If, as many people believe, St. Louis is America’s biggest small
town, Winslow’s Home has its perfect lunch counter.
As proof positive to both claims, I cite running into a friend
there from a good 12 miles away in Chesterfield, one of many people
who have ignored distance to adopt Winslow’s Home as their drop-in
and eat-and-chat place. Owner Ann Lipton spent about two years
renovating the building that had previously housed U. City Quality
Foods, one of the last surviving family grocery stores in St.
Louis.
Many of the fixtures from the old market are now integrated into
Winslow’s Home, which integrates its counter-service restaurant
into an overall theme of an upscale urban general store. Tables are
scattered throughout the store, with the capacity of 25 or so
doubled when warmer weather accommodates outdoor seating.
Chef Cary McDowell joined Winslow’s Home late last summer,
continuing the dream of a true “farm to table” experience that he’d
pursued in Clarksville, Mo., at Clarksville Station while
shortening his commute by about 70 miles. McDowell has developed a
devoted following in the local market, working at the Crossing for
several years starting at its inception, then moving on to the
Crossing’s sister restaurant, Liluma, as well as King Louie’s,
Puck’s at the Art Museum and Revival.
People are also reading…
In its current form, Winslow’s Home serves breakfast and weekend
brunch until 2 p.m., with a lunch menu that runs from 11 a.m. until
close and is supplemented by a very short list of seasonal dinner
entrees.
The food on our dinner visit was excellent, with one of the
dishes also a touch quirky: pulled pork shoulder with littleneck
clams and pasta ($14). Clearly, the clams violate any semblance of
local provisioning, but it’s winter, so if you’re going to take
liberties, this is the time to do it. The dish had a feel of
coastal Spain or Portugal, with a tangible chile spicing for
layered penne pasta, rich and full-bodied pork and about a dozen
shelled clams. The pork and clam textures side by side were
unexpected, but successful.
The other entree of that evening was a potato gnocchi with a
well-balanced bolognese made with grass-fed beef ($16). The gnocchi
themselves had a delightful “fluffy pillow” texture that made them
seem lighter than they were and collapse in the mouth into the rich
tomato flavor of the sauce.
Having exhausted the dinner-only choices, we came back for a
second visit for a weekend brunch: a roughly oversized-egg-shaped
brioche made into French toast ($6) and served with maple syrup and
diced bacon with a lovely, lingering flavor; and a “rolled” omelet
($8.50), served as a spiral with layers of spinach and sun-dried
tomatoes with melted fontina cheese oozing in between.
The counter service works reasonably well — the dishes are
actually delivered to the table after being ordered at the counter
— although it’s awkward if you want to order extras (a dessert, for
example, or a second glass of wine). It’s also a little weird to
get a dinner entree priced in the mid-teens and not have any
service to speak of, but I suppose that’s a tradeoff for lower
prices, and also perhaps caused by the limited menu choices.
Speaking of the wine, you can purchase a bottle from the
eclectic and interesting retail selection and drink it with your
meal. There are also several choices available by the glass.
I mentioned the restaurant’s “current form” earlier because the
expanded capacity during warm months — coupled with the seasonal
crops that will begin to come in from the farm that’s also owned by
Lipton — has McDowell planning for a wider selection of dinner
items, and perhaps regular farm-themed dinners.
That should remedy the restaurant’s main flaw, which is a dinner
menu without a great deal of selection. I also hope it converts to
table service at night, which would improve its attractiveness to a
wider selection of diners.
7213 Delmar Boulevard, University City • 314-725-7559 •
winslowshome.com • Menu: A few seasonally changing dinner entrees
plus a soup, sandwich and salad day/night lunch menu • Smoking: No
• Hours: 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, 8
a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
