An American Place

June 2011 — this location is out of business. It is now the Stratford Ballroom at the Renaissance Grand Hotel.

For an «upscale» restaurant, at least according to price, I always feel like the location and atmosphere should reflect it as such. However, An American Place is located in what felt like the lobby of a hotel which did not seem upscale at all. The food was also just OK even though the price (again) suggested that it should have been much better. The bottom line: nothing special to look at here.

I was just informed that An American Place is closed, as of the end of October.

Julie
2 ½ Stars
I have to disagree on the atmosphere of this place that some Unilocalers may have boast about. It’s situated in the Renaissance Hotel which i believe was a legacy historical hotel in St Louis back in the days. The ceilings are high with nice enough decorations. But i hardly consider this romantic or upscale. In fact, I felt like I was dining in a large hallway or a large foyer. or maybe it used to be the lobby of the hotel? It just did not feel like a restaurant should feel.
Went with the prix fixe and the meal was decent. Started with a ceasar’s salad. Nothing memorable. I went with the fish special but can’t remember the fish??? was it trout or something else??? I just remember that the fish was a bit dry. The highlight was the preparation of the plate and how the sides were actually much better than the fish itself. Ended with a shortcake dessert and good. It was just not a memorable experience and the ambiance did not cut it for me. Service was questionable. Excellent when waiter was around but hard to find him when we needed something. And the plates did not come together. a No No for me at an upscale restaurant. Food was a 3 and minus ½ star for the rest…

Where do you eat downtown on a Friday night when there’s a Cardinals game and multiple college graduations going on in the city? An American Place is where I decided to go and it was a great choice!
Downtown was CRAZY this weekend — not only was there all sorts of touristy events going on, but there was also the tear down party, so streets were blocked off and people were everywhere. After a long day of meetings, all I wanted to do was have a nice meal and relax. Mariah C was in tow and I wanted to show her a nice STL restaurant, too!
Considering how busy downtown was, An American Place was relatively quiet. Most of the tables were full, but it was dark and fairly quiet. So nice! And the inside of this restaurant is SO pretty! I think many are afraid to eat here because it is so fancy inside, but I was wearing jeans and they treated me just fine!
The menu here is somewhat limited and they were out of several items by the time we spoke to our waiter. But that’s OK, one dish in particular stood out to both of us — Capelleni with shrimp in lobster sauce. And when it came out, it was the perfect amount of food! Rich, but not heavy, too. They also serve a mini biscuit and butter — those little biscuits were delicious!
Dessert didn’t disappoint, either. I had the strawberry shortcake (served on a larger, more sugary biscuit) and Mariah C had the S’mores dessert. Once we were finished, both of us realized just how tired we were and left satisfied, but tired.
If I had another VIP guest in town, I’d be happy to go back to An American Place and have a nice dinner.

Walking in to An American Place last Friday was like driving to work on Christmas morning. Where the heck is everyone??? It was 7 PM– prime dining time in St. Louis– and there was only one other two-​top. When my husband asked the maitre d if he was expecting more diners, he just smiled awkwardly and said, «This is it.» Weird.
We chose a comfy upholstered banquette at the rear of the dining room to enjoy our meal– we had the pick of the litter. The restaurant is beautifully and luxuriously decorated– the type that makes you feel like you’ve entered the set of a 1950’s Carey Grant movie. The only thing missing was some Sinatra music playing on the piano (which I’m pretty sure they had when I visited a few years back). Instead, there was some lounge music blaring from the restaurant speakers that was set on replay. Needless to say, we got to know this CD VERY well.
The chef started us off with an amuse bouche of blue cheese panna cotta with crispy bacon and pears– light and delicious! We followed that with two cold glasses of Schlafly’s Helles– a Munich-​style lager that paired perfectly with a plate of pan-​roasted sweetbreads. The sweetbreads were perfectly cooked and served with an Alsatian pasta called noques that was died with squid ink. Then began our tasting menu– cold smoked scallop paired with a fume blanc from Napa, braised pork belly with sauerkraut paired with an Alsatian style Riesling, sous-​vide veal loin paired with a pinot noir from Sonoma, blue cheese cigar paired with a 20 yr-​old tawny port, and chocolate mousse paired with orange muscat. Everything was perfectly executed and, for some courses, the wine pairings beautifully accentuated the food.
With the exception of the maitre d pulling double duty as a sommelier (not very believable, I might add), the service was outstanding. Our waiter was attentive, but not overbearing, and very knowledgeable about the preparation of each course. But, how could we expect anything less when there’s only 4 people to wait on in the entire restaurant?
Bottom line– where are you St. Louis? You’re missing out on some fantastic food at An American Place, which might not be around much longer with nights like last Friday. Let’s give them a reason to bring back that live pianist so that their ambiance can be as delightful as their food.

