Original printed byline: Cristina McGroarty; Sean McGroarty
Historical Summer 2015 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
If you have a spare $5,000 lying around, you might decide to book a couple of tickets on Air France to Paris. Once there, if you can stave of the jet lag and the Frenchies chortling over your attempts to speak their language, we are sure you would eventually find a fantastic restaurant capable of providing the most exquisite French cuisine on the banks of the Seine. Or, you could save the $5,000, avoid the jet lag, and head over to Atlas Restaurant on Pershing, on the banks of the Des Peres River. Well, perhaps Skinker-DeBaliviere is not quite Paris, but Atlas does have the advantage of ownership by two of the nicest people you will ever meet, Central West End residents Diane and Bryan Carr. Atlas features a perfect location with ample parking, either in the lot across Pershing or on the street.
On a mild evening, sidewalk tables provide a pleasant dining experience, perfectly complementing the warm interior. Inside, a mixture of light and dark woodwork picks up the soft lighting, and a unique woodwork partition conceals the kitchen from the dining space. Just a couple pieces of artwork accent the creamcolored walls, carefully placed to avoid overwhelming the patrons.
The goal of the decor appears to be to highlight the cuisine rather than to compete with it. Atlas is a neighborhood gem.
They can accommodate large tables, a couples night out or seating for two. Reservations are suggested or you can just play like the McGroarty’s and make multiple plans to go to Atlas only to have your offspring intervene with a game, illness or social plans in which case you look at the weekend calendar of events and realize that your anniversary is two days away. Wash your face, put on a clean shirt, look at your beloved and say “Charlie has no plans tonight – let’s go to Atlas”.
All this is to say, don’t save this for a big event.
There should be no special reason to go to Atlas-although when we went it was packed with Wash U class of 2015 grads and proud parents, go to Atlas any time. It’s that good and you deserve it! Once we were seated, our waitress perfectly timed her first visit, allowing us to get settled but not making us wait a moment too long to order drinks. Cristina ordered one of their many sublime white wines, while Sean opted for the Rosemary G&T: rosemary, dry gin, liqueur, lime juice, shaken, poured over ice and topped with tonic water. That went down far too easily. For an appetizer, we chose the Piccolo Fritto with lemon-garlic aioli. And no, we had no idea what that meant until we Googled it. Italian for “little fried one,” this dish features broccoli, sweet potatoes, onions, and other vegetables lightly fried with the aioli on the side. Combined with the fresh warm bread, we could have eaten nothing but that and left the restaurant perfectly happy. Thankfully, we had the sense to order entrees before we tasted that delectable appetizer. Sean ordered the center cut strip steak with a red wine reduction, Bernaise Sauce and hand-cut fries.
If you regretted not dropping the five grand on a trip to Paris, it would not be due to this dish.
We have had steak frites in the City of Light, and it did not compare to this masterpiece.
The steak, moist but not rare, soaked in the Bernaise butter and perfectly complemented the hand-cut fries. Cristina ordered the fish of the day, grilled Scottish salmon with homemade spinach fettuccine.
She pronounced it the best salmon she had ever tasted, which says quite a lot because we tend to order salmon whenever we find it on a menu. Atlas lets the natural flavor shine through and does not try to overpower it with oils and butter and spices.
We thought that we had finished, but the dessert menu could not be denied. Cristina had the vanilla bean creme brulee with a caramelized crust that can be described in one word – “amazing.” Sean chose the house-made profiteroles with vanilla ice cream, topped with warm chocolate ganache.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of that gooey goodness. So, head on over to Pershing and stop in at Atlas.
If Diane and Bryan are there, be sure to say hello. And by all means, after enjoying your dinner at Atlas, go ahead and book your trip to Paris. Just do not bother ordering the steak frites.
They would just make you long for Atlas.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, Summer 2015.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times2015_06.pdf, printed page(s) 5; PDF page(s) 5.
