St. Louis Eats and Drinks

Brunch: Three Monkeys

Remember the old Yogi Berra line, "Nobody goes there any more - it's too crowded"? I did something I've counseled others not to do. I went to a restaurant right after it got a notable review.

Three Monkeys brunch was featured in the recent restaurant issue of the Riverfront Times and in a burst of bravado, I broke that rule, and another one: Make a reservation. Arriving about 11 a.m., folks were told a 30-minute wait. "I'll be glad to sit at the bar," I said to the hostess, who wrote down my name. After 45 minutes, two seats opened at the bar. I cornered the understandably frazzled hostess and asked. "You can sit anywhere at the bar if there's a place open, sure," she replied in surprise.

Wisely, the restaurant has food in three different areas. Beyond the bar is a station that carves beef, makes omelets and warms pasta to order. In the north dining room, there's a hot line and a cold one. In the latter, plenty of cold shrimp and a zesty cocktail sauce wait alongside large chilled mussels on the half-shell, topped by a cold, lemony sauce, a nice move to avoid possible drying out.

The mob was mainly around the station with the omelets and beef, the only place where traffic was so dense I passed on the entire crowded table's food. There was enough elsewhere. Perhaps it was the rapid turnover, but the scrambled eggs were moist and not rubbery, shocking when one considers their stay in a chafing dish. Good bacon, and first-rate biscuits, although the sausage gravy was short on sausage and seasoning. Pancakes and waffles, too, from another chafing dish, and an urn next to them to dispense hot syrup into small cups, a deft touch that showed someone was thinking.

Nibbles of cheese and sausage cubes, and some wee puff-pastry triangles that were crisp and tasty from the pastry itself but whose filling was so negligible as to be impossible to analyze. Spinach-artichoke ravioli turned out to be toasted, not sauced, and a first-rate twist on the STL standard. Probably the most remarkable dish was the fajita lasagna. I couldn't see much layering from the mauling casserole-type dishes always suffer in these circumstances, but it was cheesy/tomato-ey/spicy with the expected notes of cumin and pepper, pleasantly but not overwhelmingly gooey.

Very good, very fresh small Danish rolls offer a sweet option, and the cookies were also fresh. Plated desserts in smallish portions had been somewhat depleted, but a peanut butter-chocolate cake tasted homemade, and I saw cheesecake and tiramisu dance by me on previous trips through the room.

Icy-cold mimosas, included in the price, had been made ahead of time, and the coffee was surprisingly good. Bartenders kept up with the crowd and mostly managed to clear dishes at a reasonable speed. One of them remarked to another patron they'd expected a very busy day, but hadn't reckoned with it being too wet for using the sidewalk tables. For a while, tables weren't being cleaned very quickly, but that seemed to get organized eventually.

The darkish interior reminds the first-time visitor that this originally was an old South Side tavern, and most of the crowd seemed to be the youngish patrons who populate it most evenings. There were, eventually, some families, and even some guests in post-church attire. Noisy, although not conversation wasn't impossible.

 

Three Monkeys

3153 Morganford Rd.

314-772-9800

www.threemonkeysstl.com

Brunch Sun.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Yes

Smoking: No

Brunch (adults): $19

The Big Meal

William Grimes, who was for several years the restaurant critic for the New York Times, has left that beat. But not, to a certain degree, very far; in today's Times he has a story about "The Big Meal", a play that's set in a restaurant about three generations of a family's life. The foodish among us revel in such comparisons like restaurants and theater, which Grimes does,and you can read about it here.

And for a review, rather than Grimes' feature piece, here's Charles Isherwood's from March 22.

 

Dao Tien Vietnamese Bistro

Olive at Woodson and McKnight seems to be becoming a culinary hot spot. Only the gas station on the southeast corner escapes gastronomic action. Dao Tien, in a building that began life as a Dairy Queen, sports a lime green and red-orange interior and a nice, clean fish tank, the latter a nice change from some places around town. Busier at lunch than dinner, many of the customers seem to be regulars.

