St. Louis tempts savvy diners seeking diverse cuisine in this city of distinct neighborhoods.

Pack up your appetite; you’re going to St. Louis. As you make your way to St. Louis for the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE) 2005, be prepared to be pleasantly surprised by the restaurant scene in the Gateway City. St. Louis is gaining a reputation for its sophisticated palate by mixing up local ingredients—renowned chefs, bohemian restaurant neighborhoods, and diverse ranges of ethnic foods—into its own recipe for cuisine. Described by Gourmet magazine as a “spirited and flavorful place,” epicureans are finding the culinary finesse of America’s largest cities in the streets of St. Louis.

“I think this is a wonderful place to experience regional cuisine. We are the gateway to the west. In history, from the time of Lewis and Clark and before, we have had a rich immigrant culture that has come to the St. Louis plate,” says Roberta Duyff, MS, RD. Formerly the president of the St. Louis Culinary Society, Duyff works as a food and nutrition consultant, author, and spokesperson. She has become a local celebrity, appearing in national and local television programs, as well as numerous print publications.

St. Louis cuisine travels far beyond ethnic. “We have more fine chefs coming into St. Louis. The restaurant scene is very good. More and more people are becoming food savvy,” adds Duyff. “We have a good two-year school for chef training and you can get a dietetics degree with a culinary degree, as well.”

Walking the St. Louis Food Neighborhoods
The soul of St. Louis cuisine is the food that has evolved in the distinct neighborhoods of the city. “St. Louis has a big French, Italian, and German heritage. We have different neighborhoods with different foods,” says Catherine Neville, editor and cofounder of Sauce magazine, a publication dedicated to St. Louis cuisine. Duyff reports that you can find Thai, Chinese, Korean, Bosnian, Persian, Brazilian, and Ethiopian restaurants scattered throughout the city.

One of the biggest dining destinations is The Hill, where the Italian flavor has seeped into restaurants, grocery stores, and bakeries for a century. Neville favors Lorenzo’s Trattoria (1933 Edwards Street) for classic Tuscan with a modern twist.

The Lafayette Square neighborhood channels its early, high-society spirit into its chic, modern-day establishments such as Eleven Eleven Mississippi (1111 Mississippi Avenue) for wine country cuisine and the happening 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar (1913 Park Avenue).

In South Grand, you will find plenty of ethnic cuisine, such as Pho Grand Restaurant (3195 South Grand Boulevard), which has won a Sauce Reader’s Choice Award three years in a row.

Neville suggests that the Central West End is a great neighborhood for restaurant gazing. Zoe Pan Asian Café (4753 McPherson Avenue) is a good Central West End pick. The neighborhoods just keep going for miles.

Famous Foods
If you’re into sampling local, legendary specialties, there are a few food requisites in St. Louis. Toasted ravioli are meat-filled ravioli that are breaded, deep-fried, and served with a tomato sauce for dipping. Neville recommends tasting this St. Louis specialty at Charlie Gitto’s on The Hill (5226 Shaw Avenue), the proclaimed birthplace of toasted ravioli. Gooey Butter Coffee Cake, as calorie-laden as the name implies, may be found in local bakeries. Ted Drewes Frozen Custard Stand (6726 Chippewa Street) is a local must-taste experience for the “Frozen Concrete” milkshake that is so thick it is handed to customers upside down. St. Louis-style Pizza, with a thin crust, sweet sauce, and special blend of cheese that is nearly broiled, is said to be served to perfection at Imo’s Pizza (4479 Forest Park Avenue).

Tasteful Destinations
Neville also suggests that visitors should tap into the city’s beer roots. A tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery (12th & Lynch Streets) showcases the city’s history of beer making and offers views of historic buildings and the famous Clydesdale horses. St. Louis is also becoming known for its microbreweries. Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust Street) and Schlafly Bottleworks (7260 Southwest Avenue) are hot spots for sampling local brews and gnoshing on pub food in a fun atmosphere. For serious connoisseurs of ale, visit Morgan Street Brewery (721 North Second Street), St. Louis’ most award-winning craft brewery.

