Previously Unpublished Item: St. Louis Eats

April 15, 2004

Had a pretty good time in St. Louis, this time around. I neglected to post much about my time in the city, since a lot of it was taken up with business – gets in the way of a good trip, it does – but I did have a few hours in the city by myself. One morning I got up early and wandered around downtown. Not a very lively place, even on a weekday morning. I had to remember that sparsely populated downtowns are in fact the norm in North America, with a place like Chicago or New York being the exception. Still, St. Louis has a stock of excellent older buildings, and a few of them are being converted into residences.

Didn’t wander over to the Arch this time. It’s a fine thing, but I didn’t need to see it again. One evening I went over to Laclede’s Landing, a small former river landing on the Mississippi, now a restaurant/entertainment district. I’d visited there briefly, one cold, miserable day, but wanted a second look in better weather. With its narrow brick streets, it reminds me, oddly, of the North End of Boston, without the numerous Italian restaurants and delis that make that place their home.

On a Thursday night, however, Laclede’s Landing wasn’t precisely hopping, though it didn’t seem as empty as downtown. I made my way to a microbrewery, the Morgan Street Brewery, for dinner. I spied buffalo meatloaf on the menu, and asked the waitress, “Is that really buffalo? American bison?” She said that it was, ranch-raised in Kansas I think, and moreover, it was one of the most popular items on the menu. That was enough for me. I had the buffalo meatloaf. Wow, it was good. Nice tender meat, evenly and subtly spiced.

Best meal of the trip, in fact, though in a district somewhat west of downtown, closer to the massive Fair Park and Washington University, I found a decent Indian restaurant. Ordered the lamb vindaloo hot, and they delivered. Good naan too, and a mango lasi. It must be hard to make a bad mango lasi, because I’ve never had one.