Louie (on DeMun) 1-25-25

I would give this place a 4/5 stars. 

Just north of St. Elizabeth's hospital on DeMun nearWashington University looks like an area that would be restaurants and bars full of college kids.  But Louie is not frequented by college students.  It is full of upper class white people.  

The parking stinks in the area.  We drove around for a bit and happened to snag a spot on the street but had to park on 4" of ice left over from a storm 3 weeks ago.  

The restaurant is long and narrow.  It was overly warm in there, dark and difficult to read the menu, and quite loud and hard to hear. (Wow, don't I sound like an old person!)

One of the waiters (a big guy with a man bun) seems to be a favortie of many of the people who come here often.  He is greeted with big hugs.  He was our waiter.  He was fine but I didn't feel the need to hug him, LOL.  

We started with a cocktail and were given some foccia bread and olive oil.  It was OK.  The bread was cold and almost too tall.  The spices (a lot of pepper and oregano) on top of the bread were nice.  

Mike decided he wanted to try several things off of the menu, so he told the waiter, we were going to order more food than we could eat and take all the leftovers home.  Of course the waiter was happy.  We each had glass of their house cabernet which was Caburnio from Italy.  It was pretty good for $13 a glass. 

So, we each ordered an appetizer.  Mike ordered a margherita pizza and I ordered the grilled octopus.  I think Mike's order ended up being better.  The pizza was good.  The octopus was good, but it was only a couple of pieces of actual octopus and a lot of chick peas and fried potatoes.  Because it was so dark in there, I didn't discover the potatoes until I cut into them.  I thought they were octopus.  

For dinner Mike got the papardelle bolognese.  It was good, but I do think almost $30 is a bit steep for a rather small pasta dish.  

I got the chitarra with tomato basil sauce.  I'm not a huge basil fan, so it was good the basil was in large leaf form and I could just pick it out.  The pasta was like really fat buccatini or spaghetti.  It was just a little al dente and it was good.  

For dessert we split the carmelized honey ice cream sandwich.  I don't know what was in the actual cookie part but I tasted the honey and something fruity, like orange.  It was good and just the right amount for us to split. The cruchy bits sround the outside were some sort of homemade frosted cereal.  They were a yummy addition. 

Bistro La Floraison 1-11-2025

All in all I'd probably give this restaurant a 3.5 or a 4/5 

This actually used to be a French restaurant we liked.  It closed during Covid.  Then it sat empty for awhile and when it reopened...it was a French restaurant again!  

First the bad news...parking!  Parking actually is horrible.  When we went to this restaurant it was about a week after STL had 12" of snow.  So, the snow was piled up along side all the streets.  There are 3 acclaimed restaurants in the same block (AKAR, Wright's Tavern, and Bistro La Floraison).  They all share the same 15-20 street parking spots and if you don't get one of those...you are walking for a few blocks!!  Mike dropped me off at the door and then it took him a good 15ish minutes to find a spot and make his way back to the restaurant.  

Now, the better news.  This restaurant has a prix fixe menu that includes their good French onion soup AND an entree and a dessert.  That's what I got.  The entree choices were good...I had a hard time deciding between the mussels and the scallops.  

I had studied the wine menu.  We got a bottle of Crocus.  It was a Malbec.  That is close to a cabernet, so we knew we would like it.  

As I said, we both started with the French onion soup.  It was very good.  We had recently had French onion soup at Bread Co.  It is good, but this is totally in a different level!

I said earlier that I had the choice of mussels or scallops (among other choices).  I chose scallops.  I knew they were made with cauliflower (which I don't really like), but I LOVE scallops.  So, I was excited to see them when they arrived.  They were on a mixture (swirled prettily together) of 2 sauces (one was lemon and one was cream).  The cauliflower was roasted.  I tried to eat a couple florets, but I just don't really like it.  My biggest problem with the entire dish was that it wasn't warm.  I don't know if it was finished before Mike's entree, but it was nearly room temp by the time it was served to me and the cool sauces weren't great.  The fact that there were only 3.5 scallops was not great, but that is pretty norm.

