Photographs by Katherine Bish
After being informed that Coventry had just been bombed into a smoking pile of rubbish during World War II, Winston Churchill reportedly replied, “Let’s have lunch. Everything will be better after having lunch.” Quite so. The restorative effects of lunch should never be underestimated. They can be surpassed perhaps only in one way: Sleeping in so late that the concept of breakfast becomes moot and lunch is taken leisurely (though soon) enough to qualify as brunch.
We in St. Louis want our Sunday brunches to resemble our rush-hour traffic: slow, plentiful and with just the right combination of the expected and the “now where the hell’d that come from?” We have some great brunch places all over the area. You could find them yourself, but that spirit of initiative seems at odds with the happily idling nature of a good brunch. So sit back, have another cup of coffee and put off the morning’s shower to check out the brunch offerings we’ve found. Just be sure you pick one that will leave you enough time for that critically important afternoon nap.
Duff’s
Duff’s does not lay out a buffet on Sunday morning; instead, a special brunch menu with regular service is available Saturday and Sunday morning from 10 a.m. to noon. One is thus spared the rigors of having to actually gather one’s own sustenance. It’s not a bad idea. Duff’s is exceedingly comfortable and a great place for people-watching. Spared the toil of serving yourself, you can relax and get the day off to the sort of slothful start it deserves. You can also enjoy some excellent food at this Central West End place—long a local gathering spot. Beef tenderloin tips, mushrooms and onions are fluffed into a satisfyingly big omelet. Eggs Benedict get a piquant, Creole-spiced Choron sauce (it’s a Hollandaise with tomato purée) that adds a new dimension to this breakfast favorite. Cinnamon-raisin French toast, charbroiled beef tenderloin with eggs, bagels gloriously topped with a schmear of dill-flecked cream cheese and smoked salmon—if you can’t find something on this menu, you’re not hungry. The peppermint ice cream pie with its chocolate cookie crust, airy meringue and a drizzle of hot fudge may be the perfect finish to a brunch.
Tip: In good weather, an outside table at Duff’s for brunch is splendidly enjoyable.
The Provinces
(at the Frontenac Hilton)
One of the consistently underrated restaurants in St. Louis, The Provinces is a haven of formal and elegant dining in mid-County. Plush and comfortable chairs, immaculate starched linen tablecloths and widely separated tables promote a gracious dining experience too often overlooked by natives. On Sundays, the brunch is a distinct change from the more boisterous offerings at some other places—the atmosphere is quiet and subdued. If some of your Saturday nights are like ours, the change is not only refreshing, but positively blissful. Seafood pastas, stuffed chicken with a white wine sauce, beef, ham and shrimp all compete for your attention with corned beef hash, Belgian waffles, big slabs of French toast and cheese grits. A gravy thick with chunks of sausage is ready for slathering over fresh biscuits. The kitchen frequently takes chances with decidedly non-standard buffet fare, such as duck in orange sauce and osso buco. Desserts include more than a dozen varieties of cakes and pies.
Don’t miss: The mimosas, or a constantly changing juice mix with, for example, mango and strawberry one week, orange and pineapple the next.
Mélange
If Duff’s is among the grande dames of the Central West End, Mélange, only about a year old, is the hot new babe with piercings in places you never considered pierceable. The interior, with its provocative cinnabar walls, is hip and sleek. No matter what appetite the weekend finds you with, chances are Mélange’s brunch has you covered. Those longing for life, or at least breakfast, down on the farm will be comforted with a country-fried steak, eggs, hash browns and grits, or buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy paired with a couple of eggs. Feeling a little more cosmopolitan? How about huevos rancheros, tortillas topped with eggs, a chorizo sausage and tomato sauce and wonderfully gloppy queso blanco? Or a bevy of eggs Benedict: a Florentine version uses brioche slices topped with smoked salmon, a spinach cream sauce and poached eggs; another uses crab and langoustine cakes and a Hollandaise sauce with eggs. Still another pairs English muffins with eggs and filet mignon. Brioche is split and stuffed with ingredients that change weekly, then griddle-seared for an amazingly rich French toast. The same brioche is layered with thick slabs of ham and Gruyère cheese, then dipped in batter and grilled, a classic croque monsieur.
Don’t miss: The Bellini, a bubbly concoction of champagne, puréed peaches and peach Schnapps.
Yia Yia’s Eurocafe
A darling of the far West County dining scene, Yia Yia’s is a good example of one of the more successful trends in the restaurant trade. It’s part of a large chain, but one in which individual owners are given considerable latitude in designing everything from the menu to the interior. A highlight of a Sunday here is the constantly changing fish course. One week it will be roasted sea bass. The next, it’s salmon. Preparations are inventive and inevitably accompanied by unparalleled side dishes like fragrant basmati rice. Flaky biscuits and milk gravy will delight those who find this down-home combination a sojourn to culinary nostalgia-ville. Eggs Benedict are worthy. Platters of antipasti enliven the meal, along with generous selections of salads and cold pasta. In addition to the omelet station, slabs of juicy, pink prime rib are carved right before your carnivorous gaze. Desserts include chunks of chocolate cake, cheesecakes and, most tantalizing, all the rich and custardy flan you dare eat. If you’re planning to make a left turn from Yia Yia’s onto Olive, be sure to eat extra hearty since your efforts at this ridiculously complex intersection will be time-consuming and energetic.
Don’t miss: Did we mention the prime rib?
