Photograph by Kevin A. Roberts
Frazer’s Restaurant & Lounge
Benton Park
1811 Pestalozzi
314-773-8646, frazergoodeats.com
Lunch Mon–Fri, dinner Mon–Sat
Average Main Course: $15
Reservations: On the weekends, just to be safe
Dress: Jeans to jackets
Chef: Frazer Camero
Can it really have been about 20 years since Frazer Cameron began dishing up food on Pestalozzi Street? Expanded twice and with a kitchen whose immense windows open onto the street (no secrets here), Frazer’s Restaurant & Lounge has traveled far from its casual early days. While the “Traveling Brown Bag” description and School of Serious Funk decor is gone, there are signs of Cameron’s interests in travel—and food—everywhere.
Plenty of old favorites remain, including the meatloaf and a pear-and-endive salad, which probably go back to the restaurant’s opening day. If your favorite dish seems to have vanished, just ask—it might still be available. One menu stalwart is a salad of seared, lightly smoked duck breast and marinated, roasted portobello mushroom, sliced and arranged over greens dressed lightly with a balsamic vinaigrette. Hearty enough to be a lunch entrée, it’s a lovely combination of flavors, textures, and temperatures. The New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, for those who haven’t tried them, are not actually barbecued; they’re popped under a broiler after being dressed with garlic, a mélange of spices, and a generous amount of butter. Frazer’s serves the shrimp without the shell, accompanied by a piece of toasted bread to mop up the succulent juices. No flames emanate from the dish, just a mellow to moderate amount of heat, and lots of shrimp flavor.
Although the meatloaf is always tempting—along with the sweet potato–and–spinach enchilada—it was the pork tenderloin that won our hearts. Several large, moist pieces arrived in a dark pan sauce, a white wine–and–shallot reduction. Spinach, sautéed in a good amount of garlic, and tender, steak fry–sized sweet potato fries were served alongside. The spinach was good, but the pork was remarkable. Then there was the Moroccan tilapia, whose mild flavor rode on the shoulders of charmoula, a seasoning mixture that varies from one North African kitchen to the next, but always includes—as it does here—cumin, garlic, and lemon, along with cinnamon. The spice’s aroma sets the stage for what’s to come: fish poached in a rich, seasoned broth served over couscous studded with raisins and almonds. Harissa, a thick sauce served alongside, adds a spicy kick.
About the only flaw in the bread pudding, covered with a deeply boozy bourbon sauce, is its inconsistency—not from visit to visit, but in the single serving we had. We’d have preferred the chocolate be more evenly distributed, so every bite has a little of that brownie-out-of-the-oven feel. Nonetheless, the dessert remains one of our favorites. The fruit crisp du jour with an oatmeal–brown sugar topping, on the other hand, was too heavy on the topping. The promised apple-blueberry filling showed little apple and no apparent blueberry.
The wine list seems to grow every time we visit; this night, a Barbera worked nicely with the pork. Service is alert, and you should be as well: The people-watching ranges from the young and tattooed to the not-so-young, moneyed suburbanite crowd.
The Bottom Line: Frazer’s maintains a steady course, unlike its larger neighbor to the east.
By Joe and Ann Pollack
