The Sublime: Big Fun at Stone Soup Cottage

Our friend Roger invited us to join him at what he described as “a legal underground restaurant” last Friday night.  It’s a place run by two friends of his and is barely three weeks old.  Stone Soup Cottage is a very special place.  It’s open three nights per week (Sunday morning for brunch) and only has seven tables seating a maximum of about 22 people.  There is one evening seating at 6:30 PM and a chef’s prix fixe tasting menu with a choice of either a four or six course dinner.  Wines are paired with four of the courses.  The menu changes from week to week with the focus primarily on French and Italian cuisine.

The restaurant is in a tiny 150 year-old house in Cottleville, MO.  The house has been beautifully restored and provides an atmosphere both charming and intimate.  We were met at the door by Chef Carl and his wife Nancy, handed flutes containing a crisp, fruity Portuguese sparkling wine, and escorted to our table.

The tables were beautifully laid.  After everyone was seated, the dinner was launched with an amuse-bouche, French for “party in your mouth.”  (Actually, “mouth amuser.”)  The amuse-bouche Friday night was a tiny puff pastry filled with finely chopped tomato mixed with bits of cheese and topped with what might have been crème fraîche.  Superb!  Then, the courses started to come out.

First Course
Mixed Rocket Greens and Baby Herbs Dressed with Sweet Sherry Vinaigrette
garnished with a Petite Chèvre Croquette and Toast
Wine Pairing Option: 2006 Mason Sauvignon Blanc

Second Course
Escargot with Plugrá Butter and Garlic
Wine Pairing Option: 2007 Ambroise Bourgogne Rouge

 Third Course
Wild Sea Scallop en Papillote
infused with Fresh Fennel and Pernod
Wine Pairing Option: 2007 Nugan Chardonnay

 Fourth Course
Gratin Dauphinois
finished with Shaved Black Truffles
Wine Pairing Option: 2007 Spellbound Petite Sirah

 Fifth Course
Petite Chateaubriand
accompanied by Farmers Market Vegetables
Wine Pairing Option: 2006 Titus Zinfandel

Imaginary photo of my Grand Marnier Soufflé

 Sixth Course
Grand Marnier Soufflés
served directly from the oven with Orange Crème Anglaise
or
Fromage Plate
garnished with Dried Fruit and Toast

Where is the sixth course picture, you might ask?  When they put the Grand Marnier Soufflé down in front of me, I was beyond thinking about the camera and just dug in.  At some point between the courses, there was a Limoncello Sorbet palate cleanser and a wine substitution as well, though I don’t recall what was substituted for what.  We finished the meal with a cup of excellent coffee, which I of course ruined with cream and sugar.

Was it a great meal?  By the third course, I’d run out of superlatives and started to repeat myself.  The food was wonderful, the presentation was beautiful, the staff was attentive without being intrusive, and our dinner companions were a lot of fun.  This is one of the best, most memorable meals of my life, right up there with Sea Scallops with Black Truffles, fettuccine with morel mushrooms, Steak Diavola, and Arancini at Tony’s, my first Rueben, my Mother’s Swiss Steak, and mostly-raw ground beef and vegetables on my first Boy Scout campout (appetite is truly the best sauce).

- Poppa