Relish

It probably came as no surprise.

When Balaban's wine cellar & tapas bar owner Steve McIntyre was back at the original Cafe Balaban in the CWE, he won Wine Spectator awards for 15 consecutive years. After a hiatus, and moving lock, stock, and cellar to Chesterfield, that streak may now begin anew.

This year, in its August 31 issue (the 30th Restaurant Awards issue, by the way), Wine Spectator doled out 37 Awards of Excellence in Missouri, 20 of those in St. Louis. Of the 37, nine received higher awards (so called Best of Award of Excellence) and four of those were local (Truffle's, Monarch, Gerard's, Annie Gunn's). Missouri did not receive any Grand Awards, WS's highest commendation (there are 74 in the world, 48 in the U.S.).      

It should be noted that besides winning an Award Of Excellence, Balaban's was also lauded as a restaurant that features inexpensive wine pricing. It so happens that Balaban's is one of few local restaurants that doubles as a retail wine store, and even its prices are reasonable. (Just the other night a customer, after drinking some Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio at dinner, took several bottles home, noting that Balabans' price was cheaper than Costco's.) 

Another fact worth mentioning: Balaban's customers pay the same retail price for wine whether they dine in the restaurant or buy bottles to take home. There is a restaurant corkage fee of $8, but that becomes an even better deal as the price of a wine increases. Relish doubts if there is another area restaurant that could or would offer such high-caliber wines (the "library wines" from the original Balaban's cellar) at such reasonable prices. Take advantage.