes itself by an emphasis on eco-friendliness, a San Francisco recipe for a cornmeal crust, and one remarkable dessert. Chris Sommers is the casual, friendly owner; Ryan Mangialardo is the chef.

With a choice of thin crust (12" small, 16" large) or thick (9" and 12"), we’d generally vote for the thin. St. Louis should be thrilled with this crust. It’s very thin indeed, and very crisp, thanks to the cornmeal in the dough. There’s wheat flour, too; we’re not talking a thin layer of baked polenta here, but the texture is clearly influenced by the corn, and it’s a pleasure. Our "Lincoln Park" thin crust featured mozzarella and feta cheeses, garlic, olive oil, fresh tomato slices, and a light shower of chopped fresh basil. We swapped out its zucchini for some anchovies. This must have been remarkable; on our second visit, the waiter remembered us as the couple who’d ordered anchovies. The pizza was an absolute winner, particularly that crust. On the second visit, a "Western Addition" deep dish sported mozzarella, ricotta and feta, the latter two blended with spinach, and onion slices, mushrooms and garlic. We admit we asked for anchovies on that, as well. Deeply cheesy and with generous layers of garlic flavor, the bottom crust was not the thick, often doughy, layer found too often, but thinner and, sure enough, crisper.

There are four named pizzas in each style, but a diner with special desires can choose among 25 additional toppings ranging from anchovies to zucchini.

The starter section, referred to as pre-pi, includes fresh bread and a "bulb" of roasted garlic. We hope that means a head and not a single clove. We investigated "prosciutto pi’tites," fontina and minced prosciutto rolled in coarse breadcrumbs and flash-roasted. Gooey but not runny, with a nice, spicy tomato sauce for optional dunking, they worked well. The BLT salad features real bacon, not the faux, along with red onions, chopped romaine, cherry tomatoes, parmesan, and some chopped pepperoncini to add a little hit. The whole thing was well above average.

And then there’s the post-pi. A hearty two thumbs up to apple pi, made in a deep dish pan and served by the slice. The apples’ juices are almost caramelized but the fruit itself is nicely tart, and the cornmeal crust works nicely with this sweet filling. Very few pizza places have remarkable sweets, but pi scores here.

About a dozen wines by the glass, all the beer is draft, and a menu of fancy drinks has just been put together. Service has been great, although things weren’t wildly busy on our two visits. Open late, which is a good idea considering that they’re right across the street from the Pageant.

pi

6144 Delmar Blvd.

314-727-6633

Dinner nightly

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Entrees: $11-$23

Arroz con Pollo

Rice pretty much didn’t exist in the household where I grew up. When I asked for it, it was cooked in milk an hour or so, and sweetened, the only way my mother had ever had it. The idea of it coming with a main course, or, God forbid, being a main course, was unheard of.

Time passed, and now there are, umm, let me count...basmati, jasmine, sticky rice, Valencia, red rice from the Camargue, arborio, long grain American, and I think some brown rice are all hanging around my kitchen. I’m not quite sure just how the bug got me so badly, but it may have to do with a very basic chicken and rice recipe I picked up from a book called "The Impoverished Student’s Book of Cookery, Drinkery and Housekeepery" from Reed College.

This recipe is probably my favorite of the four or five I have, handsome and tasty, and serves six people nicely. It calls for a couple of ingredients not commonly found in most kitchens. Here in St. Louis, I send folks to La Tropicana Market, 5001 Lindenwood Ave., 314-353-7328, a little wonderland of good things to eat and cook with. You can pick up the short-grained Valencia rice, which is sold under the La Preferada brand, as well as Bijol seasoning, or annato. I use the Bijol, and haven’t tried the plain annato. Either will turn your rice a glorious golden yellow. Be sure and have a Cuban sandwich while you’re at Tropicana. The rice is also available at some Schnucks stores; sometimes it’s in with Hispanic foods and sometimes it’s with all the other rice.

I am sure that classically, this would be served with a pot of black beans, but I usually go for a salad unless I’m feeding a large group. It also would work well on a buffet line, if you use an oven-to-table dish, like a Le Creuset pot or terra-cotta cazuela, the Spanish casserole-like dish.

                                                   Arroz Con Pollo

                                         adapted from Mmmmiami

1 package "best of fryer" chicken parts - these usually run about 4-41/2 lbs - or an equivalent amount of your choice of chicken parts

2 Tablespoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons lime juice

             About 2 hours before serving, finish the dish with the following:

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 large green pepper cored, seeded and finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. Bijol or ground annatto seeds

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano (yes, there really are two places where you use cumin and oregano)

14 oz. Valencia rice, about 2 cups

1/2 cup dry white wine

5-6 cups chicken broth

1 14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes (about 2 cups), not drained

1 bay leaf

salt to taste

1 Tablespoon drained capers

12 small pimiento-stuffed olives

1 6 1/2 oz. jar diced pimientos

1 9 oz. package frozen peas (about 2 cups)

Using a 12-inch deep, heavy skillet, a Dutch oven, or a paella pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade if there’s any left, and brown the pieces in the oil. This will have to be done in several batches. After each piece browns, set it aside in a container that will hold any juices that drain off.

Drop the heat to medium. Saute the onion, green pepper and garlic until soft. Stir in the Bijol or annato, cumin and oregano, and saute for another couple of minutes. Add the rice, and stir well to coat it with the oil and spices. Here's the Bijol, before it's stirred in:

 

Add the wine, the smaller amount of broth, the tomatoes and their juice, bay leaf, and any remaining marinade. Bring the liquid to a boil and drop the heat to low. Taste - the liquid should be salty, since you’re seasoning all this rice and chicken. Return the chicken to the pan, burying the pieces as well as you can.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the chicken and rice simmer gently, uncovered, until most of the liquid is absorbed, which should be about 30 minutes. Check it occasionally, turning the thicker chicken pieces and giving the rice a stir, so the grains on top have their turn underneath to cook in more moisture.

Stir in the capers and olives. Transfer the pan to the oven, covering it (using foil if your pan has no lid), and cook until the rice is tender. Add more broth if you need it - too much is not a crime, as some Latin cultures prefer this dish to be soupy. If you run out of broth, hot water can be used. This may take as much as a half-hour, depending on your oven and pan.

Meanwhile, drain the pimientos. Place the peas in a colander and run some hot water over them. When the rice is done, stir in the pimientos and peas, and remove the bay leaf if you see it.. Turn the oven off, re-cover the pan, return it to the turned-off oven, and hold it there until ready to serve.

Serves 6.

