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A Letter to Atlas

Nov 12, 2007 restaurants

Dated September 17, 2005, I ran across this while sifting through old email from 2005. It’s a letter I wrote to Michael Roberts and Jean Donnelly after our first visit to Atlas. Reading it now I can’t help but think two things: first is that it’s been far too long since we’ve visited Atlas, and the second is more of a question — where is Andy White?

There used to be a restaurant in St. Louis called Café Campagnard. It was a small place tucked into a strip mall in of all places, Manchester. While they were not out to reinvent the culinary flavor wheel by any means, what they did, they did well. Having come from the staff of Café Provencal, they took the things that made Eddie Neil’s restaurant a success and made them better. Their restaurant was more comfortable, their food more comforting, and most importantly it was more flavorful as it was there we discovered Chef Andrew White’s adept knowledge of seasoning. When Café Campagnard shut its doors, he packed his things and moved onto Harvest where he has had new success at a more adventurous restaurant. We were left with a void, however, as we longed so much for that simpler cuisine.

Although I am no longer a cook, there was a time when working day in and day out in kitchens was everything to me, and although I achieved a great level of success at these places, (Remy’s, Harvest, Truffles and the Racquet Club Ladue), there was a day when I met my now wife that changed me forever. She wanted to be a school teacher, and the hours of a restaurant worker vs. a school teacher aren’t exactly conducive to a successful relationship.

As much as I often miss the simpler life of cooking to my new profession, and sometimes I even have regrets about making the switch, the one thing I never regret is that I spent those years cooking for it developed in me a deep appreciation for the simple types of food often overlooked by those trying to taste or invent something new.

I don’t write this to boast or brag, but to give measure of where I’m coming from. I love food and know good food when I eat it.

We had heard about your restaurant in the past, as I’ve always stayed in the loop of what the buzz was around town. For one reason or another, however, I had not found myself dining there until last night.

I’m not sure what we were thinking. You have filled for us the void long missed since the closing of Café Campagnard. It was the best meal that we have eaten in St. Louis in some time, and definitely the best Provencal / bistro French fair in the city even over our once loved Café Campagnard.

Your restaurant is warm and inviting, and it really has the wonderful neighborhood feel that a bistro should. Hot food was hot, served on hot plates. Cold food was cold on cold plates. Bread was warm and served with softened sweet butter, and everything was seasoned properly with just the right amount of salt and pepper. These things seem so simple, but in most of our dining experiences, so many restaurants falter on the little things while trying to excel at the bigger things that really aren’t that important. I don’t care if a waiter crumbs my table if he is not aware that he should serve my wife before me.

Our only regret of the evening, is that your neighborhood is not our neighborhood so that we could easily stumble in after a hard day at work, or dine on your patio after a late afternoon run in Forest Park.

We wish you the best of success in the years to come, and will be sneaking in one last time on our anniversary before you shut your doors for renovation.

Thank you,
Bill & Ellie Burge

P.S. We were worried to hear of your expansion as other restaurants in the city that have bursted out of their current spaces into the ones next door have often faltered at the addition of new tables looking at the dollar signs instead of the potential for more happy patrons. I was pleased to see that your renovation was primarily to have a better kitchen and bar and only increased the space by four dining tables.

Tags: Atlas Restaurant