We had tickets to the first show of the year at the Fox, "Ain't Too Proud." So, we were dressed nicely and we usually try to go to a nicer restaurant. I've always heard that The Crossing in Clayton is one of the top 10 restaurants in STL, but I've also been afraid they wouldn't have anything Mike would like on their menu. So, I checked again. They had steak...we were good...I made a reservation.
We arrived a little before 5 and parked across the street. They actually don't open until 5. We knew it was early but we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time before we had to leave for the Fox.
We were the first diners in the restaurant, but I was surprised, by about 5:15 there were several other tables seated.
Josh, our server, was great. All the servers here are well trained in wine. I had looked at the wine list before we arrived (You know how I love a restaurant that has their menu and wine list online, so I can do my research ahead of time!). I knew we were pushing it a little at this restaurant. We were close to out of our element. I looked at the wine list and it began in the $50-60 range. That is our price range. There were 2 wines in that range...then it went up from there...for 2 more pages!! Up into the thousands of dollars range!!
We ordered cocktails and opened a bottle of Trinitas Cabernet (in our price range).
Anyway...Josh explained that you can just order a regular appetizer/entre/dessert type meal OR you can do a chef's tasting meal where you have several smaller plates. The tasting meal was $65. The other way was about the same depending on what you ordered. Mike just wanted a basic steak dinner and a dessert. I ordered from the tasting menu. I ordered: tuna tartar, grilled octopus, pan seared corvina (white fish) over sweet potatoes and other veg, flourless choc. torte
This is the tuna tartar. This is not a good photo. The tartar was VERY cold. The oil on the plate was citrus oil and the sprinkles on the plate were parsley and really small celery (so crunchy) and lemon zest. The tuna had been smoked. The white cream was some kind of an aioli. It was creamy kind of like a whipped mayo. The caviar was smoked trout caviar. It was very good at adding a salty burst to the bite. I am not a big "smoked" person and I found the smoked taste a little strong but I loved the caviar's salty burst at the end of each bite. This was good but not great.
My second dish was grilled octopus. THIS was a great dish!! There was a tonnato (yes tonnato, not tomato, I had to look it up) (made with anchovies, capers, lemon and tuna) on the bottom. It was tangy. The octopus was charred perfectly and super tender. There were sweet little peas for sweetness and then there were sliced pickled peppers to add twang. It was a great bite!
For my entre I had Pacific Corvina. It was pan seared and on a bed of sweet potatoes and okra. The "caperberry" lemon butter was good. The dish was good and I ate it all, but there was nothing WOW about it.
Mike got a steak. I know it is hard to see but under the steak is mashed potatoes and haricot verts (little French green beans). He told Josh that he really enjoyed the potatoes with the "gravy." Josh said it was a special green peppercorn sauce. So, sauce/gravy...who cares, as long as it is yummy.
For dessert I had the flourless chocolate torte. It was warm. There was a raspberry colis and vanilla bean gelato. It was as good as it sounds. Mike got a warm apple crisp with vanilla gelato.
Totally would go here again. There is a scallops entre I would love to try and I would eat that octopus over and over again.
Mike enjoyed his steak and said he would go back. It is not cheap, but the food is worth the price.
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