As a slow food enthusiast, I love tapas bars. I love them because I can order one or two small plates at a time and keep the pace slow. The portions are never overwhelming, leftovers don’t happen and it is always a treat to try so many varieties from what is often a very inviting menu. Recently, I found another St. Louis location that will join my other two favorites, Modesto and Mirasol to make a perfect threesome. That tapas bar would be Mosaic in downtown St. Louis. The only negative tapas experience in St. Louis so far has been the Clayton location of Barcelona, where the service was horrible and the food mediocre.
After ordering a moderately priced, very nice bottle of Spanish Tempronilla, it was time to focus on the food. We started with a soup flight that included a slightly sweet vanilla enhanced butternut squash soup, a carrot ginger soups as well as a black bean soup. All three were an interesting twist of flavor and a great way to start the meal. We followed the soup with carpaccio of beef topped with argula salad and toasted hazelnuts. Stupendous is the only way to describe the taste sensation. The tangy arugula was perfect with the beef and it did leave me wanting more, a definite order for next time. Next up was an herb gnocchi with asparagus tips covered in truffled asparagus sauce followed by the pulled Korean BBQ pork inside a baked Fuji apple with goat cheese, crème fraiche and five spice pistachios which was another outstanding merger of taste.
The service was completely top-notch and when I explained that this was a very delayed birthday dinner, our server promptly offered a free dessert and recommended a special pumpkin flan with a small dollop of ice cream topped with a caramel pumpkin seed brittle. This truly finished off a wonderful meal and I hope to return many times. Free parking right across the street is just one more bonus.
Nov 11, 2006
Nov 10, 2006
Modesto Review
Walking into Modesto brings Spanish color and light to any day with colors that are earth tones of orange and brown. On Monday nights, the places is filled with dancing, Spanish style and will truly leave you feeling as though you hopped the Atlantic for an evening in Spain.
I have been to Modesto many times and consider it to be one of the best dining spots in St. Louis. Though the menu offers some full course meals, the point of Modesto is in ordering the tapas. A tapas meal is great for a group of friends that want to share and enjoy the small plates. But it is equally appealing as a romantic dinner to share with the one you love.
The menu changes often with all the standard favorites, like Dátiles Relleno, which consists of bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cabrales cheese. The sweetness of the dates and the pungent cheese will leave you wanting more, but then that is the idea of small plates. You want to try them all while at the same time discovering that one favorite that wish was the entire meal. Another on of my favorites is the Pinchos de Cordero which consist of Moroccan-style grilled lamb kebabs with mint-yogurt sauce and tomato-onion salsa. My partner chose one of her favorites, the steamed mussels in a tangy sauce made of hard cider, chorizo and peppers. On the new side, we tried a roasted quail stuffed with Majon cheese and bacon covered with red wine and fig sauce. Thought it was good, the flavor was a little weak in comparison to the Dátiles Relleno flavor which packs such a punch. But the quail were very tender and tasty as they were.
We enjoyed a great temporanillo wine, Vina Sandasol 2004, that complimented each of the plates. It was clean, balanced and silky and made for a wonderful dining experience. The chef
is Grace Dinsmoor
I have been to Modesto many times and consider it to be one of the best dining spots in St. Louis. Though the menu offers some full course meals, the point of Modesto is in ordering the tapas. A tapas meal is great for a group of friends that want to share and enjoy the small plates. But it is equally appealing as a romantic dinner to share with the one you love.
The menu changes often with all the standard favorites, like Dátiles Relleno, which consists of bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cabrales cheese. The sweetness of the dates and the pungent cheese will leave you wanting more, but then that is the idea of small plates. You want to try them all while at the same time discovering that one favorite that wish was the entire meal. Another on of my favorites is the Pinchos de Cordero which consist of Moroccan-style grilled lamb kebabs with mint-yogurt sauce and tomato-onion salsa. My partner chose one of her favorites, the steamed mussels in a tangy sauce made of hard cider, chorizo and peppers. On the new side, we tried a roasted quail stuffed with Majon cheese and bacon covered with red wine and fig sauce. Thought it was good, the flavor was a little weak in comparison to the Dátiles Relleno flavor which packs such a punch. But the quail were very tender and tasty as they were.
We enjoyed a great temporanillo wine, Vina Sandasol 2004, that complimented each of the plates. It was clean, balanced and silky and made for a wonderful dining experience. The chef
is Grace Dinsmoor
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