Review: 58hundred settles into a quiet corner of Southwest Garden with a warm vibe and accessible menu
Marc Del Pietro and Brian Doherty’s new South City restaurant could easily become a neighborhood favorite.
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Grilled petite tenderloin is served with horseradish potato gratin, grilled asparagus, mushrooms, and chimichurri.
The bartender pours Cynar into a measuring cup. “This is sort of the unofficial shot of San Diego,” he explains. “It’s called the Bronar. Since you said you like fernet and whiskey, I thought you’d dig this.” He slides me the drink in a gold-rimmed glass.
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
The long bar at 58hundred, Marc Del Pietro and Brian Doherty’s new South City restaurant, splits the space between the 25-seat bar area and 38-seat dining room. The understated décor incorporates Midcentury touches, from the vintage Danish highboy that serves as a wait station to the Eames-style Eiffel dining chairs to the Atomic Age side plates and barware. Wire votives and small pots of succulents dot the tables.
The menu’s eminently approachable, with no explanation of the ingredients or cooking techniques required. Icons identify vegetarian, vegan, wheat-free, and dairy-free dishes.
The house-smoked pork belly is carefully prepared, resulting in fork-tender meat and sweet, meltingly soft fat.
The Nashville pimiento cheese toast consists of thick slices of grilled country bread slathered with a fiery orange spread.
The Brussels sprout tacos—flash-fried sprouts, lime crema, tart pickled red onions, and toasted almonds cradled in flour tortillas—have quickly become a customer favorite.
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Brussel sprout tacos are served with lime crema, pickled red onions, and toasted almonds.
The aromatic smoke and vinegar beets are bracingly astringent with vinegar and piquant from chili oil, the clunky and modest root vegetables transformed into a stellar dish.
The Eliza Doolittle of vegetables, the charred broccoli, starts as a large hunk of stem and florets. Grilled long enough to give it a tender crunch, it’s graced with the perfect degree of char and dressed with lemon juice, chili oil, and garlic.
A baby greens salad is dressed with lemon quinoa, edamame, radish, feta, and a citrus vinaigrette.
The grilled petite tenderloin—served with a horseradish potato gratin, grilled asparagus, and a drizzle of chimichurri—displays the same caliber of protein prowess that customers have come to expect at The Block, Del Pietro’s butchery-focused restaurant in Webster Groves.
An inch-thick grilled pork chop is so tender and juicy, you might think it was brined. (In fact, it’s been butchered and grilled to order.) The accompanying braised cabbage, red potatoes, carrots, and sage–red wine reduction elevate the chop to exemplary comfort food.
An Amish half chicken, smoked and roasted, arrives with leek bread pudding, creamed orzo, and herb pesto.
Desserts were limited to two pie offerings: coconut cream and apple. Each is baked with skill, not overly sweet, and thoroughly satisfying.
Oh, and the Bronar?
It was delicious, intensely romantic, and delightly bitter—the type of drink worth a return visit.
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