Bartolino's Osteria

At the corner of Hampton Avenue and I-44, an old St. Louis restaurant family graces a new Drury Inn. Technically on Sulphur Avenue, Bartolino’s Osteria sports its own entrance, a covered terrace, and several dining rooms. And at the moment, it’s hot, with a busy bar business and lots of casually dressed patrons of all ages. The dining rooms hit a warm note between formal and casual, and steer way clear of the cavernous feeling that often occurs in hotel restaurants. The bar, which has music late in the week, allows smoking, but little, if any, of the odor drifts over diners.

Gianfranco Munna is heading the kitchen these days, and brings a considerable change to the once-traditional menu. Oh, sure, we saw plates of rigatoni and meatballs flying by. But there’s plenty to explore. Any Italian menu that’s offering scallops with chutney is sure to shake up the cliches. (We’ll try the scallops next visit.) And more of a shock to the traditionalists – no toasted ravioli on the dinner menu, though that St. Louis standby is available on the bar menu, served late enough to attract baseball fans or theater-goers on their way home.

Joe couldn’t resist a plate of mussels as a starter. Served as an arrangement of  half-shelled bivalves, they surrounded a mound of stuffing seasoned with their juices, made saltier by capers and kalamata olives. Escargot in an osteria? There they were, as shown on the right, with lots of garlic, some asiago cheese and a generous splash of the anise-laced Pernod. Fried calamari was very moist; the large serving included a few vegetables, like strips of sweet pepper, and a particularly notable garlic aioli drizzled over things. But the most notable of our appetizers was stuffed eggplant, two slices of eggplant rolled around a ricotta-and-spinach mixture, delicate and delicious, despite an overly-generous dollop of the red and white sauces it came with.

Chicken romano was something new to us, a boneless breast and the first joint of the wing sauteed in a sage-laced sauce and topped with prosciutto and fontina cheese. The chicken was properly moist, full of flavor, the sauce and trimmings adding to its success. Satiny mashed potatoes came alongside. They also accompanied a peppercorn-rubbed pork chop, and despite its arrival well beyond medium (the server asked; we didn’t specify), was juicy and tender, its red-wine sauce a nice contrast. Batons of cooked carrots were particularly succulent. Veal piccata, certainly a holdover from the old days, charmed with high-quality meat and a wonderfully tart sauce alongside a dollop of risotto touched with a little truffle oil.

And then there were the tortellacchi. Large pillows of homemade pasta were filled with coarsely-ground veal and covered in a deeply-flavored sauce that starred mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano, a light hit of saffron, and cream, all backed up with some veal demiglace reduction. Rich, yes, but so good it was difficult not to lick the plate.

The meal closed out with a creamy coconut panna cotta topped with a little roasted pineapple sauce, light and cool, and a chocolate hazelnut bread pudding, light and fluffy. Just a hint of the hazelnut, a little heavier on the chocolate, the whole thing finished with a lemony sauce that was a surprisingly good match.

Our service was excellent, although we were known to the house. Things looked good around us, although we’ve heard several reports of glitches since the opening several weeks ago.

Not surprising, with a new facility and, we suspect, more guests than in the old location. Be patient; the food’s worth it. The wine list, however, needs to be upgraded along with the kitchen and menu. The by-the-glass list is adequate, but not much more. More important, there are many wonderful Italian wines in the market these days, at prices only slightly above what the list now shows. Bartolino’s obviously is looking to more stature than "just another Hill restaurant," and the wine list should march hand-in-hand with the menu.

Bartolino’s Osteria

2103 Sulphur Ave.

314-644-2266

www.bartolinosrestaurants.com

Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner nightly

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: Yes

Entrees: $14-$36

This Week's Wine April 20, 2008

Kerry Norton was in town recently, showing off wines made by his predecessor and admitting he had taken on a difficult task. Norton became director of winemaking at Columbia Winery a year ago, succeeding David Lake, who had joined the winery in 1979, during its adolescence, and led it into award-winning maturity before he retired in 2006.

Following Lake was a challenge, Norton admitted, but one he enjoyed because he had admired Lake and had enjoyed the wines he made.

Still, Norton is a winemaker – like almost all winemakers – who likes to add his own personality and his own beliefs to his wines. He also understands the grapes of Washington, since he has spent 20 years making wine in the Pacific Northwest, most recently at Covey Run in Washington, earlier at Eola Hills. on Oregon. He doesn’t expect major changes, but he hopes to put his own stamp on the Columbia Winery label, starting with the 2007 vintage, his first. Since those wines were happily resting and improving and maturing in the tanks and barrels of the winery, Norton was carrying wines from the 2005 and 2006 vintages, made by Lake.

Columbia was one of the first big wineries in Washington state, and one of the first to demonstrate that Washington, like California, could grow varietal grapes and produce first-class wine. The winery, founded in 1962, was a hobby that turned into a business enterprise by 10 friends, six of whom were faculty members at the University of Washington, in Seattle. The men, who named their winemaking operation Associated Vintners, and settled in Woodinville, Wash., an Eastern suburb. The winery owns vineyards in central and eastern Washington, along the Columbia River, which serves as the boundary between Washington and Oregon. Almost all the vineyards are east of the Cascade Mountains, which shield the growing areas from fierce winter winds.

Wines from Columbia are pleasant, modestly priced and superior with food; they generally provide fine value and the half-dozen I tasted are under $20 at retail.

The ‘05 Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot were excellent, with good complexity and long finishes. The latter is a pleasant blend, with 76 percent Merlot, 13 percent Malbec and 11 percent Cabernet Franc, a well-rounded blend with cedar notes in the aroma and a rich, dark berry flavor on the palate. The Cabernet Sauvignon, all of the named grape, displays dark cherry in the nose and palate, with hints of blackberry and clove adding sharpness. Both are aged in French and American oak for 14 months. Syrah, from 2004, has just a hint of blend, with one percent each of Mourvedre and Viognier, and a rich, ripe plum accent providing enjoyment through a long, well-rounded finish.

The 2006 whites represent three different styles – American, French and German – and are, respectively, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling, with the latter two 100 percent of the named grape and the Chardonnay blended with 4.5 percent Viognier. The Chardonnay is bright and tasty, with just a little of the butter-vanilla influence. It spends only five months in oak, with 85 percent in stainless steel without a second, or malolactic, fermentation.

