By Matthew Halverson
The concept alone at Vin de Set is enough to send your local militant Francophile purist into a beret-rending, merde-laced rant on the crass Americanization of all that is bon in western Europe: Take South-of-France cuisine, dial down the snooty quotient that makes it intimidating to the average Midwesterner—even if the joint is in a town founded by the French—by giving the entrées English names, and throw in a couple of dishes that should be palatable to just about every diner imaginable, regardless of the flag he or she might wave.
Those with a sense of humor and an appreciation of slightly revisionist French fare, though, will find the New York strip with peppercorn sauce just as tender and juicy as if it went by the proper nom de François, steak au poivre. And the fact that this exposed-brick–and–wood-beams bistro with a Hooked on Phonics name has a rooftop dining patio (there’s still time to enjoy it!) should soften even the fiercest French wench.
Bone appa teet, moanfrair.
2017 Chouteau, 314-241-8989, www.1111-m.com/vindeset. Hours: 5–10 p.m. Sun & Tue–Thu, 5 p.m.–midnight Fri & Sat.
