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Where in St. Louis can you find the most comforting mashed potatoes? —Bill P., Washington, DC
We should note that the questioner preceded this question with, “It’s been a stressful last couple of months in these parts.” Indeed. And it’s no secret that comfort food is a proven destresser and that mashed potatoes are high on the list of America’s favorite comfort food.
The most popular side on Thanksgiving tables? Yep, mashed potatoes. They’re also incredibly easy to make from scratch (save the potato flakes for thickening soups and gravies). The add-ins are also endless: garlic, horseradish, scallions, chives, sour cream, whipping cream, any mild to pungent cheese... One relative’s version made with cream cheese and ridiculous amounts of butter is ridiculously good as well.
Before we get into recommendations at specific restaurants, though, a few members of SLM’s dining team had some opinions:
Ann Lemons Pollack: “It needs to taste like potato. Garlic is nice but not a component of highest-level mashed potato. Yukon Golds are probably the best: They mash well, have good flavor, and there's the bonus of that creamy color. Butter is pretty well essential, but I won't go to the mat over the question of how much milk and potato water (i.e., the ratio) to add. I grew up with all milk, but the water (if concentrated) can enhance the potatoey-ness. And, in general, I don't order them out; I was disappointed too many times when I was younger, and reviews of mashed potatoes are not what people are reading restaurant reviews for.”
Bill Burge: “If we're going to opine, then we should be opining for the mashed potatoes that Steve Gontram made at Harvest, with creme fraiche and more butter and milk than you'd ever imagine. RIP.”
And now, the recommendations…
Bill Burge: “Aren't the best mashed potatoes in town just a little thinned-down and called Annie Gunn's Potato Soup? Then again, there’s Gallagher's. Those potatoes settle into your belly like a 10-pound comfort baby.”
Dave Lowry: “If the cumulus pillows of potato puree at Brasserie by Niche could actually rain, there would be showers of pure butter. The mound of braised beef and gravy barely do the job of holding the golden puffs of carbohydrate goodness on the plate. They were once kept earthbound by Brasserie's exquisite cod brandade; if life was even remotely fair, this dish would be once again on the menu. Mashed potatoes of this calibre, this felicitous confluence of starch and dairy, are waiting to catch us in all their rich and embracing loveliness when we take a tumble and need to land in our happy place.”
Personally, my vote goes to an iteration recently experienced at Café Provencal, a French, way-buttery indulgence that straddled a roasted lamb shank. The add-ins at Russell’s on Macklind include roasted garlic and buttermilk. At Juniper, red potatoes are whipped and served with “pot likker” gravy. Chefs at The Block also whip their mashers but use Yukon Golds. At Farmhaus, one preparation is a mash-up of Idaho and sweet potatoes. The Parkmoor’s Frank Romano combines peeled Yukon Golds with unpeeled baby reds (“better flavor and texture,” he says), adds “a ton” of butter and heavy cream, and “copious amounts” of salt and pepper. At The Scottish Arms, the favored combination is potatoes and parsnips, which lend a slightly yellow cast. (A distant cousin is the traditional Scottish dish “neeps and tatties.”)
And it’s a pretty safe bet that the restaurants known for fried chicken serve respectable mashed potatoes as well. At Southern, Yukon Golds are mashed by hand with butter, salt, milk, and whipping cream, and they're served with a house-made chicken stock gravy that includes garlic and thyme. (By the way, it's worth noting that the comfort-food destination located next to the Pappy's in Midtown reopened its dining room yesterday.)
Grace Meat + Three's Rick Lewis responded with a tutorial: "Over the years we’ve used red potatoes, Yukon Golds, and russets. We've grown to love good ol' russet potatoes because of its high starch, really low moisture content, and very potatoey flavor. We start them in cold water with lots of aromatics like bay leaf and thyme, bring them to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer until just tender (overboiling causes water-logged potatoes and loss of starch). They can be skin-on or off; we prefer skin-on. We pull out the aromatics and then gently whip them in a paddle mixer with melted garlic butter and heavy cream. Combining fat and starch makes the magic happen. Then we season with a little black pepper and generously with sea or Kosher salt."
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