Diversions > Dining Out
Scape
Dining Review
Thursday, July 31, 2008 11:12 PM CDT
Print
E-mail
 |
| ~Scape | 48 Maryland Plaza | 361-7227 | photo by Jason Mueller |
I t’s been almost a year since Levy restaurants from Chicago partnered with St. Louisan Ted Koplar in the urban chic venture ~scape. Located in arguably the most prime spot in the CWE, overlooking charming Maryland Plaza the eatery-lounge-party venue was intended to be a neighborhood ‘escape’ for the area’s glitterati.
But ~scape never quite met that expectation, with high menu prices probably a key reason. So the Levy group sold its stake, and now Koplar, with the help of executive chef Eric Kelly, runs it. They’ve toned down the menu and its prices and introduced daily specials like chicken and dumplings and meat loaf for about $20 and an innovative Sunday night barbecue menu, complete with a buffet ‘picnic table’ that provides all the fixin’s.
We sampled both new menus, the Sunday-only barbecue and the adjusted daily menu, overall to good effect. On the latter, a handful of select starters includes the house special, barbecued shrimp and grits, and other enticements like mussels steamed in saffron broth, fried olives and Reuben sliders. A tiny raw bar was retained from the original menu, namely oysters (Malpeque, West Coast and ‘du jour’). Appetizer prices are still pretty high, averaging about $11.
The plates du jour average about $20, and they come with appropriate sides, not bad for a place of this caliber. And the ‘day boat special,’ offered daily with veggie and starch, is a very attractive $25. Ours was pan-roasted Alaskan halibut, and it was as fresh as any fish I’ve had and roasted to perfection. The accompanying Asian-style haricots verts were darn good, too.
The daily entree menu includes things like chicken schnitzel ($19), duck confit ($22) and gnocchi Nicoise ($17), but you can still find a $34 filet. Our double-cut pork chop ($27) was made with hormone-free meat and came with crisp haricots verts and a very sweet mash of cippolini onions and medjool dates. Not only was it delicious with its bits of burnt fat at one end, but it also was practically big enough for a second meal.
Desserts were tempting and reasonable. Our ’10-pound strawberry pie’ was a creation of local strawberries four ways. A flaky crust came with a very sweet layer of cooked strawberries on the bottom, topped with creamy strawberry mousse, fresh strawberries and strawberry gelato. That would be worth $6 any day, even if it hadn’t been big enough for two.
~Scape’s Sunday barbecue is an inspired idea. With a coal pit set right out front, the sight (not to mention the smell!) is bound to attract lots of attention. The menu is limited to chicken, burgers, ribs, skirt steak and salmon, with prices ranging from $16 to $27.
And while $16 may sound like a lot for a burger, every entree comes with the ‘picnic table,’ a premium buffet of fingerling potato salad, creamy coleslaw, corn on the cob, baked beans, salad, cornbread and fresh melons, all of it house-made in some way. Even the melons are thrown on the grill! The cornbread is super moist, made with honey and cheddar cheese, and the beans slow-cooked with smoked pork and brown sugar.
This barbecue was all about the cooking process, not the sauces (which were minimized), with meats being premium and cooked to moist perfection. The chicken, called ‘brick chicken’ on the menu, was quite good, a half-chicken, free-range and de-boned. I watched the chef in action. First one side, then the other, was cooked with a foil-wrapped brick on top to bring the meat closer to the heat. This resulted in a serving that was slightly charred, with a very appetizing, crisp skin that was completely edible, yet the meat inside was as moist as if it had been baked in a pouch!
The grilled salmon, made with premium wild Alaskan salmon, was similarly impressive in that it was not over-grilled with those heavy black char marks. Instead, it was super moist, with the slight smoky flavor of barbecue. That brings me to the issue of technique, which is what this barbecue was all about. With very little sauce on the plate, this meal’s strength lay in its offerings of top-notch meats well prepared. That, and the all-you-can-eat sides.