The appetizer list is fairly brief, various rolls except for fried chicken wings. An order of grilled chicken goi cuon, spring rolls, was worthwhile, the chicken still moist and of a generous amount. Nuoc cham, the dipping sauce, sports more zip than usual, a nice little hit of heat in it, a good addition.

It took considerable self-discipline to pass up the chicken pho, which is listed with the specials rather than the noodle soups, in favor of the more usual beef-based phos. The special pho with oxtail, though, was alluring, oxtail being an old favorite cut of cow. The pho broth itself is rich and well-flavored, without the anise notes that some renditions have. Tossing in a few slices of jalapeno allowed a little of their heat to spred through the broth, and from the plate of add-ins, Thai basil, the long, narrow leaves of culantro, a wedge of lime and some bean sprouts all expand the options for the curious and the aficionado. (Hoisin and chili sauces are also at hand.) The special contained, besides the broth and noodles, large, thin slices of what might have been eye of round, but was very tender for that cut, meatballs in the dense, slightly chewy Asian style, a few ribbons of pale white tripe, and just a bit of equally pale beef tendon, with its slightly gristly texture. The large, thick cut of oxtail topped the bowl. As much as its friends love it, there's no tidy way to eat oxtail that large; it requires fingers or surgery with a knife and fork; it went home with the leftovers to be devoured in privacy. A good, satisfying dish, the broth light and full of flavor.

Banh mi must keep the lunch crowd pretty happy. Six different kinds of the sandwich, including one with sunny-side-up eggs, The "special" was packed with grilled pork, chicken, beef and a sausage, along with strips of cucumber, some lettuce, cilantro and a swipe of mayonnaise. Heavier on meat and lighter on vegetables than many of its kind, it's a large and hearty sandwich on a narrow baguette, the bread reminding us that the years of French colonial Vietnam left their culinary influence.

While the papaya with beef jerky sounded really interesting, a server explained to a nearby table that it wasn't being offered that night because the papaya available at the market was too ripe - the dish calls for the crunchy, unripe flesh. to be used in this salad-like dish. Nice to hear that they pay attention to this sort of detail. From the same section of the menu, entitled "special", a dish of spicy and salty spare ribs was a winner. Small pieces of ribs, easily picked up with chopsticks, are sauced with garlicky juices with plenty of black pepper and just a little faint sweetness. And, yes, salty as well, although the rice cuts both the salt and pepper nicely. (Black pepper is more used in the northern part of the country, interestingly.) Altogether, a worthwhile dish.

Che chuoi, described merely as Vietnamese banana dessert, brings chunks of warm banana in a coconut sauce thickened with tapioca, the whole thing topped with finely chopped salted peanuts. The combination of the salty, crunchy nuts with the sweet tender fruit is a revelation.

Dao, the proprietress, is frequently in the dining room, and often volunteers in the course of her conversation that she'll cook things the diners want. It's also a comfortable place for solo diners, and it's easy to get explanations about the food from the server on duty during my visits.

 

Dao Tien Vietnamese Bistro

8600 Olive Blvd, University City

314-995-6960

www.daotienbistro.co

Lunch & Dinner Mon.-Sat.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Entrees: $8-$16

 

Stone Hill Norton Vertical Tasting 2012

Saturday night was the 24th annual Norton Vertical Tasting at Stone Hill Winery. It's always a fun night, full of people interested in wine and in having a good time.

This is a 10-year vertical tasting beginning with the most recent harvest, so it ran from 2002 through the new vintage of 2011. After considerable discussion and tasting, guests vote on their favorites, using the Chicago system: Vote early and vote often. So, given that people can vote for more than one wine and that this is, to use the technical phrase, a self-selected group, I thought it might be interesting to find out about some of the highest vote-getters.

In fourth place was the brand new vintage of 2011, what Jon Held called "a sort of nouveau Norton", soft and fruit-forward after the very dry summer last year. A small crop, but clearly one to keep an eye on. Usually these newcomers aren't nearly so interesting.

Third went to the 2002 Norton, which tied for first last year. A big guy at the peak of his power, it took a Double Gold at the International Eastern Wine Competition in New York. It cries out for a large slab of prime rib.

