michaelstl's Profile
Where is the wow factor on Hawksworth?
I'm visiting Vancouver in late June and had planned to have dinner at one of the better restaurants in the city. I'd settled on Hawksworth as my choice given the pedigree of the chef and the accolades awarded to the restaurant by the local media. However, I'm reconsidering after reading actual diner reviews that paint a picture of a restaurant that is very hit or miss and more concerned with image and "the scene" rather than being a top class restaurant. Is Hawksworth a good choice for a fine dining-styled dinner in Vancouver or are there better options available? Is my perception of the restaurant off-based?
I have to admit that when I read about the charge for bread I almost canceled my reservation right there.
Special birthday lunch or dinner in St. Louis
Five Bistro no longer serves lunch (they stopped a 2-3 montha ago).
Paris 2* and 3* with a vegetarian
Thankfully my wife does not give me too hard of a time about eating meat (She often says that she's a vegetarian to counter all of the meat I eat) so I'm not worried about ever being forced to dine at purely vegetarian restaurants. We've worked out a healthy understanding in this regard and, despite it being more work for me to arrange tasting menus in advance at many of the restaurants we go to, it as allowed us to get to know a few chefs we otherwise wouldn't have met.
More than likely, if I can't arrange for her to at least have something to eat at restaurants in Spain, I will go on my own. We plan to hit a few of the 3* in San Sebastian on that trip and I'm definitely not letting her restrictions keep me from dining at those restaurants.
Paris 2* and 3* with a vegetarian
That's pretty much what I expect to encounter. Thankfully, even though she doesn't eat meat/fish, my wife isn't picky so I'm counting on her to find a way to eat something while we're there.
Paris 2* and 3* with a vegetarian
For future visits to Paris, I'll be sure to keep in mind that most of the top places can put together a vegetarian menu. I ended up going with Le Cinq as I figured they'd be the easiest to deal with in regards to arranging a vegetarian meal for my wife (if it'd' been just me, I'd have gone with Pierre Gagnaire). For what it's worth, our meal at Le Cinq was good, not great. The room and service was magnificent and it was educational in experiencing the sort of palace hotel dining that is uncommon in most cities, but the food will not be a reference point for future meals. It was good, but not memorable.
I find myself in a complicated position in the discussion of why more restaurants top restaurants in France don't always have a prepared vegetarian menu on hand. Since I eat all kinds of meat/fish, I want to adapt to the French restaurant culture when in France and eat whatever the restaurant serves, but I also want to be considerate of my wife. I appreciate that, according to Souphie, many of the top places can accomodate a vegetarian if given notice, but it's nice, as in cities like London, where I can research places and know that they have a vegetarian menu in place at all times. It makes it easier to evaluate restaurants and plan initeraries so in that regard I agree with the thinking that France/Paris should develop more vegetable centric menus/cooking. However, I also travel to experience new cultures/traditions so one would lose something if the French restaurants and menus adopted too much of an international approach. I've accepted that traveling to France will be more complicated than to the U.K./elsewhere in planning meals that satisfy both what I'm looking for in a restaurant and what my wife wants (when we finally get to Spain, I'm expecting that to be even more difficult).
London Itinerary
Hope I wasn't too harsh on Roganic as it was a good meal. It was likely more of a case where my wife and I weren't in the right mindset to enjoy it as we were still talking about our lunch at Texture and had put in a long day already. I can see how why everyone praises it, but we didn't connect with the meal/restaurant on our visit. I would say that if I lived in London, I'd definitely return.
London Itinerary
Just returned from my trip to London and wanted to report back on our meals. Overall, another great trip to London with great eating and we were very sad to leave.
Day 1
Lunch at Terroirs- a favorite and a place I’ll plan to go to on every visit to London. Love the wine list (had an interesting and excellent aged Savennieres). Kept the food to a reasonable amount and had a rich pumpkin soup and grilled sea bream- both simple and well executed. They fixed something off-menu for my wife who’s a vegetarian and she was very pleased. Service couldn’t have been more friendly or helpful. Definitely recommend.
