Comes now the brunch season, and a new, major brunch has joined the city’s list. Kemoll’s, one of St. Louis’ oldest restaurants, still in the hands of its founding family, has begun serving at the Top Of The Met. They’ve used the space 42 floors above their primary operation for catering dinners and receptions, and sometimes for dinner and dancing, but here’s a chance in the daytime to look the folks atop the Gateway Arch right in the eye. The view is unquestionably spectacular.
Metropolitan Square is the tall building downtown with the green roof and the gigantic pointed eaves. Getting to The Top involves one elevator to the fortieth floor and another, dedicated, the rest of the way. Because it’s a catering facility, where space needs to be flexible, there’s no built-in buffet line. But tables are placed to take advantage of the view both east and west, and a few are right at the (slightly vertiginous) edge. And it’s almost as much fun watching kids look out the window as looking out it yourself.
The buffet is pretty evenly divided between breakfast and lunch items. Scrambled eggs are offered both plain and scrambled with red and green peppers, and survive the heating process surprisingly well, without becoming dried out. Link sausage and bacon sit next to first-rate biscuits and some excellent sausage gravy tantalizingly laced with black pepper. There are waffles, too. But the star on this end of the table is the potatoes. Unlike any we’ve seen on buffet tables anywhere, these are described by chef Robert Tedesco, a CIA graduate, as potatoes lyonnaise. In classic French kitchen-speak that means "with onions." What it seems to be is thinly sliced potatoes that are partly deep-fried, browning them and leaving them crispy-chewy, then drained and mixed with sauteed onions, allowing the flavors to mingle. At last, potatoes with enough onions. Definitely not for those on low-fat diets, but devastatingly delicious.
On the lunch end, we were pleased with an indulgent penne alfredo, in a cheesy, garlicky sauce, amazingly al dente. On the whole, fish in a buffet line is usually something to avoid, but the salmon this day was surprisingly good. Not, of course, cooked rare, but salmon’s sturdy enough to handle heat better than many of its finny cousins, and this was in a piquant sauce with capers and dill. Roast beef is pre-sliced and sits in jus, but even it seems better than the usual steam-table stuff, especially when topped with tangy sour cream-horseradish sauce. Hmmm…how about an open-face beef sandwich with one of those biscuits, some juice and horseradish sauce? Two green salads, one of mixed field greens and another that’s a Kemoll’s take on Caesar; both were tasty and fresh. And watch for an endless supply of the signature warm garlic cheese bread.
Desserts range from bite-size bits of cheesecake and petit fours to small slices of layer cake, nicely plated out. The most striking we found were a hybrid of tiramisu and cannoli cake with layers of chocolate mousse and cake, and individual muffin-sized sweet rolls. Servers keep the coffee coming fresh and hot, and plates disappear quickly while guests make repeat trips to the buffet.
This is not—at this writing—a huge buffet with omelet and carving stations, oysters and smoked salmon, ice sculptures and live music, and the price of $25 for adults reflects that. It’s going to cost more on holidays, they tell us. But with satisfying food and a million dollar view, it’s quite reasonable.
Kemoll’s
1 Metropolitan Square (Broadway between Olive and Pine Streets)
314-421-0555
Sunday Brunch: 10:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
Credit cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Buffet Brunch: $25 (adults; higher on holidays)
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Robert Tedesco is an amazing chef. Best in St. Louis.