Photograph by Katherine Bish
It's in Waterloo, Ill., home of the Rural King, a marvelous sort of Kmart–meets–Green Acres place that can satisfy all your husbandry needs, from baling twine to salt blocks to brand-new gunny sacks ($1.99: a steal!). Just across the street is JFires' Market Bistro, a terrific restaurant in a relaxed, bucolic setting. It's a grand, redbrick Greek Revival house, successfully transformed into two stories of comfortable dining rooms, a minuscule bar, and a serious-sized kitchen with a fire-breathing brick oven.
The menu's brief, weighed with several New Orleans–style offerings. Outstanding among them is a po' boy packed with enormous sweet shrimp, fried with a delicate golden crust, plus tomatoes and lettuce. It's actually superior to several versions in the Crescent City. The bread, baked on-site, is airy and simultaneously crisp and chewy. And get this: Alongside the po' boy come slices of rutabaga, parsnips, and carrots, brined and marinated in maple syrup, then fried in a lacy batter. "Irresistible" doesn't begin to describe the sweet, crunchy goodness of these humble root vegetables elevated so. You can order them as an appetizer as well. You should.
A gumbo is spicy, but appallingly too thin, the chunks of andouille floating lonely, with only a meager scattering of rice on the bottom. A crawfish étouffée, on the other hand, is simply perfect. Curlicues of sweet pink mudbug tails are "smothered" in a silken marigold-orange sauce flecked with green peppers, celery, onions, and garlic. (The last is advertised on the bulletin board at Rural King, for sale and "fresh dugged," so maybe it's local.) Families have split over the issue of tomatoes in étouffée; the kitchen here adds just enough to give the dish a bit of tang that blends perfectly with the spicy, multilayered tastes of the crawdads and vegetables. This is a splendid presentation of a NOLA classic, worth the trip by itself.
A dozen shrimp keep their heads on as they're bathed in a buttery Worcestershire-spiked sauce, the only correct way to "barbecue" shrimp Cajun-style. (All the fat in their heads adds a subtly rich flavor.) On top, lacy circles of fried onion rings just keep their shape; a perfect addition, a perfect rendition.
JFires' unique approach to the Cajun specialty cochon de lait should not be missed. The kitchen's brick oven hosts a suckling pig. After a long and loving roast, the meat is pulled, then pressed into a loaf with pork skin added on top, then roasted again and sliced, meatloaf-style. A brick of the luscious, caramel-dark pork is presented along with a creditable potato salad and some deep-fried oysters. The skin on top adds a crunchy, savory element; the pork underneath is meltingly tender, smoky, and moist. The presentation is unique. It's a pig roast you will not forget.
A 16-ounce bone-in rib-eye gets competent treatment on the grill, arriving as ordered, rosy in the middle and tender, with a mound of garlic smashed potatoes and a small serving of grilled salad on the side. The same grilled salad appears as a starter; it's a mess. Fibrous, limp, and bland, it has no place in a place like this—or anywhere else.
Pizzas emerge from that magic brick oven with a yeasty, crunchy, oblong crust, served on a marble slab. Toppings complement; they don't overwhelm. Ours was scattered with fresh basil and dried tomatoes atop a veneer of melted mozzarella. Add a lettuce house salad, sprinkled with sliced almonds and feta and tossed in a light vinaigrette, and you have a perfectly satisfying meal. A mushroom lasagna promises but doesn't really deliver. Four different mushrooms go in, but the pasta is overdone and finished with a "fresh vegetable-juice sauce" where the tomato hogs all the flavor.
Desserts won't disappoint. Fruit-stuffed crepes and a fine chocolate cake with caramel sauce and shards of toffee on top are both worthy. A chocolate cheesecake drizzled with a sauce of Bärenjäger, a German honey liqueur, is even better.
Interestingly, drinks feature a number of fresh-squeezed fruit juices, including a beet-ginger juice that'd please Dwight Schrute, should he drop in. It's sad, however, that JFires', whose restaurant site was previously a winery, has a meager and unremarkable wine list of its own. It's supposed to be a "work in progress." One hopes so. There could be no better setting to present some local vintages.
In addition to some excellent offerings on the table, that setting at JFires' is hard to beat. From the original oak floors to the muted, earthy colors to the sidelights at the front door, the house has been well-restored. Changes, like knocking out the ceiling in the main dining room, lend attractive space and light. On a down note, tables and chairs look like banquet-room overstock, clashing with the lovingly restored interior. But dinnerware and service settings are handsome, understated, functionally beautiful. Service is charming and prompt. The atmosphere is homey, yet there is considerable energy in this old place. You can feel it in the staff and coming from the kitchen. This is a place where the excitement of good cooking and enjoyable dining is infectious. If you're thinking of JFires' as a last-date breakup spot, don't. You'll end up planning your wedding and picking names for the kids. Really, it's that kind of place.
The large, brick patio in back is under a sturdy pergola, densely covered in grapevines, giving it a shady, cozy charm. The weathered, rustic barn at the rear, with its creaky weather vane, lends a pastoral backdrop. Out front, mature maples and walnuts tower over the house. Dining in a place with history, sitting in a room where holidays were celebrated, hearts mended, families begun, is always a privilege. JFires' has a sense of this, and it shows.
Edwardsville, Collinsville, Belleville: the villes of the pocket of Illinois east and south of St. Louis are emerging as dining destinations. In the case of Waterloo: Come for the gunny sacks at Rural King; stay for the cochon de lait at JFires'.
Bottom Line: A bistro menu, tilted toward southern Louisiana, in a romantic country setting.
725 N. Market
Waterloo, Ill.
618-939-7233
Average Main Course: $14
Reservations: Are you really driving to Waterloo without 'em?
Dress: As if P.G. Wodehouse set a novel in Waterloo, and you were one of its stylish characters.
