HOT SPOTS
Sky-High Highballs
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Rooftop bars are on the rise of late in St. Louis. The latest player in the high-level game: Form Skybar, opening today atop the new Hotel Saint Louis, located in the renovated Louis Sullivan–designed Union Trust Building downtown. The 16th-floor space, which takes its name from Sullivan’s philosophy that form follows function, has seating for 166. Form Skybar has views in three directions (including south toward Busch Stadium) and boasts a retractable window wall. Executive chef Matt Birkenmeier’s menu will feature small-bite fare, including Cherokee Street tacos, Impossible burger sloppy joes, cevapi, a Saint Louis BBQ Pork Trio (pork steak, pulled pork, and rib sliders), and wings with hay-braised vegetables. The bar opens at 4 p.m. daily, and at 11 a.m. on Cardinals home game days. 705 Olive, 314-241-4300.
INSIDER TIP
Pickin’ Peppers
Recently spotted on the “finishing island” at Crushed Red: a jar of sweet Peruvian teardrop-shaped peppers also known as Sweety Drop miniature peppers. The flavor is sweet, the heat level is very mild (not unlike the larger, more expensive Peppadew), and they’re positively addictive, whether piled on a pizza, added to a salad, or eaten alone. Crushed Red co-founder Chris Larocca replaced the jar of garlic cloves with the peppers and never looked back. “The size, the color, the taste, the appeal—they’re perfection,” he says.
MICRORANT
Same Plate-itis
While we love tapas bars, small-plate restaurants, and appetizer menus, we also appreciate when we don’t have to use the same small plate throughout the duration of a meal. It’s not that we need a new plate every five minutes, mind you, but it’s nice to get a refresh every now and then. (Of course, the dishwasher might see things a different way.)
Follow George on Twitter @stlmag_dining and feel free to send him Tidbits at [email protected]. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
