Summer vacation is over. My kids are back in school. A busy fall and winter of restaurant visits await. But I'm not ready to say farewell to summer yet. Here are 13 standout dishes from the restaurants I've reviewed and recommended in my weekly newsletter, the First Course, over the past three months.Â
Cambodian Street Wings at Bayon Bistro
At Bayon Bistro, chef Dara Thach makes everything from sushi to Springfield cashew chicken to dishes from his native Cambodia. Start your meal with the Cambodian Street Wings ($12.95): a plate of whole chicken wings, seasoned but not breaded, deep-fried to a crackling mahogany. On the side, for dipping, is a blend of tart lime juice and zippy, floral ground pepper. The sauce, similar to what traditionally accompanies Vietnamese shaking beef, develops a symbiotic relationship with the wings as you dip, absorbing the chicken’s glistening juices, evolving into a richer and even more flavorful version of itself.
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WHERE: 3038 Winghaven Boulevard, O’Fallon, Missouri MORE INFO: 636-265-0521;
Charcoal-fired steaks, chicken and more at Esca
The first of several restaurants that chef Ben Poremba is bringing to the Delmar Maker District, the stunning Esca broadly covers the fare of the coastal Mediterranean. What truly defines Esca’s cooking, though, is the charcoal-fired oven and grill at the heart of its open kitchen. From the famed Spanish manufacturer Josper, this grill is equally gorgeous and imposing, an engine and a hearth. Unsurprisingly, the crust it put on my impeccably medium-rare steak (market: $34.95) was as dark and smoky as the bark on a Texas brisket. Charcoal-grilled chicken and branzino also delight, and during my late-spring visits I also swooned over fire-roasted strawberries and asparagus.
WHERE: 5095 Delmar Boulevard MORE INFO: 314-365-2686;
Korean fried chicken sandwich at Five Star Burgers
The Korean Hot Fried Chicken sandwich ($10.50) at Steve Gontram’s Clayton mainstay Five Star Burgers unites two trends of the past decade, Korean cuisine (broadly) and Nashville-style hot fried chicken (specifically). Five Star dips its crisp, meaty pieces of fried chicken in a glaze featuring gochujang, a fermented pepper paste that is an essential ingredient in Korean cuisine. Gochujang is both flavorful and ferociously spicy. The glaze’s deep red color, darker than ºüÀêÊÓƵ brick, should make that clear. Five Star tamps down neither flavor nor heat. It garnishes the sandwich with additional hot peppers, in fact, the mark of a restaurant both confident and, when it comes to its influences, appropriately respectful.
WHERE: 8125 Maryland Avenue, Clayton MORE INFO: 314-720-4350;
Norwegian pancakes at Milque Toast Bar
Relocated from its original home on South Jefferson Avenue to slightly larger— but still quite cozy — digs farther south on the same thoroughfare, Colleen Clawson’s Milque Toast Bar has evolved into an ideal neighborhood restaurant for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Clawson changes the menu frequently, but you will probably find some variation of the Norwegian pancakes ($16). These pancakes are lighter than your typical American style, almost crêpe-like. When I ordered them, they were dressed with tangy yogurt and a just-sweet-enough apple compote.
WHERE: 2924 South Jefferson Avenue MORE INFO: 314-833-0085;
Honeycomb bread at MochaPoint Yemeni Coffee Co.
You don’t need to be a coffee fiend to enjoy MochaPoint Yemeni Coffee Co., which opened in April on the north end of St. Charles’ historic Main Street. The cafe's baked goods are worth a visit by themselves. Traditional Yemeni honeycomb bread ($5.99) is a six-pack of soft rolls under a lattice of honey. The bread yields to a gentle chew — not as ethereal as a proper yeasted doughnut, but close — which gives way in turn to a small, vital heart of melted cheese, more creamy than molten, with just enough tang to stand up to the honey’s sweetness.
WHERE: 343 North Main Street, St Charles MORE INFO: 314-917-7777;
New Haven-style pizza at Napoli Bros. Pizza and Pasta
The latest venture from the Pietoso family of Café Napoli renown features coal-fired pizza in the style of New Haven, Connecticut. The crust, though thin, holds its structure under a reasonable number of toppings, and the chew of the compact lip yields a pleasantly mild bready flavor. You can build your own pie or choose from house specialties like the Tomato Pie with its heady oregano flavor or the White Pie with clam perfumed by rosemary. My favorite is the Napoli Bros. Pie ($23), with pepperoni, pancetta, sausage and caramelized onion.
WHERE: 17084 North Outer Road, Suite 205, Chesterfield MORE INFO: 636-200-6300;
Pork rib chop saltimbocca at Osteria Forto
At O’Fallon, Missouri, newcomer Osteria Forto, veteran chef Fortunato Pietoso makes saltimbocca with a whopping bone-in pork rib chop ($33) instead of a veal cutlet. He tops this already ample cut of pig with the traditional slices of prosciutto and a cap of nutty fontinella cheese and serves all of it in a white wine-sage sauce. My cholesterol numbers inform me there is, in fact, such a thing as too much pork. This dish works, however, because Pietoso knows how to cook a thick pork chop — a rarity, still, in 2024. He shades the chop’s center toward a very pale pink for a clean, sweet flavor (reinforced by the white wine sauce) that contrasts with the naturally salty prosciutto.