Dinner at Harwoods Arms- my wife and I haved established that on the first night of any trip to London, we’ll have dinner here. Once again, perfect for what it is. The place was packed with large parties and the atmosphere was full of the boisterous, holiday spirit. The servers were literally running around trying to keep up, but still managed to be attentive and friendly. Had the scotch egg, a hare starter, a main of the pheasant Kiev special and cinnamon dessert. The food walked the line perfectly between rustic and refined and this was probably my most satisfying meal of the trip. From a sheer pleasure standpoint, the scotch egg was probably the dish of the trip.
Day 2
Lunch at Texture- the surprise meal of the trip. Of all the places I had planned to dine, this was the one I was most unsure of and had considered switching to other places many times. I was glad I stuck with the plan as lunch was wonderful. Started off with champagne in the bar/lounge and then ordered ALC and got the pigeon for my starter, the fallow venison for my main and the white chocolate dessert. The pigeon was tender, perfectly cooked rare and with the desired gamey flavor while not being overwhelming. The venison main took the gamey factor up a notch and was also perfectly cooked. Dessert was light and refreshing, a perfect end to the lunch. I also had some red Burgundy off the by the glass list that was great pairing with my meal.
Dinner at Roganic- while not bad by any means, this was the least memorable meal of the trip. I blame this partially due to the fact that the 10-course menu wasn’t available due to “lack of supplies” as it was the last week of service before the holiday break. I ended up having 7 courses and all were good, but not great. The famous vintage potatoes dish was very good and I thoroughly enjoyed a duck dish as my final savory course. The creativity and skill in the kitchen was evident and service was friendly and effective, but for some reason, this meal didn’t resonate with either of us. I don’t regret choosing this restaurant, but I doubt I’d make sure to include on any future itineraries (if it even still exists when I get back to London due to its “pop-up” status.
Day 3
Dinner at The Ledbury- We dined here on our last trip to London and had a world class meal. We were very curious to see how the restaurant had changed since soon after our last visit, it received its second star and became the darling of the London restaurant scene. Other than being much more busy and loud than our last visit, we could tell immediately that The Ledbury was as good, if not better, than our first visit. Service was correct while friendly (probably my favorite service team anywhere). We both went with the tasting menu and the food was solid throughout. Highlights were the Hampshire Buffalo Milk Curd with Saint-Nectaire, Truffle Toast and a Broth of Grilled Onions, a woodcock special as my final savory course and the brown sugar tart. Just awesome food and a great evening out. Was lucky to get to chat with Chef Graham after dinner and his humbleness and attitude about his restaurant and success was refreshingly down-to-earth. Can’t recommend The Ledbury enough.
Day 4- Went to Paris and dined at Le Cinq. I’ll eventually write up this meal on the France board.
Day 5
Dinner at Bocca di Lupo- Dined here before heading to Donmar Warehouse and had a solid meal. Had the radish, celeriac salad and a mozzarella/tomato salad to start. Both were a nice, light way to start the meal. We then shared 3 pasta courses- spaghettini with sea urchin, Orecchiette with 'nduja, red onion, tomato & rocket and Cappellacci of pumpkin & amaretti with sage & butter. All good, but not great. Had some gelato for dessert. This is a place I’d enjoy returning to as there’s so many ways to create a meal here with the different menu options. Service was good and it’s a place I’d recommend for a casual night out.
Day 6
Dinner at Arbutus- This was our Christmas Eve dinner and miraculously Arbutus was serving its normal ALC menu (which was why we reserved here). Had the crispy pigs head, a rabbit main and a lemon tart. This was our third visit to Arbutus and it’s always been reliably solid. It’s not a spectacular place, but it does what it sets out to do well and I’d recommend it for a bistro-ish meal out.
Made it to a few hotel bars of note- Dukes, Egerton House Hotel (where we stayed), the Connaught Bar and the Berkeley Blue Bar. Highly recommend Egerton and Dukes for their martinis. The atmosphere of the Connaught Bar wasn’t what we were in the mood for the night we went (perhaps should’ve checked out the Coburg bar instead), but the cocktails were fine. The service we received at the Berkeley Bar was some of the best we had during our entire trip. The bartenders and servers were friendly, helpful and went the extra mile to make sure we had a nice night. We capped off Christmas Eve here and it was a highlight of the trip (It also helped that we had some ridiculously good champagne and cocktails that evening). We definitely plan to make it back to the Berkeley Bar on future trips.
