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Taste
Laura Ann Miller 

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4584 Laclede Ave. St. Louis MO 63108

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  • Contemporary, New American
    Daily 5pm-1am
    $$$ $$$
    All Major Credit Cards, cash, ATM/Debit
  • Casual/Business-Casual
    Patio/Sidewalk Dining, Private Party, Vegetarian Friendly, Wheelchair Accessible
    Dinner, Evening, Late Night, Snack Food
    Full bar
  • Highly Recommended
    Meters, Valet
Description

The relocated and re-imagined Taste might have lost the intimacy between chef and diner that made the original Taste by Niche so appealing, but it has plenty of new charms to share. Only in his mid-twenties, chef Adam Altnether is now a partner in Taste founder Gerard Craft's restaurant empire, and here he takes the reins by himself for the first time. The menu changes with some regularity, but pork is always a safe bet (the pork fries are a fun snack), while the hand-cut noodles with black pepper and Pecorino cheese are simple and sublime. Drinks like Hell's Bells and Ab-Duck-tion offer a glimpse into the singular spirit alchemy at Taste: the former is a spiced gin wonder—Hayman's Old Tom Gin, Pimm's, a touch of sugar, absinthe and a sizable garnish of smoked red bell pepper, which sounds odd in theory but is absolutely divine in practice. Ab-Duck-tion is a heady melange of mascarpone, pepper, lemon, lavender bitters and duck fat infused Grand Marnier. Their erudite cocktail menu is a reflection of mixologist extraordinaire Ted Kilgore's prodigious skill at all things shaken, swizzled or stirred. For the true Taste experience, ask Kilgore what he's drinking these days, and then order that.








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  • 2012 | Best Tapas/Small Plates

    A year and a half after relocating to the Central West End, Gerard Craft and Adam Altnether's Taste has hit its stride, with head chef Matt "Mateo" Daughaday serving small plates that pack bright ideas and big flavor. For proof you need only try his "Barbacoa" dish. A playful take on traditional street tacos, it consists of three tiny masa cakes topped with luscious braised beef cheek, pickled red onion, cilantro, queso fresco and salsa verde. Nothing is overthought. Steamed Manila clams... More »

  • 2011 | Best Drink Menu

    When Taste (formerly known as Taste by Niche) relocated from Benton Park to the Central West End earlier this year, it gained a larger dining room, a broader selection of food and an expanded menu of Ted Kilgore's cocktail creations. This last change was especially welcome. Kilgore is the unquestioned dean of St. Louis mixologists, and his creativity is on full display at the "new" Taste. The cocktail selection is divided by flavor profile. In the mood for something "Crisp, Light, Aromatic"?... More »

  • 2010 | Best Tapas/Small Plates

    The great American chef Thomas Keller prefers to build a meal out of a succession of small courses because he believes that after a few bites the act of eating a dish -- no matter how good -- loses its excitement and becomes rote. You can see for yourself at Taste by Niche, where the prodigious talents of Gerard Craft are distilled into dishes that you can vanquish in a couple of bites but that linger in your memory: octopus more tender than you thought possible, a simple... More »

  • 2010 | Best Drink Menu

    The drink menu at Taste by Niche is a living, breathing thing. Literally. Its name is Ted. That's Ted Kilgore, to be precise, the mixologist whose whims and inspirations alter Taste's cocktail selection frequently and whose rapid cocktail-shaking is the constant backbeat of an evening at Taste. Kilgore has gained national recognition for his work: Bon Appétit magazine named Taste one of the country's ten best new cocktail bars; it singled out Kilgore's "Grey Fizz," which mixes gin,... More »

  • 2009 | Best Drink Menu

    "Is peach OK?" asks Ted Kilgore, mixologist extraordinaire at Taste by Niche. The woman who has ordered the "Nectar of the Gods" -- tequila, agave, lime and seasonal fruit (the peach) -- nods. Kilgore takes half a peach from a bowl on the bar directly in front of the patron and oh-so-carefully slices it into thin wedges. He puts the wedges into a cocktail shaker, which he shakes so violently that you can feel your seat vibrate. Kilgore's classy old-school cocktails gained him quite... More »

Back to TopUser Reviews & Comments | Write a Review
  • rftbestof
           (0)    (0) Flag

    | St Lous, MO | 149 Reviews

    "Pastry chef" seems an inadequate title for Mathew Rice, who masterminds the desserts at the Benton Park restaurant Niche and its new, adjacent bakeshop, Veruca. "Mastermind" works — though that too seems to miss something essential about Rice's baking. His desserts plug into someplace deep in the unconscious, where the simple pleasures of our childhood reside: tollhouse cookies, Hostess snack cakes, s'mores. Rice interprets each in a way that brings both a smile of recognition and the thrill of the new. Those s'mores, for instance, are toasted-marshmallow semifreddo with salted caramel and a graham cracker. Not that all of Rice's ideas are rooted in the past. Sometimes it's a combination of cleverness and convenience, like his slices of red velvet cake served to look like a small sandwich wrapped in wax paper. And sometimes it's working with something no one else does, like the South Asian dish kulfi, a dense frozen dessert so good it might supplant ice cream as your favorite summer treat.

  • emko18
           (0)    (0) Flag

    | st. louis, MO | 271 Reviews

    Niche is a great place to take out of town guests. Outstanding food!

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