Editor’s note: The Rustic Goat, Vernon’s BBQ, Lampert’s BBQ, Capitalist Pig, Home Wine Kitchen, Vino Nadoz, and Harvest has closed.
Thai Food Rising: Just as GQ‘s Alan Richman named D.C.’s Northern Thai gem Little Serow the Most Outstanding Restaurant of 2013, our own little outlier from up North opened its doors. At Fork & Stix in The Loop, Southern Thai standbys like pad thai and coconut curry play second fiddle to Northern specialties like pork belly-boasting Hung Lay Curry, lemongrass-laden sausage Sai Oua and the fantastic creamy Khao Soi soup. Here’s to less stir-fries and more funk.
Gilding the Goat: We’ve long seen goat’s milk used for fresh cheese and get turned into slightly sour desserts. But now the meat of this horn-rimmed roamer is slipping onto menus as well. For a special aptly titled The Goat Rodeo, Guerrilla Street Food braised a goat leg in palm sugar and Filipino lager before shredding it over jasmine rice, and showering it with marinated Napa cabbage, Sriracha cream sauce and scallions. Sidney Street Cafe’s Kevin Nashan turned the tough, strongly flavored flesh into porchetta, while both The Rustic Goat and Five Star Burgers have experimented with grinding it into a rich take on a burger.
Wish List: New Jewish Food: From whipped-lardo challah with bacon charoset at The Pass & Provisions in Houston to everything on the menu at Brooklyn’s Montreal-inspired Mile End Deli, classic Jewish deli fare is seeing an artisanal second coming. Could this trend grace STL tables? The gourmet Passover seder Anthony Devoti held at Five Bistro last month gives at least this lox-loving Jew hope.
Fired Up: The barbecue biz is on fire and newly opened Vernon’s BBQ, Hendricks BBQ, SugarFire Smoke House, Lampert’s BBQ, Wilson’s BBQ and Capitalist Pig have rib-lovers from St. Charles to Soulard licking their chops. The perk to opening in chilly temps? Pit masters can work out the kinks before kicking into high gear come prime barbecue season.
Eating Your Curds and Whey: Cheese curds – the semisolid portion of coagulated milk that gets separated from the liquid (whey) during cheese making – are the new finger food. At Five Star Burgers, you can nibble these mozzarella sticks-come-french fries with your burger, atop tomato soup or as a curly-cued bar snack. At Dressel’s Public House, you can dip ’em into a smoked tomato sauce, and you can munch on Marcoot Creamery’s garlic-and-herb variety with a frothy brew at Perennial Artisan Ales.
Gateway Green: Now that kale has our palates singing the praises of bitter greens, look for mustard greens to make a play for its prominent place on menus. Wilted into goose sugo tagliatelle at Five Bistro, accompanying caramel-edged pork cheeks at Home Wine Kitchen, or sitting pretty beneath sous vide porchetta di testa at Vino Nadoz and rainbow trout at Harvest, these spicy, pungent leaves may even take us beyond new-wave Caesar salads.
The Night Shift: The bracingly bitter Italian liqueur Fernet-Branca isn’t new behind the bar, but it is gaining a broader customer base. At one of the best family of restaurants in town, Fernet appears to be the nightcap of choice for Gerard Craft’s crew.
This article appears in April 2013.