The 2003 was the other 2011 first-place winner, and it placed second this year. Smooth, and almost Pinot Noir-ish, this needs some fine veal to go with, or perhaps lamb.

First place this year, the 2005 is nicely complex with notes of spice and a faint aroma of tobacco. Again, I'm thinking beef with this, although there are some mushroom-y pasta dishes (I'm thinking with little or no tomato) that would also work well.

Interestingly, the year of the Easter freeze, 2007 produced very wine, of course, but what Norton there is, is choice. Complex and serious, it was one of my favorites.

The evening starts with bubbly and hors d'oeuvres in the cellar, goes upstairs to the tasting, and ends with dinner in the winery restaurant. And the dinner this year was perhaps the best I can recall. Next year's date has already been set, April 13.

Changes to Facebook

 

In response to some people who were uncomfortable seeing Joe's face appearing on Fb with a blog post, I'm getting ready to switch things to my newly-created Facebook account. All postings will appear there as well as on St. Louis Eats and Drinks. I acknowledge that I haven't taken his name off the blog. In time, I imagine I will, but I'm sure readers will understand that it's difficult for me to do all this official obliterating.

So you can find me as Ann Lemons Pollack on Facebook, and we'll continue to meet there as well as on the blog.

Medianoche

Mexican food in the non-fast-food division has returned to central St. Louis County with a flourish we haven't seen since the Gallardo Grill opened at the St. Louis Galleria. Mike Randolph, who gave us Half & Half for breakfast and lunch in this spot, changes gears after he closes in the afternoon, waves a wand and some pottery, and there's Medianoche. Alas, despite early hopes of some of us, it's not actually open until the witching hour for which it's named, but nevertheless, there's much to smile about.

First of all, service, which has struggled in the daylight hours, seems to be in much better shape as the sun begins to set. And the menu, which offers both the expected and the unexpected, charms. The combination is probably going to be enough to overcome a faint feeling of my-way-or-the-highway that creeps in at times.

The only excuse for missing the guacamole is an allergy. Made tableside on a simple, un-gimmicked-up cart, it's avocado, red onion, cilantro, minced pepper, salt and lime juice. A good example of letting the ingredients simply do their work, it's still a little lumpy and really doesn't need the house salsa, which arrived earlier. That salsa, by the way, is faintly sweet, perhaps from roasting the tomatoes, and not, as such things go, very hot at all. In the guacamole, the pepper is quite mild, perhaps Anaheims, giving flavor but little heat. And heat isn't necessary, this is such a vivid rendition of the beauty of simplicity. Chips are fresh, even warm.

Available as a first course or a main, the posole does have some heat to it, and a rich, ruddy color that warns the diner of such. The pork is lean but very tender, the cumin and Mexican oregano notes forward. It's no big deal that they're using shredded lettuce rather than the usual cabbage to garnish, but a small serving of soup in a large cold bowl does tend to lose heat quickly. We admit, though, that chatting with the bartender did delay our attack on the otherwise first-rate dish.

Tacos don't fall prey to designer garnishes. Looking as though they could have been found on Cherokee Street (a compliment), two small tortillas cradle the chosen filling topped with chopped onion and cilantro, a lime wedge alongside. An order is three tacos; we're sad to announce that the policy is only one kind of taco per order, rather than mixing up, say a carne asada, an avocado and a pork belly. "We politely decline requests for additions or substitutions" says the menu, and that's that. Those pork bellies are diced, the filling very porky, a little seasoning added, but nice and juicy and, yes, greasy. Hey it's pork belly; lean doesn't happen. Beef cheeks the fourth option are even beefier than the pork belly is porky, meltingly tender, a little swoosh of a tan chili-ish sauce at one end of the tacos. Both just as messy to eat as their kinfolk served elsewhere, but you expected that, right?

It's often difficult to resist duck, and at Medianoche, there's no sense in doing so. Sliced grilled duck breast, medium-rare, and what the menu calls duck carnitas, but is almost like confit, appear with diced fresh pineapple, onion rings and slices of guajillo pepper, all grilled and resting on a mole sauce that finishes the dish off to near-perfection. This may be the best duck dish in town right now, and the bulk of the credit goes to that sauce.