The result is wine that avoids the over-oaked influence that creates a wine too heavy for my palate, nor is it the bare-bones, austere wine that typifies some of the French Chablis, though it’s made from the same grape. Pinot Gris, which translates as Grey Pinot (or Pinot Grigio in Italian) is crisp and lovely, with a hint of spice and a spare, slightly spicy note to contrast with the melon overtones. Riesling, a mainstay grape of German white wines, is slightly sweeter, a fine accompaniment to spicy Asian cuisine while the Pinot Gris and Chardonnay are perfect with simple broiled fish, or with oysters on the half shell.

The Columbia Winery products, American standards for almost a half-century, show the simplicity, flavor, balance and finish that David Lake’s wines always have shown. It will be interesting to see what Kerry Norton does in future years.

RECENT TASTINGS: As a long-time fan of Zaca Mesa Winery, I was very pleased to find a bottle of the 2004 Z Cuvee Red while looking in a closet for something to accompany a grilled lamb roast. It was a splendid choice. The wine is a Rhone-style blend, using Grenache (60 percent), Mourvedre (26), Syrah (13) and Cinsault, the four grapes used to make Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The wine was lush and delicious, with berry flavors predominating and a delightful feel on the palate. The lack of the ‘04 on the Zaca Mesa web site (www.zacamesa.com) indicates that the wine is sold out, but a 2005 is available, and if it’s as charming as the one I tasted, it’s a good buy at $18.

Speaking of Napa Valley wineries, I also tasted some splendid offerings from the Joseph Phelps Vineyard, long a premier California producer. The 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($54) is a classic vinification of a classic grape, with los of fruit, rounded flavors and a long, smooth finish. The Phelps ‘06 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (about $32) is another winner, with delicious citrus notes in the aroma and on the palate.

Mendocino County is one of my favorite California areas to visit, and the county’s wine producers continue to improve. A 2004 Pinot Noir from Goldeneye, one of the Duckhorn properties, shows a wonderful balance and delicate handling of the tricky grape. It’s priced at $52, and well worth it, as are all the Duckhorn wines.

Sauvignon Blanc now offers a real challenge, and a fine alternative, to the traditional Chardonnay, and its tartness and acidity make it a favorite in our refrigerator, especially when compared to some of the over-oaked California offerings. We recently tasted very good 2006 samples from the Merryvale Starmont vineyards and Martin Ray, and from the Frei Brothers estate, now a Gallo operation but a site where wine grapes have been growing since 1890. All are under $20. A Gallo import from the Sebeka Winery, in the Western Cape region of South Africa, retails for less than a sawbuck and is quite satisfactory.

-Joe

Terrene

  When Dave Owens left the rarified air of Plaza Frontenac to open Terrene, straddling the fuzzy boundary between Grand Center and the Central West End, he set the bar rather high, using his own vegetarian ideology to take a different approach to dinner, on both the menu and the plate. Like his former boss, Bill Cardwell, or Andy Ayers of Riddle’s, he listed purveyors on his menu, a tack that is now almost common in many local restaurants. And like so many fine chefs, he used all he had learned in kitchens and combined techniques and ingredients to put his personal stamp on every plate.

And then, like so many chefs, he moved on, looking for a different challenge and, perhaps, a job that would mesh better with a growing family.

He was succeeded at Terrene by Patrick Baltes and Eleuterio J. Carreon, both with the title of chef, and based on a recent visit. the bar is even higher. The restaurant has passed its restaurant-of-the-moment stage, to the point where it has to prove that its popularity wasn't a flash in the saute pan and that it can handle the challenges of drawing return diners as well as attracting new ones. That, in many ways, is a bigger obstacle than luring customers initially.

As the patio season looms ahead of us, and we do like the patio very much, it's worth giving Terrene another look. That patio, providing the weather is good, is highly desirable, not least because it's quieter than the interior of the restaurant and its bar. Accept the noise and focus on the food, we say.

Terrene also focuses on environmental issues. This can be the basis of some extended explanations from servers, which can evoke mixed emotions. Yes, it's interesting, but we're hungry. We were surprised to learn that the bread basket with its 3-part dish of butter, olive oil, and a white bean spread, discussed on the margin of the clipboard-style menus, had been replaced by mixed vegetable chips, deep-fried like potato chips. A new taste experience for some of us, perhaps, but not much use to wipe up the last bits of a particularly nice sauce or float in mussel broth.

A stunning mixed fry kicked things off. Light and almost entirely greaseless until the very bottom of the large basket, one expects onion rings, of course, and even squid. The slices of sweet potato and the green beans were more of a surprise. But the thin slices of lemon, crisp and tart, were a marvelous shock. There's a dipping sauce, mayonnaise-based and lightly spicy, but it's extraneous. A couple of flatbreads are on offer; ours sported house-smoked bacon, a little mozzarella and some fresh arugula. The light and crispy crust was almost as tasty as the bacon. Roasted garlic fans will be pleased with the whole head that arrives with warm, seasoned olives and toasted bread. (So there is bread in the kitchen.)

Curly endive was joined by slices of fuji apples, pomegranate seeds, and a dressing that has only the faintest hint of sweetness, probably from a light hit of cinnamon, tasty even to those of us who aren't big on sweetness in salads. Pomegranate also played a role in a remarkable nightly special, a risotto appetizer with pomegranate and three seared sea scallops. Not a combination that would occur to most folks, but a brilliant combination of flavors with fruit and savory notes mingling in harmony.

 

Roast chicken is one of those dishes that usually sounds better than it tastes. Sometimes hope triumphs over experience, though. In this case, our hopes were greatly rewarded. A boned breast and the first joint of the wing were juicy and flavorful - brining is the best thing to happen to American chicken since the invention of the cast-iron skillet - and sat on something the menu described as "crispy rice." This turned out to be Asian sticky rice, reheated by sauteeing until some of the rice crisped up. Great idea, wonderful texture, good contrast with the chicken. Some green beans were a complement.

We also ordered a pork chop, and as the server headed to the kitchen, he remarked, "It's the best pork chop in town." Well, it may be. The large, moist chop, with what the menu calls "scorched enchilada sauce," was mouth-wateringly succulent, the chili and cumin in the sauce working well with the pork, and any scorch just tasting a little toasty. Alongside was some yucca, a vegetable we seldom see hereabouts. A starchy tuber, the kitchen mashes it with ricotta cheese and tosses in a few intact cubes of the vegetable for texture. The fish special (below) that night was halibut, seared and served over fresh black-pepper fettucine, along with bok choy and a generous serving of exotic mushrooms, another combination that sang.

   

Desserts aren't as strong as the earlier parts of the meal. A pear cake was deeply bland, gaining savor only from a dribble of cardamom anglaise and a compote of cooked pears. The warm apple crisp does somewhat better, with a good balance of sweet and tart, although the crisp is less than crisp.

