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A SURGE
OF NEW OPENING IS REVITALIZING THE LOCAL RESTAURANT SCENE.
By William Poe
St. Louisans like to eat and eat well. Why else would a husband
and wife culinary team abandon San Francisco’s Golden Gate for our
humble outpost on the Mississippi; or an established New York restaurateur
leave the Big Apple for our modest sports town; or a young entrepreneur
make a million dollar investment in a new eatery on Washington Avenue?
Atlas
Restaurant and Lunch Room, 5513 Pershing Ave., “a
clean-tasting straightforward French-Italian bistro.”
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Of course, some of us like our toasted ravioli and our Steak ‘n
Shakes, too, but even those gastronomic quirks speak to St. Louis
as a restaurant town.
“St. Louis is all about the food,” says Jean Donnelly, co-proprietor
of the Atlas Restaurant and Lunch Room in the Central West End.
“In San Francisco, a large decorating budget is as important as
the food.”
And St. Louis restaurants are becoming more numerous and more ethnically
diverse as each year passes. Within the last year, the local restaurant
scene has been enhanced by additions including Monarch in Maplewood,
KitchenK and Capri in downtown St. Louis, Drunken Fish at West Port,
Luciano’s Trattoria (There’s always room in town for one more fine
Italian eatery) in Clayton, Mungo’s in Fairview Heights, and Café
Brasil in Rock Hill, to name but a few. Apparently, you can never
get enough of a good thing.
MONARCH TAKES FLIGHT
The new place getting the most hype since its June opening is Monarch.
Thanks to Monarch, located in the old Bobby’s Restaurant space at
7401 Manchester Rd., along with the new Schlafly Bottleworks and
Atomic Cowboy located nearby, Maplewood has become the hot new place
to be seen.
“When we were looking for a location, the Maplewood strip really
jumped out,” says Monarch co-owner Jeff Orbin. “With all the development
in Richmond Heights and Brentwood, Maplewood was a logical choice.
The demographics of residents living within six miles were just
outstanding.”
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Monarch,
7401 Manchester Rd., “is the convergence of art, wine
and food with flavors from everywhere.” |
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Those demographics must explain all of the luxury cars regularly
seen at Monarch. But the food and the atmosphere justify all of
the attention.
“Monarch is the total package,” says Orbin, who runs the restaurant,
along with co-owner Aaron Teitelbaum. (The latter managed a well-known
restaurant in New York City before opening Monarch.) “It is the
convergence of art, wine and food with flavors from everywhere and
an ambiance unlike any place else in St. Louis.”
Orbin describes the menu as “a fusion of international flavors with
southwest, Asian and French accents. Monarch’s signature dishes
include pistachio-encrusted lamb chops, pan-seared sea bass, Missouri
trout galantine, braised beef short ribs, and crab martini. All
are served variously in five separate dining areas, depending on
the time of day.
For private business entertaining, Monarch can seat 70 in a banquet
room, 20 in a secluded wine room and 10 in the “chef’s table,” a
glass-walled loft overlooking the kitchen. Main dining areas include
a separate bar and lounge, a bistro, which seats 65, and a main
dining room seating 80. The restaurant has parking for 140 customers
and offers complimentary valet parking.
A former graphic designer who executed the interior finishes, Orbin
acknowledges the space is “impossible to describe. Each area is
different.” Suffice it to say that Monarch is visually arresting,
aided by a rotating art display.
Open for lunch Tuesdays through Fridays and dinner Tuesdays through
Saturdays, Monarch’s glittering dishes range from $11 to $16 for
main courses in the bistro and from $16 to $26 in the dining room.
For reservations call 341/644-3995.
DOWNTOWN DELIGHTS
Lighting up the Washington Avenue fine dining scene are Capri, located
in the Renaissance Grand Hotel, and KitchenK, located in the newly-rehabilitated
Merchandise Mart at 1000 Washington Ave.
Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Capri is a stunning Mediterranean-influenced
restaurant featuring palm trees soaring in a three-story natural-light
atrium. The expansive facility seats 280 and is increasingly popular
with downtown business people.
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Capri,
located in the Renaissance Grand Hotel, is a Mediterranean-influenced
restaurant. |
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“Capri is a great spot for business meals,” says Traci Russell,
director of sales and marketing for the hotel. “We host a lot of
breakfast and lunch get-togethers.”
Russell says that a second hotel restaurant will open early next
year.
Already open a few doors west of Capri is KitchenK, and its drinking
partner, called the KBar. (“K” denotes the 1000 street address.)
There, owner Pablo Weiss, who launched the highly regarded Hot Locust
Cafe a few years back, has pumped roughly $1 million into the two
Ks. And, so far, so good, he says.
“Although we’ve just been open since August, sales, if projected
for a full year, would easily exceed $1 million,” says the 35-year-old
Weiss. “For a start-up restaurant, that is very good.”
Weiss acknowledges that he is counting on “the convergence of new
loft residents, conventioneers, and downtown business people” to
generate bar and restaurant traffic.
“There is a tremendous market down here that is under served,” Weiss
believes. “If we put out a good product, I am very confident.”
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KitchenK,
1000 Washington Ave., uses basic ingredients and creates
interesting renditions of frequently familiar foods.
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KitchenK’s tasty products include, Weiss says, “an updated Hot Locust
menu, in which we take a lot of basic ingredients and create interesting
renditions of frequently familiar foods.” KitchenK is also doing
some new things with the familiar Sunday brunch, which Weiss describes
as “a gourmet brunch without the white hats.”
Enjoying the moderately priced menu can be as many as 180 diners,
not including those seated in a private mezzanine for groups as
large as 30.
“KitchenK is great for the social business meeting,” Weiss says.
“We’re a place where you can entertain a client looking for creativity,
while not breaking the bank in the process.
For KitchenK reservations call 314/241-9900; Capri reservations
call 314/621-9600.
ATLAS—OUT OF THIS WORLD
Diners also won’t need a loan to sample the Atlas Restaurant and
Lunch Room, 5513 Pershing Ave. in the space formerly occupied by
Sunflour Café. Co-proprietors and husband and wife team Michael
G. Roberts and Jean Donnelly fled the stuffy San Francisco restaurant
scene to open the cozy 47-seat (plus outdoor cafe) Atlas earlier
this year.
Serving lunch and dinner in what Donnelly describes as “a clean-tasting,
straightforward French-Italian bistro style,” the Atlas, says Donnelly,
“is a great place for a business lunch. It’s a quiet room, and we
take reservations and offer parking across the street.”
Atlas lunches range from $8.50 to $11 with dinner entrees in the
$13.50 to $16.50 range. Signature dishes include Piccolo fritto
(seasonal vegetables tempura), duck confit, french onion soup, and
variously prepared salmon. The establishment is also making its
mark with homemade desserts, which are featured late night on Fridays
and Saturdays.
“We are really value-oriented,” explains Donnelly, who generally
works the front room while husband, Michael, is in the kitchen.
“That is really demonstrated through our wine list, which is expensive,
but high quality.”
Donnelly and Roberts both cooked in San Francisco for a number of
years. She said they have had “a heartwarming reception” from St.
Louisans and says patronage is growing.
“We’re growing by word-of-mouth,” Donnelly says. “People like to
bring back their friends to share the little restaurant they’ve
discovered.”
And to think that the Atlas is just one of many new restaurants
just waiting for you to discover on your own. Bon appétit!
For reservations call 314/367-6800.
William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis
advertising and marketing communications firm. |
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