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| Photograph by Katherine Bish | |
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But first: While Araka opened last year with little fanfare, it quickly became a must-visit on the local dining scene. Located right across from the Ritz-Carlton in a neighborhood suddenly bursting with upscale eateries and shops, Araka is a good fit. Easily among the most attractive eating spaces in the region, it boasts details of architecture and interior design that range from the handsome to the spectacular. The bar—along with tables, booths and a huge wine cellar—is wrapped around a kitchen that’s visible through spacious windows. Private dining rooms upstairs and a cavernous ceiling lend a dramatic sense of space. Clever ambient lighting adds to an urbane atmosphere. Sixties music gives way over the evening to a more appropriate soft jazz. Before you taste a single bite, you know: A lot of creative energy has gone into this place.
The extensive menu begins with antipasti, soups, salads and flatbreads. Ciabatta croutons and a sparkling sherry vinaigrette are tossed with greens, making for a satisfying salad. Romaine hearts with a Caesar dressing are average. A purée of butternut squash and apple, enlivened with a dollop of crème fraîche and pumpkinseed oil, is creditable. While $12 seems pricey for an appetizer, it’s a bargain for an array of salty, papery leaves of carpaccio drizzled with Tuscan olive oil. Fabulously expensive, this oil has a whacking, bitter richness that lightly sandpapers the back of your throat like a fine whiskey. It’s the subject of current adoration by top chefs everywhere; here the oil takes the raw beef to a remarkable level of taste and texture. Another “don’t miss” among starters is the cheese flatbread. With its puddles of sweet, delicate ricotta, gooey mozzarella and a sprinkle of garlic and olive oil, this was like an elite, Upper East Side version of New York pizza. Araka should open a takeout counter to sell it.
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A bone-in chop of feral boar was a special during our visit. If it’s on the menu when you visit, order it. The meat—a tender cross between beef and pork—is succulent, especially with the bone left in, and not at all gamy. Look for wild pig to become a culinary trend as Missouri and other states, dealing with a burgeoning and troublesome population of these animals, discover how tasty they are. Other main courses mostly work very well here. What the cowbell was to “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” slivers of truffle were to a plate of cannelloni tubes plugged with fontina and thick chunks of wild mushrooms. The earthiness of the meaty fungus combined with the creamy, pungent cheese and wrapped in cannelloni was exceptional on its own; the fragrant truffles pulled the elements of the dish together delightfully.
With a line of browned butter angling down the platter and offset by a mound of salsify gratin, presentation of striped bass was art on a plate. The fillet, moist with a crusty skin, sat on sliced maitake, a particularly savory—and rare—wild mushroom that, like that Tuscan oil, says much about Araka’s commitment to a unique experience. A marlin steak, its surface seared to golden crustiness and the meat snowy and firm, was equally worthwhile. The flavor of the fish was highlighted by a caviar hollandaise, an indulgently rich sauce made famous by Emeril.
An Amish chicken, bereft of its tiny bonnet and long skirt, was roasted and served in its own glossy juices along with whipped potatoes and a tumble of Brussels sprouts. Neither bird nor this presentation needed a thing to improve it. An inexplicable exception here was the strip steak: The emerald blob of creamed spinach with it was very good, the roasted potatoes even better, yet the meat was disappointingly average. The beef tenderloin showed more care. The tenderloin cut arrived as ordered—pink at the center, the surface grilled a deep brown—along with a cake of Yukon gold potatoes and a Bordelaise sauce with candied bacon. The latter, an inspiration of the Charlie Palmer steakhouses, roasts pan-fried bacon with sugar sprinkled on top, creating a salty-sweet strip of porky goodness that substitutes in the sauce for the more traditional marrow. If you want to take the kitchen out for a real test-drive, order the veal chop. Meltingly tender, the chop is beautifully accompanied by a creamy polenta with bits of pancetta and knobby sweet cooked cipollini onions, along with a couple of big thumbs of sweetbread. Outstanding. The only complaint is that the sweetbreads deserve a plate of their own.
Absurdly rich chocolate hazelnut bars are a recommended finisher here for the serious dessert adventurer, though the buttermilk ice cream and caramel crumb-topped apple tart made for a potent combination as well. Sorbets are suggested for the more faint of heart.
Oenophiles can spend several evenings just reading the voluminous wine list. If you know a wealthy, generous one, get him to foot the bill here; there are few bargains. New oak and a rare (for America) discipline in limiting the secondary fermentation make for a lean, restrained ’06 Chardonnay from MacRostie that’s good with most of the fish dishes here. The best buy among the many Cabernet Sauvignons on the list is the ’05 Sketchbook ($45). A varietal, it has a deep, black cherry aroma and chewiness on the palate that matches well with Araka’s pork and beef and can carry you through most of the appetizers.
Tales of agonizingly slow service plagued Araka in its first months. While improved, it remains a problem, especially between courses, and is an inexcusable flaw in a place of this caliber. The bar area, with its amusing “wine rack ladder,” can be crowded and quickly filled with those unwise enough to arrive without reservations. Oh, and those restrooms? From the hip black fixtures to the sleek tile to the Architectural Digest fantasy sink: absolutely the coolest in town. No visit here is complete without a look.
Araka
Address: 131 Carondelet Plaza
Phone: 314-725-6777
Website: araka.com
Average Main Course: $24
Dress: It's one of the city's swankiest new restaurants in some time. You do the math
Reservations: What do you think?
