Whoever thought there would be a hot restaurant around Kingshighway and Southwest? Not there's anything wrong with the neighborhood of Southwest Garden District – one of my kids went to school a few blocks from there – but it's a surprise to many of us. At least it is until we try the food.
The name refers to the flags of France, Spain and the United States which flew over this part of the country after Europeans arrived. The decor inside both rooms gently reflects St. Louis history – I'm pretty sure that a portrait of Madame Chouteau, our founding mother, was watching our front corner of the dining room, for instance, and Meriwether Lewis had the other end.
For those with self-control or perhaps the realization that they should pace themselves, there's a lovely chopped salad at lunch, the picture of health with perfect vegetables and a champagne vinaigrette, although that bows to the St. Louis idea of sweetness in a vinaigrette. It is, fortunately, only very lightly sweet, and the variety of good stuff, especially the fat lardons of bacon, a pleasure.
Available at both lunch and dinner is the lobster roll. The Maine version – cold, with mayonnaise and a little finely diced celery – is darn near perfect, a little touch of Old Bay seasoning in it but nowhere near enough to overwhelm the lobster flavor. The other style, Connecticut, warm with melted butter, will wait for another visit, but both come on a type of roll almost never seen at this longitude, a split-top hot dog roll, grilled in butter, the traditional holster for the lobster rolls of New England.
Their hamburger, much lauded by various critics, is also on the menu at lunch and dinner, but that, too, will have to wait for my return. French fries, on the other hand, appeared on the table, and were gladly received. Good potatoes, well-seasoned, even a little chile heat from them, and, on request, the cumin ketchup made in house. Lily-gilding again, but the fries were worthwhile either with or without.
First courses seem generously served. A sausage made of rabbit came as slices with pickled red onions, a nubbly, grainy mustard and black bread. Excellent sausage, very moist and carefully seasoned. The Monte Cristo, in its debut appearance on an appetizer list, as far as I know, is three triangles of ham and cheese sandwich that have been French-toasted and arrive with a small pot of lingonberry preserves. The Monte Cristo traditionally pairs up with some sort of sweet-tart jelly or jam, so this is not unusual, but lingonberries, the Scandanavian fruit that's somewhere between a red currant and a cranberry, don't pop up much. The contrast is a good one, and the egg batter for the bread adds a faint sweetness to pair up with the savory ham and cheese.
For a main course, an inch-thick chop of heirloom pork, perfectly tender and just a little smoky from a rub of chipotle chile, was crowned with a couple of pieces of fried corn tortilla and had a ladleful of thick chili beans alongside. The drizzle of creme fraiche went surprisingly well with the beans, which were rich with pork jus. Despite being a tad salty and mixing the occasional firm bean in with the softer ones, the dish may sound mundane was far from it in the mouth.
Two large fillets of salmon trout, starred, too. Mild, almost sweet, they were sauteed and sprinkled with marcona almonds, sauced with more lingonberries, this time a tarter version, and posed next to a horseradish flan, an unexpected note whose smooth feel and sharp taste made for a fine contrast to the fish as well as the sweet and the crunchy notes.
The least successful dish on two visits was the lunch jambalaya, a tomato-based one that had the consistency of rice that had been sauced like pasta rather than cooked in the liquid and seasoning. It too was pork-based, but for another $7.50, one can have shrimp added. Somehow, it lacked oomph – it was certainly spicy enough, perhaps too much for some tastes, but what is essentially a home-cooking style dish had too much polish. The cornbread alongside was dense, very moist, only slightly sweet, and had what seemed to be a little jalapeno in it, and it certainly was up to snuff.
At the end of the meal, a cardamom rice dessert, a very elegant take on rice pudding, appealed. Warm and laced with the orange-ish flavor of the cardamom, it was sprinkled with salted cashews and pomegranate seeds, easy to slowly nibble with some coffee.
Service was very good on both visits, knowlegeable and easygoing but attentive, and very patient with customers who were gabbing away, thank goodness. And a pat on the back for having a limited menu available in the hours between lunch and dinner, something that one occasionally needs without having to resort chain hamburger spots.
Three Flags Tavern
4940 Southwest Ave.
314-669-9222
Lunch Tues.-Fri., Dinner Mon.-Sat., Brunch Sat.-Sun.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Tricky
Smoking: No
Entrees: $14-$20