Consider, instead of dessert, an after-dinner drink like Framboise from Randall Grahm's Bonny Doon Winery or something new to us, Creole Shrub. It's a liqueur made in Martinique with two kinds of rum and orange peel, sort of Grand Marnier gone to heaven. Absolutely marvelous. The wine list is more than satisfactory, and so is the service, though we still hear reports of occasional disorganization.

Terrene
33 N. Sarah St.
314-535-5100

www.terrene-stlouis.com

Dinner Tues.-Sun
Credit Cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Entrees: $18-$23

Dill Potato Salad

There must be people around who don’t carry a list of measurements around in their head. No, not the inseam and waist size of their trousers or how many yards in a mile. I mean the sort of "ought to" measurements that we absorb, often unconsciously, over the years. Most of them seem to be a mild pain in the neck.

For example, one day in a conversation, the following words flew out of my mouth: "I read somewhere that every good cook should have at least three potato salad recipes in her repertoire." Now where on earth did that come from? How long had that been simmering in some dusty string of neurons waiting to be unearthed? A quick mental inventory made after the fact seemed to reveal that I certainly didn’t meet that benchmark, and I reassured whomever I was speaking to of my own shortcoming.

Since then–and I’m fairly sure the original blurt was at least 15 years ago–I’ve added to my personal potato salad hit list. I admit to being very picky about potato salads. Too many of them out there are bland and unexciting, substituting chunks of celery for seasoning. This one, however, is downright craveable. It also doesn’t require the two days’ preparation that my basic mustard potato salad does.

A FASTER POTATO SALAD

2 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed, eyes removed and cut in chunks (I don’t peel them)

1 c. yogurt

1 c. mayonnaise (low-fat is fine here)

3 Tbs. dill weed

2 Tbs. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c. diced red onion

1/2

tsp. salt, plus salt for cooking water

Boil potatoes in salted water until they are very tender. (Start checking after 12 minutes of boiling.) Drain and cool a little. Mash the potatoes, leaving some lumps. (I use a hand-held electric mixer, and I like a lot of lumps.) Cover and let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, mix together the yogurt, mayo, dill, vinegar, pepper, onion and salt. Pour over the potatoes and mix in thoroughly. Taste the mixture and see if it needs anything. Salt? Dill? It probably will be quite thick; a stay in the fridge will let it relax a little. Serve now, if needed, or refrigerate.

Serves 4-5, or me on a bad night.

-Ann

Burger Bar

Parking was proclaimed as free on the recent night when we visited Lumiere Place, and it proved to be the most positive – or least negative – experience during an evening when the blackjack dealer turned hot, the slot machines turned cold and dinner at the Burger Bar was way too expensive, though we had been warned of that.

And we did get some exercise because the restaurant entrance is diagonally opposite the garage elevators, meaning a lengthy stroll through a gauntlet of all the other eating spots in the casino on one side and the ka-ching ka-ching of the slots on the other.

Burger Bar has received some mighty mixed comments during its rather brief lifetime, and that always attracts our attention. It’s essentially a sports bar, with lots of televisions, including individual ones in the booths, and a bar that gives gamblers the chance to sit on the casino side and play computer games of chance while dining and drinking. Not surprisingly, especially on the weekday of our journey, most of the crowd is relatively young. The employees certainly are.

Yes, it’s all about the burgers, although there are a few other options available, including a couple of vegetarian possibilities as well as salmon and chicken. And then there’s the Rossini burger, which arrives with the classic foie gras and shaved truffle on top, the latter two items accounting for the $60 price tag.

The burgers arrive with lettuce, tomato and a thin, thin slice of red onion, as well as any of five types of bun. Mustard and ketchup, both garden-variety, supermarket-available brands rather than anything upscale, gourmet or unique, are on the tables. Beyond that, it’s cash or credit cards for the trimmings, an entire column of them. A fried egg? Yup. Truffle sauce? Mais oui. But why on earth does fancy California chef Hubert Keller use the British name for beets? We’ve never seen pickled beets on burgers coming out of St. Louis kitchens, or been offered them, either. Calling it "pickled beetroot" doesn’t help any.

The burgers are a little larger than a slightly flattened baseball. Their thickness is nice, but if you order the burger anything short of well-done, we suspect the ooze factor is a serious problem. We decided to use forks.

Both the basic burger and the Angus that was part of the surf ‘n turf combination,  were cooked as ordered, though the latter was closer to medium than medium-rare. But the flavor of the basic was richer. We ordered the basic on ciabatta bread, with avocado and jalapeno. The individual ciabatta was fresh and chewy, which is just how it should be, four wedges of avocado were splayed across the meat, and canned jalapeno slices came in a separate dish. The surf ‘n turf combo placed a whole shelled claw of lobster meat atop the Angus burger, and another large lump of lobster alongside. From the list of toppings, the oyster mushrooms arrived buttery and full of flavor, the grilled onions room temperature and bland. The requested onion roll was fresh but lackluster, or at least lackonion. Deeply boring fries finished the plate. A mixed bag, on the whole, we were thinking. And our check was dropped on the table, unrequested.

Whoa–hadn’t we seen dessert "burgers" on the menu? Yes, we had. Chocolate, PB & J, and cheesecake burgers are available. Our chocolate burger was head and shoulders above anything else we tasted, and also offered a brilliant visual joke, looking like a hamburger. The patty is a slice of chocolate ganache, rich with high-quality dark chocolate. What appears to be a slice of cheese is actually a tart mango gelee, the slightly chewy jellied confection usually found coated with coarse sugar. "Lettuce" is a layer of fresh mint leaves, and "tomato" is provided by sliced fresh strawberries, and very good ones for this time of year they were. And the bun? Mmmm. A doughnut, shaped like a jelly doughnut, not filled but rolled in finely granulated sugar and split in half. It was very, very fresh, and the final touch of expertise to hold this imaginative dessert. It’s the sort of dish that’s normally found in much fancier restaurants, and very worthwhile.

Service is a little slapdash. Hostesses engage in quiet conversations without noticing guests awaiting them. Perhaps the noise levels interfere with servers hearing orders. Table-bussing can be erratic. And even with just two of us, the food runner from the kitchen did the "Who gets the, uh..." routine. And this was on a weeknight with maybe half the tables occupied.

This is a beer-drinking sort of place; the wine list is slender. And the tobacco-averse should note that there seem to be no smoke-free areas in the casino or in this restaurant.

Whether or not the Burger Bar works for a dinner is up in the air. But it might be worth dropping by for a dessert burger.

