Cleaver & Cocktail pairs dry-aged steak and spirits in Town & Country

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

A 90-day aged ribeye, chimichurri and baby arugula.

This article appeared in the September 2022 issue of St. Louis Magazine, under the title "Terrific Tandem."

Ever wonder if dry-aged steak is worth the price? Introduce a forkful of ribeye to your mouth at Cleaver & Cocktail, and you’ll have the answer: It’s a revelation, veal-tender and marbled with rendered fat.

There are some extraordinary steak joints in St. Louis, and the meats, dry-aged in house at this new spot in Town & Country are up there. And there’s a whole lot more to recommend at this restaurant, from the owners of 58hundred in Southwest Garden and The Block in Webster Groves.

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Courtesy of Cleaver & Cocktail

Courtesy of Cleaver & Cocktail

The space is cavernous, a beautiful post-and-beam barn architecture. Massive overhead timbers make you feel like you’re dining at a Rocky Mountain lodge. A long, split-trunk Nakashima-style table running parallel to the bar is the most beautiful décor we’ve seen all year in an eating space. A constellation of luminous globes forms a sparkling, stretched chandelier that emits a soft glow. Small glass water tumblers are a uniform pale green, the only color contrast in the building, creating a subtle, pleasant effect. The dinnerware is simple, elegant, and functional.

Courtesy of Cleaver & Cocktail

Expansive windows take up the entire back of the space, which overlooks a pond and park-like slopes with trails that invite leisurely postprandial excursions. The attached back patio is particularly enjoyable, situated in full shade by early evening.

Get the party started with a duo of seared scallops, arranged with asparagus spears, creamed leeks, and a magnificent heap of lump crab, shiny with a citrus-kissed brown butter. A moule a savarin of tuna tartare—the fish minced and mixed with chopped apples, radish, and celery—is fresh and crispy and fine for heaping on toast slices, but the smear of curry cream perfects the dish.

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

Pan-roasted halibut with roasted potatoes, peppers, and a tomato fennel broth.

Few fish are more frequently overcooked than halibut, but here it’s roasted luscious and flaky, served atop buttery mashed potatoes and a spoon of saffron broth. It’s one of the best fish dishes we’ve recently sampled. Roast chicken is often the definitive commentary on a kitchen’s talents; at Cleaver & Cocktail, it’s a success, smoked so a woodsy tang permeates the meat, with a side of braised broccoli.

Courtesy of Cleaver & Cocktail

The dry-aging room at Cleaver & Cocktail

Then there’s that dry-aged beef. There are four cuts, from a daunting 24-ounce porterhouse to the aforementioned 16-ounce ribeye. The flavor is concentrated, and the texture is rendered to a beefy succulence by the aging process. These cuts are first-rate. The restaurant takes a traditional steakhouse-style approach to the meat, so the ribeye arrives by its lonesome, without garnishes or sides, which are sold separately. Garlic herb fries; sautéed mushrooms with shallots, thyme, and truffle oil; potatoes roasted in beef fat—you won’t be disappointed in any of them.

A Manhattan was eminently sippable—the bar is already earning a reputation for its talents. The Toad Hollow unoaked chardonnay is lovely with the halibut. For the dry-aged steak, you can’t go wrong with a Paul Hobbs wine; the 2019 Napa Valley cabernet has sufficient tannins to cut that fatty, rich flavor. (One quibble: The wine glasses are perfectly sized if you’re drinking by the gallon—it’s a glass, not a flagon.)

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Photography by Kevin A. Roberts

The interior at Cleaver & Cocktail.

Despite sitting close enough that our knees touched, communication was reduced to lipreading. Given the intersection of an aging population and the proliferation of Thunderdome eateries, how long before diners speak to one another entirely via cell phone?

Dinner at C&C is, we suspect, a look at the future of upscale dining. Anyone who eats is aware of the obstacles in the dining industry: food costs, labor shortages, supply issues… Cleaver & Cocktail is handling these challenges as well as can be expected. At many restaurants, prices are creeping, sometimes charging, upward. Not long ago, a full dinner for two would have been less expensive than the dry-aged porterhouse. Yet the menu’s high-ticket items are few, offset by numerous moderate offerings.

The emphasis is also less on show and more on thoughtful preparations that highlight the essence of the food. In that sense, Cleaver & Cocktail may not be just a new restaurant but a new way of dining.