WHERE: 2509 Highway K, O’Fallon, Missouri MORE INFO: 636-294-1435;
Frisco Melt at Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. Kirkwood
The new 4 Hands Brewing Co. tasting room in Kirkwood continues the brewery’s relationship with Kevin Nashan’s Peacemaker Lobster & Crab Co. Fans of the original Peacemaker in Benton Park will find many of their favorite dishes here, but I was distracted by the Frisco Melt ($15), which has been engineered to speak directly to my love of patty melts and Steak ‘n Shake: a skinny patty with gooey melted cheese and tangy Frisco sauce between slices of golden-brown toast. A garnish of pickles doesn’t obscure the meat-cheese-sauce trio; instead, it gives the burger a crisp finish.
WHERE: 4 Hands Brewing Co., 150 West Argonne Drive, Kirkwood MORE INFO:
Spinach Pie at Pizza Via
Scott Sandler, founder of Pizzeoli and Pizza Head, has returned to the kitchen with the no-frills, wood-fired pizzeria Pizza Via in the Central West End. The crust is not quite Neapolitan, not quite New York — and delicious however you top it. The best pie, though, is the Spinach Pie ($21). This omits sauce and makes Sandler’s go-to trio of aged and fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses the pizza’s base, with hints of garlic, pepper and oregano. He tops the cheese with a generous portion of barely wilted fresh spinach and drizzles this with a sticky balsamic glaze. The Spinach Pizza tastes like summer’s peak, verdant and bittersweet.Â
WHERE: 4501 Maryland Avenue MORE INFO: 314-587-8000;
Last Samurai roll at Sushi Boat
The St. Charles restaurant Sushi Boat has featured a roll with deep-fried king crab leg meat topped with wagyu beef, caviar and gold leaf. It costs north of $160 for a single roll. I didn’t order it. I was tempted, though, after trying the more modestly ridiculous ($26.98) Last Samurai roll, which mixes snow crab and lobster with a bacon aioli and tops this delicious mess with smoked salmon, eel and multiple sauces and garnishes. Sushi Boat also satisfies with more conventional rolls and straightforward nigiri and sashimi at prices suitable for a weekday lunch as well as a splashy date.
WHERE: 1500 Elm Street, St. Charles MORE INFO: 636-395-7068;
Banh mi at Tiger 88 Banhmi & Boba
Tiger 88 Banhmi & Boba, which opened in May, continues the recent trend of restaurants focused on Vietnamese sandwiches. The classic arrangement of pork cold cuts with carrot, cilantro and cucumber leads the selection of banh mi, generous in both its meaty swagger and its snappingly crisp garnishes. For flavor, though, I preferred the banh mi that paired the typical garnishes with the bright accent and char-kissed bite of lemongrass grilled beef. The bread for both sandwiches (each $9.95) lacked the banh mi’s signature crackling crunch, but the quality of the sandwiches didn’t suffer for it — and the roof of my mouth certainly didn’t mind.
WHERE: 12055 Manchester Road, Des Peres MORE INFO: 314-287-6868;
Pan-fried soup dumplings at Tiger Soup Dumplings
I included Tiger Soup Dumplings in . Since then, the restaurant has expanded to Des Peres. This wouldn’t usually warrant a follow-up, but 1) I really enjoy Tiger’s soup dumplings, and 2) I hadn’t tried Tiger’s pan-fried, as opposed to steamed, version. The pan-fried dumplings come six to an order ($10.99), connected, if barely, by their lacy edges. The golden-brown exterior adds a little extra savoriness to the filling — chicken, in this case — while the broth inside is just as delicious as it is inside the steamed soup dumplings. It’s also, fair warning, just as hot.
WHERE: 13311 Manchester Road, Des Peres MORE INFO:Ìý³Ù¾±²µ±ð°ù²õ´Ç³Ü±è»å³Ü³¾±è±ô¾±²Ô²µ²õ.²õ±ç³Ü²¹°ù±ð.²õ¾±³Ù±ðÌý
Gelato at Tre Cuori Gelato & AçaÃ
If Tre Cuori is your first experience with gelato, the wavy peaks on display in metal canisters at Tre Cuori's front counter suggest how it differs from ice cream. By tradition, gelato recipes favor milk over cream, and the finished product is denser than ice cream and kept at a higher temperature. Practically, gelato delivers an even richer texture than ice cream does, with a spoon-twirling smoothness that might remind you of soft-serve. My favorite flavor fluctuates between the Mediterranean breeze of pistachio and Arachidi, a Bacchanalia of peanut butter gelato striped with both milk chocolate and dulce de leche.
WHERE: 15877 Fountain Plaza Drive, Ellisville MORE INFO: 636-675-0507;