From the interior’s warm decor to the expansive, luxurious patio where blankets are offered to keep diners snug on cool nights, few restaurants in town dare to be this charming. Gerard Craft’s Niche Food Group opened this Central West End destination in 2009, and its commitment to classic Parisian-style bistro dining has never wavered in the intervening years. The gougeres should be ordered immediately, but these delicate, warm cheese puffs are just one of Brasserie’s enduring classics. Other standouts include the French onion soup with its bronzed cap of gooey Comte cheese, or the bistro steak served with a buttery bearnaise sauce and a pile of slim-cut pommes frites. Whatever you do, don’t miss dessert, particularly their floating island – poached meringue on a pool of creme anglaise – or one of the rotating options from James Beard-nominated pastry chef Elise Mensing. Mensing’s London fog creme brulee riffs on a classic: Her recipe uses Earl Grey custard and is served with shortbread and a dollop of lavender meringue.
4580 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, 314.454.0600, brasseriebyniche.com
The Sauce 75 is a photomosaic of the best in St. Louis dining in 2024. This list is a celebration of the diverse skills, techniques and culinary traditions that meet across our region. In sum, it tells a story about where St. Louis has been, where it is now and where it’s going next. Many great and good St. Louis restaurants have not made the cut. (Seventy-five is a lot fewer than you think!) Restaurants are constantly growing and evolving and go through ups and downs. Newly opened restaurants can take time to find their feet: There are a few exciting new places we’re cheering for, but which we feel haven’t yet fully hit their stride. Read the entire list here.
This article appears in August 2024.