Burger Bar

Lumiere Place

999 N. Second St.

314-881-7777

www.lumiereplace.com

Lunch and Dinner daily

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: Yes

Entrees: $7-$60

Pappy's Smokehouse

"Why," we asked each other, smiling happily "wasn’t there a place like this when we lived nearby?" Pappy’s Smokehouse is at the intersection of Olive and Cardinal, a block east of Compton, actually facing Cardinal rather than Olive, on the edge of what once was the Brigadoon-like Laclede Town. Ann lived in Laclede Town in the ‘70s, Joe in Laclede Park in the ‘60s; their paths never crossed. Pappy’s is located close to both Grand Center and the new St. Louis U. arena, but there are risks to wallowing in barbecue sauce before a St. Louis Symphony concert. Basketball fans may not be as quick to point fingers.

In any event, don’t let the name fool you into thinking this is some rustic hole in the wall. The industrial exterior holds an L-shaped room that, while warmed with much barbecue memorabilia, is almost clinically basic.

Like an increasing number of places, Pappy’s serves its meat unsauced. (St. Louis became accustomed to saucy ‘que years ago, when the cooked barbecue was kept warm in a pan of simmering sauce.) We like the hottest of the three on the picnic table, Holly’s Hot, which is pretty frisky but not incendiary. There’s a sweet and seemingly simple one, called Sweet Baby Jane, and the house sauce, Pappy’s Original, which has a fine depth of flavor, smoky, slightly fruity, and with just a little heat to go with the sweetness. All are tomato-based.

We’re very happy with the pulled pork and beef brisket, both quite moist and smoky, the ribs which are a little chewier but redolent with the rub’s spicing, and the pulled chicken. But three more unusual offerings deserve attention. Turkey breast, that section that in the wrong hands so often resembles pasteboard, is skinned, rubbed and smoked by the Pappy’s folks, and turns out shockingly tasty, in addition to being tender and juicy. It’s sliced rather than pulled, a move that shows off its tenderness.

Less often found in ‘que spots hereabouts is sausage, sometimes described as hot links. The traditional bright red color, they’re rather like a spicy polish sausage. Sausage lovers should immediately check out these tasty guys.

And finally, and most unlikely, is the Frito pie. We suspect this dish came out of Texas in the 1950's, a drive-in classic consisting of a layer of Fritos (sometimes in the original single-serving bag cut open) topped with chili, cheese, and chopped onion. The barbecue version changes that a little. The Fritos are topped with beef or pork (we asked for chicken and got it), a layer of beans, and then the cheese. Those who love Slingers will be in heaven. The pleasure is in the amazing contrasts, especially with a drizzle of the hot barbecue sauce across the top. The molasses-sweet beans, the vinegary heat of the sauce, the salt of the Fritos, the creaminess of the cheese, and the smoky chew of the meat add up to a chorus in the mouth.

   

Of the sides, we’re most pleased with the sweet-potato fries. The beans do well, and the slaw, in a sweet-sour oil and vinegar dressing with a scattering of celery seeds, is acceptable. Deep-fried corn on the cob sounds like fun, but really offers nothing deeply remarkable except chewier kernels than usual.

The drill here is to order at the counter and give your name; the order is brought to your table. The diner is not abandoned, however, there’s almost always someone zooming through the dining room checking on customers. And we’d warn you to call ahead in the evening. When Pappy’s runs out of meat, they close. In fact, on our most recent visit, a sign announced, "No ribs or beef until 2:30 p.m."

Pappy’s Smokehouse

3106 Olive St.

314-535-4340

www.pappyssmokehouse.com

Lunch and Dinner daily

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Entrees: $6-$19

Off The Vine

If you’ve been around St. Louis restaurants for a while, you may know the building in which Off The Vine has opened. Once a Dairy Queen on Hampton Avenue, it has become, over the years, home to a battery of restaurants, a couple of which have been very well known. (Bonus points if you can name them; answers at the bottom of the review.) Now Andy White, formerly of Balaban’s and, before that, at Harvest, has brought forth a place of his own, more a bistro-type restaurant than a wine bar, despite the name.

Looking at it from the outside, one can guess things will be cozy within, and it’s true. But there’s room for more tables inside than we’d expected, plus a bar and a small, free-standing fireplace. Still, making reservations is a good idea, especially in in a spot this small, and very especially on weekends, even if it’s merely a phone call to ask, "We’re about 10 minutes away; will you have a table for two available?"

The Modern American menu leads off with choices like house-smoked trout, which arrived on an onion blini, the silver-dollar-sized pancake sometimes served with caviar. Stacked up and garnished with capers and creme fraiche, it was a hit, tender and with an extra hint of smokiness, a couple of succulent bites to kick things off. A frisee salad’s curly leaves were topped with a poached egg, cubes of browned prosciutto and a little red onion, then ringed with large cubes of new potato. Almost a traditional salad lyonnaise, from the description, but the dressing was sweet, which clashed with the poached egg, and the potatoes were badly undercooked.

Bean soup arrived properly hot and properly hearty. The garnish was a slice of toast topped with house-made deviled ham, half-lolling in the soup, a little messy to eat, but extremely tasty. A small ramekin of chicken liver mousse was creamy and subtle, but was lost when spread on the bread that came with it. The bread had either been deep-fried or heavily brushed with oil and then baked in the oven until it was completely crunchy. Between the flavor of the fat and the texture of the bread, it was too much for the mousse.

The idea of wrapping pork tenderloin in bacon before roasting is simply brilliant. Tenderloin is so lean that it easily absorbs the flavorful juices of the bacon, and is carried to new heights. White serves it forth with a trio of sides that also shine. Apple fritters are tart, light and airy, red cabbage slightly sweet and not overcooked and an applesauce that glows with flavor. Simultaneously tart, sweet and savory, it’s the perfect accompaniment to the delicious swine.

 

When it comes to dessert, the chocolate peanut butter cake is a serious indulgence. The cupcake-sized chocolate cake has a spoonful of dense peanut butter mousse in the middle, and a generous piece of excellent peanut brittle alongside. It, too, is made in-house. The combination’s great fun, and it’ll be hard for us to order anything else next visit.

The wine list is short but delightful, with the bases well-covered in most price ranges and grapes both domestic and international. Previous operators? David Slay with Café Ham-ton and Tim Mallett with the first Blue Water Grill, which preceded Big Sky Café and Remy’s Kitchen and Wine Bar in his trio of fine dining spots.

