Tony Collida and his business and life partner Jaimee Stang opened Grand Pied last year in the former Local Harvest Cafe space in Tower Grove South. The menu ranges confidently from beignets to barbecue, but buttermilk pancakes are the signature dish. These are like no other pancakes I’ve eaten, puffy rather than spread thin and flat, with a lovely, eggy, almost soufflé-like texture. (Collida has been using this recipe at restaurants for years, he told me; the source is “The Joy of Cooking.”) With syrup, whipped cream and a seasonal jam, the dish is fresh and light — remarkably so, for pancakes — until the moment you realize you can’t possibly finish the plate.
Where Grand Pied, 3137 Morganford Road • More info whipped • Menu Comfort food and breakfast fare