No question about it, Winslow's Home is unlike any other restaurant in town. Surely dining alongside uncommon toys and eco-friendly door mats is a singular experience. Deeply casual, the patrons make the Home feel like a diner, or a dining room, albeit a rather upscale one, with both simple and complex flavors from a talented, imaginative chef. Lots of visiting children, although nary a high chair in sight, and no kiddie menu, either, proof that kids can do lots more at the table than some folks realize.
Order in the rear, before a tempting counter laden with pies and such. See the kitchen working behind. Beverages are in the cooler cases, or choose wine from a small room nearby. Servers deliver the food to the tables; many of them outside under freestanding awnings. A real plus for iced-coffee drinkers, too, with the beverage in a refrigerator, avoiding the pour of hot coffee onto ice cubes, which dilutes it in a tragic manner.
Breakfast Tuesday through Friday, with a menu shorter than some, but more than just coffee and pastries, and a weekend brunch we tried recently. Creamy, long-cooked oatmeal pleased our healthy eater, and so did the June strawberries. A fritatta with smoked Missouri trout, one of our favorite ingredients, was handsomely topped with a very lightly dressed salad and some golden beets, a good combination that dovetailed with the savory fish. And a thick round of golden brioche French toast was topped with bananas and, in a combination beloved of Nigella Lawson, the British food writer, a generous shower of shards of crisp-cooked and very high-quality bacon.
Much has been made over Winslow's Home's beef brisket sandwich, and it seems to merit acclaim. We're not talking barbecue here, but a careful braise producing tender slices that are laid out on a seeded rye bun, topped with brie cheese and, allegedly, horseradish mayo, If there was horseradish, it was indistinguishable, but frankly, my dear, we didn't give a darn. Even the one who doesn't like seeds in her rye was swooning over this fat boy. A turkey bacon club, whose ciabatta was grilled, had a little sweetness from some tomato jam, saltiness from a tapenade, and some yellow cheese just described as “farmhouse.” What it didn't have was bacon. The turkey was thick slices of real white meat, not carved from some extruded roll, but we missed the bacon. Nevertheless, it was a very good sandwich, in terms of texture and of taste contrasts. Both were accompanied by an excellent green salad, very basic, just good greens, oil and vinegar.
Most nights, there are three entrees on the menu board. By the time we arrived one evening, only one was left, a trout en papillote, although that wasn't the phrase on the menu. Baked in parchment, thanks, the perfectly boned fish was under a row of thinly sliced potatoes so tender they practically melted in the mouth. Fennel added a nudge of flavor and the whole thing was topped with slices of good tomato, drizzled lightly with some pesto. Tearing back the parchment, a cloud of steam, and then, voila, the beautiful results, cooked just right. An excellent combination of tastes, too.
Cary McDowell leads the kitchen. He's a guy whose palate is well-tuned at combining harmonious flavors, so well-tuned he could be described as having perfect kitchen pitch. However, the pastry isn't his. Our breakfast scones, one lemon-ginger and another blueberry, were very different from each other, not just in flavor, but also in texture. Both were good, but clearly from different recipes—or different hands. Pies, however, suffer the inevitable indignity refrigeration heaps upon pastry, and while the fillings are often excellent, like a sour cream raspberry we tried, the resulting crust is leaden, damp and disappointing. Go instead for some of the cookies at hand, and remember, there's cold milk in the cooler, as well as plenty of coffee options.
Service seems to be a mixed bag. We've had crackerjack work one time, amiable but dazed at other visits. Be patient. It's worth it.
Winslow's Home
7213 Delmar Blvd., University City
314-725-7589
Breakfast, Tues.-Fri., Brunch Sat.-Sun, Lunch & Dinner Tues.-Sun
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Yes, but snug
Smoking: No
Entrees: $12-$17
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