First Bite: Small Batch from St. Louis Magazine on Vimeo.
A 100 percent vegetarian menu? Sure, we’re fine with that. Small-batch whiskeys? Even more so. But a restaurant that pairs the two—willingly and lucidly—located in a Midwest river town? Only in the mind of Dave Bailey, who incidentally is batting a perfect four-for-four in the local restaurant game. Lead off with mushroom–and–blue cheese egg rolls with fig chutney, a heady matchup for any of 75 hand-selected whiskeys, served either neat or with a measure of water and a single ice cube. Follow with a fresh pasta or a veggified pho. While you’re there, explore the new mezzanine, with iron that’s as black as the Model T’s sold in this space a hundred years ago. Then observe the walls. Those that don’t have floor-to-ceiling windows are festooned with restored photos of Bailey’s family (all of them in period automobiles) or black-and-tan wallpaper that incorporates four disparate subjects: fire hydrants, rats, parking meters, and pigeons. The elements work surprisingly well together—just like vegetarian food and dark whiskey.
3001 Locust
Midtown
314-380-2040
Dinner Mon–Sat