Anything you’ve heard positive about this restaurant is true. My wife and I grabbed a favorite bottle of wine (only 15.00 corking fee which is great for the service you get), and headed there on a Friday night for a late dinner. The atmosphere is very elegant with unique architecture and a very well laid out floor plan. You felt like you were the only people there, but definitely not lonely. The wait staff from the valet to the table attendants were a very personable well oiled machine. We could have been a celebrity or a college student an you wouldn’t have known the difference by their service level, just excellent.
Now to the food. While not a huge menu, there is definitely variety. We opted out of the tasting menu and ordered one standard menu item and one off the menu item to try them out. I highly recommend the Caesar salad if it’s available, and the butchers steak with creamed spinach was almost perfectly portioned and cooked to the exact requested temperature. My wife had the capellini lobster pasta that she is still bragging about to people.
This was a fantastic experience. It was capped off by our waiter, direct from Italy, wrote out some travel stops for our trip to Italy this summer. It’s a must visit.

I went here for a romantic expensive dinner and was thoroughly dissappointed. I had the qunioa. My boyfriend got the lamb, and it was very tough. Both of our dishes had weird flavor combos that just did not work. We expected the dishes to get better, but every one was more dissappointing than the last. It was expensive and BAD. I wanted to like the food because it is local, but I just couldn’t. I would have been more satisfied going to Wendy’s. On top of that, our service was painfully slow. Our waiter would just disappear into an abyss and not return for another 20 minutes. To top it off our food took forever. They were not busy; there was no excuse. I was not a fan of the stuffy atmosphere. I felt like i was on a cruise where everyone is trained to not speak from the age of two.

I heard an American Place was a great place to eat.
To put my experience into a single and succinct statement:
American Place failed to meet expectations.
Bummer…

I took my wife to American Place for our anniversary based on the review in St. Louis magazine. We liked the idea of the «locally grown» food. Wow, were we ever disappointed.
The ambiance and décor is quite nice, though a bit bright for a romantic dinner. Service was attentive and friendly, though it appeared this was their first service job (didn’t know about the specials, seemed nervous, etc.)
We took a risk and ordered the 5 course tasting menu (MO wine). The food was o.k. — nothing spectacular and noteworthy, but not dreadful either. Just not memorable. The main problem was the wine. I don’t know if they even have a sommelier at A.P., but the pairings were just awful. Some of the glasses were undrinkable, some were decent wines but just didn’t blend with the particular dish they were served with. They either overpowered it or were too thin.

Had an excellent meal in a beautiful space here, with wonderful service thrown in for good measure.
I ordered from the market menu (3 courses for $ 37, cheaper before 6:30) at the bar. The bartender was attentive, personable, and knew everything about the dishes. The lack of decent beer was a small hiccup, but kind of an expected one at this price point.
A Beef Tartare amuse bouche was tasty. Simple and unaffected, it let the flavors of the beef really shine.
For a starter, I went with a butternut squash soup with duck confit. I actually could have managed without the duck, as the rest of the soup was perfectly spiced. I literally cleaned my bowl, using a roll to soak up every last bit of the soup.
The pacing of the meal was another plus, as the plates came out just as I was feeling ready for the next course. It’s a tricky thing, and usually involves a bit of luck, but they nailed it. That timing keeps you curious, and allows you to feel satisfied with what you just ate.
The main course was salmon, which was flaky, flavorful and generally amazing. It was topped with a horseradish emulsion, which seemed a bit pointless except as color, since it was so light it didn’t really hold that horseradish bite. The salmon was served on a bed of spinach (awesome) and cabbage-​y red stuff (yummy) with a beet sauce. The sauce was overkill, since the flavors from the veggies were a really good contrast to the salmon. With ingredients this good, chefs need to simplify. I ended up ignoring the sauce, which was luckily drizzled on the sides of the plate.
They did not fuck around on portions. I ended up leaving a healthy smattering of veggies on my plate. It was a lucky break for me that I did, since for dessert I was served the world’s largest crème brûlée. Seriously, it was served it what seemed like a soup tureen.
My bill came to about $ 45, but I felt like I was eating in a $ 100 a plate place. The restaurant is igorgeous, in the former lobby of a hotel. I imagine just grabbing a cocktail or ordering dessert here would be a great way to impress a date or some high-​falutin’ clients.