Fish appears in the form of thin slices of snapper flash-fried, and again the sauce magic is at work. While the fish is hot, this is clearly influenced by escabeche, which involves cooked fish with a cool lime-juice-based sauce. The menu calls it a mole verde, its ingredients beyond its mildly hot pepper a green mystery, but it works well with the avocado, radish and cucumber that accompany the fish.

Dessert offerings vary from day to day, but the bartender urged the churros. Ridged strips of deep-fried dough that have been tossed in sugar cinnamon and some grated orange peel, they arrive hot and fragrant. Chocolate is the traditional accompaniment, but it's not drinking chocolate, it's dunking chocolate, thick and creamy. Medeianoche offers it in Oaxacan style, which cranks things up by including a little spicy heat. The serving is generous, more than enough to share unless dinner was very light indeed.

Serious attention is paid to the beverages at Medianoche. The attention to coffee that marks the morning hours persists, of course. In addition there's a small but interesting list of wines (cava with Mexican, anyone?), un-cliched beer and a serious cocktail list that bears studying.

Do not expect margaritas that resemble those at most restaurants. Served up, which is to say not on the rocks, they're strong, less sweet than most folks are accustomed to, and deserving of respect. The bartender was seemingly taken aback when I asked if his pisco sour was the classic version, which resulted in a little vigorous conversation. Instead of a capirinha, the house offers a capiriuva, which muddles grapes with the lime juice, a variation the bartender assured me was also a classic. It turned out to be a first-rate drink, and a fine pairing with the snapper.

The menu offers a prix fixe option called a probando. The whole table has to choose it, and they must agree on their choices of one appetizer, one kind of taco and one entree. (Please note that this is also available to tables of one.) Those servings are mostly not as large as they would be a la carte, but for $26, it's a substantial saving. And it does leave room for the churros.

 

Medianoche

8135 Maryland Ave., Clayton

314-725-0719

www.medianochestl.com

Dinner Tues.-Sat.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Fair

Smoking: No

Entrees: $14 - $21

Brunch: Hot Wok Cafe

So what's the difference between "Chinese brunch", the phrase Hot Wok Cafe uses for its Saturday-only repast, and dim sum, which is what most Chinese food lovers think of when the subject of weekend mid-day Chinese food comes up?

Dim Sum is dumpling-centered and this meal isn't. And while there aren't carts - which actually aren't mandatory for dim sum - there are written menus, and like some dim sum in other cities, there's a list for each table to write down how many of each item they want, much like we see in many sushi places.

Unsure of portion sizes, I ordered four items, and had plenty to take home. Some of the menu items may be familiar, like scallion pancakes and seafood dumplings, but other items move into the exotic. For example, the beef sesame bun sounds like something that might be found on one of those counts. Not on any cart I've seen here, though, nor on either coast or in Hong Kong. It's panini-esque, a flat sandwich composed of thinly sliced and seasoned roast beef, cucumber, and a little onion and cilantro in a rectangle of pastry that's been split in half. The pastry is tender, slightly flaky and rich, and the flavors reminiscent of a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich but on different bread. Irresistible, and I soon found out I shouldn't have eaten both halves of the sandwich.

Seafood dumplings looked more irregular and hand-made than those we'd had panfried at dinner. Dumpling sauce, a combination of soy and black vinegar, arrives pre-mixed and arrives in a shaker with them. The dough is more tender than the fried, although part of that is probably related to steaming versus frying, and while these, too, are nice and moist, the flavor is milder, the pieces of shrimp in the filling being a little too shy to make their presence known.

Shangdong roasted chicken brought slices of cold chicken anointed with a soy-based sauce with a little sesame oil. Even the white meat was moist and there was plenty of the juices in which one could dab the bird's meat for added zip. Leftovers here, along with the generous handful of cilantro, made a good sandwich the next day, especially since the ciabatta at hand was given a light smear of mayonnaise seasoned with sriracha.