Scallops entree

Chicken cordon bleu

Mike didn't go with the prix fixe menu.  He just ordered French onion soup and the chicken cordon bleu.  His entree was great.  It was served over some kind of greens, which he didn't eat and had a side of mushrooms (which I ate for him), but the chicken was awfully good.  It was hot and pretty juicy.  He liked the smokey addition of the ham and cheese.  

My prix fixe menu said that I would get a chocolate torte for dessert.  Mike and I decided we would split this.  Mike also got an espresso martini.  (Normally he would get a coffee or cappuccino, but they didn't have these choices).  He liked the martini.  

Mike's espresso martini.  

This chocolate torte was actually kind of laughable.  It was cut so thin we each only got 2 bites.  It was on a sauce of what tasted like chocolate milk and had a dolop of real whipped cream.  It was OK but was unbelievably small!  

Citizen Kane's in Kirkwood 12-19-24

Overall I think I'd give this place a 3/5 

We haven't been to Citizen Kane's in so long, that I completely forgot where it was.  I had no idea that it was in Kirkwood down by the Magic House and very close to several other restaurants we frequent.  I think the fact that it is just off the main road makes me forget it.

We had tickets to the Fox to see Straight, No Chaser.  So, we made early reservations (5 pm).  I was very surprised to see that there were a lot of other diners at this time.  That is unusual for a Thursday night at 5 pm.  

We were seated in the upstairs room and in the entire upstairs they had all the ceiling fans turned on.  It made for a cool breeze.  I saw an older lady across the room put her coat back on.  As we walked out, later, I commented to Mike how the temperature in the downstairs was easily 5+ degrees warmer.

The menu is not much for someone who doesn't want a steak.  There is one piece of salmon or the shrimp scampi pasta.   I decided to do the shrimp dish and should have maybe done the salmon.  

The dish was some linguine with a creamy sauce that had been flavored with garlic.  It very much reminded me of cream of chicken soup.  It was just a big bowl of pasta with four shrimp on top.  It wasn't very warm when it arrived and with the ceiling fans, it cooled off way too quickly.  This made it even less appetizing.  I ate the luke warm shrimp (they had been cooked nicely) and a few bites of the pasta, but it wasn't worth eating.  I was given a "side" with my entree.  I could have ordered a baked potatoe (I always think this is odd with a pasta dish).  I ordered some green geens with almonds.  They were good, but they were too long to eat daintily.  Since I didn't have a plate, I couldn't cut them with a knife.  That was awkward. 

Mike had steak, of course.  This was the reason we came here.  He ordered a filet.  It was done as he wanted.  He said it was good.  He got a baked potatoe with it. 

I know Mike's steak was good, but the fact that they really don't have anything on the menu that I like will probably keep us from coming back here again any time soon.  The wait staff was good, but the room was cold and I didn't like the food. 

 

 

Billy G's in Chesterfield 12-13-24

 Billy G's in Kirkwood is a place we've thought about trying several times.  Last Friday I needed to run an errand in Chesterfield, so I suggested we find a place to eat supper in that area.  

I noticed that a new Billy G's had opened at the corner of Clarkson and Baxter.  When I looked online I was surprised by the menu.  They had breakfast and sandwiches and pizza and pasta.  It was all different kinds of foods.

When we arrived, we were surprised to see they had taken over the entire area that used to be Balaban's and Which Which and Noodle & Co.  It was totally remodeled but it wasn't anything like the Billy G's in Kirkwood.  It was shiny chrome.  It was diner tables and chairs.  It looked like a breakfast place.  

They still had the Italian dishes of their heritage, but they had sooo many other things.  

We each got a drink (Mike got a beer and I got a glass of wine).  It just felt weird to be drinking in a place that felt like a breakfast place.  