Do you really want to get up close and personal with St. Louis cuisine? Duyff suggests that visitors should visit local markets that supply regional food sources. Check out Clayton Farmer’s Market (North Central Avenue at Maryland Avenue) on Saturday mornings for local agricultural finds, live music, cooking demonstrations by local chefs, and presentations by nutrition culinary students. Founded in 1838, the Soulard Market (7th Street & Lafayette Avenue) has been described as the “granddaddy” of farmer’s market due to its sheer girth. The Global Food Market (421 North Kirkwood Avenue) hosts an astonishing assortment of ethnic foods and ingredients for foodies with an eclectic palate.

If you’ve got a few open hours in your schedule, grab your corkscrew and hit the wine road. Within a short jaunt from St. Louis lies Augusta, Mo., the first designated wine district in America. Duyff particularly enjoys the Mount Pleasant Winery (5634 High Street) in Augusta, which provides a beautiful setting overlooking the Missouri River, a picnic area, wonderful tours, and a beautiful gift shop. Along the wine route, which is perfectly suited for biking, travelers will spy several small wineries open for tasting.

Downtown Dining
Within walking distance from the convention center, here are some of the brightest stars in the downtown dining scene.

An American Place Restaurant
St. Louis has its own celebrity chef in An American Place Restaurant’s Larry Forgione, whose dedication to regional foods and farmer’s markets helped elevate American cuisine. Forgione was named one of the “50 Most Influential Baby Boomers” in LIFE Magazine and his cookbook, An American Place (Morrow Cookbooks), won a James Beard Foundation award for best American cookbook. Forgione brings his culinary passion for regional American cuisine to the table at An American Place Restaurant. “The menu highlights the bounty of America, the beauty of vegetables, and produce of different seasons. Sixty percent of our goods come from the Missouri state area,” says Erin Ceplinger, manager of An American Place.

The food is not the only thing to savor at An American Place. Its historic dining room was preserved as part of the $270 million renovation of the St. Louis Renaissance Grand Hotel. Diners find themselves gazing at the 150-foot-long vaulted ceiling that artisans faithfully patterned after the original elaborate Wedgwood ceiling, which was destroyed by water and fire damage. Ceplinger describes the feel as “very grand, yet intimate in another way.”

The fare at An American Place is just as stunning as the ceiling. Ceplinger recommends for starters the signature appetizer, Maine Lobster “Martini,” a Maine lobster salad tossed with an iced martini dressing. The oysters on a half shell that come in daily have been praised as the best in the Midwest. Entrees such as the Missouri Grass-fed Lamb prepared by the chef daily and the Maine Lobster Ravioli with wood-fired lobster meat scented with vanilla and citrus, accompanied with celery root mousse in a sweet carrot-lobster nage and braised baby spinach, are house favorites. For the piece de resistance, pay homage to Forgione’s mentor by nibbling on Jim Beard’s Warm Berry Shortcake for dessert.

An American Place Restaurant
800 Washington Avenue
314-418-5800
www.anamericanplaces.net
Reservations recommended
Dinner Entrees: $20-$36 per person
Open for Dinner Monday-Saturday

Kitchen K Bar and Restaurant
“The name of our restaurant is indicative of the feel. We have a completely open kitchen. You can see the guy peeling the potatoes and doing the prep work. You can see we take pride in our kitchen and that we do things from scratch,” says Pablo Weiss, principle owner of Kitchen K, located in the renovated Merchandise Mart building. “We want customers to be part of the action, to see what they’re getting into.” Maybe that’s why Kitchen K was voted “Best New Restaurant” in the 2004 Riverfront Times Restaurant Poll.

The wide-open space at Kitchen K travels into the cooking style, as the menu is eclectic with a variety of unorthodox flavors. “We do inventive cooking with a lot of different tastes,” says Weiss. The jumble of flavors stray from distant locations, ranging from Cuba to India, such as the spicy Tandoori Blackened Shrimp that is cooled down with grilled pineapple and cucumber mint raita.

Locals have also seen Kitchen K recipes dished on television food shows. The Baked Portobello Mushroom tossed in a balsamic reduction, grilled, stuffed with artichoke hearts and cream cheese, and topped with asiago cheese is one such menu item that has been featured on the small screen. Diners love the Sweet Potato Fries—fresh sweet potatoes cut daily, dusted with dry jerk marinade, and served with banana-guava ketchup. When it’s time for sweet-talking, Kitchen K tempts serious chocaholics in the mood for decadence with Chocolate Ecstasy Cake. “The Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pie served in a Rice Crispy crust is for people way into peanut butter and chocolate,” adds Weiss.

