[lost meals] Sidney Street Cafe, St. Louis MO

The lost meals entries consist of meals that occurred at various times throughout 2012 which, for any number of reasons, escaped my documentation – some due to a cross country move and a new job, some due to the Los Angeles Kings run to the Stanley Cup, and some simply as a result of too much travel. Having enjoyed many of these meals with friends or family and with some of them amongst the year’s very best the reality is that with time my memory has deteriorated and as life moves forward I’ve realized there is little hope to ever “catch up” or document these experiences as well as I’d hope, yet in order to preserve them I present these pictures, notes, and thoughts on the experience.

Butter Roll with Whipped Butter

Gnocchi and Meatballs – Polenta, Pork Meatballs, fried quail egg, brioche soldiers, root vegetables, bacon-horseradish dashi

Sweetbreads – Hash with strawberry jam, sourdough griddle cake, and poached egg, roasted potatoes, onions, red peppers

Foie Gras – with Strawberries torchon with a peanut butter crunch, strawberry salad and sorbet

Duck dumpling, radish, charred broccoli, mushroom broth

Strawberry Shortcake – Black Sesame Cake with Buttercream, Balsamic Strawberries, Pickled Green Strawberries, Buttermilk Sorbet

Snickers Bar – Chocolate Mousse, Honey Nougat, Roasted Peanuts, Dulce de Leche, Ganache, Dry Caramel, Chocolate Bourbon Sorbet, salted caramel, devil’s food cake

Coffee and Doughnuts – Mocha Creameux, Warm Doughnuts, Milk Crumble, Candied Citrus, Hazelnut Gelato, espresso oil

With limited time in St. Louis and the choice between Niche and Sidney Street Café an impossible one we made the only responsible decision available and opted to visit both on the same night, originally planning to enjoy Robert Zugmaier’s desserts immediately following Gerard Craft’s cuisine at Niche – a plan slightly augmented by the rapidity and small portions of Niche thus allowing us plenty of time to and appetite to also enjoy savories prior to dessert at Sidney Street Café.

Located just down the street from Niche and small from the outside but much larger within our arrival at Sidney Street Café preceded the reservation by nearly 45 minutes but from the moment we arrived we were treated like old friends, first by the maitre d and then by our server, Elissa, who went over the chalkboard of specials detailing each dish and easily convincing me to order more than I would/should have with her exquisite descriptions. A heavily wooded restaurant with exposed brick walls and dim lighting I will note that on a Saturday night Sidney Street was quite boisterous – almost “bar like” in its atmosphere, but service was professional and the kitchen impeccably timed, every dish coming out at appropriate temperature, execution, and interval.

Moving on to the food itself, I will simply say that while the execution at Niche was excellent, the food at Sidney Street Café spoke to me much more loudly – a menu of personal favorite savories and proteins all executed in unique ways; the gnocchi a bubbling stew served in a cast iron pot and absolutely perfect in texture when matched with the soldiers (and the sauce sopped up with the buttery table bread) and the Foie Gras one of the better preparations I had in 2012 – at once sweet and savory, creamy and crunchy, hot and cold.

Further onward to the desserts – the original impetus for our visit – suffice it to say that if you live in or visit St. Louis and don’t experience Robert’s desserts you are making a mistake every bit as egregious as missing the Arch or the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Beautiful, bold, and complex I’d be hard pressed to say which of the three selections was ‘best’ since each was quite different but as overplayed as the concept is the deconstructed Snicker’s was truly outstanding – the variations of each ingredient contributing to the whole and that sorbet something I’d love to see served in a scoop shop anywhere and a reason in itself to visit Sidney Street Café…and possibly even the city of St. Louis.