Forget Throwback Thursdays. There’s a new menu at Seven Gables Inn that includes a lot of tributes to now-gone restaurants in and near Clayton.
Located in what was most recently Molly Darcy’s, the restaurant is now called Seven. And the food? Among the appetizers on the “Lost Classics” menu are crabmeat-stuffed mushrooms from an Al Baker’s recipe and calamari from the old Mike Johnson place Figaro, complete with the Thai chili glaze. (So it’s no surprise that toasted ravioli make an appearance on the regular menu, too.)
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Nostalgic for the glory days of Busch’s Grove? The Russ Salad is heaped with ham, turkey, chicken, and grilled shrimp, along with the traditional Bellevue dressing. (St. Louis really wasn’t totally about the Mayfair dressing after all.) The mild dressing does what salad dressings used to do all the time, pushing the other ingredients forward, rather than hogging all the attention. For something zestier, the tortilla soup is described as being “inspired by Ramon’s Jalapeno.”
There are new options on the regular menu as well, including a chicken pot pie, ideal as the weather cools off. A trio of sliders includes a pork burger with an onion-apple compote. Going back to the nostalgia menu, there’s the comforting, such as a meatloaf from the late lamented Layton’s, and the zippy, such as Crazy Fish’s vodoo shrimp pasta. Even the steak, a tribute to Harvest, has a special rub and an intriguing sauce that’s sweet, spicy, and vaguely Asian. It’s nestled against Seven’s take on the Magical Garlic Potatoes from Riddle’s Penultimate, rich, creamy, and totally indulgent.
New cocktails are available at the bar. And if the weather’s nice, there’s access to the intimate, lovely courtyard, a perfect place to spend a crisp, fall day.