Can’t wait for our next opportunity to visit and dine in London.
Niche (St. Louis) prix fixe review
This I week I had my first trip to the Monday Night Supper program at Niche after about 15-20 meals having the "normal" Niche menu (both a la carte and tasting). Obviously, the meal was without some of the flair that Niche, normally provides in their menu and dishes, but I found the meal well-executed and wholly satisfying.
The menu for my visit was a vegetable garbure, roasted chicken or pork loin and then either ice cream, cheese, or walnut cake for dessert. The vegetable garbure was a nice warming soup that, while very simple, was exceedingly pleasant. I went with the pork loin which came with dates,bacon, cabbage and polenta. The pork was moist, full of flavor and went well with its accompaniments. I also tried the roast chicken which was excellent and very close to the version served at Brasserie by Niche. For dessert, I had the walnut cake which came with an apple sorbet. Once again, simple flavors and dishes, but done well. The kitchen was also able to put together a tasty vegetarian main course for my wife.
Service was very attentive and our table never had a need that wasn't addressed promptly.
Clearly the OP did not enjoy his experience having the Monday menu at Niche and I'd agree it isn't on the same level as the normal menu in terms of creativity and variety, but on my visit the restaurant successfully executed the simple, wholesome dishes on the menu which made it a very enjoyable visit. I'd definitely recommend the Monday Night Suppers to others, as long as they understand that it isn't the normal Niche and it isn't meant to be.
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Brasserie by Niche
4580 Laclede Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
London Itinerary
I'll keep that in mind. I planned to order from the a la carte menu rather than the discounted lunch menu so perhaps that will help limit the risk that lunch isn't on the same level as dinner at Texture. Texture's style of Nordic/Icelandic food just isn't available where I'm from so trying that style is very appealing. We'll see how it goes. Either way, Texture has enough champagne on its list to ensure a good time.
London Itinerary
Hedone and Dinner were under consideration as well. The menu at Dinner just doesn't appeal enough to make me want to skip another place and Hedone is very meat centric which would not please my vegetarian wife. I had read the reports about what happened at Hedone and was very happy to hear it wasn't as bad as it could've been.
Have a good time on your trip as well.
London Itinerary
Thank you for your comments. Your thoughts on Texture vs. Roganic vs. ADAD were very much in line with what I was thinking and I feel better having my impressions confirmed by someone else.
Thank you also for the additional mention of other cocktail places. My list thus far is very much built on convenience as these will mostly be pre/post dinner or theater stops. I'll definitely look into your suggestions though to try to get some more diversity in my bar list.
London Itinerary
Making my third visit to London over Christmas week (with an overnight trip to Paris in the middle).
I've done a bit of research and feel good about my list, but thought it'd be wise to solicit some comments on my dining itinerary.
Here's what I've got:
Monday (arrival)
Lunch:Terroirs (2nd visit)
Dinner: Harwood Arms (2nd visit)
Tuesday
Lunch: Texture
Dinner: Roganic
Wednesday
Dinner: The Ledbury (2nd visit)
Thursday- Paris (and Le Cinq)
Friday
Dinner: Bocca Di Lupo
Saturday and Sunday- Christmas Eve and Christmas Day- Room service and maybe lunch at Koffmann's on Chistmas eve if they don't offer a "special" menu (special meaning limited and overpriced).
The one meal I'm really still debating is the Texture lunch. I'm considering switching to Koffmann's (if the X-mas Eve lunch is out) or taking advantage the lunch deal at ADAD, but considering the already ambitious eating plan, I'm thinking the lighter cuisine of Texture would be both necessary and a good idea.
Plan to hit some of the well known cocktail spots as well on this trip: Dukes, Connaught, Rules, Berkley Blue Bar, etc.
Any thoughts?
Will definitely report back with the results and thoughts of this trip.
