Cafe Provencal in Kirkwood 1-20-24

 I would give this restaurant a 4/5

We have been to Cafe Provencal in Kirkwood several times.  We seem to always enjoy ourselves here.  

The wine list isn't available online and they are heavy in French wines...so it always is difficult for me to pick a wine on the fly.  This time we did OK.  We found a french wine that was in our budget and our Vivino stars range.  

Mike wanted French onion soup as an appetizer, I was going to have the soup as my entree.  So, I ordered a salmon "pizza."  It had goat cheese, red onions and capers.  The salmon had been heavily smoked and it was so smokey it almost tasted like ham to me.  It was just too smokey and I didn't really enjoy it.  

The onion soup was good, but wasn't super hot.  Mike would have liked it hotter when it came out.  I'm sure they have dozens of these premade and in the frig.  Getting them hot without overly melting the cheese when reheating them is a trick, I'm sure.  The soup is always good.  

Mike had steak frites for dinner.  Good as usual and we split a creme brule for dessert.  

This place pulls off the whole "bistro" vibe.  It is not too big.  It is not super busy at 5 pm, but gets really busy by 6 or 6:30.  It is a solid French restaurant in STL. 

Rack House Kitchen Wine and Whiskey 1-13-24

On this night I'd give this place a 2.5/5 

On a cold Saturday night in the middle of a snow storm, Mike and I had reservations at Rack House.  We have probably been here half a dozen times before.  It was definitely not very crowded (probably because of the weather).  

We were originally placed at a table that was right by the entrance to the cigar room.  Each time one of the cigar smoker people came in or out, we got a drift of cigar smoke.  Mike asked if we could be moved.  That is a problem and should be noted for anyone who is asked to sit there. 

I had studied their wine list before we came and was glad to see that they had the same one, but when I started ordering wines for my "wine flight" (because I wanted to try 3 different wines before I decided to try a bottle) I kept running into wines that they "didn't have right now."  So, that is a problem.  There wine list isn't up to date with their current inventory.

I ended up trying Dashe Cellars Delta Red (good), OVR Lot 73 Red Blend (no real taste), 75 Wine Company Cabernet (yuck...bitter taste).  Mike tried a glass of Elemental Substance Cabernet (which wasn't even on their wine list) but was actually OK.  

For dinner I had 2 crab cakes and some fries.  The crab cakes were dissappointing.  They were very small and looked like an appetizer.  They had very little to no lump crab in them.  

Mike had steak and broccoli.  He said it was good, but nothing special.  

This used to be a kind of nice place we liked to go.  I think it will be awhile before we come back.  

Ostoria Forto -O'Fallon, MO 1-6-24

On this night, I'd probably give them a 3.75/5 

This is a new, nicer, Italian restaurant that opened up on Highway K in O'Fallon.  We were hoping it would be really nice...but that's just not O'Fallon.  O'Fallon people don't dress up to go out to eat.  Their idea of a nice restaurant is one you can wear jeans and a nice shirt/sweater to.  That was the attire of most of the people in this place.

It was nicer than most O'Fallon restaurants, but I wouldn't call it a super "nice" restaurant.  It had no tablecloths and one whole side was made up of traditional booths (which usually aren't in super nice restaurants).  

We had reservations for 6 pm.  We arrived right on time and then stood waiting at the front entrance for over 10 minutes.  We did have a nice chat with one of the owners (Liz).  Our table was ready and we shouldn't have had to wait. 

The service was fine.  Our waitress was nice and just OK.  She was kind of surprised that we were going to order a cocktail AND ask her to open a bottle of wine (for dinner).  

I don't know if it is because they are brand new or what, but I do have to give them props for having their entire drink/wine list online so I could do my wine research ahead of time. We chose a cab called Textbook and it was pretty good. 

I ordered one of their signature cocktails and really didn't like it.  It had too many "bitters" in it.  Mike got a standard gin and tonic.  For an appetizer I ordered the eggplant parm.  It was really good.  I liked the sauce and the slightly browned cheese.  

Mike got a house salad with the house dressing.  He didn't like it.  It had a bunch of heart of palm and artichoke hearts in it (which were OK, but the heart of palm weren't pickled, so they just tasted like water and didn't add anything to the dish).  The house dressing was a thick blue cheese type of dressing and there was too much of it.  The salad was over dressed.

For supper Mike had the tagliatele bolognese.  This should be a meat sauce with a brown or brown/red sauce (gravy).  It didn't have much sauce at all and Mike said overall it didn't have any taste.  It was not something he'd order again.

I had the linguini Mare e Monti.  It was very good.  It had clams and shrimp in a seafood broth.  I really liked it.  

