Review: Terrene in St. Louis

To me, this time of year means dinners – and lots of ’em – with my out-of-town family and friends who are back home for the holidays. There is, however, a catch: They all seem to hail from awesome restaurant towns (no one’s ever from Decatur or Springfield), they all appreciate great food and they all can’t wait to tell me how fantastic the new, cool places are in their cities and how you just can’t find “insert trendy cuisine here” in St. Louis. And, darn it, to an extent they’re right, but less and less so.

In the past few years our city has seen an influx of unique eateries. But it’s hard to say when St. Louis has had one restaurant make up as much ground as fast as newcomer Terrene, where the focus is on simple preparations of fresh, ecologically sound ingredients.

Located in the Central West End on the now-crowded stretch of Sarah Street between Lindell Boulevard and Forest Park Parkway, Terrene has a sleek look, an unreal patio and, most importantly, tasty-licious American food.

The frites, my new favorite french fries in town, anchor the small-plates portion of the ever-evolving menu. Although they began simply, served with just the right amount of salt and pepper, a pickled-onion mayonnaise offered a zingy complement not found often enough. Even more divergent from the norm, lightly battered and crispy fried tofu on a stick with a slightly salty cashew dipping sauce thoroughly surprised the nonvegetarians (including me) with its appealing taste and texture. Large shrimp atop a mountain of pine nuts, garlic slices, tomatoes, onions and carrots, all baked in a sweet-and-sour tomato sauce, was an excellent example of marrying flavors so that the whole is better than the parts.

The braised pork belly and Appalachian pressed pork sandwich showcased chef/partner Dave Owens’ mastery of this popular, yet often overcooked, meat. The latter had a generous portion of thinly sliced, house-smoked pork topped with honey-barbecue onions and peppercorn Gouda on focaccia. The taste bounced back and forth from sweet to smoky, always complementing the tender pork. The braised pork belly dish was two half-inch-thick pieces of bacon crossed over a bed of creamy grits amidst a sweet root vegetable sauce. The salt of the pork belly and the sweet, almost caramel flavor of the sauce left me with but one
thought: more.

Terrene’s presentation of fish ‘n’ chips truly stood out. Small cutlets of semolina-crusted tilapia that curled slightly on the sides were stacked upright in a teepee. I’m guessing some would use a fork to eat them, but they would be cheating themselves out of the satisfaction of just grabbing and dipping them in the slightly tart fresh horseradish sauce.

New to the menu on my last visit was a pot roast sandwich. Again Owens didn’t skimp on the meat. Ultra-tender beef smothered in mozzarella, onions and peppers, piled on a bed of tomatoes between toasted ciabatta, proved to be an obnoxiously good version of this comfort-food staple.

“This is … [eyes roll to the back of the head] … the best, mmm, piece of fish I have ever had!” was the superlative tossed out by one diner after diving into the catch of the day, a lightly floured, pan-roasted black cod. Although that was just one person’s opinion, the succulence of this fish bordered on criminal. Tangy pickled yellow and red bell peppers and pan-fried potatoes – golden and crispy outside and cloudlike on the inside – offered an excellent taste and texture contrast to the moist, buttery fish.

Grilled hanger steak with crispy onions on a bed of black beans with a peppery, but not hot, chile sauce was a solid dish, but it fell short of the bar that had been set so high. Too many black beans seemed to crowd out the taste of the meat, making it a little more bland than it probably should have been. Then, just when it seemed Owens might be human, there was the chicken. I didn’t know, or maybe I had forgotten, that chicken could taste like this. Pan-roasted, it was so tender and juicy surely only magic could keep it on the bone, or maybe it was the nicely crisped skin. A sweet and zesty honey-vinegar pan sauce paired wonderfully with the chicken. The buttery, crisp green beans that accompanied the chicken also deserve a mention.

If this is where you usually grab the check, think again. Save a little room for pastry chef extraordinaire Cheyenne Modglin to fill. The Little Bits is a small plate of homemade goodies that included sugared fruit jellies, turtles, animal crackers and (my favorite) soft caramels dusted with sea salt. Chocolate 33, with its chile-spiked flourless chocolate cake that warmed the throat, black walnut fudge and Bissinger’s drinking chocolate (warm, with a consistency halfway between chocolate syrup and hot chocolate) was a trifecta of cocoa bliss. Goat cheese panna cotta was not too sweet, and the goat cheese lent its texture and a little sharpness beneath the vanilla taste. Poached pears were a fantastic addition to the dish.

The main dining room is a cool, large, open room with high tin ceilings, and it can get a little loud when it’s crowded. Also, during busy parts of the night, Terrene can seem a bit short-staffed and there have been some hiccups in the service.

My only wishes for Terrene would be that Owens eventually offers a tasting menu so that customers may, in one sitting, experience his entire philosophy of what an ideal meal should be. And I wish Modglin would bring back the lollipops she made for the opening. Everyone deserves those, except maybe expats who blather on about why they think St. Louis doesn’t have “insert trendy cuisine here.”