Since the decline and fall of Trattoria Strada Nova Columbia has been without exceptional Italian food. Several restaurants in town are capable of serving inspired, quasi-Italian dishes, but none make it their singular focus. It’s a shame, and a singularly resounding lament for mid-Missouri’s food enthusiasts.
Cafe Berlin’s Stafford sandwich: Like a a savory french toast sandwich with ham and swiss inside. Nice.
Papa John’s: Just like Kostaki’s, but lacking the flavor, heat and speedy delivery.
International Cafe: Everyone knows it’s there but forgets to go. Too bad, because today their black bean soup kicked the cold weather in the pants.
Coffee Zone: Falafel wrap, officially underrated.
If the other brand-new tapas place downtown is an earnest Triple-A team learning the ropes, Bleu Restaurant is the Yankees, all class and professionalism and easy elegance. After admittedly just a single visit, Bleu looks and tastes ready for prime time.
Some purists may scoff at the menu’s global approach to tapas (fried green tomatoes, lemon-marinated olives and steak frites all adorn the same menu) and wonder where the Spanish stuff is. Me? I’m just looking for something good to eat. And at Bleu, it looks like that will be just about everything.
The lunch menu is extensive, offering everything from two-dollar pickled vegetable plates to hanger steak and fries. A selection of sliders – pick any three for nine bucks – jumped out at me immediately. I chose the apple and housemade chicken sausage, the beef and muenster and the bison with balsamic onions gorgonzola and arugula. Each one is served on a rich, buttery brioche bun that resembles a biscuit in texture and flavor but manages a certain lightness at the same time. They also each had a well-executed contrast of textures and tastes (heavy gorgonzola cheese and snappy onions, earthy mushrooms and melty muenster, tart apple and sorghum mustard). The whole effect was thrilling.
The long and harrowing process of renovating the southeast corner of the Tiger Hotel is completed. After a few trial runs last week, Blue Restaurant and Wine Bar will officially open today, beginning with lunch.
From the sidewalk, the place looks gorgeous, equal parts elegance and comfort. Blonde wood floors in the bar area give way to tightly-woven tan carpet in the dining areas. The lighting, the gently curving room dividers and the twin rows of wine globes give the space a modern feel that still manages to look comfortable and inviting. Just getting to this point has been far more of an exercise in patience than the owners expected; now, the real fun starts.
See you at lunch.
One of the most reliably tasty and imminently affordable places in Columbia is Chinese Wok Express. It looks dingy from the outside and not much better in (the owner of another one of Columbia’s Asian restaurants loves the food at CWE but claims to eat there with eyes closed). No matter, the food is excellent. I generally order from the Vietnamese side of the menu, sticking closely to the noodle bowls (I’ve found the Chinese platters on the other side of the menu decidedly so-so). The numbers 15 and 17 are personal favorites, and come out with thin rice noodles covered with shaved beef, cucumber, mint, carrot and and lettuce, all of it bathed in a light (lemongrass?) broth. The vegetables are fresh and crunchy and wonderful. Throw a little extra chili sauce and you’ve got the makings of a perfect summer lunch – even if they’re open until 9pm every day but Sunday, when they’re closed.
(573) 443-5099
Room-38, Columbia’s new tapas restaurant, is officially open. A “soft opening” they call it, meaning, I guess, that you’re supposed to forgive the inevitable early delays and glitches from the kitchen. You don’t get a discount but hey, at least they’re being up front about it.
The interior is fairly dim and private, the banquettes set off by black composite countertops. You will not forget that you are in a lounge at Room-38. Lots of mirrors and soft lighting and black-clad servers. The hipness and bottle service may turn some people off, but everyone seems pleasant enough as they scurry about, taking and placing orders, explaining that they’re out of this or that, and so on. The wine list is impressive and for the most part, free of the usual suspects (are you listening The Rome?). Virtually every bottle is under $25. The menu is broken into flatbreads, salads, small plates and, for lunch, sandwiches.
The Rome, occupying the former home of 9th Street Billiards, opened Saturday. And judging by the menu, not a moment too soon. The owners seem interested in keeping a foot each in college bar and homestyle Italian restaurant. The first nod to the college crowd (starting back up at Mizzou in a mere three weeks) is the aforementioned menu, which is heavy on bar-food appetizers (hot wings, chicken tenders, etc.). Beers on tap include Boulevard, Blue Moon, Guinness and Bud Light (bottled options are more extensive). Wine options are sadly limited to little more than the usual suspects (three of the six whites are pinot grigio). With Top Ten Wines offering Columbia’s best wine selection directly across the street, wine fans can hope for better variety in the future.
Uprise Bakery
10 S. Hitt Street
(573) 256-2265
Uprise Bakery, located in the spiffy new Ragtag Cinema location, is home to the best bread in Columbia. The whole spelt and honey wheat loaves make for flavorful, dense sandwich bread. The batard is a simple joy sliced, splashed with olive oil and salt and quickly grilled. You can buy their loaves at the farmer’s market or Clover’s, but the quality is far higher if you drop in to the Hitt Street location itself.
The clientele is predictably aimless and Macbook-y; lots of tatoos and Sartre-reading going on here. But if you can get past the stuffwhitepeoplelike.com vibe, you’re in for a real treat. Lunch options are light and salad-oriented – a good place for those on a diet. Pizzas change every week. Right now it’s a four cheese offering; the bacon and bleu cheese version I had a while back was commendable, redolent with the tang of the cheese and the fatty crunch of crisp bacon. The house-made crust was tender and pleasantly toothsome. r />
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Bleu Market represents phase one in the 8th St. takeover plan being launched by co-owners Travis Tucker and Tina Patel. A takeout-driven installment, Blue Market will be joined on the other side of the Tiger Hotel entrance by Bleu proper, a tapas-style restaurant and wine bar. If early performance is any indication, they’re going to have some kinks to work out of the main event.
The prosciutto, sliced turkey and Lorraine swiss I bought for sandwich making at home were all dried out, tasteless and tossed shortly thereafter. A “La Havana” sandwich of the day (seemingly styled after the iconic cubano) featured the wrong kind of ham (Really? Prosciutto on a cubano sandwich?), a weak bun and was served cold. They also forgot the cheese at first. The pickled onions and jalapeno added a vinegary kick; the mustard packed a punch as well.
A side of white beans, feta and cherry tomatoes was fresh tasting but in dire need of a good salting; the beans themselves were moderately overcooked, bordering on mushy. And then the bill: my lunch ran almost ten dollars, and that’s without a drink. Not sure most Columbians would pay ten dollars for a mediocre sandwich and better luck next time.
So, Bleu Market gets an “A” for potential and a gentleman’s “C” for execution. Here’s hoping the restaurant gets off to a better start.
In Bleu’s defense, I had a cubano at Miami’s landmark Versailles Restaurant a few weeks ago that wasn’t much better.
