Citygarden is like a beautiful dimple on the face of St. Louis. Nearly surrounded by tall buldings that act like a platinum setting for this downtown diamond, it brings style and grace to the city, smiles to visitors. It's the finest addition since the Arch and City Museum. If only it had welcomed and embraced the Serra sculpture, it would have created a true miracle on that stretch of Market Street. Alas. . . .
And the city's downtown oasis, a patch of understated elegance that appeals to all the senses, also has a restaurant that fits its format, equals it in style and provides excellent, imaginative meals involving lunch, dinners on weekends and Sunday brunch in the glass box that owner Jim Fiala describes as the downtown branch of Maplewood's Acero. We were there on a recent Saturday night, joined by a number of rain-spattered, disgruntled Cardinal fans. We felt a little like Snoopy preparing to peck out Edward Bulwer-Lytton's classic phrase, "It was a dark and stormy night. . . ."
Given the rain, the wet streets and the various reflections of street lights and auto lights, the view was slightly disconcerting at times, a bit like riding through a fun house. Watching summer twilight fade to dark is delightful. The restaurant provides meals that match, but its philosophy seems to have wavered throughout its brief existence. The current incarnation offers a dinner menu titled "Acero on the Terrace," and it follows Jim Fiala's Maplewood branch in terms of informality. The kitchen follows, too, with pastas and pizzettas along with more traditional entrees. There are enough options to easily assemble a meal without a formal main course, though those main courses do not feel Italian. Noise can be a problem.
However, dinner was outstanding, as was service.
The first pitch of the meal was one of the pizzettas, shiitake mushrooms with blue cheese and caramelized onions. About eight inches across, the thin, handmade crust was tender rather than crisp, and the toppings worked well together, and with the Barbera we were drinking. Caesar salad had a fine, savory dressing and wore several white anchovies, an excellent rendition.
The nightly special appetizer was a grilled sardine, “with the head, and not boned,” calmly explained our server. Fresh sardines taste not unlike mackerel or bluefish; they're “fishy” fish, full of those omega-3 oils tasting good and good for you. The bones are long, almost hair-thin, a little tricky, but the flesh is worth it. The sardine sat on a few leaves of sauteed spinach, and was garnished with pieces of pink grapefruit, a nod to the English tradition of very tart fruit sauces with fish like these.
On to pastas, which are available in first-course- or main-course-sized portions. Stracci are basically mini-lasagna noodles about an inch wide. A tangle of them, in a sauce full of big tomato flavor and a good note of basil, gave cause for smiles. Some disagreement at our table as to whether it was as good as the tagliatelle with shiitakes in a light coat of a creamy sauce, with truffle oil lending a hand. Really fine pasta, both dishes, and very much in the tradition of Acero.
A thick, juicy pork chop danced in the dish, some braised fennel alongside. The potato gratin, though, seemed disinterested, adding little to the festivities. This is, however, a kitchen that really seems to understand fish. The river trout was perfectly grilled, the skin crisp but the flesh not overcooked. A special of sea bass, twice as thick, was just as expertly cooked, arriving on a bed of spinach (substituting for broccoli) and shiitake mushrooms, sauced with a charming yellow pepper coulis. A simple filet of beef was so flavorful, we thought it might have been grass-fed, although it was more tender than grass-fed can sometimes be. A potato puree alongside was creamy but lost significance next to that beef. And, oh, yes, there were some sauteed mushrooms; they and their juices were poured gently over the potatoes.
The wine list has a large selection by the glass. The wines are Italian, and Barbera we chose was a good companion to both the meat and the fish, a wine that filled our long-time thought that if we are served an excellent meal and an excellent wine, we'll make them go together.
In the dessert department, Terrace View's lemon semifreddo looks like a round mini-cheesecake, and the partially frozen (that's the texture a semifreddo should have) delicacy was so creamy that on one level it felt like one in the mouth. But it was so, so lemony that it was far beyond any cheesecake we've tasted. Served with a wide streak of raspberry puree, it sang. The individual chocolate cake was offered with olive oil and sea salt, or with salted caramel ice cream. One of our dining party chose the latter, and was rewarded with a warm cake and rich ice cream. But it wasn't caramel. It was butterscotch. They're similar, but they are not the same thing, and this isn't the first time we've seen the misuse of the word caramel. It was good, but it was butterscotch.
Sunday brunch started this week, with a la carte menu service rather than a buffet. A pleasant morning on the outside tables could be a fine thing, especially with a server as sunny as ours.
Very good, but not a mini-Acero, despite the great pastas.
The Terrace View
808 Chestnut St.
314-436-8855
www..fialafood.com/Jim_Fialas_Restaurants/THE_TERRACE_VIEW.html
Lunch Mon.-Sat.
Dinner Fri.-Sat
Brunch Sun.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Entrees: $18-$30