Editor’s note: As of Nov. 3, 2010, Riddles is closed until further notice. Riddles Penultimate Café and Wine Bar is a great many things to a great many people. For some, it’s a favorite neighborhood restaurant where locally sourced meats and produce have always been a priority. For others, it’s a bar where you can listen to live jazz while sipping from a vast selection of wines and beers. It’s where you go to sit amidst the bustle of The Loop and watch the people go by. Sometimes it’s quiet and cozy. Sometimes it’s boisterous and smoky and divey. But, since 1980, it has welcomed guests with a relaxed and familiar feel.
Founder Andy Ayers’ daughter KT has taken over at the helm but continues her dad’s tradition of putting out consistently prepared food inspired by cuisines ranging from the Big Easy to Italy to whatever is in season. That doesn’t mean originals like the Shrimp Sara or the Chicken Rose will ever be taken off the menu. And they shouldn’t, although they could use a little lightening up. But first courses first.
That seasonal approach shined in a lovely, piquant caponata, a stewed eggplant relish that nicely wrangled the best of the late summer produce. Served chilled and with pita triangles, the light and tangy dish was great for awakening the palate, its capers and olives adding a briny counterpoint to the sweetness of cooked-down onions and peppers, its tomato adding zing to the savory eggplant.
On the other end of the heartiness spectrum, a Missouri-made smoked andouille sausage was doused with melted cheese. The salty grilled meat was juicy and aromatic with onions, and the cheesy sauce made for a wonderfully fatty start to a meal. I shared this with my dining companion but would have liked it all to myself.
Mushroom caps stuffed with either crawfish tails or blue cheese fall somewhere in the middle on the light to heavy spectrum. They looked thrown together both in their assembly and plating but were a tasty bite. The crawfish filling packed a wallop of cayenne and the blue cheese had a pungent punch; both enhanced the juicy, earthy mushrooms.
Moving on to mains, the Cajun cavatelli was a delicious fusion of flavors. Tender and delicate crawfish morsels, peppers and mushrooms were folded into al dente shells and enveloped in a creamy white sauce with the heat of cayenne lingering after each bite. It was rich, but not heavy.
The Shrimp Sara has been on the menu for 20 years and is ideal for those who like a little shrimp with their butter. The perfectly succulent sautéed shrimp, artichoke hearts, tomatoes and mushrooms were drowned in a bath of outrageously rich, thick, white port-butter sauce. The more I stared at the pool of emulsified fat, the queasier I felt as I pictured how much butter actually went into the making of this dish. It really would have been great if a fraction of the sauce was used. As this review was written, a couple shrimp and mushrooms sat suspended in a brick of solidified butter in my fridge.
Chicken Major Grey is another Riddles classic that could use a lighter touch. There are wonderful elements in the dish – a special curry powder blended for Riddles by the St. Louis Herb Society, a juicy breast of Ashly Farm’s chicken, a little sour cream for tang and coolness, mango chutney to sweeten up the works. The flavors are there and the seasoning is right on. Just ease up on the sauce.
Most entrées are served with soup or salad and a seasonal vegetable side. The apricot-orange soup one night was cool and pleasing; a pinch of spices added warmth to the light and creamy yogurt-based soup. Salads are crisp and fresh, but the Mayfair dressing could have used more seasoning.
A selection of sandwiches is offered, too. A hefty half-pound cheeseburger of pasture-raised Hinkebein Hills Farm beef was perfectly cooked to medium and arrived at the table under a blanket of melted Swiss. The meat was crumbly and tender and juicy – a very good choice.
For dessert, there’s a variety of pies, cakes and ice cream, all made in-house – the ice cream is even hand-cranked in an old churn and has a consistency as smooth as velvet. A sugar cookie crust was swapped in for the base of a silken chocolate pie. When topped with a scoop of Kahlúa ice cream, this dish was rich and textural. The chocolaty filling was melt-in-your-mouth and the buttery crust was unexpected.
Service was slow but always friendly. The décor is a little shabby, but that’s part of Riddle’s charm. It shows the wear of decades of enjoyment and reliability.
BACK FOR SECONDS Don’t-miss dishes: Caponata, Cajun cavatelli, chocolate pie and ice cream.
Vibe: The décor has seen better days, but the feel is relaxed and familiar.
Entrée prices: $12.95 to $29.95
Where: Riddles Penultimate Café & Wine Bar,
6307 Delmar Blvd., University City, 314.725.6985
When: Tue. to Sat. – 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.
This article appears in Nov 1-30, 2011.