Sip. Eat. Simple and elegant, upscale casual and delightfully designed to whet your appetite for things you didn’t know you wanted, Walnut Grill pulls diners into the party. Unexpected menu offerings like pulled pork nachos, Thai pork mac and cheese and funnel cakes dusted with powdered sugar, topped with ice cream, raspberry sauce and chocolate sauce gives you a heads-up the experience is a little different.
Tried-and-bona fide favorites like cedar plank salmon get new kicks when glazed with apricots and served with a sun-dried cranberry, almond and Gorgonzola relish. We tried the wild mushroom chicken and loved the baked sweet potato with cinnamon butter we chose as the side. Yummy.
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Speaking of butters, the server brought a small loaf of hot bread to the table with a rosemary garlic hummus and a cherry-lime compound butter. It’s a Walnut Grill special touch. The selections vary from day to day, but the hummus is always savory, the butter sweet, a nice yin and yang start to dinner.
Apparently, you do want fries on that Pittsburgh Chicken salad, the one with ordinary iceberg lettuce, egg, tomatoes, cukes, bell pepper, pepperoncini, cheddar, mushrooms and chicken gets piled high with fries, too. It’s a Pittsburgh thing. We didn’t try it, but good golly; it’s so oddly weird we thought we should investigate next time.
Founder Kirk Vogel built the first three restaurants in Pittsburgh with plans to expand along the highway 70 corridor to similar cities like Columbus and Indianapolis, ending in St. Louis. The restaurant is the first in St. Louis, the fourth in the fledgling chain and a bookend to the planned expansion in the middle. Managing partner at the Ellisville store, Eric Vogel, is Kirk’s brother. He’s no stranger to the St. Louis restaurant scene and has worked in independents as well as the national chain, Macaroni Grill.
General manager Craig Young didn’t hesitate to join the Walnut Grill team. “I told Eric to get in touch if he ever opened his own place. It had been seven years since we worked together at Charlie Gitto’s. When he made the call, I said ‘I’m in.’ He’s a great guy.”
Corporate trainer Jody Mawhinney, a Pittsburgh native, flew in to St. Louis for intense staff training. Servers learned the quirky menu, which defies simple categorization, but Mawhinney instills a focus on the small things in the trainees as well, taking customer service a step further.
“When they bring bread to the table, they’ll explain the hummus and the butters. We advise the guests that a plate is hot before it’s on the table. If a customer asks where the restroom is, our staff won’t point the way, they’ll walk the customer to it.”
The design of the restaurant works well on several levels. The contemporary look is sleek and warm, no easy trick. The lighting’s effective, soft in some spots, brighter in others, integrated with the configuration of the tables and booths.
Even though the restaurant seats 300 people, the design creates cozy spaces through booths and half walls. Suspended clouds provide visual interest and serve to baffle the clatter. There’s a separate room for private parties, meetings and larger groups.
The bar has an entirely different feel, even a separate sound track and televisions, but the gladsome noises don’t migrate into the dining room; a plus. The bar offers drink specials for ‘happier hours’ from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Come spring, the spacious patio will add another fun dimension to the Walnut Grill experience in the warmer months. Word has it we can expect more St. Louis locations for Walnut Grill, so stay tuned. We’ll keep you posted.
1386 Clarkson/Clayton Center
636-220-1717
Lunch, Mon – Sat 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Dinner: Mon -Thurs 4 p.m – 10 p.m., Fri – Sat 4 p.m. -11 p.m., Sun 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Brunch: Sun 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