Kitchen K Bar and Restaurant
1000 Washington Avenue
314-241-9900
www.kitchen-k.com
Reservations recommended
Dinner Entrees: Average $19 per person
Open for Lunch and Dinner Monday-Saturday

Mosaic
Mosaic is proof of just how cool the St. Louis restaurant scene has become. “When people come into our restaurant, they don’t feel like they’re in St. Louis, they say that they feel like they’re in a bigger city, like L.A. or New York,” says Karrousel White, manager of Mosaic, who describes the restaurant with one word— “sexy.” White adds, “We are a modern fusion tapas restaurant. Everything goes. We take two dissimilar items and make them into one, great small dish.” Diners from all walks of life are pouring in, from the young and hip to doctors and business people, voting Mosaic into the second- place slot in Sauce Reader’s Choice Favorite New Restaurant. On Thursday nights, a DJ pumps up the volume to further enhance the Mosaic groove.

Following the popular tapas movement, Mosaic offers savory, petite dishes, such as Rabbit Pot Pie, Soy Glazed Chilean Sea Bass served with bok choy, pancetta, and citrus sauce, and Petit Beef Tenderloin served with sauteed spinach, wild mushrooms, bleu cheese butter, and red wine sauce. White suggests that diners try two or three small plates each and share them at the table for the best eating experience. When it comes to desserts, White recommends the Chocolate Espresso Torte or the Cannolis, which folks claim are better than those on The Hill.

Mosaic
1101 Lucas Avenue
314-621-6001
www.citymosaic.com
Reservations recommended
Dinner: Average price of tapas is $8-$9 each
Open for Lunch and Dinner Monday-Friday; Saturday Dinner only; Sunday closed

— Sharon Palmer, RD, is a freelance food and nutrition journalist in Southern California.

St. Louis Dining Resource Guide

Sauce Magazine
www.saucecafe.com

St. Louis Post-Dispatch
www.stltoday.com

Explore St. Louis
www.explorestlouis.com

St. Louis Fine Restaurant Guide
www.diningstl.com

Missouri Wineries
www.missouriwine.org

Walk It Off
After you’ve indulged in some rich St. Louis specialties, you’ll need to stay active to keep off the extra pounds. The Gateway to the West boasts a host of attractions sure to please those looking to take a break from the conferences, have a little fun, and keep moving.

Want to get in touch with your wild side? Try the St. Louis Zoo. Ranked by many experts as the nation’s second-best—only the San Diego Zoo ranks higher—the St. Louis Zoo charges no admission fee to view the roughly 11,400 animals representing more than 800 species on display. Open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, the zoo is easily accessible by car or Metrolink. There is a fee for parking and for some special exhibits.

Just south of the city is Grant’s Farm, the 281-acre home of the Busch family. The farm, operated by Anheuser-Busch, Inc., was rated one of the top 10 family attractions nationwide in a 2004 survey conducted by Zagat Survey and Parenting magazine. The farm is home to more than 1,000 animals representing 100 different species from around the world. However, the most popular animals on the farm, by far, are the famous Budweiser Clydesdales. The farm is one of the few breeding sites for these magnificent horses and boasts approximately 15 foals per year. There is no admission fee, though there is a parking fee, and the farm is open from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm Wednesday through Friday and until 3:30 pm Saturday and Sunday.

If plants are more to your liking, plan a visit to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Ranked as one of the top three botanical gardens in the world, the garden features nearly 80 acres of indoor and outdoor displays, including some of the world’s most unique botanical exhibits. Get a narrated tour on the tram ride, test your sense of direction in the Victorian-style Kaeser Memorial Maze, or visit the Climatron, the first geodesic dome used as a conservatory. Admission is $7 and parking is free. The garden is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm daily.

No trip to St. Louis would be complete without a visit to the Gateway Arch. The Arch is 630 feet tall, making it the tallest national monument in the United States. Completed on October 28, 1965, the Arch is the fourth-most-visited tourist attraction in the world. Tram cars are available for those wanting to get a bird’s-eye view, but get there early or prepurchase tickets because lines can be long, and be prepared for increased security measures. Also, visitors should be aware that the Arch is not fully accessible for those with disabilities and wheelchairs are not permitted. In addition to the tram rides, the Arch also offers riverboat cruises and a museum. Admission fees for Arch attractions range from $10 to $20 and the park is open daily from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm.

— Amy Sietsma is an editorial assistant for Today’s Dietitian.