An Overlooked Effort
Jun 12, 2009 St. Louis, chefs, restaurants
True, flour for pasta isn’t available regionally, and the fact that they’re running a busy restaurant 52 weeks a year means it’s difficult to source the quantities needed to buy exclusively from the area, but Stellina Pasta Café has quietly been operating one of St. Louis’s most fiercely local restaurants since opening. From the Hinkebein Hills pork they use for the South Side Smoke, to the Claverach greens in their salads, they pick their battles one week at a time, striving to do their best year round, and never requesting fanfare for the effort.
So it’s high time to offer them a little fanfare because it’s clear Chef Jamey Tochtrop and his wife Lisa simply feel it’s the right way to run their business. Throughout the growing season is when they really shine as each week they showcase the best local products available in their weekend specials. Best of all, you can find out what those specials are in advance as each Friday they send out a friendly reminder which you can get by signing up for the Stellina Pasta Café mailing list.
As an example, here’s the email that went out this afternoon…
This weekend we have more gems from our local farmers. The baby romaine is still coming on strong for our special salad. We have some beautiful Russian kale from Terra Bella farms and the more delicate baby vegetables from a handful of our favorite growers round out the accompaniment to our fish special. We are also kicking off our patio cocktails this weekend with our Tuscan tea and a new offering of white sangria. The Tuscan tea combines vodka, amaretto, lemonade and fresh sliced lemons and is topped with Prosecco. The sangria is a blend of white wines, peach schnapps, nectarines, peaches and is topped with ginger ale. Both are perfect for a nice evening on the patio, but certainly not exclusive to patio dining.
For our wine feature this week we are offering two of our favorite whites. The 2006 Bernardus Chardonnay was so popular last week we decided to bring it back and the 2008 white Bordeaux from Chateau De Fontenille is an outstanding selection as well. Both unique in their own way, they will pair nicely with several of our weekly offerings.
First courses
Tuscan vegetable soup $4.95
Berger Bluffs baby red romaine, ricotta salata, toasted pistachios and tomatoes with honey lemon vinaigrette $8.00
Antipasto plate $12.95
Hummus and olive plate $8.50
Entrees
Semolina tagliatelle with pan seared beef tips, leeks and spinach in a garlic cream sauce $18.00
Roasted zucchini, roasted garlic and goat cheese lasagna $10.50
Whole wheat walnut fettuccini with Terra Bella farms Russian kale, shiitake mushrooms and fresh mozzarella in oil butter garlic sauce $17.00
Speck, Arugula and artichoke agnolotti in a sun dried tomato pesto $12.00
Pan seared golden tile fish, roasted new potatoes, heirloom squash, carrots, garlic scapes, saffron beurre blanc $24.00
From the mountains of Panama and Ethiopia, to the urban-jungles of Portland and Chicago, journalist Michaele Weissman takes us behind the scenes for a look at the world of third-wave specialty coffee. How did we get to Starbucks, and where we go from here?
June 13th, 2009 at 12:38 am
Amen! Stellina is such a welcome addition to the neighborhood. I don’t think I’ve had a bite of food there that wasn’t excellent. Who would think that a pasta restaurant would have the best pulled pork in the city, but I think it rivals Pappy’s. Honestly, when the Pitted Olive closed, I really mourned the type of restaurant it was (outstanding food in casual atmosphere), but Stellina fills that void rather nicely.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I personally think they are way over rated. One evening I was dining there. The coffee was terrible. The wine list was vacant.
When I emailed about it, I did not get the courtesy of any response. IMO, if a restaraunt owner cannot respond to an email, they are off of my list…
June 17th, 2009 at 4:19 am
[...] An Overlooked Effort [...]
June 17th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I really disagree, RG. I rarely ever get the pasta, because the “South Side Smoke” is so damn good. That with a Kolsch on draft is a fantastic dinner.
From what I saw of their wine list, while tiny, was pretty good.
But you make a good point about the e-mail. I can’t fault you for that.
June 17th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
And KBO, I agree. I think I prefer this to Pappy’s sandwich, the pork is pretty equal, but the remainder of the Stellina sandwich is far superior.
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:18 am
I think I over-reacted in my comments. I had a problem with the server, maybe a bad night and I left an overly negative response about Stellinas. The food is good and it would certainly be a welcome addition to any neighborhood.
RG