I got spaghetti and meatballs and Mike got lasagna.  We both thought they were good but the ambiance was just odd.  

Maybe they decided that this area could use a diner.  Maybe they are open for late night partiers and early morning diners.  

Who knows??  I don't think Mike and I will be back to this location

Kreis' Steakhouse

 Kreis' is a staple.  It is always nice and it is always good.

We got reservations just a week earlier, so we didn't have the "best" seats in the house.  We were in the basement dining room.  That bugged Mike.  Our waiter was good, but he was spread a little thin.  

We had a cocktail, and the vodka collins was just OK.  No one knows to blend it and make it foamy like Cunnetto's does.

We ordered a bottle of Ferrari Carano Siena red wine.  It was pretty good.  

The special appetizer of the evening was crab stuffed shrimps.  They were good.  We ordered 2 each.  They were something like $5-10 a piece!

For dinner I ordered the scallops.  They were OK (they could have used more seare), but the rice pilaf they were served with was not.  It was slightly greasy and not warm.

Mike got a large piece of prime rib.  We both got big baked potatoes.  

It was a nice meal in a nice setting.  

Trattoria Marcella 11-16-24

 It has been years since we've been to Trattoria Marcella.  All I remember is that they have lobster risotto.  

We arrived at about 4:55 and there was an entire family of about a dozen people (all in one group) waiting outside to get in in front of us.  You could see the people inside, but they let us all wait for the full 5 or 6 minutes (in the cold) before opening the doors.  That is not a great first impression.

Then, we were put in a way back room.  Mike didn't like that.  We were some of the first people there and we by-passed the main dining room.  I don't know why.  

Our waiter told us that one of the specials for the night was the lobster risotto.  As I get older, stuff with cream sometimes makes me have a stomachache, so I decided against it.  We had a cocktail.  I ordered some Italian kind of orange martini.  It was OK, it was too strong alcohol taste.  

Then we asked for a bottle of Edge cabernet to be opened.  It was good, we liked it...but red wine goes so well with red sauce (and chocolate dessert)!

Mike ordered a salad, and that was fine. Then he got the spaghetti and meatballs.  He said it was OK, but when he went to eat the leftovers 2 days later, he said he had decided that he didn't really like their sauce and we didn't need to go back there.  

I ordered the eggplant parm appetizer as my entree.  I usually love eggplant.  This was their "new" way of preparing it.  It was layered with cheese, like a lasagna.  It was not near as good as it would have been if it had just been fried and put out on the plate.  I also don't understand how this is supposed to be an appetizer.  It was totally unsharable.  I took 1/2 of it home for leftovers and ended up not eating it.  

The most redeeming thing of the night were the desserts.  Mike and I usually split dessert.  He gets one and I eat 2 bites and I'm done.  But he wanted tiramissou and I wanted the chocolate creme brule.  So, we each got dessert.  His was very coffee forward.  He liked that.  Mine tasted just like my mom's chocolate pie (which I love).  So, the food wasn't our favorite, but the desserts we a nice end to the meal.

Brasserie by Niche 11-9-24

 It has been several years since we have been at Brasserie.  It was pouring rain when we arrived and parked on the street.  They do have valet parking, just don't have a 5:00 reseration and expect the valet to be up and running yet.  He gets going by about 5:15.  

We started with a cocktail and then ordered a bottle of red French wine called Volcae.  It was good.  

Our waiter was super great.  He was about our age and he was super knowledgeable.  Mike ordered the braised beef with mashed potatoes and jus.  My photo of it sucks but he loved it.  He said it is just like really well cooked roast with a great jus.  I got the mussels.  They were good as always.  

Then we decided to get dessert.  They have a "black and white" creme brullet.  It has a chocolate ganache on the bottom of the ramiken.  Then the cream mixture is poured on top.  The entire thing is topped with a classic black and white cookie.  It was really yummy!