Monarch Brings Elegance to Maplewood • by Joe Pollack
Posted On: 10/10/2003 E-mail This To A Friend!

Being the hot new restaurant in town can be a mixed blessing. Yes, business is good and crowds are large. The reservation book is so well-used its pages are getting dog-eared.

But it's also a time of high tension. At high prices, small mistakes loom large, and diners can be alienated by a variety of real or fancied shortcomings.

But Monarch, one of the two new crown jewels in downtown Maplewood (the Schlafly Bottleworks is the other), seems to have survived its birth pangs and, like most Moms, has forgotten the difficulties of labor in the joys of the new offspring. The Guru has heard considerable major praise and only a handful of minor complaints along the way, and his several visits have produced impressive experiences. The chief complaint is the too-high volume in the bistro that faces a supermarket parking lot, but the main dining room, with soft drapes hanging like canopies from the ceiling and a much more satisfactory sound level. There's also a pleasant bar-and-snacks area, a small art gallery and some private party space.

Service is excellent, and the dining room also has space for a large wine room that is part storage space and part impressive decoration. The wine list is lengthy, covering a wide range of regions and prices. Glasses and half-bottles also are available, and we were charmed by a zinfandel from California's Folie a Deux (translates roughly as folly for two, and these two are psychiatrists), and a sparkling French rose that was delicate and delicious.

Chef Brian Hale, who does desserts in addition to entrees, and who is thinking about turning his hand to bread, obviouosly has been influenced by a wide variety of cooking styles, and many of them show up on a given night, or even a given meal. Breads from Companion, by the way, are outstanding, led by a walnut-raisin loaf with a hint of fennel and a sprinkling of oatmeal on top, though we were taken aback by the fact that we never received any butter, though about a half-dozen servers – and Hale himself – stopped by during the evening.

Touches of France, Italy, the Caribbean, Asia and other places brighten the selection at Monarch, and the kitchen seems to have a special feeling about risotto. It accmpanies a number of dishes and shows up with many different flavors, all complementary to the main course. Risotto is bolstered by lemon grass to accompany halibut, or with truffle oil alongside black bass, or saffron with grilled prawns. All are splendid, and these individual touches, not the same thing with every entree, brighten the entire meal. For example, whipped potatoes get Camembert as a highlight, or sometimes truffle oil.

These things make the Monarch as bright as its namesake butterfly, but all is not perfect and, at Monarch's prices, there are no small flaws. An appetizer of duck confit Wellington, wrapped in delicious puff pastry, was a superior idea, but scant on the serving of duck. And the "seasonal vegetables" line is becoming tedious. Practically all vegetables are always in season somewhere, thanks to air freight, and the arrival of two different kinds of squash one night was an abysmal idea.

Unimaginative offerings like squash, carrots, green beans and the like are unnecessary when spinach, fresh peas, savoy
cabbage or pea pods are available.

Hale and his staff handle fish in a superior manner; we ate fish dumplings that were as close to perfect as I've ever seen, and black bass rolled in hazelnuts was sweet and tasty, improved by being cooked to the ideal moment.

Grilled prawns were delicious, as was halibut, and a dish of sweet potato strings provided a surprise, some superior flavors and an example of imagination used properly.

Duck confit was still on the menu at a second visit, served on flat bread instead of as a Wellington, and it was ideal. The meat selections also include superior braised short ribs, heightened by a cabernet reduction sauce, and excellent lamb chops, sweet and tender and crusted with pistachios. Grilled pork tenderloin rubbed to be slightly spicy and cooked to perfection, was
another winner. The tenderloin, by the way, and the short ribs, are served as delightful, and huge, sandwiches on the bistro menu.

The dessert list is long enough to suit most tastes, short enough to keep the diner from spending the remainder the of evening in debate. I went in a different direction; since a special soup was a chilled Champagne-melon, and since I prefer savories to start the meal and sweets to end it, I ordered it. It was delicious, arriving light, barely sweet and very fruity, with the flavors heightened by a sprig of fresh mint. White chocolate-blackberry bread pudding was wondrous, with a delicious caramel sauce adding the gilding to a pudding with perfect texture, and Hale's use of creme caramel instead of the ubiquitous creme brulee is a fine idea.

Elegant meal.

Receive RSS Feeds of Sauce Magazine Articles

• Mama’s cooking shines at Nubia Café (08/01/2008)
  
• All is ducky at the Shaved Duck (07/01/2008)
  
• Scape reshaped (06/01/2008)
  
• Revival of the fittest (05/01/2008)
  
• Sky's the limit at Cielo (04/01/2008)