And then there was what the menu called seafood porridge. It's possible this isn't congee, the traditional Chinese breakfast dish, which is somewhere between a soup and a porridge, but whatever name this goes by, this is outstanding. Most congee found on restaurant buffet tables, is deeply bland, waiting for the knowledgeable diner to add whatever seasonings their amah did. Better hotel breakfasts in Hong Kong have the electric cook pot surrounded by a constellation of add-ins, meat, fish, hundred-year-old eggs, seasonings like soy sauce, and the list goes on and on. But at Hot Wok, it's seasoned, and seasoned perfectly. As white as a bleached linen sheet, its ghostly look belies plenty of ginger, including a pinch of freshly shredded, enough pepper to make it not only the spiciest dish I'd had on either visit but to make it downright addictive. Slices and shreds of green onion, too, give a little color, and then there were a sort of crouton, slices of the thin Chinese cruller that's a morning street food in China. Resembling a churro but lighter, they gave a little more texture. And resting at the bottom of the steaming hot bowl, were thin pieces of white fish. Certainly an unassuming-looking dish, but deeply satisfying.

Next time, I'm going for the seafood pancake, the chive pie and the ting zai zhou, just because I have no idea what it is. (Googling hasn't helped.)

Lots of business, although not mobbed, some sort of gathering of young professionals in a back room and attentive, polite service.

 

Hot Wok Cafe

14346 S. Outer Forth Rd., Chesterfield

314-576-7008

Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner Mon.-Sat., Brunch Sat.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Brunch items: $2-$10

Hot Wok Cafe

Sometimes traveling to a new restaurant is known territory, a trip down Gravois or up Lindbergh. But every now and then things get more interesting. A tip from The Old China Hand sent us out on the somewhat more complicated trail that would lead to the Hot Wok Cafe. Located behind a couple of '70's-kitchy-looking high-rise office buildings at I-64 and Woods Mill Rd./141, it's part of a low, long curve of shops.

On the night of our visit, a fairly early one because of a theater curtain, we found the majority of the patrons were Asian and many clearly were regular customers. A small bar gives room for those awaiting carryout; the adjacent rosy-red dining room has an air of calm.

Hot Wok's hot and sour soup is a classic rendition, bits of tofu, shiitake mushrooms, green onion and waterchestnut suspended in a thickish, aromatic broth, very tart and showing evidence of the Szechuan pepper. Egg drop soup lives up the egg part of its name. The creamy-dense liquid lets it be known that in this recipe, the egg (flavor) comes before the chicken. Serious comfort food. Pot stickers were moist and gingery but didn't cause excitement.

Who is Glen Hu? We have no idea, but Glen Hu's Special combines slices of tender beef and fat shrimp sauteed with mushrooms and green onion. The menu describes its sauce as sweet and spicy and even gives the dish a "spicy hot" star. That's not what came on the plate; rather, it was very like a Mongolian beef with its savory, oniony flavor. It even had the crumchy little rice noodles. Yes, there were small dried red peppers in the dish, but they seemed to have somehow been neutered, all looks and no performance. The heat issue aside, though, this was a very tasty dish, the best of the evening.

Yu shian pork gave narrow strips of meat, lean and tender, with plenty of bamboo shoots and water chestnuts in a garlicky sauce, again described as spicy and wearing those peppers but again with no discernible cranking-up of the Scovill units. It was no spicier than the non-starred tan pen beef.which shared its plate (which the menu did describe as "a hot plate") with mushrooms, baby corn and snow peas in a sauce that hit ginger and soy quite distinctly. All these things arrived hot and fresh-tasting, though, despite the lack of spicy-hotness, and that gave them a considerable edge.

A fairly basic menu for a West County Chinese restaurant, but generally above-average renditions of the food. At least that was going to be the bottom line, but we had noticed on our way in a little sign that said "Chinese Brunch on Saturdays". No, not dim sum, said the server, brunch. Hmmm, we thought. Let's try that. Fate intervened, but eventually Ann did get back. And you can read about that visit in our next post.

 

Hot Wok Cafe

14346 S. Outer Forty Rd., Chesterfield

314-576-7008

Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner Mon.-Sat, Brunch Sat.

Credit cards: Yes

Wheelchair access: Good

Smoking: No

Entrees: $9-$18