On the downside, the restaurant at times seemed to be like a ship without a captain. During the barbecue, watermelon was left on the buffet table uncut, with a big chef’s knife just sitting there. And when a sign out front says dinner starts at 5 p.m., guests arriving at 5:30 shouldn’t walk in on staff just beginning to set up the buffet. But our server was very efficient and pleasant and our meals delicious. The place is now on the path to becoming a true neighborhood escape.
But ~scape never quite met that expectation, with high menu prices probably a key reason. So the Levy group sold its stake, and now Koplar, with the help of executive chef Eric Kelly, runs it. They’ve toned down the menu and its prices and introduced daily specials like chicken and dumplings and meat loaf for about $20 and an innovative Sunday night barbecue menu, complete with a buffet ‘picnic table’ that provides all the fixin’s.
We sampled both new menus, the Sunday-only barbecue and the adjusted daily menu, overall to good effect. On the latter, a handful of select starters includes the house special, barbecued shrimp and grits, and other enticements like mussels steamed in saffron broth, fried olives and Reuben sliders. A tiny raw bar was retained from the original menu, namely oysters (Malpeque, West Coast and ‘du jour’). Appetizer prices are still pretty high, averaging about $11.
The plates du jour average about $20, and they come with appropriate sides, not bad for a place of this caliber. And the ‘day boat special,’ offered daily with veggie and starch, is a very attractive $25. Ours was pan-roasted Alaskan halibut, and it was as fresh as any fish I’ve had and roasted to perfection. The accompanying Asian-style haricots verts were darn good, too.
The daily entree menu includes things like chicken schnitzel ($19), duck confit ($22) and gnocchi Nicoise ($17), but you can still find a $34 filet. Our double-cut pork chop ($27) was made with hormone-free meat and came with crisp haricots verts and a very sweet mash of cippolini onions and medjool dates. Not only was it delicious with its bits of burnt fat at one end, but it also was practically big enough for a second meal.
Desserts were tempting and reasonable. Our ’10-pound strawberry pie’ was a creation of local strawberries four ways. A flaky crust came with a very sweet layer of cooked strawberries on the bottom, topped with creamy strawberry mousse, fresh strawberries and strawberry gelato. That would be worth $6 any day, even if it hadn’t been big enough for two.
~Scape’s Sunday barbecue is an inspired idea. With a coal pit set right out front, the sight (not to mention the smell!) is bound to attract lots of attention. The menu is limited to chicken, burgers, ribs, skirt steak and salmon, with prices ranging from $16 to $27.
And while $16 may sound like a lot for a burger, every entree comes with the ‘picnic table,’ a premium buffet of fingerling potato salad, creamy coleslaw, corn on the cob, baked beans, salad, cornbread and fresh melons, all of it house-made in some way. Even the melons are thrown on the grill! The cornbread is super moist, made with honey and cheddar cheese, and the beans slow-cooked with smoked pork and brown sugar.
This barbecue was all about the cooking process, not the sauces (which were minimized), with meats being premium and cooked to moist perfection. The chicken, called ‘brick chicken’ on the menu, was quite good, a half-chicken, free-range and de-boned. I watched the chef in action. First one side, then the other, was cooked with a foil-wrapped brick on top to bring the meat closer to the heat. This resulted in a serving that was slightly charred, with a very appetizing, crisp skin that was completely edible, yet the meat inside was as moist as if it had been baked in a pouch!
The grilled salmon, made with premium wild Alaskan salmon, was similarly impressive in that it was not over-grilled with those heavy black char marks. Instead, it was super moist, with the slight smoky flavor of barbecue. That brings me to the issue of technique, which is what this barbecue was all about. With very little sauce on the plate, this meal’s strength lay in its offerings of top-notch meats well prepared. That, and the all-you-can-eat sides.
On the downside, the restaurant at times seemed to be like a ship without a captain. During the barbecue, watermelon was left on the buffet table uncut, with a big chef’s knife just sitting there. And when a sign out front says dinner starts at 5 p.m., guests arriving at 5:30 shouldn’t walk in on staff just beginning to set up the buffet. But our server was very efficient and pleasant and our meals delicious. The place is now on the path to becoming a true neighborhood escape.
for the shrimp recipe!
 |
 |
|
| Three Monkeys | The Shaved Duck |