Acero

Jim Fiala, a most talented chef and restaurateur (they are different talents), operates three excellent and successful St. Louis restaurants. We’ve had fine meals at all three, but right now we’re happiest – these things can change on very short notice–at Acero, with the Crossing and LiLuMa running close behind. The name is Italian for "maple," in honor of the restaurant’s home city, and is pronounced "uh-CHER-oh." The food is Italian, but it’s quite different from what St. Louis has come to expect in its Italian restaurants. The current menu is full of food out of central Italy, Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. For some, the words may take a little translation, but the food certainly won’t.

This is absolutely delicious stuff. The menu originally made it very easy to do a lot of shared plates, and we still prefer to handle things that way, at least until the main courses arrive. So our party of four began with a salad and some crostini, those crisply toasted little rounds of bread,, usually topped with something delightful. The salad, of sprouts and almost darning-needle-sized strips of tomato, was dressed with lemon and topped with white anchovies, the whole thing crisp and cool and tart and fresh, the shiny little fish fillets offering a salty, slightly firmer contrast. Different, but quite tasty. Crostini with chicken livers is traditional Tuscan food, the livers usually chunky from being mashed as they are sauteed. Acero’s rendition features a silky-smooth chicken liver mousse, also warm and incredibly rich and unctuous. It was difficult to stop after only one round.

Pasta selections include some remarkable options. For instance, few places in town offer strozzapretti, the "priest-strangler" pasta, here sauced with garlic, chili and Parmigiano. It was alluring, but we couldn’t resist the pici, long, thick, round, somewhat irregular pasta, served with a ragu of wild boar. The pasta was wonderful, its texture displaying the real reason why pasta should be al dente. The ragu was in the style of the region around Bologna, mostly about the rich, coarsely ground meat, with the addition of a little tomato and other aromatics like onion and celery. It was a platonic example of why good pasta dishes don’t need an overdose of sauce, but rather a perfect balance. These are appetizer-sized portions, not American-sized mains, though we suspect the kitchen would be happy to make larger portions.

Main courses are no less seductive. Tilapia arrived with roasted brussels sprouts, crisp-crunchy and hearty, alongside meltingly soft onions, both good matches to the tender sauteed fish, cooked to the perfect moment. Sea scallops (below) crowned a mound of hearty mushroom ragu, various kinds of fungi mingling their flavors behind the succulent shellfish.

 

Porchetta, slow roasted young pig, wears a tangle of shaved fennel and a light blessing of rosemary, all fork-tender and blissfully moist over a mound of creamy polenta. You can see it below. And oxtails–no, no, wait. Listen. If you like meat like short ribs, osso bucco or pork shank, you’ll like oxtails. Acero does all the work, no sucking the meat off the bones, a mixed blessing for real oxtail fans like Ann, but presents it shredded in a sauce of its own juices, a little red wine and a slight hit of tomato, over potato gnocchi in a small casserole. And the gnocchi? Oh, goodness. For those who have been avoiding gnocchi because it can work as a savory version of Gummi Bears, this is your place. Meltingly tender, these are just superb.

 

The wine list is lovely, with many fine Italian bottles for under $50 and a good-sized by-the-glass list. In addition, there are four tasty to drink as appetizers. We chose the Enrico, the least expensive of the quartet and found it superior, a fine balance of alcohol and acidity, properly dry and with a nice hit of citrus. We also sipped a Chianti, always a good accompaniment to dinner, and better because Acero serves wines in flasks holding about a glass and a half, a just-right size.

Good as everything is, there’s still room for dessert. They’re not strictly Italian, although it was difficult to pass up the saffron semifreddo. A butternut squash cheesecake with a biscotti crust certainly hit the spot, the cheesecake section fully flavored and not overly sweet, the crunchy coarse crumbs of biscotti a great contrast. Chocolate torte turned out to be a square of gooey, warm happiness, not far from a fresh-from-the-oven brownie topped with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel. Banana bread pudding had more of the caramel and ice cream, fluffy and very banana-rich.

Our service was eager and knowledgeable about a menu that may bring questions from most diners.

Acero, like the Crossing and LiLuMa, is doing a $25 dinner special, four courses of your choice from the menu, although quite a few items do incur a surcharge. And the portions are smaller than if each dish is ordered a la carte. But it’s an appealing idea, and a fine opportunity to take advantage of some first-rate Italian cooking.

 Acero

7266 Manchester Ave., Maplewood

314-644-1790

Dinner Mon.-Sat.

Credit cards: All major

Wheelchair acces s: Fair

Smoking: No

Entrees: $18-$28

Comments

[nosh]

We had a great experience when The Crossing first celebrated its tenth anniversary by offering the $25 four-course meal last spring, so I came back later this summer. A great bargain for top-notch food and service -- I'd order that crab cake any time. I think it is great that they have extended the offer and expanded it to the sister restaurants, especially in today's economy. A win-win -- the patrons get excellent value, and the restaurant fills seats, sells food and wine, and gets exposure and revenue. Nice job.

[Jeremiah McWilliams]

Joe and Ann, thanks a ton for the recommendation. Acero was great -- attentive service and delicious eats.