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3-part dish of butter, olive oil, and a white bean spread, discussed on the margin of the clipboard-style menus, had been replaced by mixed vegetable chips, deep-fried like potato chips.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
Dinner Tues.-Sun
Credit Cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Entrees: $18-$23
Comments