You don’t have to wait until Sunday to try Shmeers, University City’s year-old vegetarian kosher bistro. It’s a great place to bring a paper or your laptop (this place is a WiFi hotspot), grab a table and enjoy some good coffee and breakfast.
Located at Delmar Boulevard and Interstate 170, Shmeers has made itself at home in the eruv (an area defined by boundaries adhered to by Orthodox Jews on the Sabbath) and is a favorite among its Jewish neighbors. Because kosher kitchens can serve either meat or dairy, restaurants must choose a side. In many instances, kosher restaurants go the meat route. Shmeers establishes itself as the only vegetarian kosher spot in Missouri. The cozy 12-table café has counter space, and a recent patio addition seems almost larger than the indoor dining area.
Almost everything is baked on the premises with “a lot of love,” according to owner Gershon Schwadron, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. House-made muffins, cheesecakes, brownies and mini-Bundt cakes fill the bakery case. There are also bagels with a variety of “shmeers” – both sweet and savory cream cheeses (cappuccino, pineapple-macadamia, rum-raisin) – as well as fish salads (salmon, tuna and seafood) and hummus.
On our first visit, the place was packed. Judy Haber was the hustling server, efficiently making coffee, refilling creamers, serving tables of six, ringing out customers and packing to-go orders all while the cacophony was rising and the phone was ringing off the hook. It was clearly chaotic, but she was friendly and unflappable.
Brunch specials included two eggs ($2.99) with toast and home fries or three eggs, lox and onions ($4.95) also served with toast and home fries. Low-carb Israeli salad –
made with cucumber, tomatoes and red onion – can be substituted for the potatoes. Three-egg omelets are offered with veggies or cheese. The variety is somewhat limited because there’s only so much you can do with peppers, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms.
The French toast ($3.95) was a choice of either whole wheat or challah bread. We chose the latter, which was thickly cut, soaked all the way through in batter with a hint of almond flavor. It was served with packets of syrup and butter (real maple syrup would have made it that much better).
On another Sunday visit after noon, it was much quieter, and we practically had the place to ourselves. The lunch menu was available after 11:30 a.m., and we decided to try the spinach quiche (there’s also wild mushroom and broccoli) and the cheese blintzes – both $5.95 and served with a salad or homemade soup. The generous slice of quiche was packed with spinach but light in texture (similar to soufflé) in a flaky homemade crust. The French onion soup was surprisingly thick, rich and flavorful despite the lack of using a traditional beef stock.
The cheese blintzes were light crêpes filled with a blend of cream cheese and farmer’s cheese, rolled and gently seared, reminiscent of the way Asian pot stickers are cooked. They had a deep, golden-brown color and slightly crunchy texture on top. Normally blintzes don’t have that kind of substance. Served three to a plate, the blintzes were drizzled with an orange-brandy sauce, its sweetness pairing well with the tangy cheese. The cauliflower-and-broccoli soup was delicious, with the individual flavors of the vegetables, as well as carrots, standing out in the velvety cream base.
Schwadron exuberantly greets all his customers, both regulars and newcomers. He is ready to please and quick to correct any situation. When the quiche was served on the cold side, he swept it back to the kitchen with a firm, “I want everything to be right so you’ll come back.”
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2005.