Taste isn't – quite – a speakeasy, but it certainly comes close. From its unmarked door just west of Brasserie by Niche (with which it is no longer officially affiliated ), to the dark curtains on the windows, it looks that way from the streert. Inside it's dark and casual, but the noise level is a little below what we've heard in movie speakeasys, and it's smoke-free, something that never would have happened in, oh, 1927.
Much of the focus is on cocktails from Ted Kilgore and associates, inventive and strong. We're not talking chocolate martinis here, but drinks with top-shelf alcohol and additional ingredients that few of us have tasted, or even imagined. Eye-droppers are used to make sure the amounts are right, and the sound of a shaker, sometimes two or three at a time, rattles nicely in the background. Certainly a polite request would get, say, a daquiri or other cocktail out of the Mad Men years, and ber and wine are available, but the bartender would never ask, “What flavor?” or reach for a Slushy machine. That said, we came for the food; while the drinks are fun, it's owner-chef Adam Altnether's food that dazzled us.
Almost all the menu is small plates large enough to be shared, though there are exceptions. One is simply called “bacon.” The meat is candied with some maple syrup and sprinkled with a few pistachios. Four or five strips are not a small serving, but it's so good that it's impossible not to smack any other hand that reaches for a taste. Another bacon-laced dish is deviled eggs with bacon in the filling. These are tasty, but on one visit were surprisingly dry, and another time creamy and just right. Bruschetta wears – at least right now, future versions may change – a surprising topping of roasted carrots, sweet and slightly caramelized with maybe a little balsamic vinegar, on excellent toasted bread.
The tangy and innovative house-made pickles are available a la carte, as well as garnishes for some dishes. They're delicious and varied, worth exploring even for the cauliflower-reluctant. We've had them alongside one of the city's best sandwiches, a mortadella panini. Mortadella is the Italian sausage on which bologna is based – and Bologna, the city, is the home of mortadella. More of that good bread, some fontina cheese, a little aioli, and, variously, a sprinkle of pistachios, or chopped preserved lemon. (We give the edge to the lemon.) The sandwich is shown here with a little green salad, its current companion.
And then there is the pork burger, juicy and piggishly handsome, made with what must be trimmings from heritage breeds. Cheese is superfluous, but there is one option that's a must. Get the aioli with the chips. The housemade chips are small, un-greasy and quite good, but it's the garlicky aioli, of a sort that transports the diner to food-laden tables in the south of France, that carries them close to divinity.
Sticky toffee pudding is light and fluffy, very tender and full of the butterscotch and date flavors that characterize the good stuff. It comes with vanilla ice cream alongside, which may create too much sweetness for some. Newcomers, though, should investigate the pigwich, chocolate wafer cookies in the shape of a pig, of course, sandwiched together with bacon-flavored buttercream.
And there's nothing swinish at all about the service, which shows off folks eager to help and discuss the menu. All ages are made comfortable, and some generations may recognize items out of their closet being worn by hip 20-somethings.
Taste
4584 Laclede Ave.
314-361-1200
Dinner nightly
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Poor
Smoking: No
Food: $5-$18