Review: Molly’s in Soulard

I had some good seared scallops last night, sweet and succulent, and who would have thought to pair them with red beans and dirty rice?”

“Sounds wonderful. Where did you eat?”

“Molly’s in Soulard.”

“Molly’s? Last time I was there I was playing pool on the patio and I sure don’t remember any food.”

That’s how the conversation will go after you visit Molly’s in Soulard. And, yes, I said Molly’s, although not the same Molly’s where you may have frittered away many a Friday afternoon-turned-evening-turned-what-the-hell-time-is-it. The short story is Molly’s the bar bought Norton’s the restaurant next door, turned it into a bistro two months ago, kept Molly’s the bar a bar and called the whole complex Molly’s in Soulard.

The owners also brought in consulting chef Eric Brenner and refurbished the building into a space so damn warm and inviting – with its old New Orleans charm, ornate and almost masculine – I wanted to fritter away the day amid the dark woods and bead board, gold metallic painted walls, and large, carved-frame mirrors. A long banquette, upholstered in red velvet brocade, runs down one side of the main dining room with about 10 tables neatly arranged about. A private alcove provides cozy, clandestine dining, especially with the heavy curtains pulled closed. Next to the dining room, the woody bar area has a few tables and three oversized curved booths covered in the same rich, textured fabric. Another dining room is under construction and nearly ready for private parties. Out back, the dog-friendly garden patio is still there, complete with fire pits for cool evenings.

Brenner was a good choice to construct the French-Creole-NOLA-influenced menu. Known for inventive creations and myriad cooking styles while at the erstwhile Chez Leon and his next-door restaurant, Moxy Bistro, Brenner’s consulting has shown up on the menus of Kaldi’s Coffeehouses, Araka, Sub Zero Vodka Bar and even the Otis & Henry’s Bar and Grill at the Lady Luck Casinos in Missouri and Iowa.

We started with the fried green tomatoes: two thick slices of spicy cornmeal-battered tomatoes topped with barbecued shrimp – NOLA-style, natch – for crackling goodness with a bit of heat. Equally satisfying were oysters Rockefeller, reimagined here as off the shell and on toast points layered with a spinach-fennel mixture, topped with a fat fried oyster (more of that crunchy cornmeal batter) and glazed with a rich and creamy hollandaise, like a delicious bite-size sandwich – six of them in fact. The French onion soup sparkled with sweetness, presumably from a splash of white wine and sweet onion. The perfect cool weather starter.

The day before one of my visits, an acquaintance wanted to know the place for the best scallops. I wish he asked the day after: Five plump pan-seared sea scallops bathed in butter sauce encircling a mound of fragrant red beans and dirty rice mixed with crawfish meat, diced tomatoes and bacon made for not “the best,” but a really good scallop entrée. Hearty dishes like duck, lamb, roasted chicken and steak fill out the rest of menu. The duck, several slices of breast grilled medium rare and two triangles of crêpe filled with a confit of dark leg meat, arrived splashed with a bourbon-peach sauce so sweet and tangy I was hoping it was sold by the bottle. The accompanying steamed green beans still maintained their snap, the roasted spicy new potatoes their crunch. As Molly’s tweaks its menu, steak frites fades in favor of a new twist on steak and potatoes: slices of grilled hanger steak, appropriately medium rare, accompanied by two crispy potato pancakes and brilliant-green steamed broccolini, and topped, surprisingly, with a poached egg, now making the dish a new twist on steak and eggs.

Non-meat eaters will approve of the Farmer’s Bounty, a bowl of creamy polenta topped with a selection of vegetables; one night it was an earthy-fresh combo of asparagus, tomatoes, zucchini, and oyster and shiitake mushrooms. Think of it as vegetarian comfort food; it’s so rich, omnivores won’t miss the lack of meat.

Molly’s does have kinks to address, though. While the wine list is compact, reasonably priced and well thought out, serving all wines in the same generic glass is disappointing, even for a casual bistro. Signs of surrounding bar life show up from time to time: an empty paper towel dispenser and dirty drink glasses in the bathroom, bar chatter spilling over into the dining area, servers gone missing even when not busy, piped in classic rock (which, oddly, works well with the atmosphere). Desserts are basic, but offer a few twists: a very good crème brulée is made even better with diced dried apricot; obligatory bread pudding is lighter and fluffier than usual, accented with maple syrup and blueberries and a scoop of ice cream. Our server suggested the molten chocolate lava cake, but that wasn’t enough for me to indulge in a dessert I consider overexposed and tired.

Like aging rockers who now sing standards from the Great American Songbook, the restaurant’s biggest challenge will be carving out a separate identity from Molly’s the bar next door, especially with the Molly’s in Soulard moniker used for both.

NEW AND NOTABLE
Don’t-Miss Dish: Sea scallops with red beans and dirty rice; Georgia duck with bourbon-peach sauce.
Vibe: Cozy, smoke-free dining room and bar-dining area with exposed brick walls and warm lighting make for a comfy, relaxed setting without seeming scaled down. Some spill over from Molly’s the bar can cause elevated chatter.
Entrée Prices: $15.95 to $25.95
Where: Molly’s in Soulard, 808 Geyer Ave., St. Louis, 314.241.6200
When: Lunch and dinner: Tue. to Thu. – 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Fri. – 11 a.m. to midnight, Sat. – 10:30 a.m. to midnight, Sun. – 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Brunch: Sat. – 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sun. – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.