Restaurants

Eat Drink Man Woman

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Several of the highlights of the year involved musical dining-room chairs, with Dierdorf & Hart's shifting its downtown location from Union Station to the living postcard view that faces the Old Post Office and the Arch; Tim Mallett's Blue Water Grill finally outgrowing the old converted Dairy Queen on Hampton and moving out to much larger quarters in Kirkwood; and, in a nice piece of symmetry, David Slay -- who had originally transformed that same Dairy Queen into his La Veranda some 15 years ago -- returning to St. Louis to run the dining room at the Seven Gables Inn.

If you live out in the 'burbs, your horizons were greatly expanded this year with continued growth in Clayton (Eddie's Steak and Chop, Grenache and Shiitake topping the list), but also very significant additions further out west, including Manee Thai, Yia-Yia's, Crazy Fish and Bond's.

And that gives me the opportunity to hop back on my soapbox and provide a parable to folks like Mayor Harmon, Larry Williams, Jack Danforth, Tom Reeves and whoever else shares my passionate desire for a vibrant downtown. A couple of weeks ago, the No. 1 college basketball team in the country came to town to play our beloved Billikens at the Kiel Center. Because of a national-television audience, the starting time for the game was pushed up to 6 p.m. As is typical for Billikens' games, the streets around the downtown Y, St. Louis Public Library, the Plaza Square Apartments and the rest of the area several blocks north of Market were lined with fans' cars.

When the game was over, several dozen came out to find parking tickets as a thank-you for having driven in from their homes in the suburbs and having spent their money at a downtown venue.

Now perhaps, just perhaps, a gentler solution for this and any other event on an evening or weekend would be to print up tickets that say something like "Thank you for coming to the newly vibrant downtown St. Louis! We'd like to remind you that our parking meters are in force until 7 p.m. So next time, please invest a quarter for convenient street parking. And after the game, why not stay downtown for a while and explore the exciting nightlife of the Washington Avenue Loft District, Laclede's Landing, Union Station or any of the many other fine downtown restaurants and bars listed below? Meanwhile, thanks again for visiting us!"

On the other hand, you could simply continue to anger a bunch of people who already have tendencies toward a negative view of downtown. Your call.

Downtown and suburbia alike, however, I send my traditional greeting to all the owners, chefs, kitchen staff, waiters and waitresses, and bus help who daily and nightly bust their butts to give St. Louis great food and great service. I'm always going to call you on it if I witness you slacking off. But at the same time I know how hard you work, and I'm proud to live here, to benefit from your dedication and to tell your stories to a local populace that loves eating out as much as I do. Happy holidays!

-- Joe Bonwich

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