10 memories of the St. Louis dining scene in 2021

A dining critic's reflections on the year that was.

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If Federico Fellini had scripted a scene involving an earthquake, a dumpster fire, and that episode where Lucy and Ethel go crazy on the pie assembly line, it might have approached capturing the nature of the past year of public dining, both nationally and here in St. Louis. 

It has been, in a word, a slice.

Nonetheless, there were some moments worth remembering and even savoring. Restaurateurs, cooks, and dishwashers, servers, and those valets who hardly ever lose your car permanently worked incredibly hard so we could continue stuffing our noodle chutes over the past year. In looking back, there were culinary highlights from 2021.

1. The Blood Sausage at Asador del Sur: The dish is nothing like what you'd imagine. It’s delicate and textured, resembling a savory dark, rich pudding. Pay a visit to the new Maplewood restaurant, specializing in South American fare, and you'll become an instant fan. It was unquestionably the best hemoglobin-based dish we had this year. 

2. The Smell of Breakfast at Have A Cow Cattle Company: When we stopped into the South City restaurant for breakfast, it was like stepping into a charming diner in some little burg where the locals gather for eggs, bacon, flapjacks, and gossip. It’s light and airy, and the faint perfume of wood smoke from the fireplace adds the perfect touch. It easily wins our award for Best Smelling Restaurant of 2021. The atmosphere is inviting and relaxed, the kind of place where there’s always time for just one more cup of coffee. The cinnamon rolls are a testament to glorious caloric excess.

3. The Legacy of Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmet: We reviewed Chef Ma’s less than a month or so before the chef’s untimely death. We first tried his extraordinary take on Chinese cuisine when he took over a former Taco Bell space in Overland, where the “real” menu was printed entirely in Chinese. He moved to the new digs on Page and added English translations to the menu, but the quality and astonishing authenticity of the specialties remained the same. Golden yolk pumpkin nuggets, fish stew, Hainan chicken.. We enjoyed every bite. What could be just another Chinese-Americanized joint is elevated to a connoisseur’s destination. We do our share of dining on Chinese fare, and this place was the year’s best.

4. The Sourdough at Botanica: We miss the bread that was once a lagniappe at so many restaurants, and we can understand the cost-cutting measures that eliminated it so often now. So we had to pay for the sourdough slabs at Botanica, the new place in Wildwood. But that crusty, lightly toasted bread, with a ramekin of smooth lardo that defines luscious onctueux, along with a dust of salted dried herbs, has set a bread standard for every other place in town.

5. The Sizzle at Chuck’s Nashville Hot Chicken and Southern: Nashville-style hot chicken has become the object of a cult following. It affords an addiction that takes enthusiasts on a ride that veers between pleasure and pain. Several places excel locally. Few are as unpretentious as the iteration (pictured above) at the Chuck's flagship in Maryland Heights, which basically consists of a window at a pizza take-out joint. The sandwiches are big and crunchy on the outside, juicy and tender inside. And that incendiary sauce, which ranges from serious to life-threatening? First-rate.

On a related note, we also got to watch a friend who’d never been to Southern in Midtown bite into a chicken thigh. It was the mildest version, the one that Southern calls “hotter than you think.” It was like watching your kid open a present on Christmas morning, not one the kid expected but something marvelous and entirely new. You can watch the kid’s expression as it goes from confusion to engagement to rapturous excitement. We watched the dawning of pure happiness, the observed sensation of “where has this been all my life?” Then we ordered another thigh, this one “Cluckin’ Hot,” just to give him a sample of the culinary equivalent of Krampus.

6. The Stack Salad at Napoli III: The new restaurant at the Streets of St. Charles exceeded all expectations—and given our previous experiences at Café Napoli and Napoli 2, those expectations were pretty steep. The interior is laid-back cool, the service impeccable—even the dinnerware here has style. What we didn’t expect, though, was the Stack Salad. We all know most salads are the warm-up act for the main event. Yet sometimes, like when Fauré opened for Wagner, the starter steals the show. That’s exactly what happened when we tucked into this vertical tribute to insalata, a tower of fried eggplant, fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, roasted peppers, basil threads, and balsamic vinegar. You don’t eat it so much as deconstruct it. It's easily the best salad we had this year.

7. The Tradition of Tony’s: Come on. What else do you need to say? There was much buzz when Tony’s left its moorings downtown and found a new berth in Clayton. Would it be the same? The answer: no. Tony’s lost a bit of that elegant urban cool. It succeeded perfectly, though, in bringing all of the class and verve—plus that magnificent sautéed Dover sole with lemon sauce. There are places that can never live up to the hype, and there are places like Tony’s that surpass it.

8. The Leisurely Pace at Tai Ke Shabu Shabu: We enjoyed the most leisurely night of the past year at this gem in Olivette. Go with the friends or family you want to spend time with. The broth pots slowly bubble to the boil. You dunk everything on the table in it and swirl it in the amazing sauces. You just keep eating and adding. And the food’s a mélange of flavors and textures—fried tofu, sliced pork, squid, Taiwanese cabbage—that just don’t allow you to quit.

9. The Scenery at Root Food + Wine: On a midsummer evening, we drove through the vineyard-covered hills and valleys of the Augusta region, with the sun blazing all the green even brighter, the shadows cool. We were traveling there for dinner at Root Food + Wine, easily the most picturesquely situated restaurant that we visited this year. Situated in an early 20th century converted house, it's surrounded by gardens with brick paths. The interior is alive with charm. The food’s inventive and not in that annoying, fussy faux-garde sense of the word but in honest, imaginative cooking. “Pastoral” is an odd way to describe a meal, but it’s perfectly appropriate for this outstanding restaurant.

10. The Memories of Balducci’s: One evening this past year—we can't remember when exactly, because we'd go so often—we strolled down the steps to the basement where Balducci’s had been serving locals for close to half a century. It immediately conveyed the atmosphere of an essential neighborhood hangout: the checkered tablecloths, the cozy booths, the family-size tables, the staff that seemed to know everyone... We had what we usually did, that spectacular salad with Balducci’s signature Mayfest dressing, along with some of those Club crackers in their clear plastic wrapping. We didn’t realize it would be the last time we’d have it. Perhaps its successor, the soon-to-come Lalo's Pizza Grill, will maintain the charm and a recipe or two, but we’ll never take Balducci’s for granted again—and that goes for a whole heck of a lot of other eateries we lost this year.

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