At the corner of Hampton Avenue and I-44, an old St. Louis restaurant family graces a new Drury Inn. Technically on Sulphur Avenue, Bartolino’s Osteria sports its own entrance, a covered terrace, and several dining rooms. And at the moment, it’s hot, with a busy bar business and lots of casually dressed patrons of all ages. The dining rooms hit a warm note between formal and casual, and steer way clear of the cavernous feeling that often occurs in hotel restaurants. The bar, which has music late in the week, allows smoking, but little, if any, of the odor drifts over diners.
Gianfranco Munna is heading the kitchen these days, and brings a considerable change to the once-traditional menu. Oh, sure, we saw plates of rigatoni and meatballs flying by. But there’s plenty to explore. Any Italian menu that’s offering scallops with chutney is sure to shake up the cliches. (We’ll try the scallops next visit.) And more of a shock to the traditionalists – no toasted ravioli on the dinner menu, though that St. Louis standby is available on the bar menu, served late enough to attract baseball fans or theater-goers on their way home.
Joe couldn’t resist a plate of mussels as a starter. Served as an arrangement of half-shelled bivalves, they surrounded a mound of stuffing seasoned with their juices, made saltier by capers and kalamata olives. Escargot in an osteria? There they were, as shown on the right, with lots of garlic, some asiago cheese and a generous splash of the anise-laced Pernod. Fried calamari was very moist; the large serving included a few vegetables, like strips of sweet pepper, and a particularly notable garlic aioli drizzled over things. But the most notable of our appetizers was stuffed eggplant, two slices of eggplant rolled around a ricotta-and-spinach mixture, delicate and delicious, despite an overly-generous dollop of the red and white sauces it came with.
Chicken romano was something new to us, a boneless breast and the first joint of the wing sauteed in a sage-laced sauce and topped with prosciutto and fontina cheese. The chicken was properly moist, full of flavor, the sauce and trimmings adding to its success. Satiny mashed potatoes came alongside. They also accompanied a peppercorn-rubbed pork chop, and despite its arrival well beyond medium (the server asked; we didn’t specify), was juicy and tender, its red-wine sauce a nice contrast. Batons of cooked carrots were particularly succulent. Veal piccata, certainly a holdover from the old days, charmed with high-quality meat and a wonderfully tart sauce alongside a dollop of risotto touched with a little truffle oil.
And then there were the tortellacchi. Large pillows of homemade pasta were filled with coarsely-ground veal and covered in a deeply-flavored sauce that starred mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano, a light hit of saffron, and cream, all backed up with some veal demiglace reduction. Rich, yes, but so good it was difficult not to lick the plate.
The meal closed out with a creamy coconut panna cotta topped with a little roasted pineapple sauce, light and cool, and a chocolate hazelnut bread pudding, light and fluffy. Just a hint of the hazelnut, a little heavier on the chocolate, the whole thing finished with a lemony sauce that was a surprisingly good match.
Our service was excellent, although we were known to the house. Things looked good around us, although we’ve heard several reports of glitches since the opening several weeks ago.
Not surprising, with a new facility and, we suspect, more guests than in the old location. Be patient; the food’s worth it. The wine list, however, needs to be upgraded along with the kitchen and menu. The by-the-glass list is adequate, but not much more. More important, there are many wonderful Italian wines in the market these days, at prices only slightly above what the list now shows. Bartolino’s obviously is looking to more stature than "just another Hill restaurant," and the wine list should march hand-in-hand with the menu.
Bartolino’s Osteria
2103 Sulphur Ave.
314-644-2266
Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner nightly
Credit cards: All major
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: Yes
Entrees: $14-$36