The team of Jim Edmonds and Mark Winfield has parlayed its Locust Street success into the ’burbs by opening Winfield’s Gathering Place in Kirkwood. Located at Manchester and Woodlawn in the Greentree Center, it’s got a lively vibe and interior that’s part pub, part restaurant. Step-up booths along the wall offer broad views to the outside, and mounted TVs along the perimeter add to the sports-bar/gathering place ambience.
The food is well-prepared, with the benefit of also being well-priced. You can come for a gourmet burger or sandwich, enjoy a couple of beers and a nice slab of The Cakery’s famous goodies, and leave content on all counts. A signature starter of Cajun Blackened BBQ Shrimp, for example ($12), was totally satisfying, its spicy barbecue sauce slathering both the crustaceans and the mound of polenta they sat around. (But I sorely missed bread for sopping up that sauce.)
The Lobster Wontons ($10) should not be missed. I’m always a little skeptical when I see lobster or crab on menus in the Midwest, expecting something deep fried, greasy and devoid of actual seafood. But these were light and thin-skinned, and stuffed with a creamy mix of lobster, green onion and cream cheese.
My BBQ Platter of pulled pork and brisket, plus two sides ($14.50), was tasty and classic ’cue. Both meats were surprisingly lean and came totally bare, to allow for adding your own choice of any or all of the proprietary sauces: House BBQ, Spicy BBQ and Alabama White. They’re all quite good: the first is super sweet, the second sweet and spicy, and the Alabama is a mayo-based sauce that’s nice and creamy. If I had one complaint, it would be that the brisket was almost too lean.
An order of Lemon Basil Mahi Mahi ($26) was surprisingly gourmet for a menu that is largely gastro pub grub. The fish was fresh, properly seared and sauced with, if not a complex preparation, one that was well-flavored with butter and some kind of basil olive oil. And it merited the price, as the plate of food included delicate sauteed spinach and excellent roasted potatoes.
Equally good was the Herb-Grilled Salmon ($21), which had a light exterior crustiness and delicious flavor from the herbs and soy-ginger sauce. The accompanying jasmine rice was good and the roasted zucchini and carrots delicious, thanks to their soy glaze. The Wined & Brined Smoked 1/2 Chicken ($13) was a lot of food for the price, and good. My complaint was the pinkish color, which conveys ‘underdone’ to the brain, even if it’s not completely true: the wine soak and the smoking process both can impart a pinkish shade. That said, the dark meat could have baked a little longer. The white meat, however, was smoky and as tender and moist as any chicken I’ve had.
I really respect a place that knows how to draw the line between what it does well and what someone else does better. Winfield’s wisely sticks to barbecue and sandwiches and lets The Cakery do desserts. We could choose from Red Velvet, Wedding Cake, Chocolate Espresso or Snickerdoodle. We tried the Snickerdoodle cake ($6), which was a simple, high-quality blend of yellow cake (on the dense side) and white buttercream frosting generously laced with cinnamon—delicious in its simplicity.
[amuse bouche]
the scene | Lively, casual, neighborhood eatery
the prices | Sandwiches $9.50 to $13, entrees $13 to $26
the chef | Myraka Grgurich
the favorites | Lobster Wontons, Lemon-Basil Mahi Mahi, Cajun BBQ Blackened Shrimp, Pulled Pork, Snickerdoodle Cake, Herb-Grilled Salmon
[chef chat] » myraka grgurich
culinary pedigree | L’Ecole Culinaire
favorite ingredient | Anything from a farm
favorite st. louis restaurant | Blood & Sand
favorite cookbook | The Flavor Bible
most memorable dining experience | Eating in a small town in Italy and at Grandma’s house
guilty pleasure food | I just enjoy food; that’s why I do what I do.
Photos: Bill Barrett