Courtesy LIT
HOT SPOTS
Courtesy Mistletoe
Holiday-Themed Bars
Don’t look now, but the holiday-themed pop-up bar has suddenly gone from curiosity to craze. Last year, there was just one in St. Louis, Miracle STL. This year, there are five (so far): Miracle STL, Sippin’ Santa, LIT, Mistletoe at Paddy O's, and Holiday Spirits. (Look for details soon on Eventbrite.) The format is generally the same: a month-long celebration of the season accompanied by themed drinks and holiday décor that runs the gamut from kitschy to classy. While most take reservations, many will sell out (or have already), but all encourage walk-ins. We suggest having an alternate plan, though, just in case Santa’s sleigh is full of revelers.
Courtesy avenue
INSIDER TIP
Superior Service at avenue
Due to an ongoing shortage of restaurant labor (in both the front and back of house), attentive and timely service is a fading phenomenon. So on the rare occasions when you encounter not just good but exemplary service, as happens with Jeannie, a longtime server at avenue in Clayton, you wonder why others don’t do as she does: offer an additional appetizer morsel so four guests don’t have to divide a three-piece order; provide a half-size portion if the guest is wavering, even when halfsies aren’t noted on the menu; take the chosen bottles of wine to the table for tasting and pouring—then return to ask, “Maybe half a glass more?” Hats off to owners Bryan and Diane Carr for giving staffers the latitude to create such a high level of customized service. 12 N. Meramec, 314-727-4141.
MICRORANT
Unmanageable Ice Buckets
kedsanee/iStock/Getty Images Plus
An ice bucket is requested for a too-warm bottle of wine or champagne, and what shows up is a vessel containing about 6 inches of ice cubes, an impenetrable barrier should one want to actually submerge one’s bottle in said vessel. How hard would it be to instead provide a mixture of ice and water to achieve the desired result? In the meantime, never wishing to be preachy in a social situation, we’ve demurely requested “a large glass of water, with no ice, please.”
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