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Koffmann's Restaurant
Wilton Pl, London, England SW1X 8, GB
Ledbury
127 Ledbury Rd, Kensington, England W2 5, GB
Acero?
As you can tell from my initial response on this old thread, I like Acero and would continue to recommend it. The Crossing has similar pasta courses and better mains so if you're looking for a balance between France and Italy, it'd be a good bet. More formal so it feels like more of an "occasion" place.
If you're looking for Italian food of a similar approach as Acero (local, seasonal focused and not a Americanized, red sauce soaked pasta dish), you should look into Truffles in Ladue. The recent revamp of the dining room and overhaul of the menu to an Italian focus has made it a worthwhile stop again. I ate there a couple weeks ago and the menu was interesting and the food well-prepared. The service was very friendly, but not quite as knowledgeable about the ingredients/menu as they should be. They still have a great wine list and Aleks the sommelier put together some really interesting wine pairings for my meal.
Ate at Brasserie the same week as Truffles and it was as good as always. Roast chicken killed and they had some new desserts that were delicious (lavender creme brulee and peach tart). Brasserie will never surprise, but it's always satisfying and comfortable.
Other recommendations are the standard ones: Niche, Sidney Street, Farmhaus, Monarch (my top 4 in town)
Still good, but not quite the top: Five, Franco, Harvest, The Crossing and Acero would fall into this category as well
New places worth checking out would be Salt, Home Wine Kitchen and maybe just going to Taste for cocktails and bites.
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Sidney Street Cafe
2000 Sidney St, Saint Louis, MO 63104
Farmhaus
3257 Ivanhoe Ave, St Louis, MO 63139
Paris 2* and 3* with a vegetarian
PhilD- that is a fair and interesting point, but I'd think 3* ingredients and 3* talent would be sufficient to put forth a menu of vegetarian dishes that the restaurant could stand behind. I appreciate your perspective though and will keep it in mind.
I definitely plan to contact the restaurants directly and I'm sure everything will work out fine.
Paris 2* and 3* with a vegetarian
Thank you for your response. This was very helpful. L'Astrance is a place I've been very intrigued by, but hadn't even considered it a possibility as I assume that the places with the one "surprise" menu would have the most difficulty accomodating a meat eater and vegetarian. I may end up at L'Arpege in the end as I'm sure my wife would love it and I know many who hold it in high regard.
I'd love to hear how your meals at Le Cinq and Pierre Gagnaire turn out.
Paris 2* and 3* with a vegetarian
The issue is that I do want a full degustation as I'll eat anything and want to try whatever the kitchen wants to send out. My wife is equally adventurous in terms of style and openmindedness, but she doesn't eat any fish or meat. My hope is that restaurants of this caliber could accomodate my desire for a full tasting and be able to at minimum put together a 3-course vegetarian meal for my wife if not a menu of equal length as their normal tasting menus.
I find it interesting is that chefs where I'm from tend to take a vegetarian tasting menu (where I get a meat/fish menu) on and relish the challenge. These restaurants aren't as heralded as the places in Paris and have much less resources, but don't seem to mind the challenge while the 3* seem to prefer to a more factory-like production of a set menu and not be able to adapt and just cook with what's in the kitchen.
I know it's not an ideal situation for the restaurant, but I've had great success at home and in London with doing dual veggie/meat tasting menus and had hoped that the top places in Paris could do the same (if given proper notice).
Paris 2* and 3* with a vegetarian
My wife and I will be in Paris later this year and plan to try one of the 3 star places. Obviously, the easy choice would be L'Arpege. However, as the trip is for my birthday and I do eat meat/fish, my tastes lean towards Pierre Gagnaire or Ledoyen. My wife doesn't eat any fish or meat of any kind, but dairy and eggs are all fine and on previous trips to Paris, less elaborate places have been able to accomodate her without issue, but we haven't tried to do full tasting menus as we plan to on this trip. We know to note the restriction when making the reservation, but other cities such as London and New York do a better job making it clear that they can accomodate such a request.
Does anyone have any first hand experience of how accomodating the top places (focusing on the 3*, but places like Le Cinq are also under consideration) in Paris are for creating vegetarian menus for guests?
