Photo courtesy of Carmen Troesser
Grilled filet of halibut at Tony's
The dining scene in St. Louis got an early Christmas present thanks to two national publications, Forbes and Food & Wine. Both articles appeared online on December 17.
It was the second time in a month that Forbes’ John Mariani sang the city’s praises. In the first article, Mariani writes about Vicia and Tony’s, “one brand new, one as revered as any in the Midwest.” At the end, he teases that a forthcoming article would focus on the city’s “down-home fare.”
In this week's article, the longtime scribe (once called “the most influential food-wine critic in the popular press” by the Philadelphia Inquirer) begins by mentioning favorite son Danny Meyer and how his now-famous ideas about hospitality are rooted in the city of his youth.
His tour of some of St. Louis’ iconic restaurants begins on a Sunday afternoon at Mama’s on the Hill (formerly Mama Campisi’s and Oldani’s before that) and the latter’s connection to the genesis of one of the city’s famous dishes, toasted ravioli. He says, “I wouldn’t change much about Mama’s. It’s just what you hope it will be and it’s just wonderful.”
Mariani stops by Eat-Rite Diner for breakfast, “an embodiment of Gastro Americana, Midwest Division,” where he has the “best, biggest pancakes I’ve had in a long while.” He visits Ted Drewes, genuflects as we all do, then it’s on to Imo’s Pizza for “a very tasty pizza,” but “not crazy about the lingering oily aftertaste of the Provel.” Fair enough. Other critics have been less kind.
In the Delmar Loop, his choice was Salt + Smoke (“lively but way too loud”) and downtown he visited Rooster, where he loved the crêpes and the slinger made with andouille, not so the metal chairs.
Turns out, Mariani is one of the city’s better ambassadors. Earlier in November, he took readers on a respectful tour of the city, which he accurately observed as “rebounding.” (In October, Forbes gave St. Louis the #2 ranking in its "Top 10 Rising Cities For Startups.")
Early in the year, Food & Wine’s honored Qui Tran’s Nudo House by putting its beef pho on the February cover. In October, another article delved brilliantly into the past and present of St. Louis’ Bosnian restaurants. And this month, in a looking-ahead-to-2019 missive, it included St. Louis in “32 Places To Go (And Eat) in 2019,” extolling praises on Vicia, Savage, and Cinder House, and looking forward to the long-awaited arrival of Rob Connoley’s Bulrush.
Part of the job of this publication is to promote local restaurants. It never hurts when the city gets an attaboy on a bigger stage.
