Photograph by Katherine Bish
Review: Quintessential
149 N. Main
St. Charles
636-443-2211
Lunch and dinner daily
Average Main Course: $19
Dress: Stylish, like you’re ready for a relaxing stroll
down old Main Street after dinner
Reservations: Worthwhile on weekends
Chefs: Robert Bryant and Nick Sammelman
You’ll play in the sink.
The restrooms’ stone sinks, carved to resemble a 3-D topological chart, are irresistible. And they’re only one detail in the extraordinary interior at Quintessential, the hot new eatery on old Main Street in St. Charles. The chic, stylish interior exhibits an impressive array of textures: thick drapes, pebbly walls, tile and wood floors, and a magnificent concrete bar upstairs. A lot of time and attention—and money—has gone into making this one of the most beautiful eateries in the area. A large, attractive bar dominates one side. Tables and banquette seating are comfortable; the atmosphere suggests “lounge,” but stops far short of that cheesy line where “smooth” becomes “swanky.” When local bears aren’t in hibernation under the snow that’s likely on the roof right now, the patio there is fun and lively. In warmer months, the patio’s tented ceilings and cozy covered lounges, along with a giant
outdoor TV screen, are a natural gathering spot for the single/mingle crowd.
So how about the food? It’s good. Quintessential’s menu offers just enough temptations to tantalize, but not so many they overwhelm. And there’s a balance between white-tablecloth restaurant fare and sports-bar food. Recommendation: Ignore those chicken-wing, potato-skin, cream cheese–wonton appetizers,
and opt for the more serious starters. Mushrooms sautéed soft in butter and piled on crisp crostini, topped with Parmesan shavings, taste as good as they look. Mild, roasted garlic and sesame-scented tahini play nicely together in a hummus of chickpeas and black beans swirled with feta, just right for scooping with warm triangles of pita. A paper cone of tempura-encrusted green beans is simple and satisfying, its light soy-sauce dip touched with orange. The soup du jour on our visit was a lovely chowder studded with salmon and corn niblets—rich, aromatic, and savory. Salads carry a C-plus average: A retro iceberg wedge is splattered with blue cheese; a light dressing tops a chopped Caesar. The best bet is a poached pear–and–spinach combination, sprinkled with blue cheese and pine nuts.
Main courses demonstrate flair and quality ingredients. Beef tenderloin is laid out in medallions, with dollops of garlic mashed potatoes squeezed in between. The beef is tender and flavorful, enlivened by a silky demi-glace of mushrooms and Marsala. The same potatoes work just as well with a 12-ounce New York strip that is worthy of the old Palace Steakhouse that was once housed at this location. (The name’s inlaid in tile at the entrance.)
The mashed potatoes costar, too, with half a roast chicken. An infallible test of any kitchen, the chicken comes from the oven with skin toasty brown, the meat plump and juicy and just done, constituting a splendid, bistro-
worthy presentation.
Slabs of grilled chicken breast top a dish of tortellini smacked with garlic and herbs, a hearty meal perfect for these cold nights. Angel-hair pasta is swirled underneath a pan-seared chicken breast that’s good, though a little plump to be passed off as piccata, all of it ladled with a velvety white wine–and–lemon butter sauce studded with piquant capers. The skinny pasta is used again in a version of scampi that matches pan-seared shrimp with a garlicky white-wine beurre blanc.
Rectangles of flatbread pizza won’t disappoint. They’re just big enough to make for a good dinner with a slice or two left over, so you can share with the table and look generous. Go for one topped with meaty slices of portobello, shiitake, and big button mushrooms, plus a pleasant combination of Parmesan and Asiago cheeses. Leaning more toward the bar-food category are offerings like burgers and fish and chips. The fish is cod, a thick fillet, greaselessly batter-fried. The chips are ordinary fries, which are fine, but don’t measure up to the quality of the fish. A thick bison patty makes for a juicy, above-average burger.
The allure of a “bacon-flavored crème anglaise” was enough for us to order the bread-pudding dessert, moist, chocolatey, and adrift in a puddle of the porky crème sauce that’s not as weird as it sounds. Two other desserts, while not meat-flavored, are comfortable conclusions to dinner: a vanilla mousse shot through with candied pecans and cookies, painted with a thick coat of chocolate and caramel sauce; and a more restrained poached pear, with ice cream and orange caramel.
Plate presentations are imaginative, though occasionally form stumbles against function. A trough-like bowl makes eating the chicken and tortellini a minor challenge; other oddly shaped dinnerware looks contrived and pseudo-artsy. Service is nicely paced, and while we’d heard early complaints about a snooty chill, our servers were friendly and attentive—though it wouldn’t be the first time our charm has worked such magic. Live or DJ music cranks up at 9 p.m. most nights, at which time the place turns more nightclub than restaurant. An attached “private club,” where “VIP” members have access to private liquor cabinets and other amenities, is amusingly pretentious, something more apropos to the Playboy Key Club era. Valet parking hijacks what should be public parking along Main Street and is relatively pointless: Numerous free lots surround the area.
This beautiful street continues to be the greatest setting in the region for restaurants, and it’s hard to understand why more of them aren’t thriving here. Quintessential is a good example of what the dining scene could—should—be like in this charming area of St. Charles.
Bottom Line: Good food, stylishly presented, in a romantic setting that doubles as a popular meeting spot.
