Every now and then, I need to clear my head and sneak out of the office for a mid-morning break. When a stroll down Washington Avenue is out of the question (I prefer to save my sweating for the bike ride home.), my thoughts immediately turn to a place where I can grab a day-altering bite without parting from my laptop. With Bastille Day passing and my only form of celebration having over-indulged in French wine (not that there’s anything wrong with that), I figured I needed to treat myself to one of my favorite Parisian delights: crêpes.
Rooster, one of Dave Bailey’s spots, is the perfect refuge from the office. It’s a favorite of St. Louisans near and far and a great place to take out-of-towners after a trip to City Garden. It’s also an easy eatery for Meatless Monday devotees. With myriad veggie- and fruit-filled crêpes and a handful of other meatless options, this rooster is certainly crowing vegetarian.
During my break from office life, I feasted on the Goat Cheese No. 1: a paper-thin crêpe filled with my favorite type of soft cheese, oven-dried tomatoes and roasted mushrooms. The meaty, salty mushrooms were the perfect foil to those sweet and oozy tomatoes. Loads of basil freshened things up and the tangy goat cheese added indulgent decadence to the overall dish. Give it a dip in the chipotle mayo sauce dotting the plate, and that soft kick knocks the beret right off your head.
So maybe my Bastille Day treat was a tad belated, but it was certainly worth the wait. And speaking of wait … Though Rooster is jam-packed on the weekends, I didn’t wait at all. Weekday dining is clearly the way to go at this downtown destination (aka my new office hideaway).
This article appears in July 2012.