Dublin report- Chapter One and Pichet
Quick two night stay in Dublin in late June on way to/from Istanbul. First visit to Ireland and thoroughly enjoyed Dublin and most of all the people we met.
Two meals to report on:
Chapter One
We were warmly welcomed when we arrived for our reservation and quickly shown to the lounge. We ordered aperitifs and immediately felt comfortable. The restaurant had a nice, convivial atmosphere and we were enjoying ourselves despite being sleep deprived from the trip to Ireland.
Maybe it’s common at Chapter One, but for whatever reason the Maitre ‘D took interest in my wife and I and volunteered a kitchen tour and we talked about the history of the restaurant and the chef. I’m not usually a huge fan of kitchen tours, but they certainly made us feel at home and made the night memorable for us.
Shortly after the tour we were led to our table. My wife and I both ordered the 4-course menu. She had the vegetarian menu- pea soup, goat cheese parfait, ravioli and then a strawberry dessert. I had a few bites of her courses and all were enjoyable, but not especially notable.
I had the following:
Ravioli of 36 month parmesan, organic egg poached in red wine with watercress
Langoustine, smoked bacon and basil spring roll, red pepper basquaise and basil cress
Dombes duck breast with fried cabbage and smoked potato, carrot and black cumin puree,
duck sauce sharpened with apple balsamic vinegar
Warm chocolate mousse, caramel jelly, espresso mousse, lime ice cream and honeycomb
The duck course was the highlight for me with the duck being cooked nicely complemented well by the other elements of the dish. The other courses were good, but as with my wife’s menu didn’t weren’t great or memorable.
Service was excellent throughout and we were able to talk with several members of the staff during our meal. The chef came to the dining room at the end of service to chat with the remaining tables and he was very friendly and a pleasure to speak with. Overall, a really enjoyable meal and a place I’d definitely return to even if the food itself didn’t wow us and did not live up to our past experience with 1* restaurants.
Pichet
We wanted a more casual meal for our last night in Europe after returning from Istanbul and Pichet fit the bill well. We liked the design and layout of the restaurant and the service team was friendly and took good care of us.
We each had three courses with my wife having the potato gnocchi with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, a summer vegetable risotto and a blueberry dessert. I had the crispy hens egg, pork belly and a strawberry meringue dessert. Unlike at Chapter One, the food at Pichet was really impressive with memorable, assertive flavors. The crispy hen’s egg was perfectly cooked and was delicious with its accompanying black pudding. My wife’s gnocchi and risotto were both light, seasonal dishes that I enjoyed stealing bites of between my heavier dishes. I loved each of my courses and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Overall, I have to say Pichet was the better meal compared to Chapter One when considering just the food (especially so after taking the price difference of the meals into account).
A much too short visit to Ireland, but we really enjoyed our time there and look forward to returning.
Cote D'Azur views
I'd consider Mirazur in Menton. Perhaps not quite as grand as Chateau de la Chevre D'or, but I really enjoyed my meal there and the chef has a great pedigree and received a fair amount of recognition from different publications over the past couple years.
A more modest option would be Mandarine in the Port Palace hotel in Monte Carlo. The restaurant overlooks the port and having breakfast and lunch there during my stay was a highlight a my trip. The food was solid, but not necessarily destination worthy. This would be a convenient and lower cost alternative(compared to much of Monte Carlo) if one wanted a good view in Monte Carlo proper.
Also look into Château Eza. Don't have direct experience and can't comment on the food, but it does have a tremendous view.
Acero?
Acero is very good and my preferred location for Italian in St. Louis. The pasta courses tend to be the highlights with the egg raviolo being the consensus must order dish.
Santi Santamaria dies in plane travel.
Most reports are saying that, while the exact cause of death is still unknown, it was likely a heart attack and not related to air travel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/16/AR2011021602775.html
Bluestem in KC
We've done the 7 course w/ pairings twice and both times the pours seemed appropriate if not generous.
Looking to try somewhere new in STL for V-day...
