The Firefly Grill 8-19-2022

 I had read on Channel 5 about the opening of this new restaurant in Chesterfield.  The menu looked interesting and we decided to give it a try on a Friday night.  

We arrived fairly early (just before 5:30).  We asked to sit outside.  It was a nice space surrounded by bushes and shrubs.  There was still a lot of noise from Long road, but it wasn't super visible.  The evening was warm but there was a small breeze, so we weren't hot.  We did have some trouble with flies and little sweat bees.  At times we considered moving inside.  

You could tell they were a very new restaurant.  We asked if there were any Happy Hour specials.  The hostess didn't know.  She asked the owner (who was behind the bar) on our way outside.  The owner rattled them off.  It would have been WAY more helpful if they had been printed on a Happy Hour menu/flyer.  

When our server arrived it was Kason Brown.  He is a former student and works now at West High as a permanent sub, just like Anna did for the last couple of years.  He's super sweet and was a good server.

I ordered a Happy Hour margarita and Mike ordered a beer and we ordered some "Cajun" spinach artichoke dip.  

The dip was good, but we agreed that the added spices to make it "Cajun" were unnecessary.  The margarita was fine.  The black salt on the rim was just for show...it tasted normal.

I ordered a glass of the house cabernet and we ordered dinner.  I ordered a "fisherman's stew" which really looked like cioppino.  Mike ordered a house salad and a hot Italian sandwich (with no tomatoes or onions).  

I do need to mention here that we decided that their outdoor chairs are not very comfortable.  They looked nice and were aluminum and shouldn't rust or need painted, but they just aren't great for sitting in for longer than about 45 minutes.

My soup/stew came.  It was actually very good.  It was tomatoey and garlicy, and had a little kick.  The fish were shrimp, mussels, bay scallops, and a large piece of a white fish that I think might have been cod.  I liked it a lot.

They brought Mike's sandwich.  When Kason came to check on us, he asked how things were and he looked at Mike's sandwich (Mike was eating his salad).  Kason noticed the sandwich had tomatoes and onions on it.  He took it back to get a new one.  

About 20 minutes later we still didn't have a sandwich.  He apologized and said it was being made and they were taking it off the bill.  

About 10 minutes after that, Mike asked for it to be packed up to go.  So, I can't tell you how it tasted, as Mike hasn't eaten it yet.  

So, aside from a few "new restaurant" pains, this place was nice and pretty good.  

Bar Italia 8-12-22

 It was going to be a nice evening, so I looked for some of the nicest outdoor seating in St. Louis.  One of the places that came up was Bar Italia in the Central West End.  

I hadn't been in the CWE for awhile.  Because it was a Cardinal baseball night, traffic on Hwy 40 was super busy, so we took Hwy 70 and then south on Kingshighway.  Whoa!  Talk about driving through blighted St. Louis and then almost immediately, just before the CWE it changes to nice houses/stores.  I think this is evidence of previous redlining in STL.  It is so obvious...and bad.

We had 5:30 reservations for outside seating.  When we were there, at first, the patio wasn't very full.  Over the next couple hours, it filled up.  

We ordered the appetizer special of the evening.  It was a bruschetta with ricotta cheese and artichoke topping covered with parm cheese.  I ended up not caring for it and Mike ate both of them.

We found a nice bottle of cabernet, but their wine list left a lot to be desired.  

The menu wasn't very large and I had a hard time figuring out what I was going to eat.  Mike got the steak and potatoes dinner.  The steak had been smothered in a sauce that was made with shallots.  He said both the steak and the potatoes were good. 

I didn't want a noodle and scallop dish, I didn't really want a heavy meat sauce on large noodles.  So, I ended up getting butternut squash ravioli with sweet potatoes made with a butter, basil, and cashew sauce.  I really liked it except I could have done without all the melted butter.  It just seemed oily.  The ravioli was really nice.  The sweet potatoes gave just a little sweetness to the dish.  

The patio was fine but it was just an average patio.  The only thing that made it special was that outdoor area is hard to come by in the CWE and Bar Italia has a nice sized patio.  I would not call it one of the nicest outdoor areas in the STL area.  The food was good, not great.  It was a nice evening.  I can't say if we'll return.