St. Louis has always been a brunch-y town. Lately, though, it seems the number of places offering it have expanded geometrically. And in a move that is more than logical, we’re starting to see it on Saturday as well as Sunday. In this ongoing series, Ann Lemons Pollack investigates brunch options in St. Louis—and an occasional breakfast joint for good measure.
Is Euclid Avenue the Great White Way of St. Louis brunching? Pretty much, yes, or at least enough that the loss of Herbie’s hasn’t made much of a dent in traffic on Sunday middays. Among the brunch spots is The Tavern Kitchen & Bar, near the pulsing intersection of North Euclid and McPherson.
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It’s in the former location of Duff’s, the block’s longtime anchor, which was followed by Cucina Pazzo, the creation of OG Hospitality Group, the parent organization for The Tavern, The Shack, and The Corner Pub & Grill. Brunch at Cucina Pazzo was sufficiently popular that keeping it at the location must have been a no-brainer.
If you haven’t been in the space since Back When, especially in the daytime, the feeling of deja vu isn’t as acute as it might be. It’s lighter and more modern. Some things, though, like that incline from the bar into the first dining room, haven’t changed. The airiness is a wise move, turning thoughts from the past to the immediate future.
That future, of course, includes menus—and the brunch menu is a good-sized one with many non-cliché options. We kicked things off with lobster beignets, five of them roughly the size of large doughnut holes. The dough was a little chewy, but the lobster chunks were the real thing, abetted by mascarpone cheese, the whole thing generously showered with grated Parmigiano. They arrived in a ruddy-colored sauce that was an absolute joy, full of crustacean flavor, a wee bit of pepper, like a concentration of the best-ever lobster bisque. If The Tavern used that sauce on a seafood omelet, it would be nirvana on a plate.
The stuffed biscuit offers a large, tender biscuit filled with a fried egg and cheese, then adds a ladleful of good peppery sausage gravy and a shower of crisp bacon. It’s an interesting, rewarding take on biscuits and gravy.
Chunky duck hash showed the dark, rich meat to good advantage, with two sunny side-up eggs acting as a sauce binding the mushrooms, sweet peppers, and pesto-touched potatoes.
Three trios are available, with smaller servings of items on the menu: a trio of benedicts, waffles, or a mixture of menu choices—such items as shrimp and grits, showing seasoned cheddar grits in a patty, the shrimp seasoned with Cajun spicing, perhaps a little overcooked but tasty, all on a bed of gravy made with tasso (the spicy Louisiana ham). Chicken fried steak kept its crispness while remaining fork-tender, a nice combination, with a little black-peppered milk gravy spooned on. Both were topped with an egg. The third member of that trio included small blueberry pancakes topped with lemon curd and salted caramel butter. This option hit a triple, if not a home run, with the combination, the tartness, the sweetness, and just a hit of salt, adding up to a satisfying dish on all counts.
Sautéed, spiced apples were mixed with pecans and streusel over a Belgian waffle, tender rather than crisp, but certainly not tough the way that Belgian waffles can be. Some serious bacon, thick and nicely crunchy, was shared by the entire party.
Spinach, asparagus, sweet red pepper, and mushrooms should have brought the egg white omelet into shape for the tastebuds, but it turned out to be bland.
The coffee is good, with the coffee pots properly tended. Or consider a mango mimosa, nicely tart, cold, and refreshing on a warm Sunday. Service was attentive and adapted to our relaxed pacing of the meal without appearing to urge us onward—a vibe to appreciate during a long, relaxed brunch with pals.