Bristol Bar & Grill
The look at this popular Creve Coeur eatery is a cross between an English pub and a men’s club, only without the awful football songs or cadaverous old guys sitting motionless in overstuffed chairs. The dark wood paneling, plush booths and chairs and sconce lighting create an atmosphere that’s both formal and inviting. It’s wildly popular as a destination for seafood during the rest of the week; on Sunday, a buffet is rolled out that brings regulars who rave about this distinguished meal. Seating is sufficient, so wait time is kept to a minimum. The expected spread—glazed ham, scrambled eggs, hash browns and sausage—occupies a large central buffet table. But some surprises, including pot roast and gravy, cheese blintzes with a syrupy blueberry sauce and a cioppino studded with fresh seafood, make Bristol’s buffet even more worthwhile. For those inexplicably drawn to cheese grits, this is the place to feed your addiction. Among the desserts, at least a taste of the key lime tarts and the house-made carrot cake are mandatory. Note that in addition to the regular dining, two private rooms, one for small and another for larger groups, are available.
Go for: The buckets of cold boiled crawfish—not quite as spicy as you’d find in a good Cajun place, but every bit as plentiful and delicious.
Meriwether’s
When it comes to the best brunch view, Meriwether’s wins hands down. The History Museum’s second-story restaurant has floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Forest Park’s magnificent new golf course, with a view clear up to the crest of Art Hill. In the restaurant, it’s all pleasant blond wood and green linen tablecloths, light and open. The fare includes a well-appointed omelet station along with plenty of traditional breakfast fare—bacon, scrambled eggs and waffles. But Meriwether’s also shows a flair for the creative. The weekend we went, there was a Middle Eastern accent, with tubs of hummus and baba ghanouj along with several good breads and crackers for spreading. A big smoked salmon held center stage, flanked by pasta salads and hefty bowls of boiled shrimp. A dessert table in the rear laden with cakes and rolls seems almost an afterthought. The setup at Meriwether’s is thoughtful, with food stations spread out—including some right in the middle of the dining area—so there’s rarely too long a line in any one place. The overall space, however, is not particularly large, so you can expect a wait if you arrive much after 11 a.m.
Note: The omelet station is situated off to the side, so crowds around it are kept to a minimum. A deft chef and a nice selection of ingredients make for quick and tasty work.
The Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton
The Sunday brunch buffet at The Ritz must be Calista Flockhart’s personal version of hell. There are larger spreads, true, and a few that are almost as elegant. But what really sets this fabled brunch destination apart is the almost unbelievable quality of the food. One enters through a hall that’s a Fortress of Dessert. Banks of chocolaty iced opera cakes. Rows of martini glasses filled with puddings and flavor combinations such as apple and caramel or passion fruit and coconut. A manned crêpe station, fully loaded with blueberries, strawberries and gobs of fluffy cream. In the dining area, tables are spread out in such a way that new delights seem to appear around every corner. Here it’s bamboo steamers filled with shumai dumplings, spring rolls and pot stickers. There it’s a banquet of cold meats and sausages with a lavish assortment of pickled vegetables and olives. A walk around a circular table reveals platters of oysters, mussels, big stone crab claws, shrimp and rings of wrapped sushi. Two kinds of caviar with crumbles of boiled eggs and all the other traditional sides, along with toast points, epitomize the level of comestible luxury. Main courses change; a typical table features offerings such as chipotle and maple syrup-glazed chicken with sweet potatoes, rock shrimp risotto fritters, pan-roasted marlin and lobster-stuffed ravioli with a crawfish and cream sauce. The surroundings, not surprisingly, are lavish and expansive—unfailingly first-rate. The place is ballroom big, with tables widely separated, linens crisp and starched, all as beautifully formal as a buffet can be. Sunday at The Ritz is one of the most extraordinary eating experiences in St. Louis.
LuLu Seafood Restaurant
If a leisurely brunch is the epitome of civilized dining, then a long Sunday spent sampling Chinese dim sum must be counted among the great brunches anywhere. The antithesis of fast food, time spent at a dim sum meal must always be counted in hours rather than minutes. Go with a group and eat and talk and eat some more. At LuLu, perhaps the premier dim sum restaurant in the area, temptation comes in the form of carts rolled directly from the kitchen, loaded with dozens of authentic and top-quality dim sum. Take what you like, and take your time. There are the familiar offerings, including spareribs in black bean sauce and Shanghai-style dumplings, their insides filled with pork and savory broth. (Hold them on a big spoon and nip the skin with your teeth to suck out the broth before eating.) More exotic dim sum include woo gok, taro dumplings filled with pork and deep-fried; har gao, rice noodles stuffed with shrimp, sweet pork and rice steamed in fragrant lotus leaves; and shiaolong bao, incredibly flavorful steamed dumplings filled with pork and crabmeat.
Tip: Order a bowl of congee rice porridge on the side to keep you from eating too much of the dim sum too fast, and drink plenty of tea, which dim sum was created to accompany.
Locations
Meriwether’s: Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell, 314-361-7313
Bristol Bar & Grill: 11801 Olive, 314-567-0272
LuLu Seafood Restaurant: 8224 Olive, 314-997-3108
Yia Yia’s Eurocafe: 15601 Olive, 636-537-9991
Duff’s: 392 N. Euclid, 314-361-0522
Mélange: 512 N. Euclid, 314-361-8883
The Provinces: Frontenac Hilton Hotel, 1335 S. Lindbergh, 314-993-1100
The Restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton: 100 Carondelet, 314-863-6300
