The Preston reopens with revamped French fine dining in the Central West End

The historic Chase Park Plaza hotel has housed many eateries in its century as a St. Louis institution, but the newest iteration of The Preston (named for building creator Preston J. Bradshaw) aims to open a new door for upscale French dining. The first iteration of the Preston shuttered during the pandemic and had a less focused menu with more Asian influence. But now that hotel business is picking back up, and with a substantial revamp to the menu, the Preston reopened for dinner service earlier this year as one of the city’s premier establishments for French fine dining. 

At a time when fine dining has seen a decline with world class destination spots like Noma recently closing their doors, the Preston restaurant chef Bruce Piatek hopes they are able to introduce a more welcoming atmosphere to the traditional idea of fine dining. “We’re taking away the pompous, pretentious air to the restaurant. It's a home away from home, and that is something that is hard to capture, but I think we do a pretty good job of it,” Piatek said.

While the Preston is keeping the traditional table service style and etiquette, they are doing away with the traditional white tablecloths and ornate table settings. Their small waitstaff are looking to develop a close rapport with loyal diners. “We want to host you; our servers really want to share the experience with you and have fun with you,” said Michael Stauder, food and beverage manager at the Preston. 

The new approach to traditional French dining extends to the menu. Classic dishes like beef tartare have been modernized slightly. Instead of the expected egg yolk topping a ring of tartare, Piatek serves the dish with brunoise egg, along with crostini, cornichons and three dollops of hackleback caviar. The steak au poivre is a strip steak, dry-aged for three months in-house, encrusted in peppercorns and served with a shot glass of peekytoe crab, sauce Choron and laid over a bed of multicolored fingerling potatoes and topped with microgreens.

The original iteration of the Preston had a cocktail-focused drinks program, but as the restaurant shifted toward French cuisine, the program was overhauled with a large collection of by-the-glass and bottle wine options from the U.S., France and a few selections from South America, although a succinct cocktail list still offers classics. The beer menu is strictly local with offerings from Anheuser-Busch, Schlafly Beer and 4 Hands Brewing Co.

The roughly 1,800-square-foot restaurant seats about 75, along with 35 more in a separate wine room, and features a partially open kitchen, giving diners front row seats to the fast-paced scene behind the line. “It pays dividends to have an open kitchen. People do enjoy seeing someone saute, seeing something seared, seeing something flambeed behind the line, seeing those flames. And more importantly, those aromas are gonna hit the guests,” Piatek said. 

The team at the Preston want to create an approachable and friendly atmosphere. “We're an easy spot to book, a nice dinner for whatever you're celebrating. We don't make it difficult,” said Stauder. 

The Preston is open for breakfast from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. daily, and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. There’s no lunch service at The Preston, but the Chase Club is open for lunch. Reservations are available online.