ELAIA in St. Louis

 ELAIA is the fancier sister of Olio, which serves outstanding Middle Eastern inspired food.  We love Olio!  ELAIA is currently offering a four-course meal with 2-4 choices per course.  Our meal was excellent with imaginative tastes, pretty plating and manageable portions.  We started with non-alcoholic cocktails, bread and compounded butters.  We were a big group, so some of us had an delicious asparagus salad and some had beet tartare (yes, beet).  The asparagus salad was amazing!  I really admire a chef who can make a memorable dish out of vegetables.  I thought this was the best of the evening.

Other courses included cabbage with prosciutto, a squid-ink congee, sturgeon, duck breast and more.  The menu changes daily, so I couldn't go back to write complete descriptions.  Dessert was a choice between olive oil cakes and a refreshing panna cotta.  

ELAIA is a great special-occasion place.  It is in an up-and-coming area of the city with Nixta, Patissiere Choquette, Olio, AO Company Market, Honeycomb, Union Loafer and more, all around the same corner of McRee and Tower Grove.