For dessert we ordered panne cotta.  It was a cold custard with some cold cinnamon apples over it.  It was rather bland and I would never order it again.  Mike got a cappuccino with his dessert.  

They had been open one month when we visited.  They were still having trouble with their computers sending drink orders to the bar and food orders to the kitchen.  That problem I understand.  Mike's dinner not having any taste...that needs fixed!  The panna cotta being rather tasteless...that needs fixed, pick a different dessert to offer.  

We will probably give it another chance.  We wonder if you can mix up the menu a bit.  I liked the eggplant parm.  Could I get that over some linguini with extra red sauce??  If they do things like The Hill, they'd do this.  We'll see.

Dominic's (on The Hill) 12-16-24

This place is nice and good, but it is not perfect.  They food is good, but I've had better.  4.5/5

Mike wanted to go out someplace nice for our anniversary.  He chose this place and made the reservations.  It is still very old school and reminds us both of Giovanni's (our old favorite fancy Italian restaurant).  

I didn't take any photos because it would have seemed rude in a place this nice.  

We both started with a cocktail and some arancini.  The arancini was good but not my favorite.  Mike thought they were really good.

They had a seafood special that I ordered.  It was seafood pasta.  It was good because it wasn't in a heavy cream sauce and I could still taste the seafood. 

Mike ordered his favorite (veal saltimbocca).  I was surprised by how small his serving was.  The veal is pounded very thin and he literally only had about 8 bites of veal total on his plate.  It came with a side of pasta.

We ordered a bottle of cabernet to drink with dinner.

We each got a dessert.  I had creme brule and Mike had the house special cake.  They were both good.  

This is a nice, fancy dinner.

There were people here in t-shirts and jeans with children and lots of family members.  I think they came here after a local holiday parade.  That is not usually the case.

I was surprised that this place was rather uncrowded the entire evening (it was a Sat. night at 6:30).  Maybe there are having a hard time.  It is rather an old people type of restaurant.  It would be sad if they closed, as there aren't any really "fancy" Italian restaurants on the Hill any more.  I know the world is going more casual, but sometimes you just want to dress up and go out with other dressed up people.  

Golden Hoosier Bar 12-13-2023

 Good drinks.  Bar food was OK  3/5

I had a dermatology appointment late in the day.  I knew I would be way south in St. Louis, so I talked Mike into coming with me and going out to dinner in the city on the way home.  

I searched for something new and different.  This place was certainly different.  It is a bar that has the weirdest interior.  It has some great old building architecture (art deco features and lights, great bar architecture), but then they add to it with local St. Louis art and vintage taxidermy!!  It is crazy.  

I think they are more known for a bar than for their food.  They have an outdoor space out back that people have told me is fun in the fall, summer and spring. 

I don't remember the name of my drink, but it was fun, strong and good.  We were there during happy hour, so Mike got beer and it was cheap.  The only thing was...the happy hour beer was Busch (not his favorite...he thinks a St.Louis bar needs to have at least some Budweiser or Michelob for happy hour).  

We split some cheese fries because they were on the happy hour menu.  They were OK.  Typical cheese fries. 

The food menu was small.  I ordered a cup of tomato soup and some chicken wings.  Neither was great.  They were both OK. 

Mike ordered a wedge salad (which was totally boring when you take off the tomatoes, onions, cucumbers).

Then he ordered a smash burger.  The burger was made on a flattop and they left it on there too long.  The part that is supposed to get a little crispy and caramelized...got burned and tasted like char.  That was rather off putting.  

I doubt we'll ever come back to this place.  There are other places to find a good drink and the food here needs some work.  

Kreis' Steakhouse 12-9-2024

This place is kind of fancy and I'd probably give it a 4/5.  It is a little bit old people stuffy.  

It has been over a year since we have been to Kreis.'  We used to come here more often.  The place is not very big and reservations are kind of weird.  They literally have reservations for what part of the restaurant you want to eat in.  The main dining room was booked, so we were seated in the north area, north of the bar.  I was afraid we would be too close to the front door and it would be cold, but it wasn't.  

It was very festive and most people who dined here were dressed up and many were dressed in holiday attire.  That was nice.

I had seared scallops.  They were very good.  They come with a side of potatoes and I got fried potatoes.  They were also very good.  

Mike had a steak and twice baked potato.  He said they were very good.  This is one of the better steakhouses that he likes in St. Louis. 

I chose a red wine blend called Murrieta's Well.  Sometimes Mike is fearful of blends because they can be too much of something like pinot noir and not have much body.  This one was quite good. 

For dessert we split some apple struedel with vanilla bean ice cream.  The dessert was warm and the apples were tart (which is the way I like them).  It was good and very much enough for 2 people. 

This was a lovely meal in an old St. Louis standard.