Off The Vine

2605 Hampton Ave.

314-781-1620

www.offthevinestl.com

Lunch & Dinner Tues.-Sun.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: Yes

Entrees: $14-$18

The Piccadilly at Manhattan

A tip from one of many food fans with whom we chat sent us looking for this quiet neighborhood spot in Maplewood. South of the railroad tracks and east of Big Bend Boulevard, it stands at the corner of Piccadilly and Manhattan, which should be -- but isn’t -- the intersection of a pair of glamorous boulevards. The building clearly has been there for years and years and, in fact, the Piccadilly at Manhattan, to use its full name, has been in the same family since the 1920's.

The interior is much more contemporary, nicely painted and offering thoughtful touches like hooks under the bar for customers’ purses and jackets. Tables pay tribute to various people and places under their glass tops; the one we used held Bob Dylan pictures, record album covers and other memorabilia. There’s a good-sized deck behind the dining room, and a parking lot behind that, entered from Manhattan Avenue. It’s very much a neighborhood place; as we sat there on a pre-theater Friday, almost all new arrivals were greeting other tables and/or the proprietors, Nick and Maggie Collida. By the time we finished dinner, several folks stopped by to say hello to us, too, so we fit right in.

The menu is brief, a couple of narrow pages, mostly first courses and sandwiches, with a few proper entrees, and a couple of chalkboards with specials. Only three wines are available by the glass to supplement the expected beer, but table cards boast of 20 wines (10 white, 10 red) for $20 or less a bottle, not from labels easily recognized, but including some interesting offerings from South Africa, South America and Australia, in addition to a number of California varieties. It’s the sort of thing that piques the curiosity of the wine-inclined, and definitely is worth investigating. We were unable to dig into the list, but when we return, you can count on it.

We kicked off with an order of chicken wings. The "our way" option was described as sweet and hot. The moist, meaty wings’ sauce began as sweet; the heat kicked in a little later in the eating, and remained at moderate levels. The Piccadilly salad, large enough to be lunch on another day if we hadn’t split it, began with fresh, nicely chilled, crisp iceberg lettuce, tossed with judicious amounts of julienne salami and cheese, and some sweet red onion. The house dressing was a nicely balanced oil and vinegar mixture. Iceberg lettuce is perfectly acceptable in a casual restaurant, and the amount of dressing was just right, enough to season everything but not leave a puddle on the plate.

Main courses? We pondered. Pasta with seafood in a creamy garlic sauce and fried catfish with slaw and fries were the daily specials. Many plates of handsome, ungreasy fried chicken flew by. Our consideration of a pork tenderloin sandwich stopped abruptly when a handsome double cheeseburger was served to a fellow at the bar. We succumbed to a single, a five-ounce patty that arrived hot and juicy, alongside some seasoned fries. A grouper sandwich was piled high, its boneless pieces, clad in a light batter, were sufficiently tasty and juicy that it needed no tartar sauce.

Maggie Collida makes the desserts (their son is the chef), and we’d advise saving room if they’re as good as the one we tried. "Carrot cake," was the dessert du jour, proclaimed the chalkboard. "Roulade" is probably not a word that will ever appear in print at Piccadilly, but the carrot cake was made in a jelly roll pan and rolled around a particularly creamy cream cheese filling to produce what is technically called a roulade. We call it yummy.

Pleasant, attentive service, but realize this is a small kitchen and everything is cooked to order. That can, and does, mean that the food at Piccadilly at Manhattan will arrive piping hot and extremely tasty.

The Piccadilly at Manhattan

7201 PiccadillyAve., Maplewood

314-646-0016

www.thepiccadilly.com

Lunch & Dinner Tues.-Sat.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Poor

Smoking: No

Entrees: $8-$16

Revival

Revival opened with quite a burden on its shoulders. Located in the building that formerly held the near-revered King Louie’s, the vibes from the previous occupant meant most visitors would inevitably begin comparisons. But it also meant that many of those same folks really wanted Revival to be successful. Certainly a brave step by the group of owners, who also operate such different restaurants as Cyrano’s and Boogaloo, to take on the challenge.

The interior hasn’t changed radically, and the patio remains, awaiting better weather. Decor tends more toward the minimalist than in the previous incarnation, but familiar faces abound. Chef and part-owner Cary McDowell is part of a management group that includes his wife, Holly; Charlie and Carolyn Downs of Cyrano’s (she’s the pastry chef at both spots); and restaurant owner-chef-maven Mike Johnson. Holly met Cary, by the way, when she was behind the bar in the early days at King Louie’s. More familiar faces are visible in the dining room from previous customers eager to try the Revival’s efforts, and a few staff members have returned.

It’s a menu that acknowledges the current nibbling trend with many options beyond entrees, but the general theme is riffs on traditional Southern and all-American foods. In other words, this is a house that offers not only shrimp and grits, but also individual pizzas.

Of the first courses we’ve tried, our favorite was the chicken liver mousse, three large fluffy scoops on crostini, far too generous to pick up and eat with one’s fingers until about half the mousse is forked up along with the accompanying greens. Cool and smooth and lightly seasoned, it’s swell. Sweetbreads, a personal favorite but an organ meat that frightens some, arrived with a generous amount of mushrooms, the whole sauteed and served with pan juices. Steak tartare is made from high-quality beef, properly moist and full of flavor. It’s topped with a quail egg cooked until the yolk is barely set, a change from the traditional raw yolk. About the only disappointment was a chopped iceberg salad. Chunkier than a Cobb, it sports pickled red onion rings, cucumber slices and cottage cheese. But alas, the green goddess dressing seemed to lack any discernible tarragon, and made up for it with sugar.

On the lunch menu, there’s a fine, juicy slab of meatloaf, dense and succulent, nicely spiced. Evenings, we’ve been happy with beef short ribs in a winy braise, the ribs meaty and tender, served with sweet potatoes cooked alongside. Mussels steamed with sausage from G&W, the fine south St. Louis  purveyor, and some tomato, gave the sensation of what Paul Prudhomme calls "flavors playing pinball in your mouth". The Revival "supper steak," a hanger steak sliced and served in an onion-laced reduction, was absolutely delicious, the sauce good enough to have us calling for some bread to wipe down the last bits. Delicious cornbread arrived, followed by some biscuits hot from the oven and so deliciously delicate they crumbled rather than split.

Eminently satisfactory.

Grilled trout is a whole, boned fresh-water trout, quickly grilled. Fair warning: It’s served head-on. That doesn’t bother us one whit, but some folks can’t abide it. We’d bet the kitchen will do the necessary surgery on request. The trout, perfectly cooked, comes with what the menu calls "camp potatoes." We’ve seen various dishes by that name; this one turns out to be tiny new potatoes, properly steamed, tender but not collapsing.

