Tour de Toast: Yolklore in Crestwood

Photo by Lawrence Bryant, LB Photography

Gravy Train—biscuits and maple sage sausage gravy topped with a pair of fried eggs.

Editor's note: 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 will be investigating brunch options in St. Louis—and an occasional breakfast joint for good measure.

Don’t mistake Yolklore for one of those chain breakfast places. It’s local, it uses a lot of local suppliers, and the menu, while brief when compared to the chains, is a lot more interesting.

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

The small restaurant is in a slightly oddball building at the corner of Watson and Grant Road, near the Grant’s Trail bike/walking path. Owners Billy Oziransky and Mary and John Bogacki (pictured above) are giving us a serious-but-not-grim take on breakfast food in a setting that uses a lot of fast-food touches. So don’t be surprised by disposable containers (real silverware, though) and stools, both at a counter and a long table, along with a few tables.

Photo by Kevin A. Roberts

It’s sunny, with white subway tile and wainscoting, the flowering plants outside sporting the occasional cluster of eggs, just for a giggle. And while parking looks busy, as long as folks don’t linger to chat long after their food is gone there seems always to be room to sit down after orders are placed at the counter.

While there are some standards on the menu, like a classic eggs/bacon-or-sausage/potatoes/biscuit, they have more fun with other things. The menu leads with the Nest Egg (pictured at right). Biscuit dough pressed into a large muffin tin holds two eggs, crisp bacon and cheddar cheese, the whole topped with a little pickled red onion and some minced preserved lemon. The biscuit dough is firm and crunchy, the eggs, cooked sous vide (pronounced soo VEED, but you probably knew that), have a tender, firm white and a soft yolk that’s still just a wee bit runny in the very center. The tartness of the onion and lemon punctuate things here and there very nicely, thank you. (If the crispy biscuit pastry weren’t so flaky, it might almost be eaten with a single hand a la McBreakfasts, but don’t try it.)

Don’t go thinking the mushroom fritatta is an open-faced omelet. Here it’s almost an individual casserole, the eggs baked with goat cheese and plenty of mushrooms, the whole sided with a tomato jam and some fresh greens. It’s good; goat cheese and mushrooms are a great pairing, but the format is a bit of a surprise.

Photo by Ann Pollack

Yes, pancakes, available solo in a size described as perfect for dipping, or as components of a rollup (pictured above). Reminiscent of crepes, although thicker, they hold scrambled eggs, with a first-rate turkey chorizo sausage and more cheddar. Things are topped off with a little salsa, a few slices of pickled jalapenos and some lime crema.

The regular sausage as well as that chorizo is made in-house, and is noticeably flavorful and moist without excessive grease. Good bacon, too. Potatoes are described as crispy smashed, which means new potatoes that have been steamed, then crushed slightly and crisped up with a little fat in the oven. Most mains offer a choice of them or a fruit cup as a side. There are also a couple of salads and sandwiches, as well.

Perhaps the best name on the menu is the Chocolate Cake for Breakfast. (And there’s some serious local milk on hand, too, hooray – what becomes a legend most, indeed?) It’s squares of a layered sheet cake with good ganache sandwiching them and topping it, very seriously chocolate. They’re kept in the refrigerator, which I understand. But while they’re nice enough that way, to truly appreciate this almost sexy piece of work, take it at room temperature, when the butter in it has softened and the texture of the cake itself turns to velvet in the mouth. It’s a product of Mary Bogacki, as is the cream puff du jour. I tried one with a raspberry custard filling, quite good, but, as happens when choux-paste pastry is refrigerated, it did get soggy. Sue me: I’m a sucker for cream puffs, and I loved it.

Not surprisingly, the coffee (from relative newcomer Dubuque Coffee Co.) is good stuff, both the raw material and the obvious evidence that the coffee makers are scoured often. Bonus points there. They offer some gluten-free options, too, with extra choices at Saturday and Sunday brunch.

Too bright and sunny for a hangover breakfast, but other than that, an interesting spot with some good food.