Valentine's Day is one of the worst days ever to dine out in restaurants as menus are dumbed down, prices are often increased and staff overworked. You'd be wise to wait a week or two and then go out to dinner. You'd likely get a much better product regardless of what restaurant you select.
That being said, I definitely recommend Franco and Acero. I'd also check out Five, Terrene, The Crossing, and I Fratellini. These are worth checking out, but a a notch below Stl's best (Niche, Monarch, Farmhaus, Sidney St).
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I Fratellini
7624 Wydown Blvd, Saint Louis, MO 63105
Farmhaus
3257 Ivanhoe Ave, St Louis, MO 63139
St. Louis restaurant for a small group?
While I love Farmhaus and recommend it as often as I can, it can get really loud (especially on a Saturday night). If they do go to Farmhaus, I'd recommend going early.
Sidney Street Cafe, St. Louis
Yes, I've been a couple times after the remodel. I'm sorry to hear that your visit wasn't up to expectactions. Even though the menu revamp for the southern cuisine is what is getting most people's attention now, I tend to stick mainly to the contemporary dishes that were on the menu before the remodel. I think this is where Monarch is at its best as the chef uses interesting ingredients and techniques that aren't common in St. Louis. I also appreciate that at Monarch they can offer a full-service dining experience: valet, coat check, great cocktails and winelist, in-house bread program and polished service (at least from my experience). Many places have some of these characteristics, but only a few in St. Louis have them all like Monarch. Hopefully you'll give Monarch another chance at some point.
I am curious as well on how the "Pay what you wish" promotion is going. I personally would feel guilty not just paying the stated price on the menu, but I'm sure others would feel differently.
Sidney Street Cafe, St. Louis
I'm another who doesn't "get" SSC. After a few visits, I've found that, while the food can be very good at times, the atmosphere, service and overall experience is not to my liking. As with many places in St. Louis that have been around awhile, people feel they have to love and defend SSC against anyone who'd say otherwise (similar to provel and Stl-style pizza)). I think people who grew up in St. Louis (I did not) like SSC more than those who didn't. I think SSS is a good restaurant capable of occasionally great dishes, but it's not a place I plan to become a regular at and for me it's a step below other spots in town (ie Niche, Monarch, Farmhaus).
St. Louis: need to know best thin-crust pizza - by Sat NOV 06, please
By eliminating The Good Pie and Pi you've already eliminated the only pizza places with what I'd consider having good beer lists.
What's hot in St. Louis?
In my opinion (and I know many native St. Louisans will disagree), I don't think the restaurants on the hill are worth visiting and I never recommend them. If you want to experience something unique to St. Louis, then they're a visit to the Hill could be worthwhile. However, in terms of quality of food and restaurants, I find most of the Hill restaurants to be lacking (I'm thinking more of the many Italian restaurants, not places like Five or Modesto). The "St. Louis Italian" that is prevalent on the Hill is generally low quality over-sauced pasta that is impressive only for its portion size.
It's really up to what you're looking for. You won't find a restaurant that operates on the same technical and quality level as places like Niche,Monarch, etc., but you will find a neighborhood that is special to people in St. Louis.
What's hot in St. Louis?
I'll second FOTD's recommendations of Farmhaus and Monarch. They're two of the best in the city and both relatively new (if you want to count Monarch's renovations and addition of the Southern Bistro). I really can't recommend one over the other as they're two of my favorites, but I state that I go to Farmhaus much more often as I tend to save Monarch for special occasions. These are two places you really shouldn't miss.
Farmhaus, Monarch and Sidney Street are much better choices than either 1111 or Vin de Set who don't have the same commitment to quality. 1111 and Vin de Set are more about ambience than really good food, but I'll acknowledge they do have a great atmosphere.
For Italian, I'd recommend Acero which is run by the same owner as The Crossing (which is also a good choice as they balance both French and Italian influences).
Other places worth checking into are Five, Franco (another good FOTD rec), Araka (they just brought on a new chef that has made this place worthwhile), and Harvest.
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Sidney Street Cafe
2000 Sidney St, Saint Louis, MO 63104
Vin de Set
2017 Chouteau Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63103
Araka Restaurant
131 Carondelet Plz, Saint Louis, MO 63105
