Tripel in the Lafayette Square Neighborhood

Friday evening, we met some friends at Tripel, the relatively new Belgian inspired restaurant located at 1801 Park Ave.  Since we were early, we decided to try one of their classic cocktails after first perusing their extensive Belgian beer list.  The list can be long as there are around 450 breweries in the small country that is about the size of Rhode Island. But instead of beer, we went for two of their signature drinks. I had something called the Smoke Wagon which is bourbon, Amaro, maple, and bitters. It is poured into a glass containing molded ice and the smoke is from a Chai plum tea. I was able to remove the top glass when I had it smoked to taste and really enjoyed the drink as a lover of smoky whiskies. But it was a bit of a short pour considering the price. My wife had a Clouds Over Manhattan, which is made with white whisky, blanc vermouth, orange bitters and a topping of Cointreau-Cognac foam.

Once our friends arrived, we were seated in the very impressive dining room. It is very old school and traditional with wood and classic architectural touches throughout.  Our friends ordered the terrine as a starter which was chicken liver and was very nice. We all had the French onion soup which was very classic, thick but not overly cheesy. My wife and I split an order of mussels (Moules Specialite Maison) which were cooked in a blue cheese and calvados broth. They were tasty, rich and really nicely done. I am now anxious to go back and try the other mussel variations on the menu. We had a nice and decently priced French wine, a 2012 Mas Des Bressaudes. I was quite impressed and expect we will be back soon so that I continue this review. I will skip the cocktails then and maybe try to taste a chocolate dessert as it is Belgian after all.

Eleven Eleven

I have always enjoyed Eleven Eleven because their menu in the past has included wild game which I like. They consider themselves a blend of rustic Italian/Tuscan with a modern California sensibility.  So we made Open Table reservations and decided to stop in for dinner on our way to see Pink perform at the Scottrade Center. Our first pleasant surprise was the realization that the date was 11-11 and so it was the final day of the restaurant celebrating their 10 year anniversary. Upon being seated, we started with complimentary champagne (a really nice dry rose) that came in fantastic wine glasses that we were able to keep. 

The next piece of good news was that they had an old favorite back on the menu. One of the few places that has ever done rabbit, they serve the hindquarters braised in a marsala sauce and served with a goat cheese polenta. It was quite tasty and not gamey at all. The rabbit was truly so mild that I might have thought it was chicken. But there is a texture difference and it is a little drier. Another bonus was that they were offering two options, a red or a white bottle of wine for $10. I was skeptical and almost went with a more expensive bottle but am I ever glad we didn't. It was a Nero D’Avola from Sicily and it was the best Sicilian wine I have ever had. It was smooth with nice tannins and it really balanced the rabbit. My wife had the fennel crusted pork tenderloin and gave it rave reviews as well. It was served with sweet potato gnocchi, pancetta, kale, corn, and a bourbon apple glaze. The pork tenderloin is  a regular menu item. http://www.1111-m.com/

Eleven Eleven is part of a chain of restaurants now offering a dining card  called St. Louis Originals. It is a network of locally owned restaurants. 

El Tapatio Review

I recently had dinner at El Tapatio, located at 3279 Hampton in South City. It is near Bayer's Garden Supplies. The location is a former Indian Restaurant and before that may have been a Pizza Hut. The sign bills it as authentic Mexican and certainly the neighborhood as become prolific with all sort of variations of "authentic Mexican". I usually assume that means the owners/cooks are indeed from Mexico but they almost always adapt the food of their home to American tastes.

To start, the menu was quite impressive and didn't feature some well know items but either with different ingredients or a slightly varied presentation. The prices ran from $7.99 on up but there were plenty of options for less than $10. I did notice that a side of  sour cream was 99 cents but it was a generous proportion.

The real deal of the night were the $1.99 margaritas which were billed as lime margaritas and I was expecting an overly sweet, light on tequila drink but instead it was quite tasty and actually much better than a similarly billed margarita I once had in Tijuana Mexico.

I ordered the El Tapatio special, which is a chicken burrito and chicken enchilada topped with lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream and real slices of avocado.  It was very good, though it was hard to tell which was the burrito. The only complaint was that the lettuce was just a tad watery.

My wife ordered the burrito California, which was served stuffed with either chicken or beef and topped with a white cheese sauce. It came with rice. She really enjoyed it and finished every bite.

As I said earlier, the menu was intriguing and I will be back so look for more updates.