This place is tops in my book. I have yet to eat anything bad here… the only complaint I have really, not very vegetarian friendly. Pick through the menu and explain your circumstances and they are more than happy to accommodate, but seriously, when you look at all this delicious, crab stuffed, meat infused dishes that look amazing, you cry a little inside at your dietary choices. It can be heartbreaking to watch the person across from you dig through grits you can’t have… oh…how I wish I could still eat the meat at this place… my memories of it are so dear. All the ingredients are fresh and bought local. What else can you ask from a little bistro. I simply love the food, and it’s all so interestingly prepared and displayed.
Now, the service here is amazing as well. They are very attentive and as I said, completely accommodating to any needs or questions you have. They don’t hover like in many restaurants, but your glasses will never be less than half full. Props to them for that. Also, the location is excellent. It is great to start your night off if you plan on heading out to the bars after or you want to just head home.
This is also a great place to just stop by for dessert. The mousse is tops and I could probably make a meal out of it alone being the fat kid that I am.

This place is quality. The food is excellent and the service is some of the best I’ve ever had.
I had the Grilled Corn Bisque for my first course and it completely started the meal off right. It had a nice toasted corn taste with tasty chunks of crab meat. Very nice.
I then had the Shrimp and Grits as my main course and it was wonderful. The shrimp were huge and the grits were quite good. A combination I’d never had before, but it turned out great.
The dessert was a mousse with peanut butter foam and a blackberry short cake. It was good, but not the best dessert I’ve ever had.
I have nothing bad to say about this place at all. I look forward to going again.

I really can’t say I’m a fan. Sure, all the ingredients are local and everything’s presented nicely, but the stuff has got to taste good too.
We were looking to see if this place could be a reception for our wedding, and the area is elegant and classy. The service was less than polished.
The four of us ordered off the 3 course tasting menu. The bisque served was very good, but it was pretty much downhill from there. There are plenty of other places that serve just as good a bisque anyway.
The «mojito ceviche» was pretty tasteless beyond some mint. The main courses didn’t offer anything memorably welcome either. A pork tenderloin served with a seared pork belly yielded hunks of fat with a ridiculously unchewable seared side with unimpressive sliced tenderloin. The fiancé ordered the roast chicken expecting some dark meat only to find that it was all white. I’m a fan of white meat but it was pretty dry.
I ordered the shrimp with grits that came with a stuffed trotter (I could have sworn it was snout, but anyways…) and the shrimp and grits didn’t offer much of anything. The trotter, which was nicely crispy on the outside with some fat, but the inside stuffing was some five-​spice flavored lean ground pork. I wonder if the chef had the intention of the fat in the trotter to moisten up the pork (Have had such a trotter stuffed with sticky rice and pork before… that rocked.) but it definitely didn’t work out.
I’m getting the impression that this place is trying to bring the «farmer food» with some «elegant flare» but this place just made me leaving pretty pissed off. Beyond the great atmosphere, An American Place served up little else.

An American Place has a special place in my heart. My fiancé proposed to me there. Apparently, he had conspired with the management there to plan out the entire proposal. They were superb, I had no idea. The food was phenomenal. The service was exceptional. The waitress brought out a beautiful ceramic bowl with my ring place beautifully in a bed of sea salt. Needless to say, it was all romantic.
Of course, this 5-​star restaurant is quite expensive, but it is totally worth it. It is very high class. An American Place will definitely be our anniversary restaurant.

I was lucky enough to be able to do the Chef’s tasting menu. IT WAS SO COOL! Glad I wasn’t paying. Funny how people pay for such luxurious things for you when you get married, isn’t it? We got six courses with the wine… which was difficult for me because wine really does hit me hard… and everything was superb. What tickled me to death was the fact that there was white chocolate in the rabbit and dumplings. Fantastically fun!

