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New Bevo Mill-area lounge The Parlour (4534 Gravois Ave.) has a beautifully restored and cleaned interior, featuring a striking recessed dome above the bar. Parlour Partner and General Manager Mike LaMartina said the dome actually has a “whispering arch” effect, like one of the famous arched entryways to St. Louis Union Station. You might just hear others’ conversations from across the room. “You gotta watch what you say sometimes,” joked LaMartina.
The soft-spoken LaMartina (who, by day, is also the Outreach Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity St. Louis) recently moved back to his StL stomping grounds from L.A., where he worked for a company that makes an absinthe-like liqueur called Le Tourment Vert (“The Green Torment”), as well for an entertainment-marketing agency. At the latter, he rubbed elbows with the likes of Sly Stallone, Hayden Panettiere, Miley Cyrus, Jamie Foxx, Nick Cannon, Paris Hilton, Chelsea Handler, Ludacris, the Kardashians, and on and on, he said.
Eventually, after sufficient mingling with the beautiful people, he knew it was time to work on some dreams of his own. “I’ve always worked in bars and restaurants, and been into cocktails, wine, and spirits,” he said. “Getting my own place was the next step.”
His place, the former Wicked Lady pub, specializes in cocktails based around local import Pearl Vodka. The “Berry Pucker” – made with Pearl Blueberry Vodka, a puree of raspberries and blueberries, mint leaves, house-made simple syrup, and soda water, and served on ice -- is extremely tart. (So pucker up, buttercup.) The “Aspen Fresh” is a strikingly sweet cucumber slurry made with Pearl Pomegranate Vodka, muddled cucumber slices, lime juice, and simple syrup.
The beer menu is pretty simple – just two rotating seasonal drafts (currently a Schlafly and an O’Fallon) and 23 bottles, about half of which are domestics.
“We’re in the middle of South City, in a Budwesier town,” said LaMartina. “At $6.50 for the most expensive drink on the menu, the cocktails are inexpensive, just like they should be – and nothing on the food menu is over ten dollars, either.”
That food menu is where The Parlour is attempting to tweak your expectations. The made-from-scratch toasted ravioli are jumbo-sized and round. Spinach and artichoke pastries are warm, creamy cheese with vegetable notes within four phyllo pockets, drizzled in a balsamic reduction. Grilled beef tenderloin kabobs (at left) are the big winner here and cooked to succulent perfection – if your brother-in-law made them at a barbecue, you’d be suspicious of how good they turned out. (“Come on, Larry, who marinated these for you, and what did they use?”) The tangy, house-made tzatziki dipping sauce for those kabobs has some Pearl Cucumber Vodka in it, LaMartina pointed out, incidentally.
Other notables include falafel, burgers, pizza, pulled-pork sandwiches, and a cheesesteak topped with American-cheese sauce, like the original.
A DJ is frequently umbilical-ed to his Mac in the corner, playing uptempo lounge, house, and other piques. The lighting is dim, and the booths are cozy.
The Parlour has moved into a fairly competitive stretch of Gravois Avenue. A few dozen pubs and clubs jockey for Southsiders’ beer money east and west of the new watering hole. Cheers to LaMartina on his new venture, and long may it run.
The Parlour 4534 Gravois Tues-Sat, 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday theparlourstl.com
