Kevin Willmann and Tim Foley paid their dues in kitchens and dining rooms, bars and restaurants, all over the U.S., and if they pooled their dreams in Edwardsville, Ill., well, all the better for us. Many restaurants are named for their addresses, or street names, but Erato on Main, the terrific spot about 30 minutes from the Poplar Street Bridge, may be the first to be named for a street in another city. But Foley, obviously a sentimental sort, named it for the street in New Orleans where he met the woman who is now his wife. A photograph in the area that connects the bar with the dining room shows the sign.
Erato, with a tapas style menu and a kitchen that features fresh raw materials from as close to home as possible, is a dynamic entry to East Side dining, and good enough that it should draw diners from the west side of the river. Willmann, the chef, knows exactly what to do when he stands in front of the stove, and though he’s occasionally a little fussy, he produces some spectacular combinations that are as exciting to the eye as to the palate. Want dedication? The kitchen makes its own Worcestershire sauce.
The front room is an elegantly casual bar with a high ceiling, with a photograph-dappled passageway that leads to the red-walled dining room. Many folks come in through the rear, where an outdoor dining area is on the way to the parking lot. Most customers seemed to be local, with obvious regulars a majority the night of our visit. And service, traditionally the weak spot in our visits to places outside the immediate metro area, was just fine.
Erato focuses almost completely on tapas-sized plates – on our last visit, it offered 13 small ones and only one large, a beef filet. That currently popular style is one we particularly love; appetizers are a favorite and we can mix and match, sampling dishes whose ingredients we are curious about or may not have tasted from a chef. We also get the opportunity to enjoy a number of flavors without finding ourselves surfeited.
Erato is serious about swine. Our first clue came with the potato skins, chewy-crunchy bites filled with trout caviar and sitting on some horseradish-laced creme fraiche, all covered with a waft of bacon dust. In this case, well, Dust Busters are us. Yum. Then the bruschetta arrived, with housemade mozzarella, a few pieces of roasted sweet red pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a couple of white anchovies, an optional add-on we never pass, all swinging together.
One of the few areas where we part ways is cauliflower. Ann likes it; Joe avoids it. He was persuaded to try a cauliflower salad because of its description, something that tempts many people with things where they may be dubious. Whoever thought cauliflower could wear the word"thrilling"? Shaved almost as thin as slaw, although not in shreds, it was dressed with the juice of Meyer lemons, some first rate olive oil, and crumbled pork cracklings. A remarkable dish with its crunch, its tartness, the savor of the pork, a delightful shock to the mouth.
On to the hot dishes. A pairing of country-style vegetables gave us small bowls of white beans cooked with rare-breed pork ham hocks, a fine granny dish, and collard greens which replaced the cornbread noted on the menu (Willmann reported he had run out). Stunning collard greens, carefully seasoned, slightly sweet, slightly hot (no need for the proferred pepper vinegar), almost mysterious in their flavor. They were so green it was obvious they hadn’t been cooked for hours and yet they were extremely tender. A piece of cobia (shown next to the restaurant details below), the mild white fish, was cooked to perfection and wore a glaze from satsuma oranges, which provided a lovely accent. It sat on a little pureed globe artichoke or sunchoke and supported a couple of coins of smoked sausage, still nicely moist. Some pepper jelly, which went particularly well with the sausage, finished off the plate – and so did we.
We parted ways on the braised octopus with a cauliflower puree. Tender octopus is difficult to achieve, but this managed to do so in its tomato-fennel cooking juices. Ann thought it remarkable; Joe thought it overcooked and too tender, but agreed the dish showed delightful flavor. Your call. We did, however, return to back to unanimity with the the seared dayboat scallops with whipped cream seasoned with truffles and some ancho chile oil drizzled nearby was a delight. That whipped cream, though, would make razor blades taste good. The chile oil also went well with the sweet scallop meat, although overshadowed by its elegant associate. At this point, we ran into more pig, this time some braised pork belly, a strip of wonderfully cured bacon, properly crisp-chewy, and a softly cooked egg. The pork was more of the heritage breed, rich and full of porky flavor, absolutely satisfying.
From the dessert menu came a combo plate of sweet potato pie, a small round, and a similarly-sized ball of sweet potato ice cream. It’s hard to say which we preferred, but both were exciting, the creamy pie with nuances of nutmeg and cinnamon, or the ice cream, rich and showing more of the vegetal flavors. For the more conservative, there’s that old standby, molten chocolate cake. But it arrived with basil ice cream, unusual and striking. Even if you think you don’t like basil, this is too interesting not to try, and it may begin a conversion. And there’s a cheese plate that includes triple-creme St. Andre and some truffle honey, a voluptuous, indulgent finale.
Erato on Main – a strikingly delicious dining experience.
Erato on Main
126 N. Main St., Edwardsville, Il
618-307-3203
Dinner Tues.-Sat.
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Small plates: $4-$13, Entree: $28
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Perfect timing! The wife and I just made a reservation for the 21st!