Stuff to eat. Mostly around St. Louis.

Spencer 5/4/15 Spencer 5/4/15

Five Bistro

Five Bistro has closed.

I'd never given much thought about chef Anthony Devoti's Five Bistro before seeing it ranked at #11 on Ian Froeb's The 100 Best Restaurants in St. Louis list. It's a place I haven't heard much about since returning here and based on its location on The Hill, I made an assumption that it was just another Italian restaurant (i.e., boring 'classic' Italian food). It turns out that it's a new American bistro with a menu that changes daily based on what's in season and available from local farmers, so I was pretty far off on that one. It has a very neighborhood-restaurant vibe to it, if that makes sense. It's the kind of restaurant that floats between being good for a casual dinner or something fancier, like a date or anniversary. It's probably a little too bright and friendly to meet a Tinder 'date' at, though.

The menu reflects the neighborhood feeling. Starters lie mostly in the pasta family, with gnocchi, tagliatelle, and risotto serving as bases, along with a soup, a salad and a charcuterie board (which I did not have, but I have heard is stellar). Looking at both current and past menus, what's noticeable to me is that their dishes all sound like a restaurant version of what you would make at home. It's comfort food, in that sense.

After going through the menu and placing our orders, our waitress - who was friendly, attentive, and great with recommending and describing dishes - brought us a small amuse-bouche of Goat Cheese and Salmon over a crostini.

We tried two cocktails: the Hot & Dirty and the Ginger Daiquiri. The Hot & Dirty reminded me of something I made in college when my friends and I thought we were mixologists.

The ginger daiquiri was delicious with Diplomático añejo dark rum, The Big O ginger liqueur, fresh lime, raw sugar, Bittermans boston bittahs. I'm not sure you'd ever see Don Draper drinking it, but I liked it.

The soup du jour - that sounds good, I'll have that - was butternut squash mixed with a J.T. Gelineau oyster mushroom salad and creme fraiche. We all agreed that even though the amount of mushroom in the dish was relatively small, the flavor was just as potent as the squash itself.

An off the menu special for the evening was a salmon tartare with aioli and crackers. A simple dish that let the salmon shine.

Just looking at this next picture is making me hungry. Chef Devoti's spring onion gnocchi with housecured lardo, ozark morels, ramps, olive oil, black pepper, and Beehive Cheese's honey-rubbed Seahive was the best dish of the night. I would return solely for this dish.

This is early spring Missouri on a plate. If someone told me to take one dish from The Hill that represented spring and the area it came from, it would be this. Pillowy soft gnocchi, the light smoke of the lardo, and the smooth cheese all served to push the subtle flavors of the ramps and morels to the top.

Before I even tried the Benne's Farm hickory roasted pork loin, I took a big forkful of the creamy polenta and gravy alone. Something amazing happens when you take any sort of corn-based 'porridge' and mix it with a meat gravy. The pork itself was cooked well, accompanied by hen of the woods mushrooms, spring onions, and a herb butter. Oh baby.

The Benne's Farm chicken breast is an example of what I said before about this being a restaurant quality version of what you make at home. Substitute your dried out skinless chicken breast and Trader Joes bag o' vegetables for a perfectly cooked and seasoned chicken breast, local squash, spinach, sweet potatoes, and you've got this. Our last entree was Halibutfrom Neah Bay, Washington, served over sorrel, rutabaga, red new potatoes, fiddlehead ferns, and topped with a ramp and lime vinaigrette. I thought it could have used a little more "umph" - I didn't have a gravy and polenta reaction. I have no pictures of our dessert due to a camera issue, but we tried their Apple Sorbet and cherry/pistachio biscotti, as well as their Peanut crunch ice cream bombe, served with peanut brittle, creme anglaise, and candied peanuts. Both were good, one was better. Can you guess which? Hint: it's the one with all the sugar and cream.

We all enjoyed our meal at Five Bistro, and if we lived nearby, it's probably somewhere we'd eat at fairly frequently. While my palate trends toward modern and ethnic foods, I have a lot of respect for chef Devoti for his focus on taking local produce and crafting well cooked meals out of them. We could use more restaurants with that kind of dedication around town.

Five Bistro

5100 Daggett Ave

St. Louis, MO 63110

(314) 773-5553

Spencer 4/13/15 Spencer 4/13/15

I Fratellini

Why does no one talk about I Fratellini? The only logical reason I can think of is that all the other publications and blogs want to keep this gem hidden as best they can. I must admit that even I thought about skipping this review or lying and saying it's terrible, don't go. Instead, I chose to share the truth with you: this is an excellent restaurant that you need to try.

Fratellini is located off Wydown and Hanley. In a word, the restaurant is romantic. Lots of dark wood, sexy lighting, and marble. Gents, if you need to propose/apologize/woo your lady, this is the place to do it - but make sure you call at least a week in advance. Reservations can be hard to come by due to the restaurant's small size and popularity.

Picking a starter was difficult, but ultimately we decided that the Caprini would suit our needs. Warm, mild goat cheese is surrounded by roasted garlic, capers, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, and crunchy crostini. This is my favorite kind of Italian food: simple ingredients that pair together beautifully.

I think Fratellini does seafood extremely well, so that is what I usually go for (though I have heard a number of recommendations for their lamb chops). The majority of the time, I end up with their Pistachio Encrusted Trout. Since I was a wee lad, I have been obsessed with pistachio. It's absolutely one of my favorite flavors, and often my gelato choice at Pastaria. I have tried a number of times to recreate this dish at home, but I just can't get the same pistachio crust that they do. It's a mix of very finely ground pistachios and larger chunks, all of which go so well with the trout. I can't get enough of it.

The fish is lightly drizzled with a citrus butter and rests on a bed of sauteed spinach.

Another staple menu item is the Whole Roasted Pompano, served with roasted tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, and scalloped potatoes (as well as asparagus the night we went). Once again, very simple flavors and cooking technique, but the end product is fantastic.

If you're there on a date, get this and impress your partner. They'll be impressed by your ability to eat a whole animal and will likely reward you with sweet lovin'. Or you'll make a fool of yourself trying to eat around the bones and end up alone forever.

After getting the other people at the table to order the things I really wanted, I picked out something I'd never had before: Pan Seared Salmon with shaved fennel and citrus over sauteed spinach in saffron broth. I won't put it on the same level as the trout, but I really enjoyed this summery dish. I was worried it was going to be overly citrusy, but it all balanced out nicely. Salmon and fennel, in particular, works nicely. The salmon itself was perfectly cooked and had potato chip crunchy skin, so I was happy.

Fratellini's tiramisu is the best I've had in town, but we rolled the dice and tried the Lemon & Coconut Roulade. I've been thinking about this since we ate there. Lemon. Coconut. Cake. Filled with tiramisu cream. Orgasmic.

You'll never find me on The Hill eating at some of those 'classic' Italian restaurants St. Louis has touted for so long. There's more to Italian cuisine than chicken parm and shrimp scampi. I'll take I Fratellini, Pastaria, and Katie's Pizza & Pasta over those places any day.

I Fratellini

7624 Wydown Blvd

Clayton, MO 63105

314 727-7901