St Louis Magazine / May 2008 / First Look - SLeeK

First Look - SLeeK

For many St. Louisans, Lumière Place was a “Where is it?” mystery until they flipped on those lights. Four months and six restaurants later, the evaluation may now begin. For our money, the odds-on restaurant favorite is the last to open: SLeeK, the flagship steakhouse and second restaurant at Lumière for master chef and PBS fave Hubert Keller (Burger Bar was his first). Run your fingers across the unpolished granite bar surfaces in anticipation of the light but deep lobster cappuccino. Within, Keller sets a rustic-masculine table: heavy, heavy flatware rests on fine, fine butcher-block tops (you’ll covet the giant teardrop spoons). Slick and chic (sleek?) sueded curtains with slinky cutouts brilliantly provide near-seclusion, so go ahead and spoon-feed the chef’s legendary chocolate soufflé to your dining partner. Did you forget this is a steakhouse? Keller didn’t. SLeeK’s the only house in town to offer imported Japanese Wagyu—true Kobe beef—as well as the hybrid American Kobe. If it’s a superstition that the last player to arrive dominates the poker game, call me superstitious.