The dessert menu has two parts, called snacks and home-style sweet things, all from the aforementioned gifted pastry chef and part-owner, Carolyn Downs. Snacks includes cookies, fudge, sugared popcorn and cooked-to-order doughnuts, actually beignets (think doughnut holes, if you haven’t had that New Orleans treat), sprinkled with powdered sugar and served in a brown paper sack, the first Missouri term Joe learned when he arrived in Columbia, and asked for a paper bag to carry some purchases. The sweet things include a bread pudding with chocolate and a Dr. Pepper sauce. We didn’t taste much DP in the sauce, but it was a good bread pudding. Red velvet cake is making a comeback, at least locally. We’ve decided it sounds good, but it’s actually a safe dessert rather than an exciting one. Downs’ rendition is moist enough, always a concern, but it’s basically a nod to nostalgia rather than offering anything remarkable. On the other hand, a buttermilk pound cake topped with a spiced praline sauce was delicious, its velvety texture and charming sauce set off with a dash of sea salt, the hot thing in fashionable dessert ingredients this year. No complaints here; we know a wee bit of salt pushes other flavors forward on the tongue.

Service seems to go smoothly, although occasionally we hear stories of busy nights getting a little confusing. And with Grand Center getting even busier as more organizations move their offices into the area, lunch business should thrive. The area deserves a Revival.

Revival

3800 Chouteau Ave.

314-771-3939

www.revivalstl.com

Lunch Tues.-Fri., Dinner Tues.-Sat.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: Yes

Entrees: $14-$22

Schlafly Bottleworks Brunch

If there is any meal where using the best ingredients makes the biggest difference, we’re convinced that it has to be breakfast. The difference between cheapo bacon and the artisanal product, for instance, or eggs from battery-raised chickens versus free-range, becomes apparent with the first bite–if not before, given the brilliant color of free-range egg yolks. Brunch at Schlafly Bottleworks is a good example of that. Like several other local restaurants, it lists local purveyors on the menu and on a chalkboard in the dining room, a reminder that this definitely isn’t factory food.

The brunch menu, served both Saturday and Sunday, is primarily dishes for big breakfasts, one of the best ways to spend a weekend morning, but the full lunch menu also is offered. We concentrated on the breakfast-y stuff, and watched as family groups began to fill the room, joining the solo diners and couples who had been on hand when we arrived.

Instead of omelets, the kitchen offers fritattas, the egg dish that is similarly comprised of eggs mixed with various add-ins, served open-faced and not folded or flipped. We’ve explained them as scrambles that aren’t stirred. A fritatta with artichokes, mushrooms and venison was first-rate. The pleasantly tender slices of venison also appear in the house version of a Philly cheese steak, it turns out. The fritattas arrive with a generous serving of crisply fried hash browns, carefully seasoned to avoid any memory of the too-often served, far-too-bland versions of the dish. A cinnamon-scented honey wheat English muffin added a pleasant touch.

Bottleworks’ waffles arrive crowned with blueberries and berry syrup. Tender and cake-like, they’re also accompanied by a large scoop of whipped cream that, at first glance, resembles vanilla ice cream. It’s pleasant, and satisfies the sweet tooth, but is not needed to moisten things. An order of sausage brings more possibilities, either patties or hickory-smoked, almost like Polish and made in Washington, Mo. The hickory was a single large link, wonderfully savory, juicy and nicely smoky, a vigorous contrast to the sweet waffles.

Probably the piece de resistance of the brunch menu, though, is French toast made with the single dish (other than beer) that we associate most with Schlafly: Sticky toffee pudding. Four slices of the pudding (remember this is an English/Scottish dish, and "pudding" is used where we Yanks would say "cake") are dipped into a light egg batter and grilled. No toffee sauce here, just a drizzle of the berry syrup and a cup of maple syrup, which we didn’t use. Absolutely satisfying; but come summer, this is a dish where fresh fruit would be very appropriate. The idea of ripe, juicy local peaches sliced over this is shiveringly good. Our bacon order, four large slices, was high-quality material, crisp and satisfying.

 

Yes, good coffee and attentive service. The rest of the brunch menu shows imagination, too, like vegetarian biscuits and gravy, and huevos rancheros. Somebody running the show really likes breakfast, and it shines through in the food.

Schlafly Bottleworks

7260 Southwest Ave., Maplewood

314-241-BEER

www.schlafly.com/brewpubs

Brunch Sat.-Sun.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Brunch Entrees: $6-$8

Ivory Coast Bistro

Once upon a time, St. Louis had plenty of small bars that also had kitchens. They offered humble food, most of it made on site, and a nearby accountant or salesman might drop in for what was often called a merchants’ lunch, or for a fast sandwich and a glass of beer. In fact, it was at such places that the now-gone brain sandwich flourished. One of the neighborhoods where such places existed is Carondelet.

For those unfamiliar with it, Carondelet (which originally was an independent city) is tucked into the city’s southeast corner, bordering both the Mississippi and River des Peres, a short hop from the sublime to the ridiculous. It’s also home to one of this year’s new crop of theaters, the Ivory Theater, named for a street it faces. That means, we hope, many first-time visitors to the neighborhood. Dining options in the area are limited. But across the sort of plaza that the Ivory Theater faces is the Ivory Coast Bistro–which, be warned, at this writing does not have a sign outside. It’s at the south end of a wedge-shaped block, and its entrance faces south. (Look for the neon beer signs.)

The Ivory Coast is larger than it looks. There’s the bar, which serves as a dining room for smokers, a non-smoking dining room, and another room with a pool table. As befits the neighborhood tradition, there seem to be a fair number of regulars at the bar. The food is relatively simple. A couple of fish specials, this being Lent, were added to the menu’s sandwiches, pasta, steak, pork and chicken. Lots of first courses, including a couple of soups. While there are some things that are less home-y than our choices, what we had was really basic American food. This is salt-and-pepper-land, not tarragon-and-chutney-ville.

Fried green beans were our chance to try something new. A light coat of cornmeal batter clung to the crispy beans, great finger food, with a bowl of chili mayonnaise for dipping. They were delicious and we rationalized that they also had fewer calories than french fries. They also stayed hot longer than their potato counterparts. Beef barley soup, clearly homemade, was full of chunks of beef, several kinds of vegetables, and barley that hadn’t been cooked so long the broth became sludgy. Good seasoning and served piping hot, a pleasing factor that has been overlooked too often lately. Entrees include a salad, surprisingly large, and with greens more sparkling than some we’ve had at three times the price.

