Sometimes it is a good experience to splurge and try the finer things in life. In that case, if you love to eat out at top notch restaurants, you have to visit The Crossing in Clayton. We had recently been to a fancy wedding dinner in Chicago, but we wanted to try one of the local "fine dining" restaurants here in St. Louis that was not Italian, and one of the multi-course tasting menus at The Crossing sounded like a good way to experience a gourmet, 4-course dinner right here in town without having to travel very far at all (even closer and easier to navigate than The Hill.) Street parking in Clayton after 5:00pm is free, and we were able to find a spot on Bemiston near the Post Office. We strolled through the steamy July weather to their entrance on Forsyth and were quickly seated at our table (we had reservations already set for 6:30 pm.)
The table was actually like a booth, but with real chairs with a wall behind them. Every booth had a large piece of art on the wall, complete with a pricetag next to it (ours was only $1,500.) We decided to pass on purchasing the art. Once seated our server arrived with an extensive wine list and some blue cheese souffle with some hard toast to get us started. The souffle was pretty heavenly and a great start to the meal. She also mentioned all the specials of the day, and told us how we could substitute them into the tasting menu, so that is what we decided to do.
All four of us decided on the "Classic" tasting menu, with all of us selecting their chopped salad to start. For the second course, two of us selected the Crossing Crab Cakes, and the other two selected the Tagliatelle pasta. For our entree both my son and I selected the pork shoulder special, my wife selected the halibut special and my eldest child selected the lamb pasta special. For dessert two of us selected the orange-blackberry cheesecake and the other two selected the warm chocolate torte. Wow, that is quite a selection of food! It was pretty exciting to be able to have such an assortment of items and try different things as they arrived.
The first course was our chopped salad which was excellent. The blue cheese and bacon blended together very well to the romaine lettuce, tomatoes and onion, and our server also brought out some bread and butter as well. The bread was also pretty wonderful on its own, almost buttery without the butter, and went very well with the salad. All the salad ingredients were indeed chopped up well, making it very easy to eat, and the portion was rather modest in a large bowl, which was good since there was so much more to eat coming up later. After the souffle and the salad and bread, we were already very impressed with the food and we could not wait to see what was next!
The next course was the crab cakes and the Tagliatelle pasta. The crab cakes were very meaty with very fresh tasting crab with just enough breading and spices to complement the crab. The pasta was rich and meaty with a slightly creamy sauce that was not too heavy. Both selections were delicious and served with just enough to share.
The entree courses were again served in large dishes and looked as good as they tasted. The lamb pasta was excellent with a delicate sauce which allowed the flavor of lamb to come through very distinctly. The pork shoulder was served with an incredible rich wine gravy, and the meat literally melted when cut. The asparagus and other vegetables that came with it were lightly cooked and also tasted very fresh with flavors that went well with the rich gravy. The halibut was cooked to perfection with a mild, lemon butter sauce, but was probably the least interesting of the food selections. We were all able to try all of the choices, and it made for quite a fun tasting experience to be able to try so many different masterfully prepared entrees.
Finally it was time for dessert and they were even more masterfully displayed than the entrees. The cheesecake is pictured above and the chocolate torte is shown below. Of course, we all tried both selections, and they were both exceptional. Not too heavy, but still rich and flavorful, the perfect ending to some pretty incredible food. I had not mentioned the service, but throughout the evening our server was very responsive, but she was not the only one involved as other restaurant staff brought dishes, refilled our water, and took away dishes as the evening progressed. They were all definitely serving as a team to make sure all our needs were met.
If I had to mention any shortcomings of the experience, my wife would first mention the "reminder call" she received at home earlier in the day that she did not appreciate. Next would be the noise level in the dining area which was a bit loud and hard to talk for such a "fine dining" experience. We were located near a group of ten or twelve men (company dinner, perhaps) who were a bit loud and became louder as they consumed more wine. It was also an incredibly hot day outside, and their HVAC system was obviously not able to keep the dining room as cool as it should be to keep its patrons comfortable. We were pretty sweaty and sticky by the end, especially since we were suggested to dress "business casual" so we were not exactly in T-shirts and shorts.
Despite the few negatives, we will have to say our family meal at The Crossing was an impressive dining experience that I doubt we will forget any time soon. The food was all quite exceptional and the service was excellent as well. Yes, it is expensive and it is not somewhere to visit too frequently, but for special occasions or to experience truly fine dining in the St. Louis area, is it one of the top places I would recommend.
Food, Service and Total Experience
It is The Crossing, no plural. And it is excellent!
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