Review: Central Table Food Hall in the Central West End

Editor's note: Central Table Food Hall has closed.

Describe it as a food emporium. Label it a communal dining experience. Compare the concept to New York’s The Plaza Food Hall, L.A.’s Umamicatessen or even Tokyo’s Takashimaya food hall. Say it’s a nightclub for foodies.

Just don’t call Central Table Food Hall a food court.

Central Table is St. Louis’ first experience with the national food hall explosion. Situated on the first floor of Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s newly constructed Center for Outpatient Health on the corner of South Euclid Avenue and Forest Park Parkway, the hall takes up nearly a city block. It’s a concept that could only work in the densely populated and mobile Central West End. While its executive chef Nick Martinkovic was imported from Brooklyn’s popular farm-to-table Roberta’s, the food and the rest of the talent are locally sourced. Managing this mammoth operation is Matt McGuire, recently of Brasserie but best known as the man behind the departed – and terribly missed – King Louie’s. When Elliot Harris parks his Chop Shop sushi food truck for the night, he rolls maki and constructs beautiful displays of superb sushi and nigiri at Central Table.

Within this broad gastro-landscape, there is something for everyone – a statement that typically signals, “Warning: Boredom and Mediocrity Ahead.” Yet, Central Table keeps things interesting. Rather than the dozens of walk-up stalls that cram some food halls twice the size, Central Table is built around seven stations or “display kitchens” as they are called: deli, hearth, grill, sushi and raw, coffee, tea and booze. Wine and pantry staples are available for take-away from the market portion located at the front. I even spied a small cask of maple syrup being aged for bottling.

Two distinct service models drive Central Table’s approach. Breakfast and lunch are speedy as hospital staff, students and lunch-breakers flit between stations grabbing coffee, pastries, salads, sandwiches, pizzas and grilled items like burgers and tuna melts, both excellent; the former made from beef ground in the kitchen, the latter served open-face on sourdough bread.

For dinner, the hall switches to full table service with everything consolidated onto one menu. The atmosphere is relaxed with the industrial-chic space softened by candles and amber lighting and the drinks flowing freely. The bar is in the center of the large, open room. It’s a great spot to soak in the fading natural light from the large windows overlooking Euclid. With seats at four kitchen stations, two communal tables, several banquettes, more tables both inside and along the sidewalk, the space is set for conversation and conviviality.

There’s a decent selection of oysters that you can wash down with an affordable glass of sparkling or white wine (No glass is over $11 and most are in the $6 to $8 range.). In fact, the entire wine list is affordable, with most bottles running between $30 and $40. Local beers are well represented on draft, and there are a handful of sakes to complement the wide assortment of sushi.

Focaccia bread arrives at the table – soft, warm, chewy – with a chunky, spicy tomato spread bright with basil and course-cut Parmesan; not a bad way to kill time while waiting for a small slab of densely textured pig’s head terrine, its rich unctuousness cut by the tang of pickled carrots on top. Hunks of red, golden and pink beets – bathed in egg whites, herbs and citrus before being salt-roasted to concentrated sweetness – came arranged around a shmear of creme fraiche, with sliced bits of bright yellow, salt-cured, dehydrated egg yolk dotting the colorful plate.

If you don’t trust yourself with a knife, I suggest the pork and skirt steak entrees. The former, a double-chop broiled to crimson juiciness, came sliced off the bone into rectangular bite-sized pieces, and arranged with dried apricots and a few leaves of grilled Belgium endive for a bitter counterpoint, all served over creamy polenta. The steak, cubed like stew meat, had good flavor and proper sear but arrived rare, missing the requested medium-rare temperature. The plate was scattered with the accompanying fingerling potatoes and onions as if a stir-fry; the vincotto sauce was a mere impression. Both dishes tasted fine, but the presentation did nothing to excite the eyes.

What does visually arouse is the two, thick tentacles of Spanish octopus. Arranged on the plate in two interlocking Cs, it’s a striking – shocking even – presentation. Braised for six hours and finished on the grill, the mild meat was tender, the suckers crispy. Surrounding the main feature were dollops of aerated fennel foam, fronds of fresh and caramelized fennel, and jiggling slabs of tomato water gelée. It was like having the ocean wash up on your plate, complete with froth, seaweed and jellyfish. And it was delicious.

If you want to watch cooks in action, sit at one of the kitchen bars and listen to a lot of “yes chef” as they work with precision timing. Order from any kitchen as I did while sitting at the grill eating a pizza and calzone from the hearth. The calzone, about a half-pound and looking like a halved football, came stuffed with spicy soppressata from Salume Beddu, house-made ricotta, basil and Peppadew. A drizzle of honey on top helped tame the piquancy of the peppers and salami. The thin, charred, bubbly crust of the 12-inch diavolo pizza – another spicy choice – held up well to its toppings of tomatoes, roasted garlic, pork sausage and mozzarella.

The dessert menu is small and seemingly standard with chocolate bread pudding, house-made gelato and affogato, but there is a cold strawberry soup of puréed berries and buttermilk made whimsical with the addition of bits of cotton candy and floating flowers of meringue made from lime sorbet.

Delivering meals from different stations requires a level of coordination that only technology can solve, which is why cooks are fitted with earpieces to communicate like Secret Service agents between kitchens. During my visits, service was adept, knowledgeable and attentive with servers dressed in black, navigating the floor like advancing chess pieces. When a side of broccoli raab was too salty to eat, it was whisked off the table and replaced, no questions asked.

Call it what you like, but with cooking classes and farmers markets planned, a scratch kitchen, locally sourced ingredients and house-made products, I call Central Table Food Hall one of the most ambitious and exciting culinary destinations to hit town.

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Don’t Miss Dishes
Pork, roasted beets, Spanish octopus, and pizza and sushi offerings are worth exploring.

Vibe
Relaxed and casual in a contemporary and stylish communal atmosphere.

Entree Prices
Large plates, $21 to $23; Pizza, $11 to $15; Small plates, $8 to $15

Where
Central Table Food Hall, 23 S. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 314.932.5595, centraltablestl.com

When
Coffee Shop: Mon. to Fri. – 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Lunch: Mon. to Fri. – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Dinner: Mon. to Thu. – 5 to 10 p.m., Fri. and Sat. – 5 to 11 p.m., Sun. – 5 to 9 p.m.; Brunch: Sun. – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.