Once upon a time, Bar Italia was cutting edge. When it first opened in 1983, St. Louis didn’t know what to make of this place that called itself an Italian restaurant but whose menu looked so different. Gelato? Cold bean salad with tuna? Risotto? But people soon caught on, and (well before Starbuck’s arrival in St. Louis) people were sipping espresso and having serious conversations or reading paperback books long after the usual lunch hour because that sort of thing was encouraged, too. It became the Restaurant Of The Moment, then settled in contentedly.
Several years ago, Bar Italia moved to a larger site in the next block, and then added even more capacity. For a long time, the menu, except for a few items, didn’t seem to change. Even now, many of the old favorites are still available, like the linguine Siciliana, with an eggplant sauce and a generous amount of ricotta. Unfortunately, both cuisine and service slipped. We had several unhappy experiences, then found ourselves looking elsewhere for lunch or a late-night glass of wine.
We’re happy to report now that Bar Italia, in its 25th year, again is a Central West End bright spot, indoors at this time of the year, on its lovely patio when warmer weather arrives.
The menu is as wide-ranging, but with a few new dishes joining the old favorites.
The house salad always has been a classic, tender lettuces lightly dressed with olive oil, vinegar and lemon juice, with a few excellent olives served alongside. The current kitchen staff lives up to the high standards set by their predecessors. Roasted red peppers and anchovies, topped with a dollop of ricotta salata, are just as basic, just as tasty. The bread, traditionally good, has improved even more with some new rolls.
We veered off from the old favorites for main courses, unable to resist cacciuco, the fish stew traditionally attributed to Livorno, Tuscany’s seaport. Tomato-based, it featured a couple of kinds of fish, lots of bay scallops, a few large mussels and some potatoes. The fish wasn’t overcooked, a little unusual in restaurants’ fish soups, and the seasoning was assertive but not overpowering. Two large slices of sirloin, nicely seasoned and grilled to the requested medium-rare, sat on mashed potatoes, the whole topped with a red-wine reduction with a hit of garlic and rosemary. Alongside came green beans, carrots and a couple of thick slices of grilled zucchini. The unremarkable vegetables took third place after the savory steak and velvety potatoes.
Dessert calls for a stroll to the cabinet at the end of bar, to inspect the gelato and pastry. In addition,
the dessert list carries a few items and there often are special desserts as well. We went for something old and something new, the old favorite being the lemon tart. It’s morphed from a wedge of a larger tart to an individual tart. The tart is centered with a round of dark chocolate about the size of a quarter. But the custard is the same, dense and lemony, and so is the pastry, inevitably soggy from its life in a refrigerator. The lemon filling is so good, we’ve never worried about the soggy crust. The other choice, a daily special, was a bread pudding made from panettone, the winter holiday yeast bread that contains raisins, citron and orange peel. Each individual pudding resembled a muffin, its fluffy and tender, lightly sweet, and just moist enough. It’s among the best of its sort we’ve ever had.
The wine list, not surprisingly, is all Italian, with lots of interesting bottles that are seldom seen locally, and a fine selection of grappa. Definitely not the same old thing.
Bar Italia
13 Maryland Plaza
314-361-7010
Lunch Tues.-Sat., Dinner Tues.-Sun.
Credit cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Adequate
Smoking: Yes
Entrees: $14-$26
