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At Finale, Everyone Feels Lucky
• by Sean Hixson - Photo by Allyson Mace
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On my way out, I wished I saw a live craps table with a crusty stickman yelling, “Yo 11,” a shiny steel ball cruelly landing on double zero and swarming cocktail waitresses in heavy makeup and brown tights taking orders. The last 90 minutes seemed a little like Vegas – old-school Vegas. Before Vegas became the fastest-growing American city. When it was a weekend destination for the lounging cool, rather than a weekday destination for tourists with meaty fists holding giant daiquiris in 3-foot Eiffel Towers.
Maynard Ferguson – with three-trumpet, two-sax, trombone, bass, piano and drum accompaniment – just blew up the joint with a fat set. I felt good – and fortunate – to have seen the show. Then, I remembered the last lounge act I caught in Vegas was Sinbad. The puffy pants and goatee-wearing Sinbad. But, because I was lucky, Ferguson at Finale was much better than Sinbad in Vegas.
The look …
While Steve Wynn was spending $2.5 billion on his Las Vegas strip resort, three renowned St. Louis businessmen – Bob Saur (Conrad Properties), Steve Schankman (Contemporary Productions) and Ted Geiger (J. Buck’s and Fuzio) – dropped $1.5 million to turn the stiff Smith and Slay’s/The Bon Bar into the wide-awake Finale, inside the luxury hotel/residence Clayton on the Park. The partners’ newly-designed 6,000-square-foot space houses two destinations: a 75-seat restaurant and a 130-seat live entertainment club. I’ll detail the latter.
Park in their garage for free and thank the doorman for opening the heavy glass doors as you enter the high-rise. The staircase spirals left to the second floor, where a small marquee sign above the foyer’s ticket office advertises Finale’s act. It’s a casino-like touch to recreate what’s normally outside – the blue sky, cobblestone streetscapes, marquee signs – inside.
Inside, “intimate,” while clichéd, is true. The floor, stage-front, is dense with four-top tables, some so close you have to sidestep like Marshall Faulk to reach your seat.
Only the wait staff is concerned with the nondescript bar in back. Up front, a glitzy curtain, dotted with color-changing, fiber optic lights spelling a large “Finale,” backlights the stage. Swanky lights in a dim music club conjured a happy, lounge-cool Vegas image. Similarly, the tight tables spawned a classy image of Goodfella Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco in the 1960s Manhattan Copacabana.
The scene …
Finale is a music venue, not bar. Two shows, Wednesday to Saturday (7:30 and 9:30 p.m.), are perfect for a classy date. Couples, strangers or not, pair at tables, so be prepared to small talk or politely ignore. Court your date, preshow, at the restaurant’s patio facing Shaw Park.
Bookings are national and local – Motown tribute bands to top-notch jazz to comedians like Louie Anderson (ugh). Finale came on strong on opening night with jazz great Maynard Ferguson and Big Bop Nouveau, then again two weeks later with the ethereal Erin Bode. If Ferguson is a measure of national acts ($25 to $40) and Bode the local ($10 to $20), Finale’s future is bright.
Crowd demographics slant 40+ and mobile but depend on who’s playing. Since all the shows I went to were packed, maybe Finale’s attempt to attract entertainment-lounge novices is succeeding. All seats are the same price.
Sometimes, the space limitation means the waitress blocks your view or you can hear the hoosier behind you chewing ice. I’d like to see some mild crowd control and one intermission to facilitate cocktail refills.
Last tips: Arrive on time to not distract the other patrons; shut the hell up during the show; turn your phone off; applaud loudly for quality music; dress nice – at least business casual; NO smoking.
The products …
Executive chef Jeff Constance (also at J. Buck’s) is culinary-schooled and experienced. His brief club menu divides into three appetizer towers that serve two to four ($12/$22). The St. Louis tower offers local delicacies, like t-ravs. The other two towers are more highbrow with tuna tartare and goat cheese. The unwieldy, three-tiered towers are more flash than function. With such tight quarters, the waitresses sometimes have trouble delivering them. You have an hour to cocktail before the first show and 30 minutes before the second, so it’s best to order appetizers then.
The restaurant’s 50+-selection wine list is available club side. A good mix of 14 labels are available by the glass ($6 to $13), while the majority of the bottles are under $40. The beer list is ordinary in price and selection – AB bottles and drafts, import bottles. The Martini/Cosmo list is sweet and gaudy. The Navan Alexander – a vanilla-infused cognac and vanilla ice cream pleasure – is a hit. Liquor is top-shelf only.
End the night with Finale’s chocolate-heavy dessert menu, only available restaurant side.
The straight 411 …
For close-to-the-stage, dense seating, attentive wait service and bold bar grub, head to Finale.
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