 

The phrase "chicken dinner" is an old one, not much used in conversation any more. But that’s how our cheerful server described what she placed on the table for one of our entrees. Four pieces of fried chicken, half a chicken, had been battered and fried to a satisfying crunch. A large baked potato (wrapped in foil, alas) fought for space on the plate, leaving green beans to reside in a side bowl. The beans were seasoned with plenty of bacon, but had not been cooked until they were dead.

Chicken pot pie? It’s been a while since we’ve seen it on  menus hereabouts. The surprisingly large serving was topped with a few layers of filo dough rather haphazardly applied. Underneath, while the gravy was thinner than expected, the chicken, potatoes, carrots and celery were full of flavor. One of the problems with the filo was that it did not soak up the juices the way puff pastry or biscuit dough will.

One of the oldest bakeries in the city, Carondelet Bakery, is in the next block. We wondered–but didn’t ask–if the Ivory buys from Carondelet. We split a slice of moist carrot cake and strolled off to the theater.

And that brings us to one more thing. Allow enough time for dinner if you’re going on to a show. This isn’t 45th Street in Manhattan, or Grand Center, where the restaurants are accustomed to getting people out before curtain time. The servers flew around the dining room, and the kitchen didn’t seem to dawdle, but it’s just easier for diners to enjoy a meal if they’re not anxiously peering at their watches during most of it.

Ivory Coast Bistro

7637 Ivory St.

314-544-4900

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner daily

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair access: Poor

Smoking: Yes

Entrees: $11-$16

Athena's

People who write about food and restaurants, as we have for some 35 years, sometimes face serious dilemmas. As we have written many times, we do not accept free meals, and on several occasions, when a restaurateur has ignored our policy, we simply have not written about the establishment, leaving a couple of places we like out of our last book for that reason.

We faced a different situation recently, and after considerable thought and discussion, we decided that a different approach would be proper and fair to the restaurant because we thoroughly enjoyed the meals, if not the entire experience.

So we recently visited Athena’s, a Greek restaurant in Ellisville, on a Saturday night. We vary the evenings on which we dine out, mainly for our own comfort, but we sometimes pick a specific day to see how the restaurant performs under the pressure of a busy weekend or on a quiet night. We like Greek food (Ann slightly more than Joe because of her strong preference for lamb), and since we never had visited Athena’s, we settled on a Saturday night and made a reservation for 8 p.m.

We arrived a few minutes before 8 and after she looked into the dining room, were told by a charming, in-command hostess that someone was putting the wine glasses on the table and it would be ready in a moment. It was. We had used our name on the reservation, but the hostess had told us she was from San Diego and we did not think she had recognized us as restaurant writers.

We were seated, greeted, offered a drink (we declined, planning on wine with dinner) and a menu, told of the specials. It took a while before the server returned, but that was not a problem; the restaurant was quite crowded, with a large family party (at least 16 people, including a number of children) in an adjoining area and we were enjoying the opportunity to talk.

Athena’s is a good-sized restaurant with a menu that includes steaks, chops and fish in addition to a large handful of Grecian specialties – lamb shank, moussaka, pastitsio, dolmades – found in many other St. Louis Greek restaurants. We ordered avgolemeno soup and a Greek salad to start, followed by lamb shank and moussaka and a bottle of Coppola California shiraz/syrah, two names for the same grape.

Our adventure was just beginning.

We chatted about one thing and another, plans for a summer trip, discussion of local theater and politics, the Presidential race, updates on children and grandchildren. Managers and the owner and a man in chef’s white were here and there, stopping to visit with regular customers and with obvious strangers. It seemed like an extremely smooth operation, especially since someone had mentioned that the staff was short a couple of people that evening.

Not so fast. . . .

About 10 minutes later (we were not keeping exact times; we don’t operate that way), another server arrived, carrying the entrees.

"Who gets the lamb shank?" she asked cheerfully. We always cast a fishy eye at that question. She was not the person who took our order, but there should be a system whereby the server knows who gets what, especially if there are just two diners. If she had guessed, her chances of being correct were 50-50.

"What happened to our appetizers?" we asked. She looked, as the old descriptive goes, as if she had been hit in the head with a cow. "You didn’t get appetizers?" she asked, clearly startled, then apologized, did a crisp about-face and headed for the kitchen.

A few minutes later, with another apology, she returned, carrying the soup and the salad. The latter, properly rough-cut slices of red onions and green peppers with chunks of tomato, obviously had been tossed together in a hurry. The pepper slices still held seeds and much of the white membrane, though, once trimmed, they were delicious. We’d asked for the Kalamata olive vinaigrette rather than balsamic vinegar dressing for the salad, and it was a good choice, thick with lots of bits of olive.

We still were wondering about the main courses, however, and were nearly positive that the plates had been returned to the kitchen and left on a work area, or perhaps under a warming light.

The soup was tasty, with plenty of chicken, rice and a good lemon flavor, but it was not quite hot enough. Years ago, Joe listened as the late Jack Miller, who founded the excellent culinary program at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park, told his classes, "The most important thing about food service is to serve the cold food cold and the hot food hot." It’s still the most important thing, and too many kitchens ignore it.

Where we are concerned, they ignore it at their peril.

The entrees arrived, even though we were not quite finished with the appetizers , and they proved our point. The lamb was not only barely warm, but also extremely tough. The moussaka had superior flavor, with cinnamon adding a lovely touch, but it too was barely warm. We looked at one another and turned to the wine, which was delicious.

We picked around the edges of the meal. Being cold does not destroy moussaka, though it damages it severely. The broccoli was not hot enough, either, but Ann is fond of broccoli. After a while, the man who appeared to be the owner stopped at the table and inspected our plates. "Is there a problem?" he asked.

We stared at one another. It is not our policy to send dishes back, nor to complain to a server, manager or owner. We use a computer for that. But the man obviously was disturbed because a customer appeared unhappy.

We told him.

He picked up the plates and went away.

When he returned, he wore a distraught expression, which any good host would wear if he gave someone something not up to his standards. "Please," he said. "Please, if I wrap a moussaka and a lamb shank, will you take them home and have them for dinner tomorrow?"

We looked at one another again. It was, for us, a long silence. Finally Joe nodded and said we would accept his offer. The man grinned, suggested dessert and Greek coffee, a favorite of ours, and disappeared. A server came by; we ordered galaktoboureko and coffee (Greek or Turkish are similar to our tastes) and went back to the excellent wine.

But we weren’t finished. We split the galactoboureko, the creamy custard and the crunchy filo dough in a very light sauce, enjoyed the coffee (which was finished tableside, and at a swell temperature), finished the wine and asked for a check. When the server presented it, e