The Tavern, Jeni's Ice Cream and Left Bank Books

The real action in St. Louis is in the neighborhoods – far from the Arch and tidy downtown.  One of the most interesting areas is the Central West End.  We explored one small corner. First, we found a great bookstore – Left Bank Books.  It has a resident cat, interesting selection and a knowledgeable staff.

Then we went to TheTavern.  It’s a hip, casual place with exposed brick, pressed tin ceiling and sidewalk seating.  They started us with the house rolls, which were hot, delicious and topped with parmesan. 

House rolls

Then, we each had a strawberry gazpacho.  It was beautiful and topped with edible flowers.  I make strawberry gazpacho at home and theirs was much better than mine!

 I had the trio of filets, which were three small filets with different finishes.  My favorite sat on a bed of grilled corn.  I didn’t include a picture because beef doesn’t photograph very well, IMHO.  The Tavern’s fish selections are ahi, mahi mahi, salmon, scallops or shrimp.  You then choose how to want the seafood cooked – sesame seared, parmesan crusted, peanut crusted, Chinese sizzling soy or squid ink linguini.  My friends were very happy with their fish.

Strawberry gazpacho with flowers

Salmon with prawns

Salmon parmesan crusted

The dessert menu looks intriguing, but we were literally across the street from Jeni’s ice cream.  Jeni’s has some interesting recipes such as Wildberry Lavender, Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet, and lots more.  They were all so exciting.  You can get half scoops so you can load up on different flavors.  I think it was the best ice cream I’ve ever had.  I wanted to try all the flavors, but that will have to wait for my next trip to St. Louis.

Wildberry Lavender + Goat Cheese Cherry