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.  

Retreat Gastro Pub in the Cortex area of St. Louis 11-18-23

 I'd give this place a 3.5/5

I don't think I've ever eaten in this "Cortex" area before.  It is the home of Wash U Med and IKEA.  It has the new Foundry and the Armory across the highway.  

Retreat Gastro Pub is not new and we've thought about going to it for awhile, so we decided to try it before we went to a show at the Fox, because it is actually quite close to the theater.

This is a small restaurant with about 7 tables and a dozen seats at the bar.  There is a "back room" that has about 6 additional tables.  

I guess the best way I could describe their menu is kind of like a bistro menu.  It has a little of everything (meat, chicken, fish, veg, dessert).  They do brunch on weekends.

My take of the clientele...It was several parents taking their 20-30 year old medical student children out for supper.  

We started with cocktails.  Mike had a gin and tonic and was pleased to try a new gin (Leatherbee...made in California).  I had a "shrug" Moscow mule.  I don't think it fit the true definition of a shrug (that is made with something in vinegar) but it was a Moscow mule with grapefruit juice and ginger beer.  It was good.  

We had an appetizer of risotto balls.  They had braised beef short rib meat in them.  They were in a spicy marinara sauce.  They were OK.  I think they were overcooked and seemed a little hard on the outside.  The sauce was good but there was not enough of it.  They were fine, but I don't think I'd get them again. 

For dinner Mike had a burger and fries (again).  He enjoyed this one way better than he did last weekend.  This one was cooked well and the house ketchup was more like BBQ sauce.  The fries were crisp but not greasy.  

I had a portabella sandwich.  The portabella had been marinated and then tempuraed and fried.  It had a sweet goat cheese spread on top and a bit of pepper jam that had a bit of spice.  Those two tastes were a nice compliment to the tanginess of the vinaigrette the mushroom had been marinated in.  I liked the sandwich.  Instead of fries, I paired it with a cup of potato leek soup.  The soup was topped with what tasted like dehydrated bacon.  It was really dry and hard.  The soup was good, but it had been totally whizzed up.  There was no chewing to it...no potatoes, no leeks, etc.  You could tasted them, but the consistency was like thick mashed potato soup. It was good, but I missed chewing some potatoes. 

We liked our drinks and what we got for supper, but the menu is really small, and I don't know that there is enough stuff to tempt us to come back.  

Planters House in St. Louis 11-11-23

Drinks 4.5/5

Food 3/5

This is a cocktail place we've wanted to try, but it is a darned long drive down to Mississippi and Choteau just for a drink.  It has absolutely no parking...only street parking and you are fighting with all the people who live around this block for a spot. 

It is a small place (maybe 12 tables and only 12 seats at the bar).  They make actual reservations for their seats at the bar.

Since it is a cocktail bar, I made us reservations at the bar.  I had hoped we could chat up the bartender about drinks and fun things to try.  This was not the case.  Behind the bar were two women who were both working their butts off.  One was a tall, very quiet Asian woman who just quickly made drinks, made drinks, made drinks.  She was in charge of the drinks for the entire restaurant (except the bar).  The other gal was in charge of all the food and drink for the 12 people seated at the bar.  We talked to her a bit, but she was just too busy to chat much.

I had read that this place had the best gin martini in St. Louis.  So, that is what Mike started with.  It was good, but a straight up martini is REALLY strong.  I started (and eventually stayed with) a vodka gimlet.  It was super good.  It had been shaken really hard and then poured over a large ice cube.  The lime was literally beginning to freeze in the glass, it was that cold.  

I don't remember what Mike's 2nd drink was...I think it was a tropical rum drink.  It was OK, but we both ended up really liking the gimlets, so Mike's 3rd drink was a gin gimlet.  The lime cordial they make for the gimlet was REALLY good.

We both had supper.  I had a BBQ shrimp sandwich.  It was pretty good.  The bread was crusty and the shrimp weren't over cooked.  

Mike had burger and cacio e pepe fries.  The burger was fine and cooked the correct amount, but it had machego cheese, chorizo jam, and serrano pepper relish on it.  The ketchup they gave was the "house" ketchup and it didn't taste anything like ketchup. They also had a very bland aioli that just tasted like bland mayo. All those differences were just too much and they seemed to fight each other for what one was tasting.  So, Mike was disappointed in the burger and fries.  

One thing I REALLY liked about this very small place was that it was a true cocktail bar.  There was no TV anywhere in the place.  It makes people (even at the bar) have conversations.  I just wished we could have talked to the bartenders more.