Went here for Valentine’s Day. First of all, if you are going to have a special menu and close down all the other parts of your menu, don’t lie about it. When we call, tell us about it, put it on your website, and don’t tell us that everything will be available when it’s not.
Had the single most sub-​par experience in a restaurant in stl. The staff was definitely the B-​list. The service was atrocious. Who in their right mind announces your wine price so that every other patron can hear? That is, after you rummage through a closet on top of us searching for the wine, can’t find it, and just chose another and told us precisely how much it cost in an out-​door voice. Thanks, we came here to be judged by the other patrons, whose heads all visibly swiveled at the announcement.
Also, who runs out of bread? And if you DO run out of bread, why would you leave the bread plate, butter knife, and other bread service accoutrements out?
And, upcharging for beef (not even filet mignon — short ribs and something else not expensive) just seems to be nickle-​and diming. It’s not lobster. It’s not even filet, and not, god forbid Kobe or Wagyu. It’s shortribs for crying out loud!
Running out of half the menu is bad. Especially at 8pm. Having the rest of that menu be less than tasty is also bad. It was also clear that SOME of the menu items in the stuff they had was running out and they were trying to save up.
Part of the reason this is truly unacceptable is that for Valentine’s Day you have reservations — 100% booked reservations WEEKS before V-​Day. If you can’t order correctly when you know exactly how many patrons will be in, that’s a problem. It’s a problem when the service is so bad the waiter apologizes at the end of it. It’s a problem when everything tastes like it was sort of nuked because you have you B-​game here. I understand Vday is a captive audience, but come on — we certainly won’t be back and we certainly won’t be entertaining guests here again. They may have gotten a pretty penny out of us once, but they certainly made it so that they’ll never get a repeat customer out of it.

My fiancé and I went to American Place for Valentine’s Day. The restaurant was a disappointment on every level imaginable. When I made our reservations, there was no mention of a Valentine’s day menu, and while I should have known better. It’s something the restaurant should have mentioned.
When we arrived, we were told that there would be a special 5-​course menu. This was not what we had in mind, but were certainly open-​minded, since we were planning on getting the tasting menu anyhow. We were sat and told that the already limited menu was depleted further because the kitchen was out of some of the more tasty options available including the lobster appetizer.
We ordered our food and wine accordingly and waited for the bread to come. The bread never came, why? Because they ran out of bread; on Valentine’s Day. This was especially annoying because they left the bread plates on the table. I implore all restaurants, if you are out of bread, please remove the bread plates. Don’t tease your hungry customers like that.
By this point we were already a little perturbed, the restaurant had run out of bread, dishes, and had a limited menu to begin with. Then it got worse, they didn’t have the wine we had asked for. Fine, this happens often, no big deal. The waiter offered a similar priced wine, BY LOUDLY EXPLAINING THE COST OF THE NEW BOTTLE OF WINE. I’ve never had a waiter loudly discuss the price of wine before in a restaurant and it’s completely unacceptable to do so.
Then we received our first «course». Even in The Sudan this would not qualify as a course. A tiny little item that is an Amuse by any other name. This was followed up by a rather disappointing pork belly pâté that had the texture of canned tuna fish and tasted only nominally better.
While I enjoyed my 4^th course just fine (an acceptable cut of beef) my fiancé thought it was no better than anything else we had eaten. By this point, both of us were ready to leave. However, finding our waiter at the end of the meal was quite a chore as well, and it took some time to finally leave.
The whole feel of the meal was that the 2^nd string staff was on site, the meal and service seemed shoddy and distant and the food was mediocre at best and borderline inedible at worst.
Perhaps coming on Valentine’s was a mistake, but the restaurant was not particularly crowded either, perhaps the general St. Louis audience knew something we did not. I personally think the Valentine’s day is a real opportunity for restaurants to get 1^st time customers and convince them to come back for repeat service. All this restaurant convinced me of was that I need to go somewhere else to get a good meal and acceptable service.

An American Place has superior food and service. I proposed to my girlfriend there and had to set-​up a special presentation for the proposal. The management was fantastic to work with. We had an amazing meal and great service during the meal. The staff made sure we had everything we needed without being over bearing. I can’t stand high-​end restaurants where they refill your water after each sip. An all around great place in a very trendy part of town.

Elegance abounds in the former lobby of the old Statler hotel (now the Renaissance Grand). The entire experience is carefully polished, but not as pretentious as you might expect.
The menu lists the partner suppliers: farms, orchards, dairies, etc. A nice touch that hints at Forgione’s attention to detail, an attention that is clearly evident on the plate and to the palate.
It may be friendly, but that doesn’t mean cheap. Expect to spend serious money (by St. Louis standards) for serious food and serious service (by any standard). Well worth it.